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- “Life was bitter and I was not. All around me was poverty and sordidness but I refused to see it that way. By turning it into jokes, I made it bearable.” — Max Shulman
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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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- “I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac
- “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
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- Scott Abraham on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- sheila on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- dres on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 12: “Nightshifter”
- Frances on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
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Tag Archives: Waiting for Lefty
Present Tense: Audience vs. Alone
My new column is up, this about the special thing that happens sometimes (rarely) when an audience of strangers merges into one being. I still go see movies in the theatre (although certainly not like I used to back in … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Chantal Akerman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Notorious, Present Tense, Spike Lee, Waiting for Lefty
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2018 Books Read
2018 Books Read 1. Tamburlaine, Part 1, by Christopher Marlowe I finished 2017 with Paradise Lost, in the mood to continue with rigorous challenging poetry. I decided to read the complete plays of Christopher Marlowe (re-read in most cases). The … Continue reading
Posted in Books, James Joyce
Tagged Animal Farm, Annie Proulx, books read, Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Marlowe, Clifford Odets, Edgar Allan Poe, England, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Finnegans Wake, friends, George Orwell, H.L. Mencken, Hunter S. Thompson, Ian McEwan, Ireland, Italy, Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Pauline Kael, poetry, Poland, politics, Robert Kaplan, Romania, Ron Chernow, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, The Soccer War, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Truman Capote, Victor Serge, Waiting for Lefty
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The Books: Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America 1931-1940, by Wendy Smith
Daily Book Excerpt: Theatre Next book on the acting/theatre shelf is Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America 1931-1940, by Wendy Smith The Group Theatre I suppose it is clear what my theatrical background is. I am always shocked … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Group Theatre, Harold Clurman, John Garfield, Lee Strasberg, Morris Carnovsky, politics, Waiting for Lefty
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The Books: “The Time Is Ripe: The 1940 Journals of Clifford Odets”
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: The Time Is Ripe: The 1940 Journal of Clifford Odets : With an Introduction by William Gibson Clifford Odets (playwright in the 30s and 40s – inspiration to Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, a generation of … Continue reading
The Books: “Elia Kazan: A Life” (Elia Kazan)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Elia Kazan: A Life, by Elia Kazan I met Elia Kazan once. It was in 1999 and I was working on a show at the Actors Studio. It was a production of Awake and Sing, … Continue reading
The Books: “Waiting for Lefty” (Clifford Odets)
Waiting for Lefty was an EXPLOSION, when it first was produced in the 1930s. [That original production is one of my top 10 moments I would LOVE to go back in time and witness, first hand.] It made Clifford Odets … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Theatre
Tagged Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Harold Clurman, politics, scripts, Waiting for Lefty
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Top 10 Theatrical Moments I Wish I Could Have Seen
1. Laurette Taylor as Amanda Wingfield in Glass Menagerie – the production in Chicago. BEFORE it came to New York. 2. Marlon Brando in the premiere of Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway. 3. Eleanora Duse doing anything. 4. One of … Continue reading