Divamensch

I saw *Puppet Up* at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. My friend Alisa saw the show in San Francisco and raved about it. She described it as a puppet show for adults, an extraordinary combination of puppetry and improv comedy. The show was introduced by its co-creator, Brian Henson, the son of Jim and Jane Henson. His parents created The Muppets and his work is part of that tradition. He explained how his father created the Muppets to be seen on television and how the manip

This week's Great Song, Wrong Title is "Midnight Blue" by Melissa Manchester. I guess "Midnight Blue" isn't a BAD title but a better title would be "I Think We Can Make It." There are two things that tickle me about this song. First, the electronic keyboard at the very start - - it just reeks of the 70s. In the best possible way. And second, I love how when she sings, "Wouldn't you give your hand to a friend?" she pronounces it "ay friend." Why? Who knows.

The Tony for Best Play in 1990 went to Frank Galati for his adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath. A muscular mensch, ambitious, heartbreaking, and angry show, but still a mensch at its core. Also nominated that year was Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage, a resounding diva of a play starring a diva for the ages, Dame Maggie Smith in her Tony-winning role. Here's the proof: "I cannot accept 'merely.' I do not do anything 'merely.' " My late husband saw this show and I think his l

Today's Great Song, Wrong Title is "More Than Words" by Extreme. It should be called "I'd Already Know." I heard this song back in the day but wasn't at all familiar with the band. I read up on them and it turns out they're a "funk metal band" (that's what Wikipedia calls them, anyway) and this song became a problem for them. It was a huge hit (all the way to number one) and the people who loved this lovely, tender ballad were not into their metal stuff. And their metal fans

The winner for Best Revival in 1989 was the ultimate mensch of a play, Our Town. I saw that production on TV, it was so beautiful - - Spalding Gray at the stage manager, Penelope Ann Miller as Emily, Eric Stoltz as George, and James Rebhorn and Frances Conroy as Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs. Revelatory, imaginative, and profoundly moving. The diva in that category was Ain't Misbehavin'. It started in the Manhattan Theatre Club's cabaret space in 1978, moved to Broadway that same year,

I read in the NY Times about the death of Duncan Sheik, age 56. He was a flash-in-the-pan pop singer who found his true calling as the composer of Broadway musicals. He won two Tonys for his adaptation of Spring Awakening. That show also won Best Musical. This song is the last song in the show, seen here in the 2022 West End production: I saw the Broadway revival in 2015 and loved it: Spring Awakening on Broadway, Sept 201 | divamensch I'm told that his hit song, "Barely Brea

Karen and I saw Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library on Sept 15, 2026. The central character of the play is Hannah Arendt, a German historicist, philosopher, and political theorist. I've been fascinated with Arendt since seeing a movie about her in 2012. I urge you to see that movie (with the clever title Hannah Arendt) and also a recent PBS American Masters special about her. And if you're up for it, read her New Yorker articles about the trial of Adolf Eichmann or

Peter Max died earlier this week at the age of 88. I asked my brother Howard to write about him (thank you, Howard): The 60s were colorful. They were psychedelic. They were fun and full of possibilities. Robert Indiana’s LOVE and Sister Corita Kent’s vibrant activist paintings are seared into our memory as images that represent this magical era. But perhaps more than any, Peter Max’s flat and fabulous landscapes captured the style and fervent optimism of those times. As a chi

This week's Great Song, Wrong Title number is "Gonna Make You Sweat" by C + C Music Factory. Clearly it should be called "Everybody Dance Now." Do you know the story? The great Martha Wash recorded the song as a demo and they recorded the video with another woman lipsynching to Wash's vocals. Wash went to court! Here she is spilling the tea: One more funny story. I had a VCR back in the late 80s and early 90s but it wasn't fully functional. It was a discarded rental VCR from

My brother Howard alerted me to the death of costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie (age 87). I cried a few tears at my desk! He's best known for his costume designs for Carol Burnett and Cher on their variety shows. He designed an average of 60 costumes a week for Burnett's show, and eventually he was doing the Sonny and Cher show at the same time! Yeesh. His most famous creation was the curtain rod dress in Burnett's GWTW parody, Went With the Wind. It was HIS idea to add

Joan Allen won the Best Actress in a Play Tony in 1988 for what I'm sure was a marvelous performance in Burn This. But I'm more interested in two other nominees in that category: Diva: Blythe Danner as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire Mensch: Frances McDormand as Stella in Streetcar I'm fascinated that the Tonys saw them both as leading performances! I see Stella as a supporting role but I can see how McDormand would turn her into Blanche's equal.

