"When the second wave of [the pandemic] hit, theatres in South Korea remained open. How? By approaching theatre as a controlled event, says New York-based director Sammi Cannold, who observe…
A new episode of Three on the Aisle, the podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for listening or downloading…
From 2004: All of which leads me to ask: is the performance of classical music an intellectual activity? Did the breadth of Glenn Gould's culture make him a better interpreter of Bach? I won…
"We all have to climb out of the pit of desolation, or what is more likely, have to live in it, planting our flowers among the ashes and squirting them with our gaiety." Peter De Vries, lett…
It became evident to me that companies that had a strong relationship with their audience base before the pandemic had seen continued support. Theatres like Cape Fear Regional Theatre, which…
Bing Crosby appears as the guest on Person to Person, hosted by Edward R. Murrow. This episode was originally telecast live by CBS on December 3, 1954: (This is the latest in a series of…
"The trouble about man is twofold. He cannot learn truths which are too complicated; he forgets truths which are too simple." Rebecca West, The Meaning of Treason Continue reading Almanac…
Ben Webster plays Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" in an undated telecast from the Sixties: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space e…
"We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think"in fact they…
I reviewed Syracuse Stage's webcast of Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly in today's Wall Street Journal. Here's an excerpt. *Â Â *Â Â * Full-length plays for two actors are in greater …
"There's enough sorrow in the world, isn't there, without trying to invent it." E.M. Forster, A Room with a View Continue reading Almanac: E.M. Forster on sorrow at About Last Night.
On Friday night I taped a two-hour-long Zoom video interview with Bill Hayes, the artistic director of Palm Beach Dramaworks, in which the two of us talked about my life, my work as a critic…
Louis Armstrong and the All Stars perform "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," "What a Wonderful World," and "Hello, Dolly!" at Fort Hood in 1967. They are introduced by Dick Cavett: (This i…
"Solitude is the mother of anxieties." Publilius Syrus, Moral Sayings Continue reading Almanac: Publilius Syrus on solitude at About Last Night.
A Terry Teachout Reader, my self-anthology, came out sixteen years ago. I've published hundreds of pieces on various subjects since then, and I have no plans to put together a sequel to the�…
From 2005: If you can write like Mencken or Shaw or Thomson, and if you have a personality as interesting as theirs, you don't have to be "right" in order to be taken seriously as a cr…
O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down And steep my senses in forgetfulness? William Shakespeare, Henry IV, P…
Constant Lambert leads the London Philharmonic in an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. This is a clip from Battle for Music, a 1943 documentary about the orchestra: (This i…
It's no good escaping your doom By taking a ticket to Spain; The bulging portmanteaux of gloom Will arrive by a later train. Constant Lambert, occasional verse quoted by friends Continue rea…
In today's Wall Street Journal I review West Coast webcasts of Art and Same Time, Next Year. Here's an excerpt. *Â Â *Â Â * How effective can a stage comedy be when performed without…
A Terry Teachout Reader, my self-anthology, came out sixteen years ago. I've published hundreds of pieces on various subjects since then, and I have no plans to put together a sequel to the�…
An excerpt from "Le Mystère Picasso," directed in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, …
"The thing that interests me is that today painters do not have to go to a subject matter outside of themselves. Most modern painters work from a different source, they work from within." Ja…
Men tighten the knot of confusion Into perfect misunderstanding. T.S. Eliot, The Family Reunion Continue reading Almanac: T.S. Eliot on misunderstanding at About Last Night.
A Terry Teachout Reader, my self-anthology, came out sixteen years ago. I've published hundreds of pieces on various subjects since then, and I have no plans to put together a sequel to the�…