Archives for September 2011

Satchmo at the Waldorf opens tonight in Orlando, Florida. We had a few high-octane technical snafus at Wednesday’s dress rehearsal, but everything got itself worked out by the time we all went home. Now there’s nothing left for me to do but show up and see what happens.
I remember well how I felt on the morning that The Letter opened in Santa Fe, and since I feel much the same way today, I’ll post the same video that I posted two years ago:

May it bring us all…but I’d better not say that out loud!

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, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)

• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical, G/PG-13, perfectly fine for children whose parents aren’t actively prudish, most performances sold out last week, 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)

• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, off-Broadway remounting of Broadway production, original run reviewed here)

IN ASHLAND, OREGON:

• August: Osage County (drama, PG-13/R, closes Nov. 5, reviewed here)

• Julius Caesar (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Nov. 6, reviewed here)

• Measure for Measure (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Nov. 6, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN ASHLAND, OREGON:

• The Pirates of Penzance (operetta, G, suitable for children, closes Oct. 8, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:

• Oklahoma! (musical, G, remounting of 2010 production, suitable for children, closes Oct. 2, original run reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• The Tempest (Shakespeare, G/PG-13, closes Sept. 30, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN:

• The Cure at Troy (Greek tragedy, G, far too intense for children, closes Sept. 25, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN EAST HADDAM, CONNECTICUT:

• Show Boat (musical, G, suitable for bright children, reviewed here)

From the film Satchmo the Great, narrated by Edward R. Murrow, Louis Armstrong and the All Stars perform “Mack the Knife”:

“I think that all ambitions are lawful except those which climb upwards on the miseries or credulities of mankind. All intellectual and artistic ambitions are permissible, up to and even beyond the limit of prudent sanity. They can hurt no one. If they are mad, then so much the worse for the artist. Indeed, as virtue is said to be, such ambitions are their own reward.”
Joseph Conrad, A Personal Record

Igor Stravinsky talks about his Variations for Orchestra, then watches George Balanchine making a ballet version of the score. The dancer is Suzanne Farrell:

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

From the film New Orleans, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday perform “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”:

“I had another dream the other day about music critics. They were small and rodent-like with padlocked ears, as if they had stepped out of a painting by Goya.”
Igor Stravinsky, interview, Evening Standard, Oct. 29, 1969

Here’s the scene at tonight’s tech rehearsal for Satchmo at the Waldorf. On stage is Dennis Neal, the star, who is sitting at Louis Armstrong’s dressing-room table: