Monday, October 24, 2016
“I have no answer to the great civic questions raised by the behavior of Furtwängler or the other artists I have named. Splendid artists all, they compromised their civic virtue in order …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMFriday, October 21, 2016
In today’s Wall Street Journal I review two Roundabout Theatre Company productions, the U.S. premiere of Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love and a Broadway revival of The Cherry Orchard. He…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMThe main titles and prologue of Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. The score is by William Walton: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“Skepticism as a philosophy is not merely doubt, but what may be called dogmatic doubt. The man of science says ‘I think it is so-and-so, but I am not sure.’ The man of intellectual cu…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMThursday, October 20, 2016
In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column I look at the current rash of symphony-orchestra strikes, and offer a historical perspective. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Two American …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM“Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.” Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMWednesday, October 19, 2016
Alfred Cortot plays Chopin’s A Flat Waltz, Op. 69/1, in Paris in 1943: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“I always thought that one secret of a good western, with the exception maybe of High Noon, is that the story’s problem is not the leading man’s problem. The leading man should be able…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMTuesday, October 18, 2016
From 2006: Love-hungry bachelors of the Fifties and early Sixties were notorious for using jazz and romantic ballads to grease the skids. Frank Sinatra, I’m told, was their artist of choic…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“My theory has always been to write a real small story against a big background.” Burt Kennedy (quoted in The Guardian, February 16, 2001)
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMMonday, October 17, 2016
I started writing newspaper and magazine profiles, mostly of musicians, some thirty-odd years ago. I only gave it up when my duties as a peripatetic drama critic grew too demanding. It would…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMA very rare kinescope of Bob Fosse and Carol Haney performing Irving Berlin’s “I Love a Piano” on Toast of the Town, hosted by Ed Sullivan. The routine was choreographed by Fosse. This…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“‘Try to do some really good work.’ “‘Oh I want to, heaven knows!’ “‘Well, you can’t do it without sacrifices—don’t believe that for a moment,’ the Master said. ‘I�…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMFriday, October 14, 2016
In today’s Wall Street Journal I review an off-Broadway revival of Horton Foote’s The Roads to Home and the Broadway premiere of Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg. Here’s an excerpt. * * * …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMBob Dylan sings “Man of Constant Sorrow” on Folk Songs and More Folk Songs, a Westinghouse special taped on March 3, 1963. This was Dylan’s national TV debut: (This is the latest in a …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“How extraordinary it is that one feels most guilt about the sins one is unable to commit.” V.S. Pritchett, Midnight Oil
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMThursday, October 13, 2016
“Most comic writers like to think they could play it straight if only their public would let them.” V.S. Pritchett, “Evelyn Waugh: Club and Country”
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMWednesday, October 12, 2016
One last reminder: John Douglas Thompson and I are speaking at the Drama Book Shop tonight. We’ll be discussing, taking questions about, and signing copies of the published version of Satc…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMPaul Draper improvises a jazz dance on Rainbow Quest, a TV series hosted by Pete Seeger. This episode was taped in 1965: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“On one plane, the very great writers and the popular romancers of the lower order always meet. They use all of themselves, helplessly, unselectively. They are above the primness and good …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMTuesday, October 11, 2016
From 2006: I loathe biographers who nudge you in the ribs every few pages, sticking in pointed little reminders that the deeply suppressed sadomasochistic tendencies (or whatever) of Flanner…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“Like many popular best-sellers, he was a very sad and solemn man who took himself too seriously and his art not seriously enough.” V.S. Pritchett, “Rider Haggard: Still Riding”
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMMonday, October 10, 2016
As I approach the far shore of middle age, I can now say without exaggeration that I remember a fair number of things that happened a half-century ago. It feels more than a little bit strang…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMGlenn Gould plays Beethoven’s E Major Piano Sonata, Op. 109, on the CBC in 1964: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, an…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“One recalls how much the creative impulse of the best-sellers depends upon self-pity. It is an emotion of great dramatic potential.” V.S. Pritchett, “Rider Haggard: Still Riding”
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMFriday, October 7, 2016
“The gentlemanliness of our statesmen is no secondary excellence. It was said by Burke of a great nobleman of the last century that ‘His virtues were his means’; that he accomplished b…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 04:50PMA quick reminder: John Douglas Thompson and I are coming to the Drama Book Shop next Wednesday. We’ll be discussing, taking questions about, and signing copies of the published version of …
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 09:14AMIn today’s Wall Street Journal I review a Chicago revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town and the Broadway premiere of a new stage version of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. Here’…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AMA rare kinescope of a complete TV performance of Wonderful Town, originally broadcast live by CBS on November 30, 1958. Rosalind Russell stars as Ruth Sherwood, the role she created in the 1…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:15AM“Life is an illness we must enjoy.” V.S. Pritchett, “Boswell’s London”
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:00AMThursday, October 6, 2016
In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column I speak out in support of shorter theatrical performances—and cutting the classics. Here’s an excerpt. * * * The Metropolitan Oper…
SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 07:30AM 
