MICHEL PICCOLI (1925-2020),  STALWART OF FRENCH CINEMA WHOSE PROLIFIC CAREER INCLUDED FILMS WITH LUIS BUÑUEL, JEAN-LUC GODARD AND CLAUDE CHABROL by Robert Shuman

(Ronald Bergan's article appeared in the Guardian, 6/18; Photo: The Guardian; via Adam Sullivan) For more than half a century, there seemed to be one constant in French cinema " the actor Mi…

ARS NOVA ANNOUNCES 24 HOUR LIVESTREAM TELETHON, JUNE 12"13   by Robert Shuman

(Via John Wyszniewski, Everyman Agency) The Ars Nova Forever Telethon Features Over 100 Artists with Hosts Freestyle Love Supreme, Ashley Park, Lilli Cooper, Dave Malloy, John Early, Rach…

IS THE HAND QUICKER THAN THE ZOOM WINDOW? by Robert Shuman

(The post appeared first in The New York Times, 5/15; photo: The New York Times; via Pam Green.) Before my scheduled preview performance of "The Present," a new show from the Geffen Pl…

IGOR LEVIT IS LIKE NO OTHER PIANIST by Robert Shuman

(Alex Ross's article appeared in The New Yorker, 5/11.) He's a political activist. His repertory is vast. And, during Germany's shutdown, he streamed more than fifty performances from home. …

BERLINER ENSEMBLE: "MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN" WITH HELENE WEIGEL, "AN UNMISSABLE OPPORTUNITY""UK GUARDIAN by Robert Shuman

STREAMING FROM FRIDAY FOR A WEEK: BERLINER ENSEMBLE""MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN" WITH HELENE WEIGEL, FROM 1957   View Stay at home " BE at home: While the doors of the Berlin ensembl…

LIVING THROUGH THE PLAGUE TIMES " EXCERPT: 'DEATH BY SHAKESPEARE' BY KATHRYN HARKUP by Robert Shuman

(Harkup's excerpt appeared in Shakespeare & Beyond, 5/5; via Pam Green.) What would it have been like to live through the plague outbreaks of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? And w…

LIFE SKETCHES (SHORT SCENES AND MONOLOGUES): "IN THE WOODS" (8)  by Robert Shuman

By Bob Shuman SCENE: In the woods. A small clearing, off a parking lot"hardly more than a triangle where two parallel felled logs act as benches. MARY JANE, early 70's, sits on a log.  As…

BROADWAY SHUTDOWN EXTENDED THROUGH LABOR DAY by Robert Shuman

(David Rooney's article appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, 5/12; Photo: 12newsnow; via the Drudge Report.) The Broadway League on Tuesday confirmed that theaters will remain dark for an add…

ROY HORN OF SIEGFRIED & ROY DIES OF CORONAVIRUS AT 75 by Robert Shuman

(Pat Saperstein's article appeared in Variety, 5/8; photo: Comicbook.com.) Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn, whose collaboration with Siegfried Fischbacher created the well-known animal training and magi…

MABOU MINES: WATCH 'DEAD END KIDS: A STORY OF NUCLEAR POWER' by Robert Shuman

DEAD END KIDS: A STORY OF NUCLEAR POWER Visit and give to Mabou Mines Watch 'Dead End Kids' ________________________ CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY JoAnne Akalaitis THE PLAY … PREMIERE: N…

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (82) by Robert Shuman

Perhaps [some] think that outward acting which does not come from inner experiences but simply from the eye and the ear, acting which is simply a photograph of the painting and the sound the…

SHETLER STUDIOS & THEATRES HAS CLOSED by Robert Shuman

Dear Shetler Studios & Theatres community " We hope you and your loved ones are in good health, and that you are finding positive ways to adapt to the new world we find ourselves living …

OVER 50 ACTORS AND PLAYWRIGHTS UNITE TO FIGHT HUNGER"THE HOMEBOUND PROJECT (FIRST EDITION: 7PM ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 6 UNTIL 7PM ON SUNDAY, MAY 10) by Robert Shuman

(via  John Wyszniewski, Everyman Agency.) The Homebound Project Features Collections of New Theatrical Work in Limited Release View-At-Home Recordings " All Proceeds Benefit No K…

DIXON PLACE TV WEEK 5: EILEEN MYLES, PAUL ZALOOM & MORE! by Robert Shuman

Support and Visit Dixon Place    Our virtual stage is really cooking this week, with 4 new DP TV offerings below. There's even a sneak peek at the puppetry we've been promising! …

