All stories by Terry Teachout on BroadwayStars

Monday, October 5, 2015

Tweets in search of a context: the great acceleration by Terry Teachout

I have yet to see Best of Enemies, the film documentary on the William F. Buckley, Jr.-Gore Vidal TV debates, originally telecast by ABC in 1968, about which acres of windy prose have lately…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]

Just because: Lionel Hampton plays "Flying Home" on TV in 1957 by Terry Teachout

Lionel Hampton and his orchestra play "Flying Home" on The Big Record, originally telecast by CBS on October 23, 1957. They are introduced by Patti Page: (This is the latest in a series of a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: A.E. Housman on stupidity and vanity by Terry Teachout

"Most men are rather stupid, and most of those who are not stupid are, consequently, rather vain; and it is hardly possible to step aside from the pursuit of truth without falling a victim e…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 2, 2015

Brian Friel, R.I.P. by Terry Teachout

Brian Friel was barely more than a name to me when I became the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal in 2003. No play of his had been seen on Broadway since Translations ran briefly there…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 10:04AM[SHARE]

Handfuls of poetry by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway transfer of Deaf West Theatre's revival of Spring Awakening and the Chicago transfer of the Aaron Posner-Teller production of The Tempest…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]

Replay: Norman Mailer and Marshall McLuhan debate in 1968 by Terry Teachout

Norman Mailer and Marshall McLuhan talk about technology on The Summer Way, originally telecast on the CBC in 1968: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: John Dryden on democracy by Terry Teachout

Nor is the people's judgment always true: The most may err as grossly as the few. John Dryden, "Absalom and Achitophel"

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 1, 2015

My kind of person by Terry Teachout

Apropos of this really embarrassing piece, my kind of person… ' …prefers hot dogs to hamburgers. ' …prefers trains to planes"in theory. ' …likes Johnny Mercer best: ' …likes Caroly…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]

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 Wal…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: George Bernard Shaw on stoicism by Terry Teachout

"He who has never hoped can never despair. Caesar, in good or bad fortune, looks his fate in the face." George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A late-night playlist from Mrs. T's personal DJ by Terry Teachout

I was playing records for Mrs. T in our hotel room late last night. She claimed to be more than usually pleased by my eclectic playlist, so I thought I'd share it with you as well: ' Johnny …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]

Snapshot: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie in 1965 by Terry Teachout

Frank Sinatra and Count Basie perform "Fly Me to the Moon," "Please Be Kind," "Too Marvelous for Words," "Everybody Has a Right to Be Wrong," and "The Gal That Got Away" on The Hollywood Pal…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Sybille Bedford on youthful ignorance by Terry Teachout

"You see, when one's young one doesn't feel part of it yet, the human condition; one does things because they are not 'for good'; one thinks everything is a rehearsal. To be repeated ad lib,…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Lookback: fifteen albums in fifteen minutes by Terry Teachout

From 2010: A number of friends have invited me to play the following game that's been making the rounds in cyberspace: The rules: Don't take too long to think about it"choose fifteen albums …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: V.S. Naipaul on plot vs. narrative by Terry Teachout

"Plot is for those who already know the world; narrative is for those who want to discover it." V.S. Naipaul (quoted in David Hare, The Blue Touch Paper)

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 28, 2015

Enough seen by Terry Teachout

Mrs. T and I are in Pittsburgh to see a play. Our last visit here took place four years ago, when we flew out to catch a rare revival of Alan Ayckbourn's House and Garden, then drove back to…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 05:30AM[SHARE]

Just because: Manhattan in Technicolor in 1949 by Terry Teachout

"Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City," a 1949 Technicolor documentary short written and narrated by James A. FitzPatrick and directed by James H. Smith: (This is the latest in a series …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 05:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Sir Walter Raleigh on hate by Terry Teachout

"Hatreds are the cinders of affection." Sir Walter Raleigh, letter to Sir Robert Cecil (May 10, 1593).

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 05:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 25, 2015

By George, they've got it! by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I report on two regional revivals, a small-scale My Fair Lady in Boston and a storefront staging of The Time of Your Life in Chicago. Here's an excerpt. * * * …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:45AM[SHARE]

Replay: Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer in 1962 by Terry Teachout

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet appears on Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual. Bob Brookmeyer is the valve trombonist, Wyatt Ruther the bassist, Gus Johnson the drummer. This half-hour episode was taped…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Gerry Mulligan on specialists and generalists in American life by Terry Teachout

"It seems that in this country, you’re expected to be a specialist. People get used to you in a certain role in life, and they don’t like you to step out of it. In other countrie…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 24, 2015

Almanac: Burt Lancaster on the meaning of a movie star's life by Terry Teachout

"We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not the films." Burt Lancaster, quoted in Alain Silver and James Ursini, What Ever Happened to Robert Aldrich?

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Snapshot: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sing a duet at the 1958 Oscars by Terry Teachout

Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sing "It's Great Not to Be Nominated" at the 1958 Academy Awards ceremony. (The song was written for them by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen.) Neither man had…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Burt Lancaster on the meaning of life by Terry Teachout

"Whether you like it or not, when you're sixty-two you're fulfilled." Burt Lancaster, quoted in Photoplay (June 1975)

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Lookback: on applauding between movements by Terry Teachout

From 2003: I continue to see obviously excited concertgoers shamefacedly sitting on their hands at the very moment when they ought to be raising a ruckus. What’s more, the concert hall…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Burt Lancaster on the pursuit of happiness by Terry Teachout

"I am reasonably happy, providing I keep busy." Burt Lancaster, in conversation with Ernest Lehman (quoted in Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 21, 2015

The man who made jazz sexy by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I write about jazz as a cultural signifier"and how Hugh Hefner's Playboy helped to shape that significance. Here's an excerpt. * * * Contrar…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 04:13PM[SHARE]

Presents to myself by Terry Teachout

' My theater-related travel and the resulting deadlines haven't left me with much spare time of late, but I've still managed in the past couple of weeks to consume and enjoy an album and two…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:30AM[SHARE]

Just because: Mozart's "Contessa, perdono" in performance and in Amadeus by Terry Teachout

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Kiri Te Kanawa sing "Contessa, perdono," an excerpt from the finale of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), accompanied by Karl Böhm and the Vi…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:15AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Lionel Trilling on tragedy and farce by Terry Teachout

"Laskell had made a stab at a station he could not usually get and by some luck of atmospheric condition he broke into the recorded Glyndebourne performance of The Marriage of Figaro. It was…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 18, 2015

Balm for a dry soul by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal drama column I write about a Chicago revival of The Rainmaker and the New York transfer of a very important regional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. H…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM[SHARE]

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