Tis the season of “The Artist”: On screen, in print, and on stage, the man of the hour is the creative genius, the absolutist, the martyr, the suffering sinner redeemed only when he gives himself away, lovingly and without reservations, to his art. Just ask Hollywood, which is all aflutter at . . . . Continue Reading »
Are you religious?” alcoholic rich kid Jay asks high-achieving Ellie. “Spiritual,” she replies. JAY: So you go to yoga twice a week—? ELLIE: Essentially. JAY: Yeah see that’s garbage. ELLIE: It’s better than nothing. JAY: No, it is nothing. ELLIE: Probably. Matthew Gasda, in whose . . . . Continue Reading »
Dana Gioia joins the podcast to discuss his new translation of a Seneca play, Seneca: The Madness of Hercules. Continue Reading »
In 1947, the three most exciting Jews in American entertainment got together to plan their first collaboration. Jerome Robbins had struck Broadway box office gold with On the Town three years earlier. The same show proved that Leonard Bernstein was as skilled at writing a catchy tune as . . . . Continue Reading »
When Stephen Sondheim died in late November at ninety-one, the eulogies, tributes, and bouquets from critics and tastemakers were entirely expected. The Broadway composer and lyricist left the Earth having earned multiple Tonys and Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize, an Oscar, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a . . . . Continue Reading »
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who comprised the most consequential partnership in the history of American musical theater, were brought together by chance. It happened in the early 1940s, when each on his own cottoned to the idea of adapting the play Green Grow the Lilacs into . . . . Continue Reading »
A review of Tom Dulack’s Paradise Lost, playing now in New York. Continue Reading »
A review of Will Arbery's Heroes of the Fourth Turning, playing now in Manhattan’s Theater District. Continue Reading »
Featuring Sunil Iyengar on current trends in Americans’ engagement with the arts. Continue Reading »
A review of Jonathan Leaf's Pushkin: A Life Played Out. Continue Reading »
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