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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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The morning after

March 5, 2014 by Terry Teachout

476712211.jpgThe opening-night performance of the off-Broadway transfer of Satchmo at the Waldorf went sensationally well. John Douglas Thompson gave a letter-perfect performance, and the sold-out crowd at the Westside Theatre yelled its approval at show’s end. The producers then threw a fabulous party from which Mrs. T and I returned home in a daze of joy much like the one that overwhelmed me after The Letter opened in Santa Fe five years ago. One thing was different: I now know what it feels like to be blinded by flashbulbs!

Most of the early reviews were very positive. Even those critics who had doubts about the play were hugely enthusiastic about John’s acting, as well they should have been. (Here’s my favorite line: “To say that Thompson’s performance is a tour de force would be an understatement. This is a tour de megaforce.”) To be sure, several of my colleagues have yet to go on record, but so far it looks as though we’ve got a shot at a solid run.

While I’m still a bit dizzy–to put it mildly–life goes on, and so does my day job. I’ll be seeing a Broadway preview this afternoon and filing a review for The Wall Street Journal first thing tomorrow morning. Nevertheless, I’m about as happy as it’s possible to be.

* * *

Our Girl in Chicago, my co-blogger and best friend, took this snapshot as she, Mrs. T, and I prepared to head down to the theater yesterday afternoon:

1509247_10152321647162193_1760055587_n.jpg

Snapshot: Louis Armstrong in 1970

March 5, 2014 by Terry Teachout

“Anatomy of a Performance,” a documentary about Louis Armstrong filmed at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival:

(This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday and Wednesday.)

Almanac: Dr. Johnson on hope

March 5, 2014 by Terry Teachout

“The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.”
Samuel Johnson, The Rambler (Mar. 24, 1749)

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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