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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for November 3, 2011

TT: Recent exasperations

November 3, 2011 by Terry Teachout

mediaManager.jpegYou probably read about the surprise winter storm that shut down much of Connecticut earlier this week. You may not know, however, that I got caught in it.
After seeing three shows in New York, I took the Sunday-morning train to Hartford to join Mrs. T, who had preceded me to our place in the woods near Storrs. The day after I arrived, the power went out–not just in Storrs but in the greater part of the state. Since we were taking care of our nephew, we couldn’t pull up stakes and return to New York, so we packed our bags and evacuated ourselves to my mother-in-law’s house in Southbury, one of the few places in Connecticut that had electricity, and spent two nights camping out in her guest room.
When it rains, hurricanes have been known to follow. I realized en route to Southbury that I was about to undergo a bout of what I euphemistically refer to as periodic plumbing problems. This happens to me every year or so, and it’s been known to happen at extremely unfavorable moments (i.e., during performances that I’m reviewing). All I could do was drink plenty of water and hope for the best, which occurred shortly before the power went back on in Storrs, to which we returned last night.
I’d been hoping to spend a few quiet days in the woods, emulating Jake Gittes and doing as little as possible. Needless to say, that didn’t happen, and now I’m headed back to New York, where I have three more shows to see, four more pieces to write, and a houseguest to amuse. If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t been posting or tweeting of late, that’s the reason: I wasn’t able to do much more in Southbury than check my e-mail twice a day.
francis460x276.jpgThe good news–yes, there’s a bit of it–is that I read The Complete Fiction of Francis Wyndham during my unscheduled period of inactivity, and relished every page. (Go here to read more about this exceedingly curious character.) I also managed to write tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal drama column, which turned out better than I’d expected.
Otherwise, the week just past was a near-total loss, and I’m damned glad it’s over.

TT: So you want to see a show?

November 3, 2011 by Terry Teachout

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.


BROADWAY:

• Anything Goes (musical, G/PG-13, mildly adult subject matter that will be unintelligible to children, closes Apr. 29, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

• Chinglish (comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Apr. 29, reviewed here)

• Follies (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Jan. 22, reviewed here)

• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical, G/PG-13, perfectly fine for children whose parents aren’t actively prudish, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs (monologue, PG-13, closes Dec. 4, reviewed here)

• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)

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

• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, off-Broadway remounting of Broadway production, original run reviewed here)

IN GLENCOE, ILLINOIS:

• The Real Thing (serious comedy, PG-13, closes Dec. 4, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:

• Man and Boy (drama, PG-13, closes Nov. 27, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN CHICAGO:

• Follies (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Nov. 13, reviewed here)

CLOSING THIS WEEKEND IN ASHLAND, OREGON:

• August: Osage County (drama, PG-13/R, closes Saturday, reviewed here)

• Julius Caesar (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Sunday, reviewed here)

• Measure for Measure (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Sunday, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:

• We Live Here (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)

TT: Almanac

November 3, 2011 by Terry Teachout

“A creative writer must study carefully the works of his rivals, including the Almighty. He must possess the inborn capacity not only of recombining but of re-creating the given world. In order to do this adequately, avoiding duplication of labor, the artist should know the given world. Imagination without knowledge leads no farther than the back yard of primitive art, the child’s scrawl on the fence, and the crank’s message in the market place. Art is never simple.”
Vladimir Nabokov, interview with Alvin Toffler (Playboy, January 1964)

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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