“In 1969, Duke Ellington celebrated his 70th birthday at the White House, where President Nixon threw a star-studded party and presented him with a Medal of Freedom. Only four years earlier, the greatest jazz composer of the 20th century had been passed over for a special Pulitzer Prize in recognition of his musical achievements. Hence the significance of the party, which was seen not merely as a tribute to Ellington but to jazz itself. Cynics took it for granted that Nixon’s purposes were purely political. If, on the other hand, they had had access to Ellington’s FBI file, it might have puzzled them that so prominent an opponent of Soviet Communism had chosen to honor an artist who appeared to have once had close ties to the American Communist Party…”
Archives for February 14, 2013
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.
BROADWAY:
• Annie (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Once (musical, G/PG-13, nearly all 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)
IN ORLANDO, FLA.:
• Othello (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Mar. 16, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical, PG-13, closes Mar. 10, reviewed here)
• The Other Place (drama, PG-13, closes Mar. 3, reviewed here)
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (drama, PG-13/R, closes Mar. 3, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON IN WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.:
• A Raisin in the Sun (drama, PG-13, closes Mar. 3, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN ORLANDO, FLA.:
• Laughter on the 23rd Floor (comedy, PG-13, closes Feb. 24, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:
• Picnic (drama, PG-13, closes Feb. 24, reviewed here)
TT: Almanac
“Virtue never has been as respectable as money.”
Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad