IMAGINE POIROT SINGING: A Look at That Rarest of Things, the Mystery Musical

Here it is, the middle of January, the perfect time to start making your summer plans! Seriously, my Seasonal Affective Disorder is kicking up, and having something to look forward to can really cheer you during these dreary days. This summer, I’m visiting two of my favorite cities. First stop is London, where I will …

IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF YOU SLAY WITH NO SWING: Finding Murderous Inspiration from the Great American Songbook

When I’m at work, teaching drama students and musical theatre students and film students and credit recovery students (don’t ask!) and producing two musicals and one play a year and acting as department co-chair for the Visual and Performing Arts . . . well, there doesn’t seem to be much time for Golden Age anything! …

GAD = GORY AND DARK: Sarah Phelps Takes On the Establishment

The latest BBC rendition of an Agatha Christie classic , 1936’s The ABC Murders, has just dropped onto Amazon Prime. Now we forward-thinking Americans can add our two cents to the European reaction over Sarah Phelps’ treatment of the Mistress of Mystery. (I believe the words “Burn the witch and her laptop!” have been uttered in …

THEATRICAL OCTET, PART FOUR: Strangers in a Strange Land

I went to New York this summer under the apprehension that the theatre world was in a bit of trouble. Tourism has been down in the Big Apple for several years now, and the high box office numbers point not to full houses and a play in every house but to exhorbitant ticket prices at …

THEATRICAL OCTET, PART THREE: Social Upheaval on Broad

We view art through a lens that includes social context. It’s the reason you can see a movie or a painting or a play multiple times and have different reactions. As I explained yesterday, two classics became problem plays in light of the raucous atmosphere that has been generated over the past year and a …

THEATRICAL OCTET, PART TWO: Reconstructing the Classics

I consider myself lucky to be in New York when Bartlett Sher has directed a musical. His determination to tackle the great classics of musical theatre with the same loving care he puts into opera has proven a boon to audiences. I only saw South Pacific on tour, but I caught the original cast on …

THEATRICAL OCTET, PART ONE: Save the Children

Yes, thank you, I had a very nice trip to New York. We even had a weekend of glorious weather, with no humidity, cool breezes and (relatively) fresh air. And thanks again for understanding my desire to not sit in front of the laptop every night, putting words together to describe my feelings about the …

ON MY THIRD READ OF CHRISTIE, THE BOOK I BOUGHT FOR ME: Three Blind Mice

When I began my Adventures with Agatha at the tender age of eleven and a half, I was pretty much flying blind. I had been led to And Then There Were None by the machinations of a brilliant babysitter, but after that I was on my own. There was no internet to look Christie up …

BRIGHT STARS AND SECOND CHANCES

We go to a musical to be uplifted, stirred emotionally, and, most trickily, to embrace characters in situations where the only way their story can be satisfactorily told is to have their words augmented, even replaced, by song and dance. And we hope that this will all be accomplished with brilliant performances, stylish design, and …

DEFENDING THE HOLLOW

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas Today, I’m going to attempt something I (*koff koff*) never do: I’m going to try and change people’s minds. To do that, I will assume that if you are here, you have already read The Hollow and have formed an opinion. …