THE CURSE OF THE SCOTTISH PLAY
As fans of the bard well know, those involved in a production of Macbeth should never utter the name Macbeth in any of their discourse...
SOFTBALL, SHAKESPEARE, AND SHINERS
In 2017, I write a blog post about the first time I saw Hamlet or a reasonable facsimile of the play, since called "The Naked Hamlet". I...
THE NAKED HAMLET (Hamlet # 1)
Joe Papp was a New York City icon. In many ways, he still is because his legacy thrives. It was Joe, the son of Jewish immigrants from...
JAMES EARL JONES AND FRIENDS
As I mentioned in my last entry, when I was fairly young in my teaching career I took the initiative to see if I could replicate my...
THE GREAT WHITE HOPE
To celebrate fifty years of theatre going, I am highlighting the backstory of some of my more memorable trips to Broadway or London over...
RICKY JAY
I grew up knowing one card trick. It's a good trick, and I've performed it for students over the years. But it's still only one trick. ...
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
Yup. It was fifty years ago, on March 17th, 1966--St. Patrick's Day--that I saw my first Broadway show! Why would I remember it? Easy....
SIDE BY SIDE
It took me a long time to come around to Stephen Sondheim, I admit. Oh, I recognized his importance to the American Musical Theatre--he...
SHUFFLING OFF THIS MORTAL COIL
The theatre world lost two mavericks not too long ago, and I thought they deserved some recognition for their work. The Scotsman Nicol Williamson left us in late January at the age of 75. Cancer. Hard to believe he lasted that long given the way he pretty much grabbed life by the throat and wrestled it to the ground. Playwright John Osborne thought him the greatest actor since Brando and playwright Samuel Beckett opined that Nicol was "touched by genius". As encomiums go...
