All stories by Terry Teachout on BroadwayStars

Friday, February 8, 2019

Almanac: Joseph Addison on hatred by Terry Teachout

"If you hate your enemies, you will contract such a vicious habit of mind, as by degrees will break out upon those who are your friends, or those who are indifferent to you." Joseph Addison,…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 7, 2019

So you want to see a show? by Terry Teachout

Here's my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Will Rogers on poverty by Terry Teachout

"There is one rule that works in every calamity. Be it pestilence, war, or famine, the rich get richer and poor get poorer. The poor even help arrange it." Will Rogers, Daily Teleg…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Minor milestone by Terry Teachout

I turned sixty-three today. Tonight Mrs. T, her father, and I are going to see Moses Pendleton's Momix, a modern dance troupe that's new to her and which I haven't seen for longer than I can…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:03AM[SHARE]

Snapshot: Perry Como sings "Lucky to Be Me" by Terry Teachout

Perry Como sings "Lucky to Be Me" (from On the Town), by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. This performance was originally broadcast on NBC's Chesterfield Supper C…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Rochefoucauld on good luck by Terry Teachout

"Fortune turns all things to the advantage of those on whom she smiles." François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims 

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Lookback: a pair of lists by Terry Teachout

From 2009: Mr. Elegant Variation has posted a list by James Wood of what he regards as the best British and American writing since 1945. The list was drawn up in 1994 and consists in the mai…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Leo Strauss on reading the classics by Terry Teachout

"Our understanding of the thought of the past is liable to be the more adequate, the less the historian is convinced of the superiority of his own point of view, or the more he is prepared t…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 4, 2019

Just because: Robert Altman's Corn's-a-Poppin' by Terry Teachout

The original trailer for Corn's-a-Poppin', Robert Altman's first film, released in 1956: To learn more about the history of this film, go here. (This is the latest in a series of a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Somerset Maugham on "clever young men" by Terry Teachout

"It is very natural that clever young men should be rather odious. They are conscious of gifts that they do not know how to use. They are exasperated with the world that will not recognize t…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 1, 2019

Song of innocence by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal drama column, I review a small-scale off-off-Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! Here's an excerpt. *  *  * Eugene O'Neill…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:04AM[SHARE]

When seeing must be believing by Terry Teachout

In my latest Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, I talk about They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson's new World War II documentary, and the way in which it uses digital techni…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:03AM[SHARE]

Hear me talking to you (cont'd) by Terry Teachout

Titus Techera, who hosts a podcast for the American Cinema Foundation on which he and his guests discuss important films of the past and present, invited me back to talk about Jacques Tourne…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Henri Matisse at work in 1946 by Terry Teachout

Henri Matisse, filmed while working on "Young Woman in White, Red Background": To view the finished painting, go here. (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos tha…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Aldous Huxley on old age in dystopia by Terry Teachout

"Work, play"at sixty our powers and tastes are what they were at seventeen. Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking"thinkin…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 31, 2019

Almanac: Laurence Olivier on the actor's temperament by Terry Teachout

"If I wasn’t an actor, I think I’d have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights. Art is a little bit larger than life"it…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Snapshot: Frank Sinatra sings "Send in the Clowns" by Terry Teachout

Frank Sinatra sings Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" (from A Little Night Music).This performance, taped in front of a live audience, was originally telecast by NBC on November 1…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Somerset Maugham on the actor in old age by Terry Teachout

"By the time an actor knows how to act any sort of part he is often too old to act any but a few." W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Lookback: on "definitive" biographies by Terry Teachout

From 2009: A great man (or woman) is too big to cram into a book-sized box. The best that you can do is offer a summary of the current state of knowledge about him, written from your own poi…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Jean Kerr on movie stars by Terry Teachout

"Movie actors are just ordinary mixed-up people"with agents." Jean Kerr, Mary, Mary

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 28, 2019

Just because: George Raft and Carole Lombard dance a duet by Terry Teachout

George Raft and Carole Lombard dance a duet in Rumba, a 1935 film directed by Marion Gering. The song to which they are dancing is Ralph Rainger's "The Magic of You": (This is the lates…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Martha Graham on the purpose of dance by Terry Teachout

"We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 25, 2019

The case for Chopin by Terry Teachout

My latest monthly essay for Commentary, occasioned by Alan Walker's important new primary-source biography of Fryderyk Chopin, is now on line: Chopin…was a publicity-shunning introvert who…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 10:32AM[SHARE]

Broadway cosplay by Terry Teachout

The twenty-sixth episode of Three on the Aisle, the twice-monthly podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 09:47AM[SHARE]

Home invasion by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal drama column, I review a new Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's True West. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * Sooner or later, most serious pla…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Ronald Reagan appears on What's My Line? by Terry Teachout

Ronald Reagan appears as the mystery guest on What's My Line?The host is John Daly and panelists are Steve Allen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis, and Dorothy Kilgallen. This segment was o…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Rollo May on anxiety by Terry Teachout

"The awareness of the relationship between the self and the world is precisely what breaks down in anxiety." Rollo May, The Meaning of Anxiety

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 24, 2019

Almanac: Bertrand Russell on fear of disaster by Terry Teachout

"Dread of disaster makes everybody act in the very way that increases the disaster." Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Snapshot: a rare extended interview with Bing Crosby by Terry Teachout

Bing Crosby is interviewed by Michael Parkinson in 1972. This clip was originally telecast as part of an episode of Parkinson, which was aired by the BBC on December 23, 1972: (This is …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: George Steiner on the roots of tragedy by Terry Teachout

"Tragedy springs from outrage; it protests at the conditions of life." George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Lookback: John Updike, R.I.P. by Terry Teachout

From 2009: I never succeeded in engaging with John Updike's work, and I've always assumed that the fault is mine. Throughout my lifetime he was the very model of a modern man of letters, a q…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off