All stories by Terry Teachout on BroadwayStars

Friday, September 20, 2019

Putting Arthur Miller through Bedlam's Crucible by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review the Massachusetts opening of Bedlam's new revival of The Crucible. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * Sixty-six years ago, everyone who saw "The C…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Leopold Stokowski conducts Bach in Hollywood by Terry Teachout

Leopold Stokowski conducts a studio orchestra in his arrangements of Bach's Chorale-Prelude "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott," BWV 720, and the G Minor "Little" Fugue, BWV 578, in The B…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Thomas Harris on faith by Terry Teachout

"Faith in any sort of natural justice was nothing but a night-light; she knew that. Whatever she did, she would end the same way everyone does: flat on her back with a tube in her nose, wond…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 19, 2019

Almanac: Thomas Harris on men and women by Terry Teachout

"She liked sex very much, but years ago she had learned something about men; most of them are terrified of entailing a burden." Thomas Harris, Red Dragon

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Snapshot: Harry Nilsson sings "1941" by Terry Teachout

Harry Nilsson sings a solo version of his song "1941." This performance is an excerpt from The World of Nilsson, originally telecast by the BBC on January 1, 1972: (This is the latest in …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Roger Scruton on hobbies by Terry Teachout

"Just as there is nothing more boring than boredom, nothing more exciting than excitement, nothing more lovable than love or hateful than hatred, so is there nothing that arouses interest so…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Lookback: on outliving old friends by Terry Teachout

From 2004: None of my closest friends in Manhattan knew me when: we didn't meet until after I'd figured out who I was and what I wanted to become. On the other hand, the friends of our youth…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Thomas Harris on middle age by Terry Teachout

"It seemed to Graham that he had learned nothing in forty years: he had just gotten tired." Thomas Harris, Red Dragon

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 16, 2019

Just because: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays Ravel by Terry Teachout

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays Ravel's "Le Gibet" (from Gaspard de la nuit) on TV in 1975: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this spa…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Ross Macdonald on the verbal classes by Terry Teachout

"I'd been having a little too much talk with people whose business was talking. It was good to sit at the counter of a working-class restaurant where men spoke when they wanted something, or…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 13, 2019

Two on the aisle (for now, anyway) by Terry Teachout

The thirty-seventh episode of Three on the Aisle, the (usually) twice-monthly podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 11:55AM[SHARE]

Proof positive by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review a Baltimore revival of David Auburn's Proof. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * David Auburn is having an excellent year. His new stage adaptation…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson meets Fats Waller by Terry Teachout

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Jeni LeGon, and Fats Waller perform "I'm Livin' in a Great Big Way," by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, in Hooray for Love, directed by Walter Lang and release…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Ross Macdonald on casinos by Terry Teachout

"I went inside the club, where the late afternoon crowd were enjoying themselves, if gamblers can be said to enjoy themselves. They wheedled cards or dice like sinners praying to heaven for …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 12, 2019

Almanac: Ross Macdonald on advice by Terry Teachout

"I'd given up offering advice. Even when people asked for it, they resented getting it." Ross Macdonald, The Galton Case

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 11, 2019

How it was by Terry Teachout

' A few weeks after 9/11, I wrote an essay about where I was and what I did that day: "Get up, son," my mother said, tapping softly on the door of the bedroom of my childhood home in Missour…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Solemn musics by Terry Teachout

Because music is my first language, it stands to reason that for me, the memory of 9/11 should be inextricably caught up with the sound of music. I attended and wrote about many memorial con…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Mr. Dooley on fanaticism by Terry Teachout

"A fanatic is a man that does what he thinks th' Lord wud do if He knew th' facts iv th' case." Finley Peter Dunne, Mr. Dooley's Philosophy

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Lookback: the function of book blogging…once upon a time by Terry Teachout

From 2009: Patrick Kurp of Anecdotal Evidence and D.G. Myers of A Commonplace Blog are jointly conducting a serial symposium called "The Function of Book Blogging at the Present Time" …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Budd Schulberg on sociopathy by Terry Teachout

"Going through life with a conscience is like driving your car with the brakes on." Budd Schulberg, What Makes Sammy Run?

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 9, 2019

Just because: Fats Domino appears on The Perry Como Show by Terry Teachout

Fats Domino sings and plays "Valley of Tears," "It's You I Love," and "I'm Walkin'" on The Perry Como Show. He is introduced and interviewed by Como prior to the performances. This episod…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Flannery O'Connor on the meaning of fiction by Terry Teachout

"A story really isn't any good unless it successfully resists paraphrase." Flannery O'Connor, "On Her Own Work"

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 6, 2019

Pinter without pauses by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway transfer of Jamie Lloyd's revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, starring Tom Hiddleston. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * "Betrayal"…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Replay: the New York subway in 1905 by Terry Teachout

"Interior N.Y. Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street," a rare silent film shot in 1905 and originally released by the American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.: (This is the latest in a series of a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Sydney Smith on country life by Terry Teachout

"I have no relish for the country; it is a kind of healthy grave." Sydney Smith, letter to Georgiana Harcourt (1838)

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 5, 2019

With biographies, size matters by Terry Teachout

In this week's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, I call for shorter, better biographies. The immediate occasion is the publication of Con Chapman's Rabbit's Blues: The Life and Music o…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:02AM[SHARE]

Almanac: Samuel Fuller on war movies by Terry Teachout

"For moviegoers to get the idea of real combat, you'd have to shoot at them every so often from either side of the screen." Samuel Fuller, A Third Face

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Snapshot: Mabel Mercer performs in 1976 by Terry Teachout

Mabel Mercer and Jimmy Lyon appear on The Mark of Jazz, hosted by Sid Mark and originally telecast on WHYY-TV in 1976: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: S.N. Behrman on vanity in the theater by Terry Teachout

"Jed Harris, in the full tide of success, could not imagine that anything he would do would fail; this is a form of imagination that must be acquired early by anyone who consigns his life to…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Lookback: things I miss by Terry Teachout

From 2009: ' Rooftop TV antennas. I don't miss the lamentably fuzzy reception that they provided, or the fact that my family could only pick up three channels in Smalltown, U.S.A. (I n…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:01AM[SHARE]

Almanac: S.N. Behrman on novelists and playwrights by Terry Teachout

"The author of a well-received novel never knows whether his book, even if it sells, is also read. Nor does he know where his reader yawns, at what page he may have decided that he wants no …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AM[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