My brother Howard alerted to me the death of movie producer Jeremy Thomas, age 77. He has an impressive and adventurous list of credits - - he produced Sexy Beast, the debut film of Jonathan Glazer, who went on to direct three "feel bad movies," Birth, Under the Skin, and The Zone of Interest (thanks to John Waters for the term "feel bad movie"). He produced a movie that I love more every time I think about it, Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, the sweetest, tenderest va

I saw The Ford/Hil Project at BAM on Sept 10 2026. It's a play by Lee Sunday Evans and Elizabeth Marvel. They took the transcript from Anita Hill's testimony at Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearing, the transcript from Christine Blasey Ford's testimony at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, and various other bits and assembled them into a play for four actors. It was directed Lee Sunday Evans. The cast was a Black actress (Gabby Beans), a Black actor (Teagle F. Bougere)

Karen, Bruce, Herb, and I went to hear Steve Winwood and John Fogerty at Tanglewood on Sept 6, 2026. I'd never been to Tanglewood and while I had hoped that my first concert there would be classical I wasn't about to miss the chance to hear Fogerty. I'm a Creedence Clearwater Revival fan and he wrote most of their biggest songs and sang lead vocals on them. It's a wonderful venue, it made me think of Ravinia, the summer music festival outside of Chicago. Tanglewood is more ru

Hello stranger. Today's Great Song, Wrong Title is "Hello, Stranger." Which should be called "Seems Like a Mighty Long Time." I rediscovered this song in the movie Moonlight, it has a haunting, touching cameo in that movie.

The Tony for Best Revival of a Play in 1987 went to Arthur Miller's All My Sons, a plainspoken postwar family drama about conscience and culpability. Another nominee was The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a boisterous 8.5-hour adaptation of the Dickens novel. Brought over from the West End, no less. Diva: Nicholas Nickleby Mensch: All My Sons This All My Sons video is from the 2019 revival:

I read in the NY Times about the death of Cassandra Wilson (age 70). I automatically classify her as a "jazz singer" but her obit said she called herself a "musician." I fully support that! I'm actually not too familiar with her but know that she was a major figure in the 80s and 90s, she forged her own path and expanded the boundaries of what could be sung in a jazz context. My best friend Karen told me about her recording of "Last Train to Clarksville." Who'd believe that a

Today I'm starting a short series for the Fabulous Friday - - I'll call it Great Song, Wrong Title. A song I love but has the wrong title. I would love suggestions, I always love suggestions! The first is a song I first heard at Glorious Home, an upscale department store on the Upper West Side (it’s since closed). I was there one evening after work, maybe around 2018, and I was on the escalator going down two levels to where they sold the cleaning solution for my humidifier (

My friend Donna alerted me to the death of Gloria Steinem, age 92. I'm a Steinemite from way back - - I took a Speech class in high school and in 1984, at the age of 15, I gave a speech about the Equal Rights Amendment and circulated a petition asking my classmates to support it. Steinem was fierce and wise and funny and tremendously strong. I will always admire her, we all owe her a great deal. This short interview gives a pretty good summary of her beliefs. It was done for

We've gotten to 1986 and the first Broadway show I ever saw! I was in New York on choir tour in the spring of 1987 and a group of us saw the show that had won the Best Musical Tony, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was delightful, a perfect first Broadway show. Diva: the show Mensch: seeing it a year after it opened The show is so well made you don't really need to have stars in it. This is what you need in a show, it should hold up to a lot. I was pleased to see George Rose in