“These biographies of theater luminaries outshine the rest,” writes critic Terry Teachout of his Five Best column in today’s WSJournal. He recommends
- Park Honan, Shakespeare: A Life
- Michael Holroyd, Bernard Shaw (the one-volume abridgment)
- Simon Callow, Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu
- Moss Hart, Act One
- John Lahr, Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton
In related news, can you guess which movie version of a Broadway production my wife and I saw last night. Here’s a line from it: “_________, that should have been my name, cause you can see right through me, walk right by me, and never know I’m there.”
Chicago. I commend you for seeing it through to the end without committing suicide afterward.
Thanks, I guess. It was vulgar and unsuitable for avoiding lust, but that’s the vice primere of Hollywood and Broadway, isn’t it.
I liked that song, “Mr. Cellophane.” The character who sang it was the saddest part of the show.
That was, I think, John C. Reilly, a very fine character actor who’s showing up everywhere these days.
Is that Simon Callow the actor? (Room with a View, Four Weddings and a Funeral…)
I checked. It is the same guy.