Like a less significant middle child, composer, author and philanthropist Mary Rodgers is a mere footnote in the annals of the musical theater. After all, she is probably best known for being the daughter of Richard Rodgers (Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Sound of Music and so many more) – a classic “hard act to follow” – and the mother of Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza, … [Read more...]
All for Mr. B: Dancer sees Balanchine’s ‘Serenade’ through worshipful lens
When I started reading Toni Bentley’s Serenade: A Balanchine Story, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. In fact, I wasn’t sure that I was going to continue reading it. I had my suspicion that the tone might be overly reverent, as Bentley was young and impressionable when she joined the ranks of New York City Ballet and was chosen by master choreographer George Balanchine to dance … [Read more...]
‘James Patterson’: Prolific storyteller clams up in frustrating autobiography
By Sharon Geltner In James Patterson by James Patterson, the author gets a disturbing phone call. "Your Jersey Shore house is burning!” What happened? Don’t know. How did the fire start? The author doesn’t say. Was it an electrical short? Nah. Spark from a neighbor’s grill? Yawn. Lightning strike? Maybe. Was it arson? Yes! That’s it! Arson! And the … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival features Watergate historian Graff, actor Cumming, director Stone
Author, journalist and historian Garret M. Graff wasn’t even born in 1972 when the Watergate scandal unfolded 50 years ago, ending in the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974. But Graff, 40, has become one of the country’s foremost experts on that scandal and will speak about those events and his latest book, Watergate: A New History, at the eighth … [Read more...]
‘The Prince’ slims down Henry James for the modern age
By Sharon Geltner It took a former book reviewer for the New York Times to cleverly update Henry James’s best and, at 600 pages, longest novel, The Golden Bowl. Dinitia Smith has just launched The Prince, cutting 300 pages and speeding the pace — thereby catapulting the Gilded Age into the modern age. “I don’t write in Henry James’ style!” Smith exclaimed recently, … [Read more...]
Former ’60 Minutes’ producer pulls back the curtain behind that ticking clock
Over the course of his long career – 25 years as producer at 60 Minutes and another 15 years as senior producer of ABC’s Primetime Live and 20/20 – Ira Rosen has won a long list of accolades, including multiple Peabody and duPont awards, 24 Emmys and six Investigative Reporters and Editors awards -- more than Washington Post editor Bob Woodward. But for Rosen, the most … [Read more...]
Dancer’s memoir rips off backstage bandages, entertainingly
So much time has passed since the curtains on stages were drawn closed and the doors of theaters were shut tight. Needless to say, those of us who thrive on the live performances of the local dance seasons have been in a state of dismayed withdrawal. So, how to survive this cavernous gap that we have been enduring since shutdown in early 2020? And how to bridge the … [Read more...]
‘Putting It Together’: How Sondheim and Lapine painted their masterpiece
When encountering a fully satisfying musical, it is hard to imagine the difficulties it endured on its way to Broadway. Think of Fiddler on the Roof or Hello, Dolly! – both a shambles in their out-of-town tryouts – or virtually every show by Stephen Sondheim, the musical theater’s pre-eminent composer-lyricist, notoriously slow in completing each score. Such is certainly … [Read more...]
Florida thriller writer finds past has dark resonance for today
By Sharon Geltner One of the world’s best-selling thriller writers recently moved to Orlando, does most of his research in Jacksonville and has raised money for the Palm Beach County Library System and the Delray Beach City Library, as well as a dozen other in-state libraries. Steve Berry also spoke to Palm Beach donors about Smithsonian Libraries. He ultimately raised … [Read more...]
Magisterial (and literally weighty) bio explores life of playwright Stoppard
One of the most memorable days I ever spent in a theater was when I saw all three parts of Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia at New York’s Lincoln Center, a cumulative 8-1/2 hours of pre-revolution Russian history and philosophy. As the audience left the Beaumont Theatre late that night, ushers were passing out buttons that said, “I survived 'The Coast of Utopia.'” … [Read more...]