“God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.”

Rebecca West, “The Tosh Horse”

…from a great man who overflowed with gratitude. From 1939, Louis Armstrong sings “You’re a Lucky Guy,” by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin:

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)
• Fun Home (serious musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, 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, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, reviewed here)
• On Your Feet! (jukebox musical, G, nearly all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Spring Awakening (musical, PG-13/R, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)
• Sylvia (comedy, PG-13, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)

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)
• 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 ON BROADWAY:
• Fool for Love (drama, R, closes Dec. 13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• Eclipsed (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)

“My memory is certainly in my hands. I can remember things only if I have a pencil and I can write with it and I can play with it.”

Rebecca West, Paris Review interview (Summer 1981)

An excerpt from Magic Fire, William Dieterle’s 1954 film biography of Richard Wagner. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, in costume as Hans Richter, is seen conducting the pit orchestra in excerpts from Der Ring des Nibelungen. This is the only film of Korngold conducting that is known to exist:

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

“It’s an absurd error to put modern English literature in the curriculum. You should read contemporary literature for pleasure or not read it at all. You shouldn’t be taught to monkey with it. It’s ghastly to think of all the little girls who are taught to read To the Lighthouse.”

Rebecca West, Paris Review interview (Summer 1981)

From 2004:

To be sure, the one thing a new friend can never do for you is say I knew you when, and I find it rather sad that there are so few people in my life who can speak those words. None of my closest friends in Manhattan knew me when: we didn’t meet until after I’d figured out who I was and what I wanted to become. On the other hand, the friends of our youth present their own problems. They are part of the train of memories that we all pull behind us, the one that grows longer with each passing day, and for that reason harder to pull….

Read the whole thing here.

“Just how dificult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”

Rebecca West, “The Art of Skepticism”