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“American Buffalo” on Broadway
In 2001, I served on a grand jury. At one point, an ADA played for us a recording from a wiretap. It was a conversation between two members of a violent drug gang. One was assigning the other to kill … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, improvisation, playwriting, Second City, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged American Buffalo, David Mamet, Harold Pinter, Neil Pepe, St. Nicholas Theater
2 Comments
Reviewing or Criticism?
I’m going to make a purely personal discrimination. It seems to me that reviews and pieces of criticism are different things. A review exists to give the reader advice on whether or not the work being covered is worth attending. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
“Plaza Suite”
Neil Simon wrote a lot of plays I admire and have watched with pleasure multiple times. But inevitably there are some that appeal to me more than others. I saw the original production of Plaza Suite. It was directed by … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
“The Weissensee Saga”
It’s common for the author of historical fiction to want to cram in as many aspects of the period being covered as can be managed. Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War and War and Remembrance moves various branches of “Pug” … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berlin Dance Academy, German TV, Herman Wouk, The Restaurant, the Stasi, Weissenssee
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ALICE ADAMS — book and film
Finished reading Booth Tarkington’s Alice Adams recently and watched George Stevens’s film adaptation. The racism in the book is dismaying but not entirely surprising for a book that was published in 1921. The good stuff in it is very good … Continue reading
Thoughts on “Prayer For the French Republic”
At a time when we’ve gotten used to tasty 90-minute hors d’oeuvres, it’s exhilarating to encounter a play with enough on its mind to hold the attention for three hours (including two 10-minute intermissions). Joshua Harmon’s Prayer For the French … Continue reading
Richard Christiansen
I wrote a piece for American Theatre about the late, great Richard Christiansen, a critic who had a major part in the Chicago theater renaissance. And also a friend of mine. Here’s the link — Remembering Richard Christiansen
Posted in Chicago theater, Uncategorized
Tagged American Theatre Magazine, Richard Christiansen
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Thoughts after watching THE VERDICT
Just watched The Verdict for the first time since it came out forty years ago in 1982. Sidney Lumet at the top of his game, a perfect damn script by David Mamet (I can’t say how much it owes to the … Continue reading
Posted in Chicago theater, drama, film adaptation, movies, off-Broadway, playwriting, Pulitzer Prize, Second City, Uncategorized
Tagged American Buffalo, Daniel, David Mamet, Duck Variations, Glengarry Glen Ross, Harold Pinter, James Mason, Jay Presson Allen, Julie Bovasso, Lewis Stadlen, Lindsay Crouse, Mike Nussbaum, Paul Newman, Prince of the City, Sidney Lumet, Slap Shot, St. Nicholas Theater, Stanley Richards, The Verdict, Village Voice, W.H. Macy
1 Comment
AUTUMN SONATA (2 Bergmans)
Just watched Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata again (with Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann) for the first time in decades. There are things in it that drive me crazy. The characters explain stuff endlessly in the past tense, and that’s usually … Continue reading
Posted in Chekhov, New York, The Sea Gull, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged Anna Christie, Autumn Sonata, Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Bergman, Jill Eikenberry, John Lithgow, Liv Ullmann, White Plains
1 Comment
Review: “The Visitor”
For about the first half of its 90-minute running time, The Visitor, the new musical playing at the Public Theater based on Tom McCarthy’s 2007 film, works very nicely indeed. Kwame Kwei-Armah and Brian Yorkey’s script effectively translates McCarthy’s screenplay … Continue reading
Posted in drama, movies, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Uncategorized
Tagged "David Hyde Piere", "The Visitor", Brian Yorkey, immigration, Kwame Kwei-Armah, musical, My Fair Lady, Tom Kitt, Tom McCarthy
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