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Author Archives: dgsweet
Spoiler Alert
If you haven’t seen Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and Yesterday and intend to, now’s the time to stop reading. If you have seen them, did you notice that both use the same plot gimmick for similar effect? … Continue reading
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Monstrous Women
“I think there’s something about monstrous women that’s fascinating. The villainesses. Villainesses are fantastic. We don’t see enough of them.” So said Moira Buffini in my conversation with her in my book, What Playwrights Talk About When They Talk About … Continue reading
Terrence McNally Documentary on AMERICAN MASTERS
Having been involved in NY theatre since 1967, watching Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life stirred up decades of memories. Some of them involve Terrence. I can’t claim to be a close friend, but he and his work have been … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Second City, theater
Tagged American Masters, Chicago Shakespeare, Edward Albee, Elaine May, Jeff Richmond, Lanford Wilson, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Marin Mazzie, Ragtime, Robert Brustein, Terrence McNally, The Ritz, The Tubs, Wendy Wasserstein, What Playwrights Talk About When They Talk About Writing
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Uptown/Downtown
There is a kind of civil war going on on Broadway this season. On one side are the traditional and established parties–the commercial producers, the movie companies, the establishment non-profits that account for the bulk of the productions mounted each … Continue reading
Patterns
Maybe one of the differences between a blog entry and an essay is that an essay should be a shapely, elegant composition. With, you know, a structure, a build. The final sentence should give the reader a sense of arriving … Continue reading
Bad Behavior
Richard in Richard III is intended to be a villain. Shakespeare paints him as evil on legs. And yet, we get impatient when he’s off the stage. Clarence has a long speech filled with poetry. Yes, yes, beautiful, but could … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, film adaptation, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Aaron Sorkin, Abby Rosebrock, Alan Cumming, Atticus Finch, Blue Ridge, Carnal Knowledge, Christopher Walker, Daddy, Downstairs, Halley Feiffer, Hamish Linklater, Happy Birthday Wana June, Harper Lee, Heidi Schreck, Hillary and Clinton, Iago, Ink, Jack Nicholson, Jenny Allen, Jeremy O. Harris, Jessica Tandy, Jez Butterworth, John Osborne, Jules Feiffer, Kurt Vonnegut, Look Back in Anger, Marin Ireland, Marlon Brando, Mike Nichols, Network, Othello, Paddy Chayefsky, Restoration, Richard III, Rita Moreno, Rupert Murdoch, Shakespeare, Socratese, The Double-Dealer, The New Yorker, The Pain of My Own Belligerence, Theresa Rebeck, Tim Blake Nelson, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tyne Daly, What the Constitution Means to Me, Wheelhouse Theater
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Wandering Through History
Sometimes I think of the past as a huge black box, and any time you read a book of history or a biography or a historical novel it’s like shining a concentrated beam of light through that darkness, briefly bringing … Continue reading
Posted in film adaptation, movies
Tagged A World to Win, Alan Brinkley, Amazon streaming, Babylon Berlin, Berlin, Beyond the Fringe, Father Coughlin, FDR, Henry Ford, Hotel Adlon, Huey Long, John le Carre, John Osborne, Labour, Lanny Budd, Meyer Levin, Nazis, Netflix, postwar England, the Beatles, the depression, The Old Bunch, Tory, Traitors, Upton Sinclair, Voices of Protest, WWII
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Icons of the Fifties–Bruce and Holliday
On successive nights I saw shows about two entertainment icons of the 1950s. Neither quite worked, but seeing them in succession triggered a few thoughts. I’m Not a Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce is by Ronnie Marmo and features him as the … Continue reading
Posted in off-Broadway, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged 1950s, Andréa Burns, Annaleigh Ashford, Bob Fosse, Bruce Marmo, Fifties, HUAC, Judy Holliday, Lenny Bruce, obscenity, Willy Holtzman
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Life Sucks
Once upon a time, when a musical opened on Broadway, it was common for a combo to release an LP (everybody remember what an LP is?) of jazz impressions of the score. Shelley Manne released Jazz Performances of Songs from … Continue reading
Thoughts on Rosie’s Theater Kids
I accepted an invitation to attend a performance on Sunday of Rosie’s Theater Kids. Rosie is Rosie O’Donnell, who started the organization to introduce theater to kids in the New York area who might otherwise not be exposed to it … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, theater
Tagged Evanston Township High School, high school, Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie's Theater Kids, theater program
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