John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic:
Performed on the organ by Cameron Carpenter:
Performed (audio only) by Vladimir Horowitz:
Performed (audio only) by Sousa’s Band in 1931, with a spoken introduction by the composer:
Archives for July 2010
PLAY
The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center Theater, closes Aug. 1). Superbly acted by Kate Burton and Boyd Gaines and staged with sensitivity and wit by Mark Lamos, A.R. Gurney’s new play looks at first glance like a nostalgia-drenched valentine to Katharine Cornell and the lost world of old-fashioned theater. Don’t be fooled, though. The Grand Manner is really a searching, unexpectedly tough-minded portrait of the “lavender marriage” of a man and a woman who love but don’t desire one another. Smart, funny, poignant (TT).
THE CONVERSION OF DAVID MAMET
“The battles in which Mamet’s characters are engaged, as one of them remarks in American Buffalo, the most archetypical (and artful) of his portraits of American life, are zero-sum games in which only one player can win: “It’s kickass or kissass, Don, and I’d be lying if I told you any different.” When these plays were new, this caused them to be read by liberal critics as indictments of the American dream in all its hideous falseness. But the plays themselves are not nearly so explicit…”
TT: Today and tomorrow
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”
Calvin Coolidge, address at the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, Pa., July 5, 1926
TT: The first time
Calvin Coolidge speaking on the White House grounds in 1924. This is the first sound film ever taken of an American president:
TT: Out of the park
After a string of variously unsatisfying Shakespeare in the Park productions presented by the Public Theater in recent years, I’m delighted to report in this morning’s Wall Street Journal that Daniel Sullivan’s Merchant of Venice is a major event. Here’s an excerpt.
* * *
The distracting presence of a movie star, even one who knows (as most don’t) what to do on a stage, can be a heavy burden for a classic play to bear. Thus it was with a fair amount of trepidation that I went to Central Park to watch Al Pacino, who was last seen on a New York stage in 2003, play Shylock in the Public Theater’s outdoor version of “The Merchant of Venice.” Mr. Pacino is, or can be, a formidable stage actor, which is one of the reasons why his film performances so often seem overblown. But he is also a celebrity, and I feared the distorting effects of his outsized personality on a play that has more than enough troubles of its own. So what happened? Mr. Pacino’s performance was interesting but problematic–and the rest of the show was so good that it didn’t matter. Not only is this the best “Merchant of Venices” I’ve ever reviewed, but it’s one of the finest Shakespeare productions I’ve ever seen, period.
Daniel Sullivan, the director, was responsible for the hideous modern-dress “Julius Caesar” in which Denzel Washington embarrassed himself on Broadway five years ago. But everyone deserves a second chance, and I rejoice to say that Mr. Sullivan also deserves much credit for the illuminating force of this “Merchant,” which is set in a brokerage house in Vicwardian London, a mercilessly genteel land of spats, cravats and don’t-think-twice-it’s-all-right anti-Semitism. Imposing high directorial concepts on Shakespeare’s plays doesn’t always serve them well, but it makes good dramatic sense to transplant the tale of Shylock and his Christian tormentors into a time and place in which Jews were treated with near-universal disdain. It therefore becomes unnecessary for the other characters to underline their contempt for Shylock: We take it for granted….
Mr. Pacino has opted to make Shylock a traditional “comic” stage Jew, an interpretation that will cause some viewers to wince but makes sense–up to a point–in the context of the evening. What I waited for in vain was the clinching moment when he unsheathes his sword and sets loose his rage. I never expected to see a soft-edged Shylock from Mr. Pacino, but that’s pretty much what he’s giving us, though he and Mr. Sullivan have cooked up between them a redemptive coup de théâtre about which I’ll say only that it’s worth the wait.
That said, I can’t imagine a better ensemble cast than the one assembled for this production….
* * *
Read the whole thing here.
TT: Almanac
“What object could Fate possibly have in enviously debarring love between Prudence and such an ordinary and colourless young man as this appeared to be? But of course, she remembered, that was why women were so wonderful; it was their love and imagination that transformed these unremarkable beings. For most men, when one came to think of it, were undistinguished to look at, if not positively ugly.”
Barbara Pym, Jane and Prudence
TT: So you want to see a show?
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:
• La Cage aux Folles (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Fela! (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, reviewed here)
• South Pacific (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, closes Aug. 22, reviewed here)
OFF BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, original Broadway production reviewed here)
• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• 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)
IN ASHLAND, ORE.:
• Hamlet (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Oct. 30, reviewed here)
• Ruined (drama, PG-13/R, violence and adult subject matter, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)
• She Loves Me (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, closes Oct. 30, reviewed here)
IN CHICAGO:
• The Farnsworth Invention (drama, G, too complicated for children, closes July 24, reviewed here)
IN GLENCOE, ILL.:
• A Streetcar Named Desire (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Aug. 8, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON IN CHICAGO:
• Killer Joe (black comedy-drama, X, extreme violence and nudity, closes July 18, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:
• Fences * (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, closes July 11, reviewed here)
CLOSING SATURDAY IN EAST HADDAM, CONN.:
• Annie Get Your Gun (musical, G, child-friendly, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN PHILADELPHIA:
• Sunday in the Park with George (musical, PG-13, far too complex for children, reviewed here)