All stories by Terry Teachout on BroadwayStars

Monday, April 13, 2020

Almanac: C.S. Lewis on culture in times of crisis by Terry Teachout

"Plausible reasons have never been lacking for putting off all merely cultural activities until some imminent danger has been averted or some crying injustice put right. But humanity long ag…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 10, 2020

When the actors do it their way by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review the American Shakespeare Center's webcasts of Much Ado About Nothing and both parts of Henry IV. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * As America's t…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Some of Manie's Friends by Terry Teachout

Some of Manie's Friends, an extremely rare kinescope of a televised tribute to Manie Sacks, the recording-company executive, hosted by Perry Como and originally broadcast by NBC on March 3, …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Rex Stout on ignorance by Terry Teachout

"There's nothing as safe as ignorance"or as dangerous." Rex Stout, "The Squirt and the Monkey" Continue reading Almanac: Rex Stout on ignorance at About Last Night.

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 9, 2020

Almanac: Akira Kurosawa on ignorance and the mask of sanity by Terry Teachout

"Ignorance is a kind of insanity in the human animal. People who delight in torturing defenseless children or tiny creatures are in reality insane. The terrible thing is that people who are …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 05:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Snapshot: Elaine May and Mike Nichols by Terry Teachout

"Nichols and May: Take Two," an American Masters documentary about Elaine May and Mike Nichols originally telecast on PBS in 1996: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-re…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Ray Bradbury on immortality by Terry Teachout

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something yo…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Lookback: on gratitude by Terry Teachout

From 2010: Each day is, of course, its own challenge, and I'm sure that I'll forget to be grateful for all my good fortune at some particularly exasperating point in the week to come. But th…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Evelyn Waugh on happiness and good fortune by Terry Teachout

"Fortune is the least capricious of deities, and arranges things on the just and rigid system that no one shall be very happy for very long." Evelyn Waugh, Labels (courtesy of Richard Zue…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 6, 2020

Celebrating a life by Terry Teachout

Many of you have been asking if there are plans for a funeral or memorial service for Hilary Teachout, my beloved wife, who died peacefully on Tuesday night after we spent our last good day …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 04:57PM[SHARE]

A letter to unknown friends by Terry Teachout

A few days after my beloved Hilary received her double-lung transplant, I published an open letter in The Wall Street Journal addressed to the family of the anonymous organ donor, now dec…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:02AM[SHARE]

Just because: George Balanchine and Suzanne Farrell in Don Quixote by Terry Teachout

George Balanchine and Suzanne Farrell dance the "vision scene" from Balanchine's Don Quixote, choreographed in 1965. The score is by Nicolas Nabokov: (This is the latest in a series of a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Marcel Pagnol on human life by Terry Teachout

"Such is the life of man. A few joys, quickly obliterated by unforgettable sorrows. "There is no need to tell the children so." Marcel Pagnol, In My Mother's Castle (courtesy of Bruce Baw…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 3, 2020

Tripleplusgood by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review a pay-per-view webcast performance by Houston's Alley Theatre of a stage version of 1984. (This review was written before the death of my wife Hilary.…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 01:04AM[SHARE]

Joy in the afternoon by Terry Teachout

This is, first of all, an expression of profound gratitude. I knew that many people were following the unfolding story of my beloved Hilary, but I had no idea how many until I posted this tr…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 01:03AM[SHARE]

Replay: Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring by Terry Teachout

The New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble plays the original chamber-orchestra version of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring in concert in 2014: (This is the latest in a series of …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 01:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Louisa May Alcott on love and death by Terry Teachout

"'I used to think I couldn't let you go, but I'm learning to feel that I don't lose you, that you'll be more to me than ever, and death can't part us, though it seems to.' "'I know it cannot…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 2, 2020

Almanac: J.M. Synge on death by Terry Teachout

"Michael has a clean burial in the far north, by the grace of the Almighty God. Bartley will have a fine coffin out of the white boards, and a deep grave surely. What more can we wa…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Snapshot: Aretha Franklin sings Hoagy Carmichael by Terry Teachout

Aretha Franklin sings "Skylark," by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, on The New Steve Allen Show. This episode was originally taped on May 19, 1964, for syndicated telecast: (This …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Justice Holmes on the death of his wife by Terry Teachout

"Of course I knew I could rely on your sympathy. I am reconciled by the certainty that a continuance of life would have meant only a continuance of pain and suffering of which my wife had ha…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Hilary Teachout, R.I.P. by Terry Teachout

Hilary Dyson Teachout, the "Mrs. T" of this blog, suffered throughout the decade and a half of our life together from pulmonary hypertension, a rare and devastating illness that gnawed inexo…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 08:00PM[SHARE]

Lookback: some memories of a son and spouse by Terry Teachout

From 2017: The same friend asked me the other day to sum up my life. "I had a mother who believed I could do anything I wanted," I replied. "Now I have a wife who believes the same thing. Th…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Ursula K. Le Guin on suffering by Terry Teachout

"If you evade suffering you also evade the chance of joy. Pleasure you may get, or pleasures, but you will not be fulfilled." Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia Cont…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 30, 2020

Reason to believe by Terry Teachout

If you haven't seen my Facebook posting about Mrs. T, here it is: Dear Friends: I can't believe I'm posting this message, but…after looking at this morning's stats, Mrs. T's doctors now be…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Just because: Ton Koopman plays Bach by Terry Teachout

Ton Koopman plays Bach's Chorale Prelude "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele," BWV 654:  (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Mon…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 09:50AM[SHARE]

Almanac: E.M. Forster on courage by Terry Teachout

"Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life." E.M. Forster, "The Poetry of C.P. Cavafy" Continue reading Almanac: E.M. Forster on courage at About Last Night.

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 29, 2020

Encouraging words by Terry Teachout

I just spoke on the phone to Mrs. T's nurse, who passed on a report from her doctors about her condition at midday Sunday. It now appears that she is holding her own"her blood pressure is do…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 01:31PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 27, 2020

A thank-you note by Terry Teachout

To everyone who's written to me here and in the social media with kind and encouraging words of all sorts, both for me and for Mrs. T, I want to thank you very much for being in touch. It me…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:04AM[SHARE]

Created unequal by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review a webcast of Syracuse Stage's revival of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * Syracuse Stage's revival of Peter Shaffer's "…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:03AM[SHARE]

Big trouble for the performing arts by Terry Teachout

I've written an essay for the weekend Wall Street Journal that minces no words: the coronavirus pandemic is already a disaster for the performing arts in America, and things will get wors…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Lotte Lenya sings "Pirate Jenny" by Terry Teachout

Lotte Lenya sings "Pirate Jenny" (from The Three-Penny Opera) on "The World of Kurt Weill," an episode of NET Playhouse originally telecast in 1967. Bertolt Brecht's lyrics are sung in…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 06:01AM[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