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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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TT: Packing and going

September 15, 2009 by Terry Teachout

bevstl.jpgThe life of a peripatetic drama critic is an endless cycle of ennui and delight. I love seeing out-of-town shows, but in order to get to them, I have to endure the horrors of modern air travel, the only tolerable part of which is the view from a window seat on a clear day. On occasion it also means that I have to tear myself away from Mrs. T, and that’s never any fun: our second anniversary is less than a month away, and the nearer it comes, the closer we grow.
Hence it’s with sharply mixed feelings that I pack my bag this morning and fly alone from Hartford to St. Louis, where I’ll be seeing the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis perform Amadeus tonight. I like Peter Shaffer’s plays and I like St. Louis–I’m going to poke my head into the St. Louis Art Museum, a favorite stop, if my plane lands on time–but I’ve been on the move all summer, and if I had my druthers, I’d just as soon stay home.
2438.jpgThe good news (there is always good news) is that St. Louis is two hours north of Smalltown, U.S.A., so I’m going to drive down after the show and spend a few days with my family. I haven’t been there since May, and my mother says she’s starting to forget what I look like. She also claims to have baked a cake in honor of my visit. I’m more inclined to believe the second claim than the first, but either way, it’ll be nice to be in Smalltown again. Mom and I have things to do, none of them significant but all important. For openers, I plan to take her on a long drive in the country, buy her a lunch or two, and tell her all about the premiere of The Letter. I might even sleep late!
See you around.

TT: Almanac

September 15, 2009 by Terry Teachout

“To fear the worst oft cures the worse.”
William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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