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Almanac: Susan Sontag on depression

“Depression is melancholy minus its charms—the animation, the fits.” Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor Continue reading Almanac: Susan Sontag on depression at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-07-02
“Live” But Not Too Lively: Auction Torpor (not Fever) at Sotheby’s Evening Sales

As I had anticipated, government strictures prevented Sotheby’s from realizing its tentatively announced plan to hold “live evening and day auctions of Contemporary and Impressionist & Modern Art…in New York the week of 29 June…pending the lifting of certain restrictions and confirmation from the relevant authorities that we can proceed.”... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-07-01
Snapshot: a TV interview with Thornton Wilder

Lilli Palmer interviews Thornton Wilder in an extremely rare TV appearance on The Lilli Palmer Show. This clip was originally telecast on NBC in 1952: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: a... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-07-01
Almanac: Dodie Smith on depression

“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.” Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle Continue reading Almanac: Dodie Smith on depression at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-07-01
The presence of the absence

The last play I saw on stage, Katori Hall’s The Hot Wing King, had a short off-Broadway run before New York’s theaters were closed down in mid-March. Earlier that same week, my beloved wife Hilary had received what would prove all too soon to be an unsuccessful double-lung transplant. She... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-30
Lookback: my fifteen favorite songs written for films

From 2010: Today’s episode of Fresh Air is all about the history of songs in Hollywood, and the producers invited those who follow the series on Twitter to vote for their favorite movie song. My snap response was to nominate “The Shadow of Your Smile,” but the more I thought about... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-30
Almanac: Kierkegaard on depression

“My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known—no wonder, then, that I return the love.” Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or Continue reading Almanac: Kierkegaard on depression at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-30
A San Francisco Little Mag Subscription-cum-Ad-Rate Card

This is what one looked like in the old days—1968 to be precise—and have a look at those prices. Then check out the contributors.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-06-29
Just because: John Steinbeck talks about The Grapes of Wrath in 1952

John Steinbeck talks to the Voice of America about how America has changed since he wrote The Grapes of Wrath. This radio interview was originally broadcast on February 11, 1952: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-29
Almanac: Ernest Hemingway on writers and depression

“That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward.” Ernest Hemingway, letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 13, 1929) Continue reading Almanac: Ernest Hemingway on writers and depression at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-29
Bringing Up Baby | Lockdown Theatre Club 16

Watch Bringing Up Baby with Lockdown Theatre Club on Tuesday 30 June. Bringing Up Baby is available on BBC iPlayer. At 8pm everyone presses play and watches together. You can tweet along (#LockdownTheatreClub) or just enjoy the film knowing we’re all part of an audience together. What is Bringing Up... Read more

Source: Performance Monkey Published on: 2020-06-28
Instagram Slam: Don’t Cancel the Metropolitan Museum’s Embattled Keith Christiansen

The thought-police have come for Keith Christiansen, the Metropolitan Museum’s chairman of European paintings. I’m posting (a blog entry, not bond) to bail him out. As reported in yesterday’s paper by the NY Times‘ Robin Pogrebin, Keith’s ill-advised (now removed) Juneteenth entry on his personal Instagram feed (also vanished) has... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-06-26
The Way the Lines Break

FOR THÉOPHILE GAUTIER This is what is——the serenity of now suspended like cumulus clouds, the night freshened with rain and shafts of white moonlight so bright I can read you by the window. This is the tide hidden from the volcano’s molten flux.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-06-26
What makes a summer movie?

I’ve written an essay for Saturday’s Wall Street Journal about the history of summer movies in America. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Summer is here—but there are no movies to mark its coming. With Hollywood in deep-seated disarray and America’s movie theaters still trying to figure out whether they can reopen... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-26
Imaginary reunion

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review an Original Theater Company/59E59 Theaters webcast of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Except for “The History Boys,” which had a solid run on Broadway in 2006 followed by several regional stagings, Alan Bennett’s plays aren’t widely performed in the... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-06-26