August 16,1926-July 12,2011 Our dear President of the Elliot Norton Awards, Caldwell Titcomb, died early this past Monday morning from leukemia. His sister Camilla said he died peacefully, and was sure he had just watched the Tony Awards that night. That was Caldwell-- or "Caldy" as some of us liked to call him! He adored [...]
(courtesy Paul SZEP) Just saw my old pal Emmy award-winning TV commentator and political observer Dick Flavin in a new role yesterday: he took the stage as the inimitable Boston Pol and, by the way, Speaker of the House--Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. The one-speaker show is called ACCORDING TO TIP and had its last incarnation [...]
THE HELP is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read -- deceptively simple, very moving, about the power of narrative to release the truth and the tension of lives deeply divided and deeply connected in the deep south on the cusp of the civil rights movement. THE HELP the movie is due out [...]
Let me make this clear. I loved THE HANGOVER-- the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. "Part II" however is an act of comic desperation; I shall recap as a cautionary tale. In the beginning "The Wolfpack" gathers at a diner, foul-mouthed and frantic for their dentist pal Stu to have yet another raunchy [...]
I am sad she has left her daily show, though I know we'll be seeing a lot of her. I know millions of people love her, I love her, and many can't stand her. Narcissist they say. Self-important. Phony. If that's true, all I can say is-- she's made the best use of narcissism I've [...]
Want to laugh your ass off this weekend? Forgive the frisky opening line, but be careful sitting down after you see the two shows I'm about to recommend--THE DROWSY CHAPERONE over at The SpeakEasy, and The Gold Dust Orphans' PETER PANSY over at the Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts, or Machine! DROWSY is the [...]
Last night I emceed the 29th Annual Elliot Norton Awards at the Paramount and it reconfirmed how magnificent our theater community is and how much I love them. Such consistent and varied and unusual talent in a close-knit, thriving against-all-odds "let's-put-on-a-show" kind of way --that's who the greater Boston Theater Community is. The critics handed [...]
BRIDESMAIDS is so funny, so refreshing, so groundbreaking, I want to jump up on a table and warble like a coloratura. It absolutely takes us where we've never been before-- on an outrageously funny romp through the pre-nuptial rituals of a wedding, from the maid of honor's point of view. It's been called the female [...]
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer out a better script. This less than marvelous Marvel comic take on the Norse god of thunder, actually put me to sleep--somewhere between a dull piece of exposition and a lackluster bit of action. This is yet another (yawn) superhero romp through the cinematic cosmos and director Kenneth [...]
Photo by Carla Osberg I am suddenly militant, at age 58, at the state of women in the world. I am just becoming fully aware that women in THE YEAR 2011 remain UNDERSERVED, UNDERREPRESENTED, and UNDERPAID. This is absurd. Irritating. Enraging. Women remain largely absent from the upper echelons of power, even in professions where [...]
