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“In this house? This same house?” “Yes, my great-aunt bought it cheaply. Probably because of what happened here during the Siege of Gotham City.” “Uh, the realtor didn’t mention anything.” “You don’t know what happened in this house? This is where Deputy Commissioner Cody cowered behind his wife instead of leading his officers against Bane.” … Continue reading »

  The Long Wharf is doing another Summer Youth Theater Shake It Up Shakespeare project in late August. Only one this year—last year they did a modern musical drama, Threads of a Spider Web, and a pop-fueled take on Hamlet. This time it’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream scored with early rock & roll hits such … Continue reading »

The play reading I helped set up at the Institute Libarary July 21 went very well, thanks. The audience was bigger than we’d expected, for a reading of a new play on a balmy Saturday in New Haven during summer break. The listeners were not only attentive but full of constructive comments which the playwright, … Continue reading »

The run of Carousel at Goodspeed Opera House has barely begun, and now is contending with a major cast change. Teal Wicks, who’s been playing Julie Jordan–the young seamstress smitten with the lowlife Billy Bigelow who runs the show’s titular merry-go-round, has gotten a national touring gig with the revival of Frank Wildhorn’s Jekyll & … Continue reading »

I met this guy Lou Harry about a year ago. We were both part of an Annenberg/NEA fellowship where dozens of theater critics spend a fortnight creating a website in L.A. and bombarding the arts scene there with reviews and snarky commentary. We kept in touch. Lou lives in Indiana, where he’s the Arts Editor … Continue reading »

From the Forever Nuts/Classic Screwball Strips compilation of Bud Fisher’s immortal Mutt & Jeff (NBM Publishing, 2007).

The Ben Allison Band with Robert Pinsky 8 p.m. June 27 in Morse Recital Hall, Yale. Part of the Music at Dusk series of the 2012 International Festival of Arts & Ideas.   I balked at writing about the Robert Pinsky/Ben Allison concert here; this is my theater blog, and my opinions of the music … Continue reading »

Circa Presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas through June 30 at the Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, New Haven. http://artidea.org/ DirectorL Yaron Lifschitz. Associate Director: Ben Knapton. Producer: Danielle Kellie. Tour manager/director: Diane Stern. Technical Director/Lighting Designer: Jason Organ. Costume Designer: Libby McDonnell. Performers: Valerie Doucet, Casey Douglas, Freyja Edney, Darcy … Continue reading »

Mark Morris Dance Group Presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. June 21 & 22 at the Shubert, 247 College St., New Haven. (203) 562-5666, www.artidea.org. Choreographed and conducted by Mark Morris. Sung by Yale Choral Artists (Jeffrey Douma, director). Played by Yale Collegium Players (Robert Mealy, director). Danced by Chelsea Lynn Acree, … Continue reading »

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart Presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Created by David Greig (writer) and Wils Wilson (director) for the National Theatre of Scotland. Designed by Georgia McGuinness. Composer/Musical Director: Alasdair Macrae. Movement Director: Janice Parker. Casting Director: Anne Henderson. Srage Manager: Gary Morgan.   With just the right … Continue reading »