Archives for February 2018

The Alley Theatre’s production of Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play and second professional directing assignment, opens tonight in Houston. We’ve had four gratifyingly smooth previews in a row, the last of which went so well that I canceled this afternoon’s final rehearsal and told everybody to stay home and sleep late. Nobody complained, either, least of all me.

Incredible as it may sound, this will be my second opening night in two months. That’s a sentence I never imagined I’d have occasion to write! It certainly didn’t occur to me when Paul Moravec and I took our bows after the premiere of The Letter in 2009 that I was taking my first step down the surprisingly short road that would lead me to a parallel career as an opera librettist and playwright—and, now, a stage director. These past nine years have been a hell of a ride, and I’ve loved every minute of it. My only regret is that my beloved Mrs. T couldn’t come to Texas to share in the fun. She’ll be here in spirit, though, and in my heart.

In preparation for the big night, I present—as I always do before my first nights—the following clip, which I first saw on TV as a child and which in recent years has become increasingly and improbably relevant to my life.

Break a leg, everybody:

* * *

UPDATE: This is my favorite moment in the production, exquisitely lit by Kevin Adams. I only wish you could hear John Gromada’s music for this scene!

In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I take a look at recent pushback against the #MeToo movement. Here’s an excerpt.

* * *

Peter Martins, the longtime boss of New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet, abruptly retired in December in the wake of allegations that he had subjected dancers to sexual harassment and verbal and physical abuse. Two weeks ago, NYCB and SAB announced that an investigation conducted by an outside lawyer “did not corroborate the allegations,” which Mr. Martins had already denied. Several dancers claim that the investigation was biased in his favor, and the lawyer’s report will not be made public. In any event, Mr. Martins is not returning to his posts, and NYCB and SAB have since put into place measures meant to make it easier for their employees to report inappropriate conduct.

What effect will all this have on the #MeToo movement? Over the past six months, the #MeToo-ers have exposed the entertainment industry as a stinking sewer of predation, in the process changing for the better our collective standards for acceptable behavior in the workplace. But a pushback has begun, and Mr. Martins’ ambiguous exoneration may increase its momentum.

The most prominent critics of the #MeToo movement think that to insist on always “believing the victim,” one of its tenets, necessarily puts the principle of due process at risk. One of them is President Trump—himself an alleged abuser—who tweeted as follows: “People[‘]s lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation.” Other, less controversial critics like Emily Yoffe contend that casual workplace remarks with ill-judged sexual overtones are being treated in a zero-tolerance manner inappropriate to the gravity of the offense, and that it may be wrong to judge older offenders by new standards of conduct without making allowance for their age.

For my part, I believe that the effects of #MeToo have been hugely salutary. Given what we’ve learned about the disgusting behavior of the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K. and other offenders whom the movement has helped to bring low, how can anyone think otherwise? Still, it’s one thing to give credit where it’s due and another to assume that all accusers can do no wrong….

* * *

Read the whole thing here.

Louis Armstrong and His All Stars perform “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” “Muskrat Ramble,” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street” on Timex All-Star Show #2, originally telecast live by CBS on April 30, 1958. The band includes Edmond Hall on clarinet, Trummy Young on trombone, Billy Kyle on piano, Mort Herbert on bass, and Danny Barcelona on drums. The host is Garry Moore. This kinescope has been digitally restored by LiveFeed Video Imaging:

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

“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.”

Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

From 2008:

Last week Paul Moravec and I spent four days preparing a workshop performance of the first six scenes of The Letter, our Somerset Maugham opera-in-progress, at a midtown rehearsal studio. On Wednesday morning we recorded all six scenes at the New York headquarters of the Santa Fe Opera, after which we performed them for a small invited audience of opera and theater professionals. Then, on Thursday evening, we gave a second performance, this time at an Upper East Side cocktail party thrown on behalf of Santa Fe Opera by two longtime friends of the company who live in the biggest townhouse I’ve ever seen. (It looks like the set of Holiday, only in color.) We presented twenty minutes’ worth of excerpts from The Letter to an audience of a hundred-odd well-heeled opera buffs, augmented by a sprinkling of singers and other music-business types…

Read the whole thing here.

“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”

Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms

A rare kinescope of an abridged TV version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, starring Maurice Evans and Dame Judith Anderson and directed by George Schaefer. This performance was originally telecast live by NBC on November 28, 1954, as an episode of Hallmark Hall of Fame:

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