artsjournal — In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, inspired by a scene in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Look Back in Anger, I consider the seeming paradox of religious art created by skeptics. Here's an excerpt. * * * Rarely have I seen a spectacle so disheartening as the cheerless,...
thecriticalcondition — Last night, Pee-wee Herman was the guest judge on Top Chef. And I don’t mean that “Paul Reubens, the actor who plays Pee-wee Herman” was a guest judge. No. I mean that Paul Reubens in character as Pee-wee Herman showed up for the Quickfire and opined on everyone’s pancakes. Then...
parabasis.typepad — By Isaac Butler If your show is longer than 80-90 minutes, please insert an intermission. If your show has an intermission and isn't written by a genius, please make sure that intermission comes before the 80 minute mark. Theater takes more energy to watch than film, and stretching your show beyond...
parabasis.typepad — It starts with the voice. It feels lower than it should be, perhaps digitally altered to pitch shift it down. And then there’s the articulation, or lack thereof, as if he’s half-swallowing the words, or as if he doesn’t really care whether you can make them out. The voice is...
thecriticalcondition — I don’t have a particular reason for writing this post today, except that I’ve been meaning to write it for a while. In late 2010, I had the good fortune to see this embedded performance of William Finn’s Elegies, a song cycle he wrote about the people in his life...
thecriticalcondition — The Oscar nominations are being announced tomorrow morning, and unlike most recent years, I’m not really jazzed about the frontrunners. I mean, I liked The Artist well enough, and I didn’t hate The Descendants, though that little brat of a teenage boy sure pulled me out of the story every...
artsjournal — An excerpt from Sinatra: An American Original, originally telecast on CBS in 1965, in which Frank Sinatra is seen recording "It Was a Very Good Year." The conductor is Gordon Jenkins and the narrator is Walter Cronkite: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this...
artsjournal — In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, I write about Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen, a film documentary that will receive its first public screening next month. Here's an excerpt. * * * It's been a long time since an American classical composer became famous, much less...
thecriticalcondition — Last night, while I was waiting for Top Chef, I decided to watch Devil on HBO On Demand. In case you don’t know this masterpiece, it’s mostly set in the elevator of a Philadelphia office building. The elevator gets stuck, and one by one, the five people in it are...
thecriticalcondition — It’s not just that I’m a Wikipedia junkie. It’s more than that. Although I am a Wikipedia junkie. At 12:07 this morning, I reflexively went to the site to look up some random bit of trivia—the chart peak of a Sting single, to be exact, even though I have a book...
thecriticalcondition — [#40-31; #30-21; #20-11] [Last year's countdown] Here they are: The best of the best, the most of the most, the… you know. 10. “Countdown” by Beyonce As a nation, I still don’t think we’re ready for the genre-smashing dance explosion of this song, which I analyzed in depth a few months ago. How...
thecriticalcondition — [#40-31;#30-21] [Last year's countdown] The countdown continues! Get ready for some devastating ballads and a few happy songs that are so happy you’ll probably freak with all the happiness. 20. “Dimming of the Day” by Alison Krauss and Union Station This song is a minor classic in the country-folk world. It was originally...
artsjournal — Mrs. T and I are holed up on Sanibel Island, off the coast of south Florida. I'm getting over a lingering cold, so we did as little as possible last week/ I did contrive to see and review a play on the mainland, but mostly we slept late, walked on...
parabasis.typepad — by 99 Seats As I've written about here and, well, everywhere, one of the problems that our field faces is that we're deeply segregated. The work done by artists of color and the communities that support them are largely invisible to the white theatre community. The most common response I get...
thecriticalcondition — Hey everyone! As you may have noticed, all of the content is back on the site. WOOOOO! The only things are missing are the three most recent posts—the last three entries in my music countdown. Those will all be re-posted by Tuesday.
thecriticalcondition — Hi everyone! First of all, I want to thank you all for your incredible emails of support regarding the sudden disappearance of posts from the site. I am flummoxed that they are still appearing in Google Reader and other RSS-related applications, but I’m also happy that they’re not gone for...
thecriticalcondition — Hello everyone. For no apparent reason, my site crashed today, deleting every post I’ve written in the last 18 months. All of them. Gone. I will keep you updated about what this means and whether or not the work can be retrieved.
thecriticalcondition — [#20-11; #30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The time has come… the time to get down with our baddest selves, to weep our most beautiful tears. It’s time to unveil the year’s ten best songs… 10. “Countdown” by Beyonce Inexplicably, “Countdown” has failed to become a massive international hit, while “Party Rock Anthem,” the...
thecriticalcondition — [#30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The countdown continues! Get ready for some devastating ballads and a few happy songs that are so happy you’ll probably freak with all the happiness. 20. “Dimming of the Day” by Alison Krauss and Union Station This song is a minor classic in the country-folk world. It was...
thecriticalcondition — [#40-31] [Last Year's Countdown] —- Welcome back! Let’s keep things rolling with some very, very cute boys. Oh, and some good songs, too… 30. “I Won’t Let You Go” by James Morrison Ooh, lord! James Morrison is all, “I’m sensitive, and I sing really well about loving you through hard times!” And I’m all,...
artsjournal — Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Massachusetts, announced today that it will produce Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, in August. John Douglas Thompson, one of this country's top classical actors and a longtime member of Shakespeare & Company, has been cast in the dual role of Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong,...
thecriticalcondition — Now that I’ve absorbed the music I bought with Christmas gift cards, I am ready to anoint my top 40 songs of 2011. As you know, this countdown is mandated by my DNA, so I am delighted to once again fulfill my genetic destiny. 2011 delivered a lot of great ballads,...
parabasis.typepad — by 99 Seats I was browsing through the internet and hit upon some stats on gay marriage. Iowa legalized same-sex marriage in 2009. One year later, 815 Iowa couples married there, out of 17,884 heterosexual marriages, rougly 4% (there were a number of out-of-state marriages). In other states, the stats aren't...
parabasis.typepad — by 99 Seats All right. L'Affaire Loughlin, as Isaac has so aptly dubbed it, continues apace, with the comment thread approaching 60 comments. Some are thoughtful, some are angry, some are prideful, some are downright obnoxious. Needless to say, there does seem to be fair amount to discuss here. My own...
parabasis.typepad — by 99 Seats In the comments to the post below, Scott Walters weighs in: When I read Tom's essay, I knew it would be controversial, and allow a lot of people to thump their breasts in outrage. But it amazes me how easy it is for people to thump,...