Archives for September 12, 2013

Mrs. T and I returned from Maine to Connecticut this afternoon and found a package on our front porch that contained the first finished copy of Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington. I took it out of the envelope and handed it to her, and she turned to the dedication page. “I had to look at my page first,” she said with a grin.
We sat on the couch and passed the book back and forth in silence for a few minutes. What I felt is not to be put in words, but I doubt that any moment in an author’s life is more purely pleasurable. No matter whether you’ve written two books or twenty, you never get blasé about holding the latest one in your hands for the first time.
Afterward I took my copy of Duke outside and snapped a photo of it. Then I went back into the house and sent this e-mail to my colleagues at Gotham Books:

I just got home and opened your package. It’s the most beautiful-looking book I’ve ever had anything to do with. Bless you all for helping to make it possible.

Whatever happens to Duke in the days and weeks to come, I’m as happy right now as it’s possible to be.
* * *
The dedication page of Duke:

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:

• Annie (musical, G, closing Jan. 5, reviewed here)

• Matilda (musical, G, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

• Once (musical, G/PG-13, nearly all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• 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)

IN NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO:

• Major Barbara (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 19, reviewed here)

• Our Betters (comedy, PG-13, closes Oct. 27, reviewed here)

IN ASHLAND, OREGON:

• My Fair Lady (musical, G, closes Nov. 3, reviewed here)

IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Oct. 20, reviewed here)

• Dickens in America (one-man play, G, too demanding for small children, closes Oct. 19, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• Hamlet (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Oct. 4, reviewed here)

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (serious comedy, PG-13, closes Oct. 5, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO:

• Faith Healer (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 6, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:

• The Trip to Bountiful (drama, G, closes Oct. 9, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• All My Sons (drama, G, too grim for most children, closes Sept. 28, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• Too Many Husbands (comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:

• The Weir (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)

“The critical task is necessarily comparative, and younger people do not truly know what is new.”
Pauline Kael, “Trash, Art and the Movies”