Category Archives: Theatre

A Streetcar Named Desire: That’s What Williams Wrote. Deal With It.

Posted on December 3, 2024 by sheila

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 , , | 54 Comments

Happy birthday, Fedelma Cullen

Posted on October 23, 2024 by sheila

When I was a kid, and my family was in Ireland, my mother took me and 2 of my siblings to a production of A Doll’s House at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Dad stayed home with Siobhan, who was … Continue reading →

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“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” — Oscar Wilde

Posted on October 16, 2024 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. One of my heroes. His mother, Jane Speranza Francesca Wilde (aka Lady Wilde, aka “Speranza”) was an incredible woman – also in the canon of Irish literary history certainly, not to mention its politics and social … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, On This Day, Theatre, writers | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

“Quite frankly. I was all talent and no looks.” — Angela Lansbury

Posted on October 16, 2024 by sheila

Even if you came to Gaslight clean, without knowing a thing, which is hard to believe, but let’s just pretend: Even if you knew nothing about it, it would be instantly obvious that the teenage girl who plays the maid … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Movies, Music, On This Day, Television, Theatre | Tagged , | 10 Comments

“If someone spends his life writing the truth without caring for the consequences, he inevitably becomes a political authority in a totalitarian regime.” — Václav Havel

Posted on October 5, 2024 by sheila

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” — Václav Havel Václav Havel, whose birthday … Continue reading →

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R.I.P. Maggie Smith

Posted on September 27, 2024 by sheila

I’m sometimes inconsistent in my tributes here but it doesn’t mean I don’t have thoughts about those I didn’t write about! James Earl Jones died on September 9 and I didn’t write anything here because I was in Scotland and … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP, Theatre | Tagged | 2 Comments

“I didn’t think then, and I still don’t, that I was actually sick.” — Frances Farmer

Posted on September 19, 2024 by sheila

“She’ll come back as fire To burn all the liars And leave a blanket of ash on the ground.” — Nirvana, “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” It’s her birthday today. When Nirvana’s album In Utero came out … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

“I’ve been very lucky, considering what I look like and what I do.” — James Gandolfini

Posted on September 17, 2024 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. The piece below was originally published on Capital New York, June 20, 2013, the day after Gandolfini died. James Gandolfini suddenly stood up, walked across the stage in a wild and raging manner, going nowhere in … Continue reading →

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“I swear my next project is going to be something really simple and focused and minimal.” — Baz Luhrmann

Posted on September 17, 2024 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. “I think what I’m saying is, when you get to where I am in your journey, you just have to start to accept that there’s something inside you that you’ve been trying to get out and … Continue reading →

Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

For Liberties: John Cassavetes, Tennessee Williams, and Beautiful Insanity

Posted on July 29, 2024 by sheila

My next article for my Movies Before Breakfast column at Liberties Journal is one I’ve wanted to write for years: how John Cassavetes’ Opening Night and Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play are the same work of art to me – … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments