Louis Kaufman, A Fiddler’s Tale: How Hollywood and Vivaldi Discovered Me. The utterly charming autobiography of the Hollywood-based violinist who played on the soundtracks of Gone With the Wind and Psycho, made the very first recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed with Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc, bought the first oil painting ever sold by Milton Avery, and was by all accounts one of the nicest people who ever lived. His story is as fascinating as it is improbable–but every word is true (TT).
Archives for March 6, 2014
PLAY
London Wall (Mint Theater, 311 W. 43, extended through Apr. 26). The U.S. premiere of John Van Druten’s 1931 comedy about a quartet of working women and the benighted men for whom they work. It has a distinctly contemporary flavor–enough so that you’ll come away wondering whether Van Druten might deserve credit for inventing the workplace comedy long before it found favor on TV–and this immaculate revival is involvingly performed by one of New York’s top off-Broadway troupes (TT).
GALLERY
William Bailey (Betty Cuningham Gallery, 541 West 25, up through Mar. 29). New canvases, plus a selection of earlier work, by the immensely subtle American still-life painter whom I described as follows in 2007: “Today Bonnard is widely acknowledged as the major master he always was, and Morandi and Diebenkorn seem well on the way to achieving similar recognition. William Bailey will likely prove a harder sell, not just because of the American obsession with ‘cutting-edge’ art but also because his paintings never raise their voice….They give nothing away: you must come to them.” Do so (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:
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• No Man’s Land/Waiting for Godot (drama, PG-13, playing in rotating repertory, closes Mar. 30, reviewed here)
• Once (musical, G/PG-13, some 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)
• London Wall (serious comedy, PG-13, closes Apr. 13, reviewed here)
• Middle of the Night (drama, PG-13, closes Mar. 29, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• Outside Mullingar (comedy, PG-13, closes Mar. 16, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• Hamlet/Saint Joan (drama, G/PG-13, remounting of off-Broadway productions, playing in rotating repertory, original productions reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN ORLANDO, FLA.:
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Parts I and II (drama, G/PG-13, playing in rotating repertory, reviewed here)
Almanac: Thomas Carlyle on work
“Work is the grand cure for all the maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind,–honest work, which you intend getting done.”
Thomas Carlyle, speech, Apr. 2, 1866