Mint is webcasting "A Picture of Autumn" as part of a series of broadcast-quality archival videos taped at live performances, and the strong impression the play made on me when I first saw a…
A case in point is New York's Mint Theatre Company, a small but distinguished troupe that performs in an 88-seat off-Broadway house. During the past year, the Mint has webcast free broadcast…
"Bad Dates" never fails to give great pleasure in the hands of an appealing actor and a solid production team, and Andréa Burns and her George Street colleagues are all that and much, much …
Graham Greene is interviewed by Jack Mangan in an outtake from a 1950 episode of Ship's Reporter in which he talks about The Third Man: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and…
"People don't like reality. They don't like common sense. Until age forces it on them." Graham Greene, Loser Takes All Continue reading Almanac: Graham Greene on facing reality at About L…
In today's Wall Street Journal, I review webcasts of Katie Roche and The Book of Magdalene. Here's an excerpt. *  *  * One of the few happy surprises of 2020 was the Mint Thea…
Fats Waller sings and plays "Ain't Misbehavin'" in Stormy Weather, directed by Andrew L. Stone in 1943. The members of the band include Benny Carter on trumpet, Zutty Singleton on drums, …
"I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 85 Continue reading Almanac: Alexander Hamilton on perfection at About Last Night.
One of the few happy surprises of 2020 was the Mint Theater Company's announcement that it had built up a private stockpile of broadcast-quality archival videos of its past productions and t…
"When I was writing three-act plays, a producer told me the curtain should always come down on the beginning of the fourth act. A play should never really come to an end." Neil Simon, interv…
Bill Evans plays "My Foolish Heart" on British TV in 1965, with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that app…
From 2006: When I was young, everybody I knew watched The Andy Griffith Show. Today there are no TV shows that "everybody" watches, and no movies that everyone has seen. Indeed, the Ameri…
February makes a bridge, and March breaks it. George Herbert, "Jacula Prudentum" Continue reading Almanac: George Herbert on February and March at About Last Night.
The Miles Davis Quintet plays "My Funny Valentine" on Italian TV in 1964: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesda…
And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth. Raymond Carver, "Late Fragment" Continue r…
In today's Wall Street Journal, I review streaming webcasts of Patrick Page's All the Devils Are Here and the Lantern Theater Company's production of Molly Sweeney. Here's an excerpt. * Å
Laurence Olivier talks about delivering Shakespearian blank verse in an undated TV clip. Also heard from is John Gielgud: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos…
"It seemed to Graham that he had learned nothing in forty years. He had just gotten tired." Thomas Harris, Red Dragon Continue reading Almanac: Thomas Harris on middle age at About Last N…
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…
"Never forget that the spoken word is not twice nor three times, but five times as potent as the written word, so that what would occupy a page in a novel should take up only five lines in a…
Randy Newman sings his own "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today" on the BBC in 1971: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wed…
"In memory everything seems to happen to music." Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie Continue reading Almanac: Tennessee Williams on memory at About Last Night.
From 2020: I'll never again take another first date to Mario's Deli, invite her to tell me all about herself, and wonder as I listen whether she might possibly be the girl of my dreams. That…
"I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick." John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men Continue reading Almanac: John Steinbeck on loneliness at About Last Night.
Mauricio Pollini, Riccardo Muti, and Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala perform the second movement from Mozart's C Major Piano Concerto, K. 467: (This is the latest in a series of art…