Archives for October 2006

“There is no way to connect with simplicity when how complexity feels has been forgotten.”

John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway and off-Broadway shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows strongly favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. 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 and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)

– The Drowsy Chaperone* (musical, G/PG-13, mild sexual content and a profusion of double entendres, reviewed here)

– Jay Johnson: The Two and Only* (one-ventriloquist show, G/PG-13, a bit of strong language but otherwise family-friendly, 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)

– The Wedding Singer (musical, PG-13, some sexual content, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

– The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children old enough to enjoy a love story, reviewed here)

– Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris (musical revue, R, adult subject matter and sexual content, reviewed here)

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

CLOSING SOON:

– Seven Guitars (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here, extended through Oct. 15)

“Wanda, do you have any idea what it’s like being English? Being so correct all the time, being so stifled by this dread of, of doing the wrong thing, of saying to someone

I got tagged with this meme on Tuesday. Turns out that I already answered it two months ago, and so did OGIC!

Never let it be said that we’re not on our toes around here….

I’m getting a lot of e-mail about this posting. So far, this is is the letter I’ve liked best:

I’m always a little amused when I catch someone–including myself–lamenting
the supposed demise of “common culture.” I think we all feel a sense of loss
when younger generations don’t recognize things we thought were important
and lasting when we were their age. But we tend to take for granted the
amazing amount that does get passed on. I’d bet, for instance, that a higher
percentage of college kids recognize “West End Blues” today than in
1978…or 1938.

I’d also bet that a very high percentage of contemporary high school kids
could recognize over half of Levitin’s list–probably way more than half if
even a little prompting was provided.

This is just anecdotal evidence, but about five years ago on a trip to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I heard a class of black second graders on a
field trip provide perfect, spontaneous accompaniment for the Isley Brothers
“Who’s That Lady” when it came over the loudspeakers. Later the same day I
saw two twelve-year-old white girls walking along singing “Stop In The Name
of Love” and doing those old Supremes’ hand motions while they walked.
Granted those kids were in a museum, which implies that somebody cared about
passing this stuff on, but then again, most kids have SOMEBODY in their life
who fills that function. In the case of pop music, the general culture helps
out more than usual, but even in areas like literature, painting, etc. it
happens a lot more than we think.

On the other hand, if somebody actually could kill off common culture, it
would be the sort of person who is asked to explain rock and roll with six
records and uses one of his picks on “Wonderful Tonight.”

(…Though I would love to know which record or six “explained” Elvis to the
octogenarian scientist and therefore placed him well beyond the level of
collective understanding thus far obtained by three generations of rock
critics.)

Anyway, long time reader who’s never e-mailed before. It’s a fun topic so I
hope you get lots of feedback.

How nice to find a ray of hope in my mailbox!

How many of these songs do you know well enough to whistle?

– “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”

– “Back in Black”

– “Blowin’ in the Wind”

– “China Girl”

– “Hot Fun in the Summertime”

– “Hotel California”

– “Instant Karma”

– “Jailhouse Rock”

– “Jolene”

– “Light My Fire”

– “Maria”

– “Money”

– “My Favorite Things”

– “Over the Rainbow”

– “Roxanne”

– “Satisfaction”

– “Sheep”

– “Superstition”

– “That’ll Be the Day”

– “We Will Rock You”

No, this isn’t a test. Here’s why I’m asking: Daniel J. Levitin uses these songs as illustrations in the opening chapters of his new book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (“For example, the main accompaniment to

“Shakespeare’s plays are works of philosophy–philosophy not argued but shown.”

Roger Scruton, Gentle Regrets: Thoughts from a Life

Earlier today I sat on a rowing machine at the gym and watched with mounting amazement as the plasma TV screens above my head flashed the latest bulletins about Mark Foley and the shootings in Pennsylvania. The thought occurred to me that these must be hard times for the aspiring novelist, what with life constantly upping the ante on imagination, and no sooner did that thought flash through my mind than I found myself recalling these words of advice to the writer of fiction:

The novelist with Christian concerns will find in modern life distortions which are repugnant to him, and his problem will be to make them appear as distortions to an audience which is used to seeing them as natural; and he may be forced to take ever more violent means to get his vision across to this hostile audience. When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock–to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the blind you draw large and startling figures.

Flannery O’Connor said that–forty-nine years ago. Plus