Stepping into an iconic role is always risky. When the audience knows the original, there are bound to be comparisons. Judy Holliday became a star in 1946 with her powerhouse performance as Billie Dawn in Garson Kanin’s “Born Yesterday.” She reprised the role in the 1950 movie version, for which she won an Oscar, and […]
Last week, I raved about “Faceless,” a drama that’s playing at The Rep in St. Louis. I liked it so much that I invited its two leads to join me in the studio to talk about it. Susaan Jamshidi plays the prosecutor, Claire, while Lindsay Stock plays Susie, the teenager accused of trying to run […]
This is why we go to the theater. My wife and I saw a remarkable production last night. “Faceless” is about Susie Glenn (Lindsay Stock), an 18-year-old white woman from the suburbs of Chicago, who has been arrested for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. After being recruited online by ISIS, she was on her […]
Here’s my conversation with Steven Bach, musical director for Cirque du Soleil’s first ice show, “Crystal” (which plays four shows at the Family Arena in St. Charles this weekend). We talked about the difficulty in mounting an acrobatic show on ice, where they put the band, and what it’s like to play a piano with […]
Here’s my conversation with Bob Schieffer, longtime CBS news anchor/reporter/analyst, about his new book, “Overload: Finding The Truth In Today’s Deluge Of News.” Among the questions I asked him: Is our current situation proof that more information doesn’t equal better information? Do you consider this a national security issue? Do you know any reporter who […]
I spent the weekend celebrating my mother’s 93rd birthday with her, and my wife and daughter in New York City. While there, we took in three Broadway shows of different genres: a feel-good musical about 9/11, a farce where everything goes wrong, and a Noel Coward play starring Kevin Kline. The best of the three […]