"Cabaret" is a hit in London and a failure in NYC: did American audiences just not grasp the radical, transgressive power of a Sally Bowles in Doc Martens — a flourish we hicks had never seen before in a period piece, except in hundreds of shows? observer.co.uk/culture/thea...

Would need to see the wine list, which apparently has a wide selection from the island, but disappointed that the food at new restaurant Ofcorsica is basically Italian: ofcorsicanyc.com/pages/menu

Busy director Whitney White dropped by to talk shop on the podcast. Catch "Saturday Church" at NY Theater Workshop now, then head to Broadway for "Liberation" in a couple of weeks. marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/whitney-wh...

I wrote about Natalie Palamides, whose show "Weer" is at the Cherry Lane Theater: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/t...

Jinkx Monsoon dropped by the podcast to talk about "Oh, Mary!" and we ended up with a masterclass about comedy acting. Yesss! marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/jinkx-mons...

"Visitors average eight hours in a theme park but only 10 to 15 minutes on rides." Same idea as an NFL game then, or standing in line for hours for a slice of pizza you saw on TikTok. America is about waiting for something you've been conditioned to pre-enjoy. www.msn.com/en-us/travel...

Brigitte Fontaine's classic 1968 album "Brigitte Fontaine est folle" is getting the deluxe reissue treatment and this instrumental is absolutely sublime: wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/track/une-fo...

When theater and the WNBA collide: Nikki L. James sang the anthem at the Liberty playoff game at Barclays tonight. Love this Venn diagram!

Yasmina Reza's "Art" (technically "'Art'") is aging better than I expected. As for the current Broadway production…read on. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/t...

“Britpop’s best foundational band. From day one – in the post-perestroika summer of Italia 90 – their approach to music, lyrics, and films has always crossed borders, been open-minded, and kept time-travelling.” Thank you Jude Rogers. thequietus.com/interviews/s...

Jeff Hiller just won an Emmy for "Somebody Somewhere"! Of course he talked about the show — and a lot more — when was was a guest on our podcast marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/jeff-hille...

Looking at @skiutah-cambot.bsky.social and wondering “how much longer?”

House is in the house! My piece on “Saturday Church,” part of the NY Times’ Fall Preview: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/t...

My roundup of Off and Off Off Broadway shows to see in September — though I'll venture that something in an apartment for five people at a time is Off Off Off and possibly into Newton Creek. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/t...

The queen of the primal scream will always be Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/a...

"Arcane" just won Outstanding Animated Program at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys. You know who wrote a book about that show? Moi! #arcane parents.simonandschuster.com/9798886633351

Rainy day in New York. Time for some Dolores Gray from the perenially underrated "Designing Woman." Dear god, when the bongos come in… youtu.be/cdFJcmWqns4

NYC has three different public-library systems. I have cards for all of them and I use them all: Brooklyn because I live near the central branch, Queens because it offers streaming on Hoopla and Kanopy, and New York for the performing-arts branch.

Kumail Nanjiani about his professional theater debut, which happens to be in "Oh, Mary!" on Broadway: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAa...

Am I in a time warp? Am I back listening to "Foxbase Alpha" for the first time? The new Saint Etienne single fills me with joy. @rockingbob.bsky.social youtu.be/_HzZhhXzN48

Apparently the Swedish "cultural canon" stops in 1975 so no Abba (among other head-scratching exclusions): www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Well that made my day: Nicola Roberts, of my favorite girl group ever, Girls Aloud, joins the cast of "Hadestown" in the West End. Now, how much are flights to London this fall…

My preview article on the new musical "Saturday Church" isn't out yet, but the show's concept album is. My current favorite among its gazillion great songs is "Blinded by Love." Perfection. youtu.be/5xDS5t6PyGo

Great series about Isabelle Adjani in Le Monde. For instance I learned that after “Camille Claudel” she turned down “Basic Instinct,” “Dick Tracy” and “The Piano”! The article about “Queen Margot” is particularly good: www.lemonde.fr/series-d-ete...

