“A play like The Living pricks the conscience of the country. It is the reason I wanted to produce and direct it.”
Commentary
Visual Arts Commentary: America’s Historical Monuments — Under Reconsideration
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is the latest product of our heated social/political/cultural debates about America’s memorials and their vision of the country’s past, present, and future.
Dance Review/Commentary: “The Grand Union” — The Story of the Accidental Anarchists of Downtown Dance
This fascinating book, and the rich literature of films and writings around it, have helped me feel a bit more positive about these shrunken times.
Podcast Review: “The Joe Rogan Experience” — Taking Responsibility for Random Gab?
As amusing and informative as The Joe Rogan Experience can be, a few podcast interviews doth not an actual education make.
Arts Remembrance: Eddie Van Halen
Not since Jimi Hendrix had there been such a game-changer for the electric six-string.
Jazz Commentary: Louis Armstrong as Negotiator
Throughout much of his career, Louis Armstrong negotiated a balance between being a “popular” artist and a jazz artist.
Theater Review: Penny Arcade — Provincetown, Puritans, and the Pandemic
I’ve hated enough people,” Penny Arcade confessed, “I can’t hate anyone new until 2022.”
Poetry Remembrance: John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” — Forever Young at 200
Keats is comfortable in that ambiguous space between reality and the imagination, and you will find no finer example of Romantic poetry when he fuses them in the language of an erotic dream.
Jazz Remembrance: Ira Sullivan
In no way was the recognition that Ira Sullivan received commensurate with his skill.
Theater Commentary: Boston Stages — Running from Reality?
Are our theaters indifferent, craven, or complicit? Take your pick.