About Last Night

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet appears on Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual. Bob Brookmeyer is the valve trombonist, Wyatt Ruther the bassist, Gus Johnson the drummer. This half-hour episode was taped in Los Angeles on July 18, 1962:

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

“It seems that in this country, you’re expected to be a specialist. People get used to you in a certain role in life, and they don’t like you to step out of it. In other countries, particularly the Latin countries, it doesn’t surprise anyone when a man is an attorney and a jazz musician, or a playwright and a painter. People in this country seem to find it hard to understand that a man can have a deep and abiding interest in one art and a lesser, but still real, interest in another.”

Gerry Mulligan, quoted in Gene Lees, “Gerry Mulligan—A Writer’s Credo,” Down Beat, January 17, 1963 (courtesy of Jazz Profiles)

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, nearly all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Fun Home (serious musical, PG-13, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, nearly all performances sold out last week, 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, nearly all performances sold out last weekreviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, some performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, ideal for bright children, remounting of Broadway production, 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)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare, PG-13, remounting of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival production, closes Oct. 31, original production reviewed here)

IN ASHLAND, OREGON:
• Guys and Dolls (musical, G, closes Nov. 1, reviewed here)
• Sweat (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:
• The Price (drama, PG-13, closes Nov. 22, reviewed here)

IN NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO:
• Sweet Charity (musical, PG-13, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)
• You Never Can Tell (Shaw, PG-13, closes Oct. 25, reviewed here)

IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• An Iliad (drama, PG-13, closes Oct. 18, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Oct. 4, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• The Island (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN CHICAGO:
• The Rainmaker (romantic comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

“We’re all forgotten sooner or later. But not the films.”

Burt Lancaster, quoted in Alain Silver and James Ursini, What Ever Happened to Robert Aldrich?

Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sing “It’s Great Not to Be Nominated” at the 1958 Academy Awards ceremony. (The song was written for them by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen.) Neither man had been nominated for a best-actor Oscar that year:

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

“Whether you like it or not, when you’re sixty-two you’re fulfilled.”

Burt Lancaster, quoted in Photoplay (June 1975)

From 2003:

I continue to see obviously excited concertgoers shamefacedly sitting on their hands at the very moment when they ought to be raising a ruckus. What’s more, the concert halls of New York are full of spine-starched prigs who delight in staring down any poor dope who makes the “mistake” of expressing his heartfelt enthusiasm for a great performance at a moment not to their liking. This never happens at the ballet—not only do dance audiences clap between movements, but they also applaud whenever anything especially cool happens on stage….

Read the whole thing here.

“I am reasonably happy, providing I keep busy.”

Burt Lancaster, in conversation with Ernest Lehman (quoted in Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life