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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Just because: Graham Greene talks about The Third Man

February 22, 2021 by Terry Teachout

Graham Greene is interviewed by Jack Mangan in an outtake from a 1950 episode of Ship’s Reporter in which he talks about The Third Man:

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

Almanac: Graham Greene on facing reality

February 22, 2021 by Terry Teachout

“People don’t like reality. They don’t like common sense. Until age forces it on them.”

Graham Greene, Loser Takes All

A pair of saints

February 19, 2021 by Terry Teachout

In today’s Wall Street Journal, I review webcasts of Katie Roche and The Book of Magdalene. Here’s an excerpt.

*  *  *

One of the few happy surprises of 2020 was the Mint Theater Company’s announcement that it had built up a private stockpile of broadcast-quality archival videos of its past productions and that it would make them available for streaming—for free. If you’ve never seen or heard of the Mint, Teresa Deevy’s “Katie Roche” offers a perfect opportunity to play catch-up with one of America’s most distinguished small theater companies….

“Katie Roche” is the story of the title character (played with marvelous lightness of touch by Wrenn Schmidt), an illegitimate servant girl who “long ago made up my mind I’d be a saint” but is headed off en route to the convent…

Caridad Svich, whose work is regularly performed by regional theaters all over America, currently has three plays streaming, or about to open, at the same time: “The Book of Magdalene” at Houston’s Main Street Theater, “Theatre: A Love Story” at Cincinnati’s Know Theatre, and “Red Bike” at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. “The Book of Magdalene,” the most ambitious of the trio, is a nocturnal exercise in magical realism, a pandemic-themed updating of the biblical story….

*  *  *

Read the whole thing here.

A clip from the dress rehearsal of Katie Roche:

Replay: Fats Waller sings “Ain’t Misbehavin’”

February 19, 2021 by Terry Teachout

Fats Waller sings and plays “Ain’t Misbehavin’” in Stormy Weather, directed by Andrew L. Stone in 1943. The members of the band include Benny Carter on trumpet, Zutty Singleton on drums, and Slam Stewart on bass. Also seen in the clip are Lena Horne and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson:

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

Almanac: Alexander Hamilton on perfection

February 19, 2021 by Terry Teachout

“I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man.”

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 85

Almanac: Neil Simon on the dramatic arc of a play

February 18, 2021 by Terry Teachout

“When I was writing three-act plays, a producer told me the curtain should always come down on the beginning of the fourth act. A play should never really come to an end.”

Neil Simon, interview with James Lipton (Paris Review, Winter 1992)

Snapshot: Bill Evans plays “My Foolish Heart”

February 17, 2021 by Terry Teachout

Bill Evans plays “My Foolish Heart” on British TV in 1965, with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums:

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

Almanac: Graham Greene on trust

February 17, 2021 by Terry Teachout

“It is impossible to go through life without trust: that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.”

Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear

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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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