We left the Calderwood Pavillion in the South End tonight thinking that Ryan Landry's "M" could be by far the worse play we've ever seen, at the Huntington or anywhere else. My husband and I, who love theater and have attended productions of all kinds and quality in cities near and far, have been loyal subscribers to the …
Continue reading “M” is for miserable at the Huntington’s new play
Political correctness run amuck: President Obama felt compelled to apologize to California Attorney General Kamela Harris for calling her "by far the best looking attorney general in the country." Frankly, the only person who might legitimately feel slighted is Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a "good looking" woman in her own right. But those who …
The Red Sox opening day victory......what could be better? I posted the team's first-place standing on my refrigerator, thinking it might all be downhill from there. But I felt great. Never mind that the dreaded Yankees are broken old men. The Wall St. Journal's estimable sports writer Jason Gay called them "aging and atrophied .... creaky and getting …
The Red Sox and Yankees wore insigniae commemorating the Newtown massacre and observed a moment's silence. It was a virtually meaningless gesture. There's only one thing that will help. And that's to do at a national level a deal like that agreed on yesterday by Connecticut lawmakers. Although crime is generally down, in recent years, mass killings …
Continue reading In remembering Newtown, only one thing matters
Score Boston Mayor Tom Menino:1; Boston Globe:0 on the proposal to bring the Olympics to Boston in 2024. Opined an editorial, a chance to host the Olympics is "too rare to pass up without further consideration." Really? As the Mayor restated Thursday on WGBH's Greater Boston, the city has too many other, higher priority needs - …
It's hard not to think positively of Cardinal Sean O'Malley's being mentioned as a contender to succeed Pope Benedict. Media interest (see Vatican reporter John Allen's recap in the National Catholic Reporter about how Italian media have fueled the speculation) has given credibility to the idea in the now hot sport of speculating about Papal …
Continue reading What a Pope Sean would say about the Church
City plows have made a token pass down our street, scooping out a rut the width of a sedan. It will probably be tomorrow before we're plowed and shovelled out. For now, the neighborhood is breathtakingly beautiful. Tranquil. Pristine. No distant sounds from Route 128. Very quiet and peaceful. My mind has taken a cue from what's outside. I'm content to read …
I can remember the day when many, if not most, major Broadway shows opened in Boston for a test run. West Side Story and South Pacific are just two that spring immediately to mind. (Others opened in Philadelphia or New Haven.) Now some legislators want to offer $3 million in tax credits for plays and musicals that …
Continue reading Proposed pre-Broadway production tax credit a no-no
A Boston Business Journal headline last week piqued my interest: "WGBH sending out strong signals." This was very exciting. Was the station finally heeding the complaints of classical music lovers deprived of classical music when WCRB FM, which WGBH owns, moved from 102.5 to 99.5 on the dial? WCRB, of course, stands for Classical Radio Boston, …
Watching dysfunctional Washington is profoundly, naggingly depressing, leaving one having to work hard to count our blessings, of which there are assuredly many. Typically, those blessings are related to home, hearth and health, family and friends. Against the backdrop of consistently gloomy national news, an occasional story comes along that does lift the spirits and is important …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 