2,374 stories by "Terry Teachout"
"Why, you simple creatures, the weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire." Mark Twain, "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg"
I recently finished reading the first two installments (the third volume has yet to be completed) of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher. Forgive the cliché, but I cou…
From 2006: Somebody asked me once if I were a frustrated musician. "No," I said, "I'm a fulfilled writer." But that doesn't mean I never think about what might have been, much less what used…
"In memory everything seems to happen to music." Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
I went to see the Paul Taylor Dance Company (it's changed its name, but I can't get used to the new one) at Lincoln Center on Saturday afternoon. Regular readers of this blog may recall what…
Gwen Verdon sings "I'm a Brass Band," from Sweet Charity, on The Ed Sullivan Show. The words are by Dorothy Fields and the music is by Cy Coleman. This performance incorporates Bob Fosse's c…
"As happier men watch birds, I watch men. They are less attractive but more various." Evelyn Waugh, A Tourist in Africa (courtesy of Patrick Kurp)
In today's Wall Street Journal drama column I review two New York shows, an off-Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw's Widowers' Houses and the Broadway premiere of Bright Star. Here's an…
A scene from the American Playhouse TV version of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Jack Hofsiss. Tommy Lee Jones plays Brick, Jessica Lange plays Maggie, Kim Stanley pl…
"A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking." Ralph Waldo Emerson, journal entry, June 20, 1831
In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I take note of the contemporary relevance of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men. Here's an excerpt. * * * Political novels aren't what …
Yet he was jealous, though he did not show it, For jealousy dislikes the world to know it. Lord Byron, Don Juan
Pilobolus Dance Theater performs an excerpt from Walklyndon, choreographed in 1971 by Robby Barnett, Lee Harris, Moses Pendleton, and Jonathan Wolken: (This is the latest in a series of arts…
"Nothing is more curious than the almost savage hostility that Humour excites in those who lack it." George Saintsbury, A Last Vintage: Essays and Papers
From 2006: I found this questionnaire in my e-mailbox earlier today and thought it might be fun to answer it in public: ' What time did you get up this morning? Eight a.m. ' Diamonds or pear…
"The more one suffers, the more, I believe, has one a sense for the comic. It is only by the deepest suffering that one acquires true authority in the use of the comic, an authority which by…
I first became aware of Dudley Moore when I saw 10 and Arthur, two hugely successful films of my youth that are no longer well remembered (though Arthur is still funny, albeit politically in…
Martha Raye and Red Skelton in an undated rehearsal for an episode of The Red Skelton Show. These uncensored rehearsals were referred to by TV insiders as "The Dirty Hour": (This is the late…
"I think that comedy is the quintessential human reaction to the fear of death." Umberto Eco (interviewed in the Paris Review, Summer 2008)
In today's Wall Street Journal drama column I review the off-Broadway premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's Hold On to Me Darling and the new Broadway revival of She Loves Me. Here's an excerpt. * …
Lang Lang plays Bartók's Piano Sonata at a concert in Japan: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.)
"The maxim 'Nothing avails but perfection' may be spelt shorter: 'Paralysis.'" Winston Churchill, memorandum to General Hastings Lionel Ismay, December 6, 1942
"I cannot pretend to feel impartial about the colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones, and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." Winston Churchill, “Painting as a Pastime”
I rarely have the luxury of seeing stage shows twice"my crowded reviewing schedule doesn't allow it"but I did manage in recent days to see Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility for the second ti…
Harry James and His Orchestra play Ernie Wilkins' "Blues for Sale" on The Big Record, followed by a performance of "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" featuring Helen Forrest, James, and the …
