Archives for October 2005

TT: Number, please

October 21, 2005 by Terry Teachout

– Fee paid in 1924 by Warner Bros. to Alfred A. Knopf for film rights to Willa Cather’s A Lost Lady: $12,000

– The same amount in today’s dollars, courtesy of Inflation Calculator: $130,224.65

(Source: Cather: Later Novels)

TT: Almanac

October 21, 2005 by Terry Teachout

“Pointing to the briefcase I said: ‘How do you know you are going to reject them?’

“‘If they were any good, they wouldn’t be dropped at my hotel by the writers in person. Some New York agent would have them.’

“‘Then why take them at all?’

“‘Partly not to hurt feelings. Partly the thousand-to-one chance all publishers live for. But mostly you’re at a cocktail party and get introduced to all sorts of people, and some of them have novels written and you are just liquored up enough to be benevolent and full of love for the human race, so you say you’d love to see the script. It is then dropped at your hotel with such sickening speed that you are forced to go through the motions of reading it.'”

Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

TT: Almanac

October 21, 2005 by Terry Teachout

“Pointing to the briefcase I said: ‘How do you know you are going to reject them?’

“‘If they were any good, they wouldn’t be dropped at my hotel by the writers in person. Some New York agent would have them.’

“‘Then why take them at all?’

Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

TT: Shirley Horn, R.I.P.

October 21, 2005 by Terry Teachout

Shirley Horn, the great jazz singer-pianist, died last night after a long illness. Here‘s the first obit to hit the blogosphere–there’ll be more soon. In the meantime, celebrate her life by listening to the album that first brought her to the attention of the general public.

This is what I wrote for the Washington Post the last time I saw Horn live, at New York’s Iridium in 2003:

To Washingtonians, Horn is an old friend, but up here in Second City, she’s an Event. None of my friends can remember the last time she sang in a Manhattan nightclub. Her engagement was all the more eventful in light of the fact that it was something of a comeback. Insiders knew that chronic illness had put her in a wheelchair and stopped her from playing piano. It was impossible to imagine anyone else playing for the best self-accompanist in jazz, so when the word got out that she was coming to town, fans marked their calendars, not sure whether to be excited or nervous.

I felt both ways as I waited and waited for Horn to show up. She was a half-hour late, and I was close enough to the bandstand to overhear the members of her trio (including George Mesterhazy on piano, who carried out his unenviable task with skill and discretion) wondering out loud whether she’d go through with it. Finally, she materialized in the wings, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief as she was wheeled into place, followed in half a heartbeat by a standing ovation. It was quite an opening–and quite a show. Horn sang in a near-whisper, the whole room leaning on every syllable. “I Got Lost in His Arms” was sly and lustful, “Here’s to Life” almost hurtfully poignant. As for “Yesterdays,” I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like to hear her utter the line “I’m not half the girl I used to be.” All I can say is that you could have heard a tear drop–and plenty did, mine included. I dined with three jazz singers a couple of weeks later, and it turned out that they’d all been to see Shirley Horn, and couldn’t talk about anything else. I don’t know when I’ve heard anything scarier or braver, or more beautiful….

I miss her already.

UPDATE: Go here for more from NPR, including sound bites and links.

Here‘s the bio posted by the National Endowment for the Arts after Horn won one of the 2005 Jazz Masters Fellowships.

The Washington Post beat the New York Times to the Web by a day with its staff-written obit. (Ben Ratliff’s Times obit is here.) Also of interest is this appreciation by the Post‘s Richard Harrington.

Here’s a tribute from the Bad Plus.

TT: Shirley Horn, R.I.P.

October 21, 2005 by Terry Teachout

This is what I wrote for the Washington Post the last time I saw Horn live, at New York’s Iridium in 2003:

To Washingtonians, Horn is an old friend, but up here in Second City, she’s an Event. None of my friends can remember the last time she sang in a Manhattan nightclub. Her engagement was all the more eventful in light of the fact that it was something of a comeback. Insiders knew that chronic illness had put her in a wheelchair and stopped her from playing piano. It was impossible to imagine anyone else playing for the best self-accompanist in jazz, so when the word got out that she was coming to town, fans marked their calendars, not sure whether to be excited or nervous.

I felt both ways as I waited and waited for Horn to show up. She was a half-hour late, and I was close enough to the bandstand to overhear the members of her trio (including George Mesterhazy on piano, who carried out his unenviable task with skill and discretion) wondering out loud whether she’d go through with it. Finally, she materialized in the wings, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief as she was wheeled into place, followed in half a heartbeat by a standing ovation. It was quite an opening–and quite a show. Horn sang in a near-whisper, the whole room leaning on every syllable. “I Got Lost in His Arms” was sly and lustful, “Here’s to Life” almost hurtfully poignant. As for “Yesterdays,” I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like to hear her utter the line “I’m not half the girl I used to be.” All I can say is that you could have heard a tear drop–and plenty did, mine included. I dined with three jazz singers a couple of weeks later, and it turned out that they’d all been to see Shirley Horn, and couldn’t talk about anything else. I don’t know when I’ve heard anything scarier or braver, or more beautiful….

I miss her already.

UPDATE: Go here for more from NPR, including sound bites and links.

Here‘s the bio posted by the National Endowment for the Arts after Horn won one of the 2005 Jazz Masters Fellowships.

Here’s a tribute from the Bad Plus.

TT: So you want to see a show?

October 20, 2005 by Terry Teachout

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway and off-Broadway shows, updated each Thursday. In all cases, I either gave these shows strongly favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal when they opened or saw and liked them some time in the past year (or both). For more information, click on the title.

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

BROADWAY:

– Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter, strong language, one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)

– Chicago* (musical, R, adult subject matter, sexual content, fairly strong language)

– Dirty Rotten Scoundrels* (musical, R, extremely vulgar, reviewed here)

– Doubt* (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, implicit sexual content, reviewed here)

– Fiddler on the Roof (musical, G, one scene of mild violence but otherwise family-friendly, reviewed here)

– The Light in the Piazza (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter and a brief bedroom scene, reviewed here)

– Sweet Charity (musical, PG-13, lots of cutesy-pie sexual content, reviewed here)

– The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (musical, PG-13, mostly family-friendly but contains a smattering of strong language and a production number about an unwanted erection, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

– Orson’s Shadow (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, very strong language, reviewed here)

– Slava’s Snowshow (performance art, G, child-friendly, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:

– The Caterers (drama, R, violence, strong language, and explicit sexual situations, reviewed here, closes Oct. 30)

– Sides: The Fear Is Real… (sketch comedy, PG, some strong language, reviewed here, closes Oct. 30)

TT: So you want to see a show?

October 20, 2005 by Terry Teachout

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

OFF BROADWAY:

– Orson’s Shadow (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, very strong language, reviewed here)

– Slava’s Snowshow (performance art, G, child-friendly, reviewed here)