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Bridget Everett and the Age of Vulgarity
Bridget Everett at Joe’s Pub No doubt about it. We’re living in a vulgar, witless age. If you’re a cabaret performer, why bother to exercise wit—if you even have it to exercise—when you only need to...
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Highlights of a Chat with Williams Biographer John Lahr
John LahrPhoto by Paul Davis John Lahr’s just published Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (W. W. Norton, $39.95, 784 pp., illustrations)—on which the recently retired New Yorker senior...
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Agatha Christie Writes Again, Kinda
Agatha Christie By 1930, Agatha Christie found her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot “insufferable,” and by 1960 she felt that he was a “detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep.”...
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Finally! Some Good Musicals on Broadway
This column is being written because I couldn’t not write it. For several months I’ve bemoaned the state of that great American achievement: The Broadway Musical. But as radio newscaster Gabriel...
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Geniuses Jungr and Epperson at Work and Play
The word “genius” gets tossed around regularly, undoubtedly by people assured they’re using it advisedly and deliberately. I say this because I’m just about to toss it around while absolutely convinced...
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In Remembrance of the Great Mike Nichols
The late Mike MicholsPhoto by Juan Rico / via There’s so much I want to say about Mike Nichols that I don’t know where to start. Actually, I do. I’ll start by saying what I’ve been saying to myself...
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Let Us Now Praise Mary Testa
Mary Testa New York City is so chock-full of talent that it appears impossible for every outstanding performer to become a household name. Many of the abundantly gifted become instantly recognized...
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On the Road to Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
Bing Crosby For many of us the mention of the name Bing Crosby immediately prompts the name Bob Hope, and vice versa. The reason is simple: They were one of the, if not the, most commercially...
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Remembering the Brilliant Stories of Mavis Gallant
Mavis Gallant Reading a list of the 2014 deaths of notable people, I saw the names of many whose obituaries I’d read, but there was one I’d missed, and it came as a shock: Mavis Gallant. Regrettably,...
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In a World…Full of Violent Movie Previews
Because the most likely movies to receive Oscar nominations are released in the last three months of the year—Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel are current exceptions—that’s the season to be jolly....
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A Fond and Sad Goodbye to “Foyle’s War”
Over the decades I—like many others when a beloved television series ends—have gone into mourning. Until now, however, I’ve never considered putting on a black armband. But that’s just what I’m...
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Henri Matisse: What Cut-Outs, What a Cut-Up!
This column is going to be about “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” which closes at the Museum of Modern Art this coming Tuesday, February 10. So what you need to do now is drop whatever you’re doing—which...
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“Hamilton” as Superb Edutainment
Does art, no matter how powerful, change things? Did, for instance, Pablo Picasso’s Guernica have any effect on attitudes towards the Spanish Civil War or World War II? Answers vary, I assume....
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Architecture vs. Art at Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton
Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (Click to enlarge.) / via Paris—Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton, the new museum directly next to the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne...
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The Return of the Pocket Square
Sometimes falling behind the curve is a comforting development. So I readily admit that while I’ve noticed a fashion event for some time — the return of pocket squares — I’m only now getting around to...
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Henri Matisse: What Cut-Outs, What a Cut-Up!
This column is going to be about “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” which closes at the Museum of Modern Art this coming Tuesday, February 10. So what you need to do now is drop whatever you’re doing—which...
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John Singer Sargent Captures Henry James in Oils
London — Something I’d never encountered before happened to me while I was walking through Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends, the National Portrait Gallery’s John Singer Sargent show, which...
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“Wolf Hall” Director Jeremy Herrin Holds Court
Director Jeremy HerrinPhoto by Lesley Bruce When I reviewed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s tandem Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies productions from London several months ago and summed them up as...
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Overreaching Revisions of Broadway Revivals
The recent openings of two musicals—one adapted from a movie (that tiresome trend) and one the sort-of-revival of a movie adaptation—has focused a harsh spotlight on a huge problem: the updating of...
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Zoë Wanamaker Talks Theater Here and Abroad
“This is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done in my life.” That’s Zoë Wanamaker talking during a short lunch break. She’s in a small music room where there’s an upright piano and a long worktable...
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