RIP Doris Day
Doris Day died yesterday at the age of 97. Day was all sunshine, and her singing voice was velvet. She was mocked by some for being so all-fired wholesome, but she was a great entertainer in several genres and made … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Arts
So, nu? So, Sue Me
A while back we had a Great Musicals Debate here in which commenter Richard Saunders wrote, in response to my saying that I much prefer the original stage version of “Guys and Dolls” to the Brando/Sinatra film version: Neo — … Continue reading →
This is why I love watching YouTube
Amateurs, doing what they love, having fun for the love of it. Apparently they learned that in four hours. Oh heck, I’ll throw this in too. Very schmaltzy, but good schmaltzy (the backstory is worth watching, but if you want … Continue reading →
I can’t decide whether these people are the new Taliban or the new Red Guard
Maybe it doesn’t even matter which it is, because the impulse is the same whether it’s supposedly religious or supposedly secular/leftist: to destroy history and its representations and replace them with the new orthodoxy. The deeper motive is to indoctrinate … Continue reading →
The Day Collusion Died
Commenter “AesopFan” and some others have called my attention to this song parodist, Don Caron. Funny stuff. Unfortunately, it will take more than the Mueller report to drive a stake through collusion’s heart, and the obstruction vampire is alive and … Continue reading →
Is the handshake the next to go?
The consequences of the sexual revolution (remember that?) crossed with #MeToo can be rather ironic: Handshakes could be banned under new workplace rules to avoid expensive sexual harassment claims, an expert has said. Kate Palmer, an associate director of advisory … Continue reading →
Gwen Verdon: the greatest show dancer of them all
There’s a new TV series out entitled “Fosse/Verdon,” that follows the lives and times of Broadway choreographer/director/dancer Bob Fosse and Broadway dancer (and choreographic collaborator) Gwen Verdon, who were husband and wife and had a tumultuous relationship. It’s not as … Continue reading →
Use it or lose it
She’s not the dancer she used to be, I’m quite certain of that. Not even close. The legs are much weaker and not fully straight, the arch less pronounced, the turnout barely there, and her elevation is probably nil. But … Continue reading →
Rebuilding Notre Dame: is it an art museum, a tourist attraction, or a cathedral?
I suppose at this point, realistically speaking, it’s something of all of them. I wouldn’t have even asked the question if Notre Dame hadn’t burned, but now that the rebuilding is being planned, it seems relevant. As commenter “Snow on … Continue reading →
Darci Lynne does opera
I ordinarily have no particular fondness for ventriloquists, but this kid’s got mad skills:
Continue reading →The life of an atypical song: Killer Queen, then and now
The number “Killer Queen” was a somewhat unusual offering from the band Queen when the song first came out in 1974. It’s catchy and has a musical theater rather than hard-rock vibe: Freddie Mercury [said]: “People are used to hard … Continue reading →
Voices from the past: the elderly speak
These are filmed interviews with the elderly. Not the present-day elderly, but the elderly from almost a century ago. Most of these clips were made around 1930, which means that a lot of the interviewees were born in the 1840s. … Continue reading →