Archives for July 16, 2009

I wrote a piece for Sunday’s Los Angeles Times on what it feels like for a drama critic to put himself on the line by writing a stage work:

I didn’t agree to write an opera libretto in order to become a better critic, much less to impress the artists whose work I review. But I’ve found in recent months that a good many theater professionals appear to be pleasantly surprised that I’m putting my money where my mouth is. Together with Paul Moravec and the other wonderfully gifted men and women with whom I am collaborating on the premiere of The Letter, I’m submitting myself for approval–not just from my fellow critics but from the people who read my reviews each week….

My piece has just been posted on the paper’s Web site, and you can read it by going here.

I saw the sets for The Letter for the first time at Wednesday’s stage rehearsal, and I also heard the Santa Fe Opera pit orchestra play the first four scenes. Both experiences were knock-me-down exciting. Fortunately, I was able to connect with Twitter via wi-fi from my seat in the theater, so I “livetweeted” the entire rehearsal in considerable detail.
To find out how it all went, go to my Twitter page and start scrolling. (The tweets are in reverse chronological order.)

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) 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:

• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, reviewed here)

• Avenue Q * (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, closes Sept. 13, reviewed here)

• The Little Mermaid * (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, closes Aug. 30, reviewed here)

• Mary Stuart (drama, G, far too long and complicated for children, closes Aug. 16, reviewed here)

• South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)

• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)

• Ruined (drama, PG-13/R, sexual content and suggestions of extreme violence, closes Sept. 6, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:

• The History Boys (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, too intellectually complex for most adolescents, extended through Sept. 27, reviewed here)

• A Minister’s Wife (musical, PG-13, closes Aug. 2, reviewed here)

IN GARRISON, N.Y.:

• Pericles and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare, PG-13, playing in repertory through Sept. 6, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:

• The Norman Conquests (three related comedies, PG-13, comprehensively unsuitable for children, playing in repertory through July 26, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:

• God of Carnage * (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, reopens Sept. 8 and runs through Nov. 15, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:

• The Rivalry (historical drama, G, too complicated for children, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN LA JOLLA:

• Restoration (serious comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

“You know who the critics are? The men who have failed in literature and art.”
Benjamin Disraeli, Lothair