Catch-up time

As I wrote in this space on Monday, I was forced to take a three-week hiatus from blogging because of overwork and technical problems. Now that I’m back again, I want to post links to the things I wrote and did elsewhere during my absence:

• I reviewed streaming webcasts of two plays, Quintessence Theatre’s production of Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth and American Players Theater’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing.

• I reviewed three live shows, Shakespeare & Company’s production of Debra Ann Byrd’s Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey, Barrington Stage’s premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Eleanor, and the Peterborough Players’ site-specific outdoor production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.

• I published a Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column on James Lapine’s Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park With George”.

• In addition, Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I released a new “Three on the Aisle” podcast about theater in America. Here’s the official summary:

This week, the critics talk about live theatre! They focus on productions outside of New York City, including Shakespeare & Company’s King Lear in the Berkshires, an upcoming Our Town by the Peterborough Players in New Hampshire, a performance of Come From Away on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and Elisabeth’s mysterious trip to Creede, Colo. We also discuss Broadway’s reopening schedule, the state of vaccination and variants, and Peter’s acclaimed college acting career.

Go here to listen or download.

• As I mentioned on “Three on the Aisle,” I’ve fallen in love with a wonderful woman named Cheril. It seemed appropriate to mention her on the podcast because we “met” as a result of her hearing me there last year. Cheril and I became close shortly after the first anniversary of Hilary’s death on March 31, and we now consider ourselves full-fledged romantic partners. Like Hilary, she is a private person, so I won’t say much more than that, but I did want all of you to know that we’re both profoundly happy.