Author Archives

University administrator and teacher by day, theater and arts critic by night.

Reclaiming a Camp Artifact — The Bad Seed

My colleagues in Penn’s Theatre Arts program and I spend a lot of time talking about potential directing projects. Sometimes they’re pipe […]

Last week, a Philadelphia arts journalist colleague asked me for a list of some of my favorite theater events last season – […]

Most of my life is spent in academia and theatre, two worlds that in most ways aren’t much alike, yet they share […]

Summer is TV catch-up time at our house, and how low we’ll go in choosing shows is a measure of how hopelessly […]

Hooray for homecomings! In this case, we have two. Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a sweet-sad comic riff […]

Another week, some more summer listening — in this case, two recordings that I’ve owned for years, and revisiting them made me very happy… so […]

Frequently, when I go to the opera, even though I recently turned 58, I feel like one of the younger, hipper people […]

They don’t call it “star power” for nothing! The musical Herringbone is a worthy, intriguing show that takes too many detours, and […]

This is a post I’d rather not write, but it was inevitable. Elaine Stritch has died. Though I can’t presume to speak […]

On Sunday, the great tenor Carlo Bergonzi turned 90. I’m a day late to the party, but I spent quite a bit […]