219 stories from Howard Sherman
A very good friend of mine began a successful tenure as the p.r. director of the Long Wharf Theatre in 1986, one year after I'd taken up the comparable position at Hartford Stage. He …
For all the years I lived in Connecticut, I used to feel I was missing out, as I saw offers for advance screenings of films dropping into my inbox and plastered on various websites. But, ala…
This afternoon on Twitter, journalists were decrying the proliferation of the word "premiere" in theatres' marketing and press materials, especially in cases where the usage is parsing a poi…
There are many reasons to enthuse about The Public Theatre's inaugural "Public Works" production of The Tempest " the conception and direction of Lear de Bessonet, the original score by Todd…
Let's face it: railing against Broadway musicals adapted from movies is a useless exercise. As long as people keep buying tickets for them, and as long as enough of them turn out to be finan…
In about 48 hours, I begin a three-day theatergoing binge. But I have no idea what I'll be seeing. Intrigued? As part of their upcoming "Theatre Week" in September, I'll be seeing and writin…
This is not a cranky older guy post, whining about the way things used to be, but merely an observation about how the digital revolution has affected a behavior that was long taken for grant…
I happen to follow a group of smart, funny and insightful television journalists on Twitter " among them Alyssa Rosenberg, Todd VanDerWerff, Linda Holmes, Alan Sepinwall, Kate Aurthur, Roger…
In one of his best known stories, "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W," the science fiction and fantasy author Harlan Ellison tells o…
What is the purpose of putting on shows in high school? Is it educational? Recreational? Is it community relations? Is it a family activity? I've always thought that high school theatre was …
Follow this with me, will you? "The plays bothered a lot of us," says a school superintendent, referring to works presented by a high school drama group. "The plays had references to sex and…
I'm unable to see a Shakespeare play without thinking of my late mother. "How sweet," you think, "He and his mother must have shared many great evenings together watching Shakespeare. Their …
June 26, 2013 President Barack Obama 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC Â 20500 Dear President Obama: I realize it's been a busy week, what with the overturning of the Defense of Marri…
I don't mean to make anyone paranoid, but if your organization has unpaid interns, you need to start thinking about whether they may start legal proceedings against you for back pay. In the …
For those complacent about the ongoing reduction and elimination of professional arts journalism, I would like to offer a small but concrete example of where this decline is leading us. On M…
Yes, I'm serious about the headline. I feel your scorn, but before your jerking knee sends you to the orthopedist, let me get right to the point. There are any number of things one can objec…
Is there no one in town aware of social injustice? Part of the compact we make when we go to the theatre is to shut out the outside world and completely immerse ourselves in the world displa…
My parents were not theatergoers and my youthful memories are not filled with reveries of family trips to New York to see shows. I can remember being taken to the theatre only twice as a you…
As a teen in the 1970s, I kept testing a small sociological phenomenon. When visiting a Jewish home, I would peek at the record collection of the adults in residence to see if they had the a…
