Archives for December 2009

Mrs. T and I made it back from Smalltown, U.S.A., to Bigtown, N.Y., without significant incident. We were, to be sure, patted down by security officers at the St. Louis airport on Sunday morning (her purse tested positive for TNT!). On the other hand, we managed to steer clear of the snow in New York and Chicago, so I’d say we made on the deal.
Alas, we won’t be here for long, and on Friday we’ll fly down to Florida, about which more in due course. For now, though, I plan to enjoy the half-forgotten sensations of (A) reveling in the contents of the Teachout Museum and (B) sleeping in my own bed.
Blogging will be light.

“No true nun is afraid of death. ‘I wish I knew when I was going to die,’ ninety-six-year-old Dame Frances Anne often said. ‘I wish I knew.’
“‘Why, Dame?’
“‘Then I should know what to read next.'”
Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede

Linus’ monologue from A Charlie Brown Christmas:

I recently read a wonderful new book called Barrelhouse Words: A Blues Dialect Dictionary whose author, Stephen Calt, seeks to provide accurate definitions of all the unusual words and phrases that can be heard in the great blues 78s of the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties. I found it so fascinating that I decided it would serve very nicely as the subject of my post-Christmas “Sightings” column for The Wall Street Journal. If you’ve always wondered what a “monkey woman” is, then pick up a copy of Saturday’s paper. My column–and Calt’s book–will set you straight.
UPDATE: Read the whole thing here.

“Mankind are always happy for having been happy; so that, if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.”
Sydney Smith, Benevolent Affections

Louis Armstrong recites “The Night Before Christmas”:

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, closes Jan. 10, reviewed here)

• Fela! * (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

• Finian’s Rainbow (musical, G, suitable for children, dramatically inert but musically sumptuous, reviewed here)

• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, 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:

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

• The Emperor Jones (drama, PG-13, contains racially sensitive language, closes Jan. 31, reviewed here)

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

• The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Parts 1 and 2 (drama, G/PG-13, too complicated for children, will be performed in rotating repertory with third part of cycle starting on Jan. 7, closes Mar. 28, reviewed here and here)

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

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:

• The Understudy (farce, PG-13, closes Jan. 17, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:

• Superior Donuts (dark comedy, PG-13, violence, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)

“Our present joys are sweeter for past pain.”
George Granville, The British Enchanters