Benjamin Franklin Finally Gets the Play He Deserves
When it comes to solo theater, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur. Besides my own piece Now That She's Gone, which I've performed all over the world, I've seen dozens of other one-person shows...
View Article5 Questions for Poets: Part 1
I have decided to celebrate National Poetry Month by submitting questions by readers of poetry to some of the top poets writing in America today. The following five questions come from a pool of over...
View ArticleONE ON ONE: 5 Minutes With John Forte On What A 14-Year Prison Sentence...
John Forte is a highly acclaimed hip-hop writer, producer and performer who has released four solo albums and worked with the Fugees, Wyclef Jean and Herbie Hancock. Forte co-wrote and produced two...
View ArticleTheater: Heathers The Musical? What's Their Damage?
HEATHERS THE MUSICAL * 1/2 out of **** RED VELVET *** out of **** HEATHERS THE MUSICAL * 1/2 out of **** NEW WORLD STAGES If you sort of winced at the title Heathers The Musical, detecting a distinct...
View ArticleA Big Spring for Tony Classics
I write about the Tony Awards a lot. I admit it. A couple of weeks ago, The New York Post's Michael Riedel wrote about Cabaret's potential eligibility and I felt the need to respond. Now I feel equally...
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Tomfoolery Is Afoot: A New Blog Is Mocking 'Honest Slogans'
As some of you may know, I created the website Honest Slogans wherein I construct and write slogans for brands and what people really think of them. I've published three installments on The Huffington...
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Jeremy Jordan Can't 'Let It Go' and Zosia Mamet Joins the Newsies at Miscast
Zosia Mamet performs a number from Newsies at Miscast. (Photo by Dooleyvision/Fotobuddy©2014) Jeremy Jordan is having a hard time getting over what happened last year. You see, at the annual Miscast...
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The Art of Death
The question I am asked the most in my line of work is "what is art?" Is it limited to paintings or drawings? Is it defined by a certain medium? What if I can't figure out what the artist was thinking...
View ArticleCésar Chávez: An American Legend Remembered
"We need a leader, not a martyr!" pleads the brother of beloved labor leader César Chávez in a memorable scene from the film of the same name. The farmworker movement, largely attributed to Chávez and...
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Mike Kelley: The Sacred and the Profane
Huge, sprawling exhibition devoted to the art of one of the best-known LA artists, Mike Kelley (1954 - 2012), just opened at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. With 250 artworks in different media, this...
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As Light Is Said to Do
A light has gone away. The painter Melissa Carroll died March 31, 2014. She had Ewing's sarcoma, a vicious cancer that jumped to new parts of her body even as her doctors got its existing sites under...
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Toygodd Attends Monsterpalooza
Are you a fan of horror? Have you wanted to attend a convention where that's the focus? Well Monsterpalooza is where you want to go! Twice a year this awesome convention is held in Burbank, CA. Enjoy...
View ArticleHow an Interdisciplinary Transmedia Project Can Address Mental Illness Stigma
Co-authored by Doris C. Rusch, PhD, Assistant Professor for Game Design, and Anuradha Rana, MFA, MA, Instructor in Digital Cinema at DePaul University Interdisciplinary research is all the rage in...
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Got a Little Free Time This Spring? Maybe Go Check Out Pittsburgh (Yes, Really)
There are many ways in which Pittsburgh is not like other cities -- let's start with the grand entrance. Whether you're coming in from the Pennsylvania Turnpike and through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, or...
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Making Onstage Chemistry: A Chat With the Stars of Goodman's Venus in Fur
In Goodman Theatre's intense production of David Ives' hit play, Venus in Fur, palpable onstage chemistry is critical (read my review here). It's what elevates this two-person dark comedy from a tawdry...
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In the Age of #CancelColbert, The Show Must Go On
Nothing says Americana quite like musical theater. Despite rampant stereotypes, it's still one of the most popular entertainment venues in the country. (Just ask anyone who has stood in line at the...
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Downton Abbey's U.S. Visit
America has gone mad for Downton Abbey. And now the country's appetite for all things Downton can be sated. For the first time, a major exhibition of the costumes from the BBC program can be seen in...
View ArticleMust-see Painting Shows: April 2014
Back in December, I wrote an article in which I suggested that, after a number of years in which abstraction has been the dominant mode of painting in the "contemporary art world," we might start to...
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Chashama
Anita Durst photo credit 2012 The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. Chashama is Persian for "to have vision." Actress Anita Durst vision for chashama was born out of a request for space from artists in Manhattan....
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Gerd Ludwig, Chernobyl Through His Lens
Some people can't just let things drop. They just can't let them go. In some cases passion and commitment to a higher cause keeps them hanging on. Such is the case with National Geographic photographer...
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