Rob Weinert-Kendt

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's shattering DRIVE MY CAR, about a director working through grief by staging UNCLE VANYA, has its own plot and specific preoccupations, but it is so saturated in Chekhov's themes and feelings that it almost qualifies as an adaptation of VANYA. Needless to say, I loved it.

A Curtain Call for the Life and Legacy of Othell J. Miller A colleague and mentee recalls a tireless advocate and encourager who wasn't content to make art himself—he also felt called to nurture it in others.

A colleague and mentee recalls Othell J. Miller of N.J.'s Plainfield Academy, a tireless advocate and encourager who wasn’t content to make art himself—he also felt called to nurture it in others.

The whole album slaps open.spotify.com/album/4tinlr...

FORAGER - Haiku Nursery Rhyme [NPR Tiny Desk Contest Submission 2024] YouTube video by FORAGER

I'm obsessed with this song by the Brooklyn band Forager (which is on their great new full-length album EVEN A CHILD CAN COVER THE SUN WITH A FINGER). I defy anyone to listen to this and not be utterly charmed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bMG...

For people who blather so much about Western Civilization and how they’re supposedly saving it, it’s like they’ve never heard of the canonical Ancient Greek concept of “hubris.”

The Bridge: Mixed Blood Podcast Episode · American Theatre Offscript · March 5 · 1h 2m

This vital new TCG podcast series, The Bridge, tells the surprising story of the theatre subscription/loyalty model, which, after decades of decline, has emerged as a post-Covid bright spot at some theatres. Corinna Schulenburg looks at who's making it work and how podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Bodily Fluids, Heartsick Lyrics, and a Viral Musical Podcast Episode · American Theatre Offscript · March 4 · 58m

On this podcast I get Alia Shawkat to tell me about her own family smell and Robert Kaplow to tell me his favorite Rodgers & Hart song, and @daniellaignacio.bsky.social gets Joriah Kwamé to explain how to turn a TikTok into a full-length musical. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Urgent report from my colleague @daniellaignacio.bsky.social

Heaven have mercy on us all—Presbyterians and Pagans alike—for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending

OTD, 1953

(I demurred)

In an effort to save money, I once stayed in a hostel in NYC where I was offered crack by a young woman who said she babysat Sigourney Weaver’s kids

Steel worker, US Steel administrator

‘Maybe Happy Ending’ is a musical about robots—but it’ll make you feel alive With ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ two first-time Broadway writers take a big swing—and hit a home run.

This was my review: www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture...

It's still so funny and soulful, dorky and suave, sweet and sad yet hopeful, and it still moves like a dream. I think it will be around for a good long while, and I'm happy to add it to the musical theater "canon."

I'm late to post about this but a few weeks ago I finally took my whole family to see MAYBE HAPPY ENDING. I'd loved it when I first saw it in late 2024, but this was the first chance we all had to see it (i.e., got snail mailed a discount code so it was finally affordable), and we all loved it.

If Mexico has a RITE OF SPRING, it is probably Revueltas's surging, cathartic LA NOCHE DE LOS MAYAS, which Esa-Pekka Salonen's LA Phil introduced me to, both live and on record. I can also recommend this rackety 2007 rendition by Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa. open.spotify.com/album/6quoTv...

Great convos every one, if I may say so myself

"The Babe Ruth Story" ~ Classic SCTV sketch starring John Candy, Joe Flaherty & Catherine O'Hara! #MLB #Baseball #Comedy #Legends

i'm not crying you're crying

Mitski's beautiful and haunting new record is giving me Magnetic Fields and Aimee Mann vibes, though after several listens the album's most Mitski tune, the jagged whirlpool of "If I Leave," is the one I find myself most drawn to. mitski.bandcamp.com/album/nothin...

In Japan, we have an expression that means “earning it with your feet,” getting results by showing up in person. I believe that even in a digital world, record stores and live venues offer experiences I can’t get anywhere else, and they always feed back into my music. I love things that take time.

Once again, excellent, important brass tacks reporting from Marisa.

It was the closing show, so you can no longer see it, but the Ulysses stage adaptation by Elevator Repair Service at the Public Theatre was one of the most thrilling works of theatre I’ve seen in a long, long time.

The Roman Arena Podcast Episode · In Our Time: History · February 26 · 50m

I miss Melvyn Bragg’s distinctive bluster, of course, but so far I’ve been enjoying In Our Time’s new host, Misha Glenny
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

A Complimentary Profile Of Jason Lee That Was Surprisingly Difficult To Publish | Defector If you walked down Colorado Boulevard in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles at some point in the past three years, you might have noticed a modest, pueblo-style beige building with “PHOTO” painted above its door. And if you had decided to go in, there was a decent chance you’d know the pers…

This @defector.com story is a good (non-political) example of why it’s not enough to have a bunch of individual reporters with newsletters running around. You need some kind of institution with the resources (and principles) to publish despite legal threats. defector.com/a-complimentar…