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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for December 17, 2015

Maybe just the least little bit soggy

December 17, 2015 by Terry Teachout

CALVIN IN THE RAINThe weather in Chicago, which has been unseasonably warmish since my arrival last week, is finally starting to get disagreeable, and it rained yesterday morning. So what? Well, it happens that while rehearsals for the Court Theatre’s production of Satchmo at the Waldorf normally run from ten a.m. to four p.m., the specific starting and stopping times can change from day to day. That’s one of the reasons why Amanda Weener-Frederick, our omnicompetent stage manager, sends out via e-mail a call sheet after each rehearsal reminding us of when to show up and what we’ll be working on the following day.

Unfortunately, the call sheet doesn’t work if you don’t remember what it says, and so I marched out of Our Girl’s apartment sans umbrella (I neglected to bring one to Chicago) at 9:20 yesterday morning, having forgotten that Wednesday’s rehearsal started at eleven, not ten. I arrived shortly thereafter at the Court’s rehearsal hall, whose door, not surprisingly, was locked. As the rain pitter-pattered on my bare head, I emitted a twelve-letter word that is spoken out loud sixteen times in Satchmo. Then I turned around, stepped into a deep puddle, and repeated the word in question, only louder. Vexed well beyond belief, I made my way to a coffee shop two blocks away, only to discover that it didn’t have wi-fi. This time I kept my feelings to myself.

Having no good alternative, I sat down, ordered a café mocha, pulled out my MacBook Air, and started working on an essay about tap dancing that I’m writing for Commentary. Before I knew it, an hour had flown by. I paid my tab, went back to the rehearsal hall, told my tale to my greatly amused colleagues, and went back to work.

That’s how theater is made.

So you want to see a show?

December 17, 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, reviewed here)
• China Doll (drama, PG-13, nearly all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• The Color Purple (musical, PG-13, virtually all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Fun Home (serious musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Hamilton (musical, PG-13, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• The King and I (musical, G, perfect for children with well-developed attention spans, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, closes Sept. 4, reviewed here)
• On Your Feet! (jukebox musical, G, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Spring Awakening (musical, PG-13/R, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)
29CA44482-D5D8-C8F5-4E7D24D4F3B858DE• Sylvia (comedy, PG-13, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• 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)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, ideal for bright children, remounting of Broadway production, closing Jan. 3, original production reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, closes Jan. 17, reviewed here)
• Hand to God (black comedy, X, absolutely not for children or prudish adults, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN LOS ANGELES:
• Guys and Dolls (drama, PG-13, remounting of Oregon Shakespeare Festival production, original production reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• New York Animals (play with music, PG-13, reviewed here)

Almanac: Alexander Pope on death

December 17, 2015 by Terry Teachout

INK BOTTLEO Death, all eloquent! you only prove
What dust we dote on, when ’tis man we love.

Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”

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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