Archives for 2009

“Give the people a new word and they think they have a new fact.”
Willa Cather, “Four Letters: Escapism”

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more information, click on the title.

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

BROADWAY:

• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, reviewed here)

• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

• South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)

• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)

IN ASHLAND, OREGON:

• The Music Man (musical, G, very child-friendly, closes Nov. 1, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:

• The History Boys (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, too intellectually complex for most adolescents, extended through Oct. 18, reviewed here)

IN SPRING GREEN, WIS:

• Long Day’s Journey into Night (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, too long and demanding for some adolescents, closes Oct. 18, reviewed here)

IN STRATFORD, ONTARIO:

• The Importance of Being Earnest (comedy, G, closes Oct. 30, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN ARLINGTON, VA.:

• Dirty Blonde (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Oct. 4, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:

• Henry V (Shakespeare, G, closes Oct. 2, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN ST. LOUIS, MO.:

• Amadeus (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 4, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN STRATFORD, ONTARIO:

• Three Sisters (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:

• The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN TOPANGA, CALIF.:

• The Cherry Orchard (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.”
Willa Cather, O Pioneers!

John Barrymore performs a scene from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, filmed in 1929 for Show of Shows:

Go here to see Barrymore talking on screen about the scene he’s about to play.
(This is the latest in a weekly series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Wednesday.)

“It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable.”
Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind

My last author photo is so old that it’s (A) in black-and-white and (B) was shot on film. Not surprisingly, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt informed me in no uncertain terms that I needed a new digital photo for the dust jacket of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. Alas, I don’t know any professional photographers, but I was lucky enough to run across a terrific one when I went to Santa Fe two months ago for the premiere of The Letter. The Santa Fe Opera employs Ken Howard to shoot its productions, and Ken was kind enough to make himself available between shows to shoot me as well.
The portrait on the left was taken one sunny afternoon in the Crosby Theater, the outdoor auditorium where The Letter was performed. The Givenchy tie that I’m wearing was the one originally belonging to Virgil Thomson that was given to me by Mrs. T as an opening-night present. I’m not especially photogenic, but I like this picture very much. I hope you do, too.

Joanna Pinsker, my publicist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, recently asked me to prepare a “self-interview” about Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong that could be sent to radio and TV producers. I was more than happy to oblige. I’ve posted a link to the questions and answers in the right-hand column, but in case you didn’t notice it, you can read what I wrote by going here.
Assiduous readers of this blog won’t find any of the information surprising, but it might possibly interest you to see how modern-day authors go about publicizing their books.

“The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.”
Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark