Ever since Tom Brokaw wrote about the men who went off to fight World War II and the women who sacrificed on the home front awaiting their return, they have been known as “The Greatest Generation.” But in the way his grandfather’s contemporaries had been idealized, playwright Sharr White sensed that the full story had yet to be told. That led him to write Six Years, the … [Read more...]
Film heroes, villains share high sense of style at Norton show
In an ideal world, bad guys are easily identifiable and, thus, avoidable. Their crimes are not carried out with a pen but with heavy swords or devastating superpowers. And right before they get their way, a hero sporting flashy colors saves the day. In that ideal world, evil and good share one thing: they are both stylish. This is the world the Norton Museum of Art has … [Read more...]
Writer’s memoir of husband’s stroke meticulous, moving
When a blood clot lodges in the brain, patients may lose their ability to speak or write, a devastating setback for anyone, but particularly so for an author. Husband-and-wife authors Diane Ackerman and Paul West had devoted their lives to words until that awful day in 2003 when West suffered a stroke that left him devoid of language, an outcome known as aphasia. One Hundred … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 17-19
Film: Can’t decide whether to go to the theater or to the movies this weekend? Do both, with the high-definition video of the recent concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, which was shamelessly promoted on last Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast. It stars Neil Patrick Harris as marriage-challenged Bobby, which should restart the discussion whether the character’s dilemma is … [Read more...]
Masterful Bach opens Stringendo series
Perhaps it was Johannes Brahms who said it best: “Using the technique adapted to a small instrument the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings,” he wrote to Clara Schumann, describing the celebrated Chaconne of J.S. Bach. “If I could picture myself writing, or even conceiving, such a piece, I am certain that the extreme excitement and … [Read more...]
Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ hints at return to mastery
Neil Simon, in his heyday, used to churn out a Broadway play every season, whether he really had a worthy idea for a play or not. The same could be said of Woody Allen over the past decade -- from 2000’s Small Time Crooks to last year’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger -- he has written and directed a film each year, but they have largely been inconsequential trifles that … [Read more...]
Author’s quest to know lost dad revives tales of sadness
John Darnton was 11 months old when his father, Barney Darnton, was killed during World War II while reporting on the war in the Pacific for The New York Times. Almost a Family is a meticulous reconstruction of the lives of the Darnton family – the author, his older brother and their mom and dad. The book is, by turns, illuminating, gripping and sad. Growing up, the author … [Read more...]
The View From Home 24: New releases on DVD
Heartless (IFC) Release date: April 12 Standard list price: $17.99 A visionary director whose visions are all too infrequent, Britian’s Philip Ridley has made just three films in 21 years, making Robert Bresson look like a workaholic. His audience is tiny and seems unlikely to grow: His outstanding debut, The Reflecting Skin, has never been released on DVD in the United … [Read more...]
‘Blasted,’ ‘Mack and Mabel’ win big at 35th Carbonells
Last night’s 35th annual Carbonell Awards ceremony had a curious, unscripted recurring theme -- actor Todd Allen Durkin’s private parts. I guess we should have seen it coming -- the theme, not the naughty bits -- since he did appear full frontally nude in GableStage’s production of Blasted, the runaway award winner, and later was featured in Mosaic Theatre’s The Irish … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: March 18-20
Art: Here’s one way of tying together a lot of disparate work: the alphabet. Tomorrow, the Norton Museum of Art opens From A to Z: 26 Great Photographs from the Norton Collection, which is exactly what it sounds like – a group of photos arranged by photographer’s names from A to Z. The “X” photographer is Chinese-born Xiaoze Xie, and the “Z” photographer in this exhibit is … [Read more...]