Archives for June 2011

“It was a yawn without beginning or end, a yawn as endless as a Wagner melody.”
Milan Kundera, Immortality (courtesy of Rick Brookhiser)

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.

BROADWAY:

• Anything Goes (musical, G/PG-13, mildly adult subject matter that will be unintelligible to children, closes Jan. 8, reviewed here)

• Born Yesterday (comedy, G/PG-13, closes July 31, reviewed here)

• The House of Blue Leaves (serious comedy, PG-13, closes July 23, reviewed here)

• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical, G/PG-13, perfectly fine for children whose parents aren’t actively prudish, reviewed here)

• The Importance of Being Earnest (high comedy, G, just possible for very smart children, closes July 3, reviewed here)

• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, reviewed here)

• The Motherf**ker with the Hat (serious comedy, R, adult subject matter, closes July 17, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• 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)

• Play Dead (theatrical spook show, PG-13, utterly unsuitable for easily frightened children or adults, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:

• The Front Page (comedy, PG-13, extended through July 17, reviewed here)

• Porgy and Bess (operatic musical, PG-13, extended through July 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:

• By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (comedy, PG-13, closes June 12, reviewed here)

• A Minister’s Wife (serious musical, G, far too complicated for children, closes June 12, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN SAN DIEGO:

• Life of Riley (serious comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

“I wish you had read more books. The foundation must be laid by reading. General principles must be had from books. But they must be brought to the test of real life.”
Samuel Johnson, in conversation with James Boswell (Boswell, journal entry, Apr. 16, 1775, courtesy of Anecdotal Evidence)

Peggy Lee sings “When the World Was Young” on The Judy Garland Show in 1963:

(This is the latest in a weekly series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Wednesday.)

“Too much can be read into an artist’s biography. I was not immune. In fact, I’d made rather a career of it. History books love these kinds of necessary development. Schoenberg’s story (and its ghoulish fictional alternative) could support a biographical argument about his work one way or the other. The jigsaw fits together easily enough: forget the pieces left in the box.”
Wesley Stace, Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer