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Recent Posts
- Happy Birthday, Rhode Island’s first poet laureate, Michael Harper
- “If it hadn’t been for the videocassette, I may not have had a career at all.” — Kurt Russell
- “A pas de deux is a dialogue of love. How can there be conversation if one partner is dumb?” — Rudolf Nureyev
- Sláinte! Metallica “Whiskey in the Jar,” Dublin, 2006: “Hear Dublin Roar!”
- “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- Review: Club Zero (2024)
- “I hate greenery. I think trees are nowhere, and grass is about as dull as it can get. To tell you the honest truth, I wouldn’t mind if the whole world was paved.” — Max Shulman
- “I couldn’t keep a dog and a James Joyce and a bookshop.” — Sylvia Beach
- “Make the most of what you have and enjoy being female; enjoy being you.” — Bunny Yeager
- “I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac
Recent Comments
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Lyrie on “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- Jack on “I’ve never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn’t choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.” — Juliette Binoche
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- peter jensen on The Books: “The Rimers of Eldritch” (Lanford Wilson)
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Nick on Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 20: “What Is and What Should Never Be”
- sheila on Why I love Dean Stockwell: #3
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Mystery Achiever on Why I love Dean Stockwell: #3
- Jessie on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
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Category Archives: Theatre
Happy Birthday, poet/playwright Angelina Weld Grimké
Angelina Weld Grimké’s was born into a powerful familial legacy, which she absorbed, and then continued on her own. It was the air she breathed. Her paternal grandparents were a white slave owner and a mixed-race slave, who lived together … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, Theatre, writers
Tagged D.W. Griffith, Harlem Renaissance, poetry
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“If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work.” — Alan Rickman
It’s his birthday today. When Alan Rickman died, I paid tribute to him for Rogerebert.com, including my memory of seeing him in the unforgettable Broadway production of Noel Coward’s Private Lives, opposite Lindsay Duncan. I still have the poster. I … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre
9 Comments
“If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks.” – Happy Birthday, Brendan Behan
“Shakespeare said pretty well everything and what he left out, James Joyce, with a judge from meself, put in.” – Brendan Behan Brendan Behan, Irish playwright, IRA man, was born in Dublin on this day, 1923. He lived a life … Continue reading
“For I, the chiefest lamp of all the earth…” — Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine
Maybe this is him. I’m armed with more than complete steel, The justice of my quarrel. — Christopher Marlowe, Lust’s Dominion. Act iii. Sc. 4. Playwright, poet, prodigy, agent in Her Majesty’s secret service: the incomparable Christopher Marlowe was born … Continue reading
“The notion of ‘building a career’ had never been heard or dreamed of when I was young.” — Vanessa Redgrave
My friend Dan Callahan wrote the first major biography of Vanessa Redgrave, and he is voluminous on the topic: her career, her gift as an actress. Dan is one of the best writers today on the art of acting (and … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, On This Day, Television, Theatre
Tagged England, friends
3 Comments
“Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress. When I get fed up with one, I spend the night with the other.” — Anton Chekhov
It’s his birthday today. Anton Chekhov, letter to actress (and wife) Olga Knipper January 2, 1901 “Describe at least one rehearsal of Three Sisters for me. Isn’t there anything which needs adding or subtracting? Are you acting well, my darling? … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, Theatre, writers
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Christopher Walken, Olympia Dukakis
9 Comments
“I sucked my fingers for 12 years. I never spoke … but I was a great observer.” — Cicely Tyson
It’s her birthday today. One of my earliest memories seeing a movie – I had to be 7 or 8 – was watching Sounder with my parents. I sat on the floor in front of the television. My parents sat … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Television, Theatre
4 Comments
“In lieu of private themes we had generalisation, in lieu of what was special the typical, in lieu of accident causality. Decorativeness gave way to constructedness, Reason was put on a par with Emotion, while sensuality was replaced by didacticism and fantasy by documentary reality.” — Erwin Piscator
It’s Erwin Piscator’s birthday. Even if you didn’t set OUT to learn about him, if you have done any reading about actors/theatre in the 20th century – either in Germany or in America – you will run into his name … Continue reading
A Streetcar Named Desire: That’s What Williams Wrote. Deal With It.
A re-post for the anniversary of Streetcar debuting on Broadway. I wrote this essay after seeing a 2011 production of Streetcar at Williamstown. Directed by David Cromer Starring Sam Rockwell as Stanley Kowalski, Jessica Hecht as Blanche DuBois, Ana Reeder … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged Sam Rockwell, Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
51 Comments
“The hope is that in rediscovering Chicago, audiences will rediscover what theater was. It was sophisticated, complicated, adult.” — Ann Reinking
It’s her birthday today. When she died last year, the outpouring of tributes and appreciation was truly heart-warming to see. Here’s what I wrote. Ann Reinking’s talent was like her performance persona: larger than life, epic in scope, intimidating. She … Continue reading