Patrick Kurp of Anecdotal Evidence and D.G. Myers of A Commonplace Blog are jointly conducting a serial symposium called “The Function of Book Blogging at the Present Time” whose participants have been invited to “speculate about the past, present, and future of this youngest of literary genres.” Even though I’m not strictly a book blogger, they asked me to join the fray anyway. Here’s my contribution….
Fats Domino sings and plays “Valley of Tears,” “It’s You I Love,” and “I’m Walkin’” on The Perry Como Show. He is introduced and interviewed by Como prior to the performances. This episode was originally telecast by NBC on May 25, 1957:
(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
In today’s Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway transfer of Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, starring Tom Hiddleston. Here’s an excerpt.
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“Betrayal” was seen here six years ago in a revival directed by Mike Nichols and starring Daniel Craig that still failed to eke out more than an 83-performance run. Why, then, bring it back now? Because Tom Hiddleston, as the kids say. A classically trained actor with extensive stage experience who is thoroughly qualified to act in a highbrow show, Mr. Hiddleston is also Marvel’s Loki and, in that capacity, one of the stars of “Avengers: Endgame,” the highest-grossing movie in history, which explains why one of Pinter’s dullest plays is drawing sellout crowds on Broadway.
A more-than-semi-autobiographical tale of adultery (Pinter was the real-life betrayer), “Betrayal” is told in reverse chronological order. Even so, it’s far less elliptical than the pause-packed stage plays that put its author on the map of English-language theater. It’s as though he’d decided to go back and fill in all the gaps in “Old Times,” his earlier, infinitely more enigmatic study of a three-way relationship. Unfortunately, Pinter’s new-found willingness to let his characters come right out and say what they’re thinking led not to lucidity but triteness…
