[contextly_auto_sidebar] I'M hardly the only Gen Xer to grow up on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, a show that first aired about a year before I was born. Part of me thinks that my fondness for the program comes from the fact that my frequent viewing companion -- my maternal grandmother -- was, like Rogers, a Pittsburgh Presbyterian. But Rogers and his show imprinted itself on all kinds of people, … [Read more...]
“West Side Story,” and Leonard Bernstein at 100
[contextly_auto_sidebar] IT'S hard to think of a figure in American cultural history more complex and protean than Leonard Bernstein. For my generation, he was already in eclipse when we came of age in the '70s and '80s. But he was such a titan that many of us -- and those older and younger -- are looking forward to the performances of his work and the upcoming exhibit at the Skirball Cultural … [Read more...]
On Stage with the Marx Bros
[contextly_auto_sidebar]ONE of the glories of American culture is the cinematic ensemble known as the Marx Brothers. But before Chico, Zeppo, Harpo, and Groucho became anarchic movie stars in film like "A Day at the Races" and "Duck Soup," they were an anarchic vaudeville troupe that traveled the nation. And they performed and socialized with my grandfather, a Tin Pan Alley songwriter, and his … [Read more...]