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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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My kind of person

October 1, 2015 by Terry Teachout

Apropos of this really embarrassing piece, my kind of person…

• …prefers hot dogs to hamburgers.

• …prefers trains to planes—in theory.

• …likes Johnny Mercer best:

• …likes Carolyn Leigh second best:

• …thinks funny is sexy.

• …isn’t cynical about anything except politicians and journalists.

• …can cry at the drop of a hat, even when he knows perfectly well that he’s being manipulated into doing so.

• …would give a lot to have written this scene:

• …is bone-tired of mere cleverness (except when it’s so virtuosic as to be completely irresistible).

• …is always happy to be somebody else’s straight man.

ruby-sparks-250• …will go to any film or play that has Zoe Kazan in it.

• …prefers cats to dogs, though not militantly so (unless they slobber).

• …loves most of Stephen Sondheim’s musicals, but doesn’t think he’s God.

• …thinks the original version of The In-Laws is the funniest movie ever made, not excluding His Girl Friday and Some Like It Hot.

• …thinks The Glass Menagerie and Our Town are the greatest American plays, not excluding Long Day’s Journey into Night.

• …thinks this is the most beautiful piece of music by an American, not excluding the first take of Charlie Parker’s improvisation on “Embraceable You”:

• …likes John Wayne movies.

• …dislikes Woody Allen movies (except for Radio Days).

• …likes Steely Dan, but is O.K. about it if you don’t.

• …likes this just as much:

• …is never, ever afraid to praise what he loves and knock what he hates. (You’d be surprised how many people are—some of whom are professional critics.)

• …is too enthusiastic to be cool.

• …isn’t a snob about anything—not even snapping on one and three:

• …doesn’t confuse taste with virtue.

And yes, this is a self-portrait. Why shouldn’t it be?

So you want to see a show?

October 1, 2015 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:
• An American in Paris (musical, G, too complex for small children, mos performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Fun Home (serious musical, PG-13, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, many performances sold out last week, closes Jan. 17, reviewed here)
• Hamilton (musical, PG-13, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Hand to God (black comedy, X, absolutely not for children or prudish adults, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)
• The King and I (musical, G, perfect for children with well-developed attention spans, most performances sold out last weekreviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, ideal for bright children, remounting of Broadway production, original production reviewed here)
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
• The Flick (serious comedy, PG-13, too long for young people with limited attention spans, reviewed here)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare, PG-13, remounting of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival production, closes Oct. 31, original production reviewed here)

IN ASHLAND, OREGON:
• Guys and Dolls (musical, G, closes Nov. 1, reviewed here)
• Sweat (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:
• The Price (drama, PG-13, closes Nov. 22, reviewed here)
TOYLKittyNick-1024x684• The Time of Your Life (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 25, reviewed here)

IN NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO:
• Sweet Charity (musical, PG-13, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)
• You Never Can Tell (Shaw, PG-13, closes Oct. 25, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• An Iliad (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 18, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN BOSTON:
• My Fair Lady (musical, G, closes Oct. 11, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare, PG-13, reviewed here)

Almanac: George Bernard Shaw on stoicism

October 1, 2015 by Terry Teachout

INK BOTTLE“He who has never hoped can never despair. Caesar, in good or bad fortune, looks his fate in the face.”

George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra

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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