Playing It Safe—And Smart by Terry Teachout

Orlando Shakespeare Theater makes a strong case for presenting in tandem "Pride and Prejudice" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Safety First, Surprises Second by Terry Teachout

Most of the strongest shows were revivals, both on Broadway and much farther afield

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Not So Good for the Geese by Terry Teachout

In Somerset Maugham's "The Circle," instead of the not-quite-Wilde-enough epigrams of "The Constant Wife," we get a drawing room full of well-dressed but plain-spoken characters who might ha…

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

When the noon gun booms by Terry Teachout

The invaluable Maria Popova has drawn my attention to a blog and book devoted to photographs and lists taken and drawn up by people in answer to the following question: If your house was bur…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:30am on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Satchmo at the Waldorf comes to Los Angeles by Terry Teachout

For those who missed the news, the West Coast premiere of Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, takes place on Tuesday at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hill…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:25am on May 25, 2015☆⚑

In memoriam: Arturo Toscanini conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by Terry Teachout

Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This concert, originally broadcast on April 3, 1948, also features Anne McKnight, Jane Hobson, Erwin Dillon, Norman …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:15am on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: C.S. Lewis on courage by Terry Teachout

"This, indeed, is probably one of the Enemy's motives for creating a dangerous world"a world in which moral issues really come to the point. He sees as well as you do that courage is not sim…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Beat me, daddy by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal drama column I report enthusiastically on two new plays, Robert Askins' Permission and Katori Hall's The Blood Quilt. Here's an excerpt. * * * Robert Askins' "…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:30am on May 22, 2015☆⚑

Strike up the (pit) band by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column I hold forth on the rise, fall, and temporary return of the Broadway musical-comedy overture. Here's an excerpt. * * * If you're under the a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:15am on May 22, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Lew Wallace on good fortune by Terry Teachout

"A man is never so on trial as in the moment of excessive good fortune." Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 22, 2015☆⚑

How the Second World War made America literate by Terry Teachout

My monthly essay for the June issue of Commentary, whose occasion is the publication of Molly Guptill Manning's When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II , can now …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 1:02pm on May 21, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: H.L. Mencken on privilege by Terry Teachout

"What men value in this world is not rights but privileges." H.L. Mencken, Minority Report: H.L. Mencken's Notebooks

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 21, 2015☆⚑

Snapshot: an interview with Aaron Copland by Terry Teachout

Aaron Copland is interviewed by James Day on Day at Night, originally taped by CUNY-TV in 1973: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday a…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:15am on May 20, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Larry McMurtry on self-parody by Terry Teachout

"Self-parody is the first portent of age." Larry McMurtry, Some Can Whistle

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 20, 2015☆⚑

Tweets in search of a context: a visit to flyover country by Terry Teachout

Mrs. T and I have been catching up in recent weeks with a string of once-new films that slipped past us when they came out. On Wednesday we finally got around to Nebraska, which we both foun…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:30am on May 19, 2015☆⚑

Lookback: fighting a losing battle with Mrs. T by Terry Teachout

From 2008: Time: near the end of a leisurely dinner. Place: Restaurant 15 Main, Narrowsburg, New York. Frank Sinatra's recording of "Thanks for the Memory" is playing in the background. 

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:15am on May 19, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Lillian Hellman on self-parody by Terry Teachout

"It is a mark of many famous people that they cannot part with their brightest hour: what worked once must always work." Lillian Hellman, Pentimento

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 19, 2015☆⚑

Over there by Terry Teachout

Satchmo at the Waldorf is in rehearsal at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, where performances start next Tuesday"but I'm in New York, which is nowhere ne…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:45am on May 18, 2015☆⚑

In harmony by Terry Teachout

The best jazz vocal group I've ever heard just made its New York debut. Vertical Voices began life five years ago as a collaboration between Julia Dollison, a singer of phenomenal talent, an…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:30am on May 18, 2015☆⚑

Just because: Fred Astaire dances with the Jimmy Smith Trio by Terry Teachout

The Jimmy Smith Trio (with Barney Kessel on guitar) plays "Organ Grinder's Swing" on The Hollywood Palace in 1965. The group is introduced by Fred Astaire, who then dances a solo to Smith's …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:15am on May 18, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Nathaniel Hawthorne on self-criticism by Terry Teachout

"What other dungeon is so dark as one's heart! What jailer so inexorable as one's self." Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:00am on May 18, 2015☆⚑

Swinging into despair by Terry Teachout

In today's Wall Street Journal drama column I report from Chicago on a revival of Side Man and the premiere of a musical version of Sense and Sensibility. Here's an excerpt. * * * If I were …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:15am on May 15, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Anthony Powell on critics by Terry Teachout

"Critics give themselves away, not by what they don't like, but by what they do." Anthony Powell, A Writer's Notebook

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 15, 2015☆⚑

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 7:15am on May 14, 2015☆⚑

Almanac: Anthony Powell on self-consciousness and the artist by Terry Teachout

"It is a rule, almost without exception, that writers and painters, who are always talking about being artists, break down at just that level." Anthony Powell, A Writer's Notebook

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 7:00am on May 14, 2015☆⚑