Compulsion, the new play by Rinnie Groff that opened Thursday at the Public Theater, is a strange piece of work. What is at base a fairly straightforward and essentially true story-frustrated writer goes mad-is simultaneously many different tales rolled into one. It’s about obsession, about paranoia, about writing and creativity and ownership of ideas; it’s Read More
A Spanish musical based on the diary of Anne Frank is scheduled to open in Madrid on Feb. 28, but at least one person is not pleased: the late Ms. Frank’s 82-year-old cousin, Buddy Elias, the New York Times reports via Agence France-Presse. Mr. Elias, who is Ms. Frank’s last living relative, said Read More
If this tree falls, everyone is going to hear it. The 150-year-old horse-chestnut tree in the city center of Amsterdam described in Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is diseased and was in danger of being cut down. It has been losing a battle with fungus and a moth infestation and only a Read More
I’ve been praying a lot lately. I even did it with Patti LaBelle. We stood in a circle in her trailer—me, the great Lady Marmalade herself and her bandmates—while her drummer led us in a pre-performance affirmation. Ms. LaBelle, I should explain, was the star attraction at the opening bash for the new Barneys store Read More
I’ve been praying a lot lately. I even did it with Patti LaBelle. We stood in a circle in her trailer—me, the great Lady Marmalade herself and her bandmates—while her drummer led us in a pre-performance affirmation. Ms. LaBelle, I should explain, was the star attraction at the opening bash for the new Barneys store Read More
Wednesday 1st
Seriously, how is it June already? It feels like just yesterday that it was gray, cold and dreary and the city’s females were swooping around in unfortunate ponchos …. Regardless, the good news is that weekend evenings will soon see a quiet hush in restaurants (less sweaty elbowing with the wankers who have Read More
Giant: George Stevens, A Life on Film, by Marilyn Ann Moss. Terrace Books; 327 pages; $35.
It was George Stevens’ misfortune to make the worst films of his career just as modern film criticism was coming of age: Giant (1956), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) all Read More
My buddy Rachel’s on the up-and-up now. But it was touch-and-go for a bit. She’s recovering from a seven-year love addiction to her ex-boyfriend, Russell. Russell is from an Irish-Catholic family. He was an asshole. But he was pale and he was tall and he discouraged Rachel’s zealous and overly attached Jewish mother from visiting. Read More
The new, improved version of The Diary of Anne Frank has opened on Broadway, packaged like any commodity. It’s better! It’s different! It’s more Jewish!
But why, 40 years after it was first produced on Broadway, has it been revived? The question is far from frivolous. We ask it all the time about revivals of Read More