TO RESTART AFTER LOCKDOWN, THEATERS NEED TO THINK SMALL by Robert Shuman

(Matt Wolf's article appeared in The New York Times, 4/30; via Pam Green.) LONDON " Right now, it feels like time's been put on hold. Or so I thought one recent afternoon as I walked the qui…

MABOU MINES: FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE 1980'S""HAJJ" by Robert Shuman

Watch Give to Mabou Mines     FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE 1980'S   A NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL/MABOU MINES PRODUCTION PRESENTED BY JOSEPH PAPP HAJJ A PERFORMANCE POEM The Publi…

HOW DE NIRO GAVE US SINATRA'S 'NEW YORK, NEW YORK,' OUR 7 P.M. ANTHEM by Robert Shuman

(Michael Wilson's article appeared in The New York Times, 5/1.) Frank Sinatra can thank Robert De Niro and two annoyed songwriters for the song that revived his career and now is the theme m…

WATCH OFFICIAL FRANKENSTEIN WITH BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AS THE CREATURE | FREE NATIONAL THEATRE FULL PLAY"ONLY UNTIL MAY 7 by Robert Shuman

(National Theatre.) Watch A new play by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley. Watch Danny Boyle's monster hit Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature and Jonny Lee Mi…

WATCH #AIWW: THE ARREST OF AI WEIWEI, STAGED AT HAMPSTEAD THEATRE " VIDEO by Robert Shuman

(from the Guardian.) Written by Howard Brenton and directed by James Macdonald in 2013, this riveting drama based on real events is available to watch until 10pm on 3 May.

APPRECIATION: SHIRLEY KNIGHT, A BRIDGE TO ACTORS STUDIO GREATNESS AND AN ACTING MODEL FOR OTHERS by Robert Shuman

(Charles McNulty's article appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 4/23; photo: Variety.) Luminous is an overused word in theater criticism, but the word is aptly applied to Shirley Knight, the T…

OPERA AT THE EDGE by Robert Shuman

(Matthew Aucoin's article appeared in the New York Review of Books, 5/14.)  Lear an opera by Aribert Reimann, at the Paris Opera, November 21"December 7, 2019 Orest an opera by Manfred Tr…

SONDHEIM 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION by Robert Shuman

JOAN ACOCELLA: ON MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV AND 'THE WHITE HELICOPTER' by Robert Shuman

(Joan Acocella's article appeared in the New York Review of Books, 5/14.) THE RED SHOES The White Helicopter a play by Alvis Hermanis, at the New Riga Theater, Riga, Latvia, opened November …

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (81) by Robert Shuman

The secret of the voice lies in feeling an emotion. Once that is felt, the voice comes of itself. (MLIA)  

HOTTEST FRONT-ROOM SEATS: THE BEST THEATRE AND DANCE TO WATCH ONLINE by Robert Shuman

(Chris Wiegand's article was updated 4/24 and appeared in the Guardian; photo: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/the Guardian.) From live-streams of new plays …

LIFE SKETCHES (SHORT SCENES AND MONOLOGUES): "IN THE WOODS" (7) by Robert Shuman

By Bob Shuman SCENE: In the woods. A small clearing, off a parking lot"hardly more than a triangle where two parallel felled logs act as benches. MARY JANE, early 70's, sits on a log.  As…

MERYL STREEP, PATTI LUPONE, MORE TO PERFORM FOR VIRTUAL SONDHEIM 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION by Robert Shuman

(Maureen Lee Lenker's article appeared in Entertainment Weekly, 4/21; photo: EW; via Pam Green.)  It's time for a virtual celebration of 90 years of Stephen Sondheim being alive. EW…

BELARUS FREE THEATRE: BRITAIN IS IN DANGER OF AUTHORITARIANISM by Robert Shuman

(Natasha Tripney's interview appeared in the Guardian, 4/21.) Natalia Kaliada and Nikolai Khalezin explain how political exile prepared them for lockdown and why their latest project is abou…

BELARUS FREE THEATER: A DISSIDENT COMPANY CELEBRATES 15 YEARS UNDERGROUND by Robert Shuman

(from The New York Times, 4/16; photo: The New York Times;  via Pam Green.) The Belarus Free Theater, founded in 2005 by dissident artists in the former Soviet republic, has operated clan…

FRANK GAGLIANO:  ON WYNN HANDMANN by Robert Shuman

(By Frank Gagliano, 4/19.) When I think of Wynn Handman's recent death, I feel guilty for not staying in touch with him over the years. And I feel (in this plague year, when all theaters …

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (80) by Robert Shuman

In moments of inspiration, when, due to reasons unexplainable to us, one feels not the conception of the words themselves, but the deep meaning that is hidden in them, one finds the simplici…