Soooo good, from @manohladargis.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/m...

"Despite Sen’s pleas for people to stop selling bootleg bound editions, which violate copyright law, the internet was soon awash in illicit copies." So complains the author who made a mint writing fanfiction, ie violating copyright law. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/s...

“I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but here, if you lose your job, you’re out of luck.” Most Americans have no idea how bad the US safety net is compared to other developed countries. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/b...

Back from a trip to the homeland and ready to tackle the approximately 738 shows opening in NYC in the next three months, with leftover time for the 10,546 TV series and 5,349 movies.

Some of the greatest action movies ever made! I remember going to those Chinatown theaters (Music Palace!) and watching whatever happened to be playing.

If you read the print version of The NY Times: I didn’t write the streaming-theater column that’s in the paper today. The writer (Rachel Sherman) is correct in the online version. Credit where credit is due.

In which I argue that “Mamma Mia!” and Abba are time loops with no end and, for the non-fans, no escape. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/t...

Feel-good Friday is Rick Astley killing it at "Allsång på Skansen," a Swedish summer institution broadcast live on TV. "Come on, Sweden!" "Nice hat!" "I'm feeling pretty good, Sweden, I'm feeling pretty good!" "Big finish!" The guy's a pro through and through. youtu.be/LTiuETjN8bQ

Another thing - Fordham's theatre program was really good when I was there. It's gotten better because Denzel has given it a LOT of money. You can go to Tisch undergrad & learn to act from X, Y, & Z, or Fordham & learn from Stephen McKinley Henderson or Betty Buckley. That's Denzel.

With @petermarksdrama.bsky.social in London, we discussed the shows he saw there. Topics include Ruth Wilson, Imelda Staunton, Shakespeare, and the new Suzie Miller play with Rosamund Pike. Special episode for our paying subscribers! marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/peters-lon...

To nobody’s surprise, Banana Ball mastermind Jesse Cole studied theater in college. I can’t say I’m unhappy to see him branch out into sports instead of the 2,895th revival “Into the Woods.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/653...

I wrote a couple of entries in this group effort about "Hamilton": www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/t...

Wife said that “Gabby was out sick” and my WNBA-addled brain replied “Gabby Williams is out?!?” (She had been referring to someone from her office.)

Nobody says that insane compensation packages for CEOs endanger their companies, but raise the minimum wage and suddenly entire industries are on the verge of collapse.

I've been mainlining videos from "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Hollywood Bowl youtu.be/3OIEmx9IWXs

Going local as a recipe for success: I visited a Wisconsin theater that specializes in original musicals about life in the upper Midwest — especially Wisconsin, of course. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t...

If someone told me that they played soccer, and I took them to the field and they said instead that they don’t play themselves but have simulated the games on a machine, I wouldn’t agree that they were an athlete. I don’t know why the arts would be any different.

Zachary Woolfe's appraisal of Robert Wilson. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/a...

Don't let the misspelling of Ozzy's last name deter you from watching this: youtu.be/dpDs0JlNfsE

Scandinavian news are reporting that the Brooklyn Public Library pulled out Stinky from its Moomin exhibit after one person complained about it. According to the Moomin Characters CEO, who oversees Moomin licensing, this is the first such case in 80 years. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/s...

Great thread.

The director Robert Wilson has died. Seeing the revival of “Einstein on the Beach” at BAM a few years ago really was all that. Anybody with a serious interest in theater and/or opera is bound to have an opinion on his style.

In praise of the quiet space: www.honest-broker.com/p/why-are-qu...

If you’re going to yap about the WNBA and salaries, start by knowing the difference between revenue and profit, and that it took about 40 years for the NBA to turn a profit.

Look, pick a name for your character and stick to it.

This Gabriel Kahane article about the death of listings is killer (h/t @nightafternight.bsky.social). I spent years writing them then editing them for Time Out New York, and it was the best music education I could have dreamed of. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...