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What I’m Trying to Do Here
For something like thirty years, I had the luxury of writing a column for Dramatics, a magazine put out by the Educational Theater Association. The primary audience was high school kids enrolled in drama programs. It was a terrific gig. I generally wrote six pieces a year, so, unlike other critics, I wasn’t under pressure Continue reading
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“Deep in My Heart”–Stanley Donen and Sigmund Romberg
Some years ago, I was at a memorial for a friend who had appeared at the Compass in Chicago. I saw a man standing to the side looking a bit perturbed. Elaine May was attending the memorial and, putting two and two together, I realized who he must be and took a stab at why Continue reading
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Returning to the Scene
To be simultaneously separated by masks (I wear two) and joined in responding with laughter with hundreds of others is to experience the contradictions of going to the theater these days. Of course, you can’t see the mouths, but maybe you see someone’s eyebrows dance or a tiny backward jerk of the head. In olden Continue reading
A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Alex Wyse, Ben Fankhauser, Bridge Theatre, Bryonha Marie Parham, Charlotte Bydwell, covid, Dan Wagoner, Hal Prince, Jay O. Sanders, Lakawanna Blues, Martyna Majok, Maryann Plunkett, National Theatre, Porch, Prince of Broadway, Rhinebeck, Richard Nelson, Robert LePage, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Stratford Festival, What Happened? -
Review: “Sanctuary City”
Movie trailers today mostly are constructed the same way – a line or two of characters yelling or a violent incident quick cuts to another violent incident or line or two of characters yelling. And accompanying each cut is a loud thudding or whomping sound designed to jolt the audience to attention. Using these noises Continue reading
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“People on Sunday”–a film of pre-Nazi Berlin
Have started reading Joseph McBride’s new book, Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge, which naturally led to my watching People on Sunday, a silent film co-directed by Robert Siodmak and Edgar Ulmer (with assists from Curt Siodmak, Fred Zinnemann and Wilder). The easy summary is that it’s mostly about four young people on a sunny Continue reading
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Men in White, Sidney Kingsley, and Ancillary Thoughts
I recently read Sidney Kingsley’s play, Men in White (1933), and last night I watched the 1934 film adaptation directed by Richard Boleslawski. (Interesting that Boleslawski directed the film version of a work that had been directed on Broadway by one of his students, Lee Strasberg.) As was the case with Street Scene, the film Continue reading
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A Forgotten Play Yields Treasure
One of the pleasures of trawling the depths of the Broadway HD streaming channel is digging up obscurities. Often, they are obscure for good reason. I can’t say that Don Appell’s Lullaby is any great shakes as a piece of dramatic writing. But I can say that it features something rare: a great performance in Continue reading
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New York Through Kids’ Eyes
One of the benefits of marrying Kristine twelve years ago (July 15 was our anniversary) is that I acquired, with no effort, six grandchildren. Four of them visited us this past week. Whenever you host visitors, you can’t help but experience your town through their eyes. This visit had the added aspect of urging us Continue reading
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Jeffrey Sweet--Making the Scene 