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Category Archives: playwriting
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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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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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
After by Michael McKeever
At first, After, a play by Michael McKeever, is reminiscent of God of Carnage, the Yasmina Reza play about two sets of parents meeting to sort out a conflict involving their sons. Carnage, however, plays out in one act in … Continue reading
Posted in drama, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, theater
Tagged 59e59th Street Theater, God of Carnage, Joe Brancato, Michael McKeever, Yasmine Reza
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“Mockingbird” — Stage and Screen
Kristine and I just watched the film version of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a few days after seeing the play. The differences between the film and the stage play are instructive. In the film, the Finches’ housekeeper, Calpurnia, has maybe … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, film adaptation, movies, playwriting, Uncategorized
Tagged 1930s, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Aaoron Sorkin, Alabama, Betty Smith, Calpurnia, Elia Kazan, Gavin Stevens, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, Intruder in the Dust, Lucas Beauchamp, Oxford Mississippi, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, William Faulkner
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Rejected by the O’Neill
I have heard from a number of friends that that have received word that they will not advance to the next level of consideration at the O’Neill. It may surprise some that, even though I wrote the book about the … Continue reading
In Dialogue
One of the differences between a blog post and an essay is that an essay is expected to be shapely and to move to some resonant conclusion. Occasionally a blog post will end resonantly, but mostly I find blogging is … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, film adaptation, playwriting, Uncategorized
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, American Buffalo, Angels in America, David Hare, David Mamet, David Storey, Heidi Schreck, John Osborne, Joyce Maynard, Look Back in Anger, Royal Court, Shelagh Delaney, The New Yorker, Tony Kushner, Trevor Griffiths, What the Constitution Means to Me
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“The Trial of the Catonsville Nine”
If you check ibdb.com for the listing of the cast of The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, which opened on Broadway in 1971, you’ll find it numbered sixteen (including such notables as Mason Adams, Michael Moriarty, Josef Sommer, Helen Stenborg, … Continue reading
Ramblings about “The Sea Gull” (or “The Seagull”)
I finally got around to seeing Michael Mayer’s film adaptation of The Seagull. The best reason to catch it is for Annette Bening’s performance as Arkadina. Arkadina is an actress who can’t stop performing when she’s offstage, and Bening nails … Continue reading
Posted in Chekhov, drama, film adaptation, movies, playwriting, The Sea Gull, theater
Tagged actors, movies, playwriting
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