Terrence McNally

November 27, 2021

Sondheim

In 1966, ABC decided to try to change its image. It had a reputation for dumb shows with scantily-clad women and car chases. Someone at the network decided they were going to prove they could do quality, too. Thus was born a weekly series called ABC Stage ’67. Its first broadcast was a film version Continue reading

Broadway, off-Broadway, playwriting

A Chorus Line, A LIttle Night Music, ABC Stage ’67, Cabaret, Company, Donna McKechnie, Edward Kleban, Evening Primrose, Finishing the Hat, Follies, For the Left Hand, Gypsy, Hal Prince, Howard Reich, Hugh Wheeler, Joe Allen’s, Jule Styne, Lady in the Dark, Lanford Wilson, Lehman Engel, Maurice Ravel, musical theater, Norman Malone, NYU, Pacific Overtures, Paul Simon, Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim, Take Me to the World, Terrence McNally, The Breaking Point, The Capeman, The Hot L Baltimore, The Killing, Whiskey
March 25, 2020

Terrence McNally

I had the pleasure of knowing Terrence McNally from his off-off-Broadway period. Because I worked free in those days, I played keyboard for the 1973 production of his play WHISKEY at St. Clement’s on West 46th Street. Kevin O’Connor directed. It was about a group of alcoholic country-western stars and their horse (Whiskey). Quite a Continue reading

Uncategorized

1973, Alexandra Billings, Chicago Shakespeare, Chicago theater, Chicago theatre, Dramatists Guild, Edward Albee, Hamlet the Musical, Jack McBreyer, Jeff Richmond, Kander and Ebb, off-off-Broadway, plays, Second City, Terrence McNally, The Visit, theater, Wendy Wasserstein
May 28, 2019

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 a constant presence for decades. He probably doesn’t remember it, but I played organ for Continue reading

Broadway, drama, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Second City, theater

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
May 5, 2019

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 at a destination. A blog–as I see it–can be jottings of things that occur to Continue reading

Broadway, off-Broadway, playwriting, Uncategorized

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Be More Chill, Burn This, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Gary, Kiss Me Kate, Lanford Wilson, Shakespeare, Terrence McNally, Tootsie

About Me

I’m a playwright, journalist, theater historian, teacher and sometime director, dramaturg, songwriter and performer. This looks like a list, but they all feel part of the same impulse to me — to be useful in the theater. (I’ve also done some writing for screen and audio.) Feel free to contact me at jeffreysweet.playwright@gmail.com.

Terrence McNally

Sondheim

Terrence McNally

Terrence McNally Documentary on AMERICAN MASTERS

Patterns