I saw 53 plays in 2018, fewer than last year’s 64, and here are the best of the bunch: 1. “Travesties,” Tom Stoppard (Roundabout Theater Company, New York): Hey, it’s not every day that I’m quoted in the New York Times talking about my favorite production of the year! 2. “Angels In America: Millennium Approaches,” … Read more
As usual, I spent a lot of time at the theater this year. I saw 64 plays, some of which I’ve already forgotten and some of which linger in my mind. These are my favorite Bay Area shows of 2017: 1. “Fun Home,” Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori (The Curran) and “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda (SHN): … Read more
Today would have been my aunt Barbro’s 83rd birthday. I had planned to travel to Stockholm to celebrate with her, but she passed away a few weeks ago. I realize that somebody making it to 82 should be cause for celebration, but I honestly hoped I would have her around for a few more years. The only … Read more
In 2015, I saw 52 different plays; I bested that figure in 2016, and the number goes above 60 if you count a handful of staged readings. And I’ll be brutally honest: most of the theater I saw was mediocre, disappointing, or just plain terrible. Though, of course, to each his or her own—KQED’s theater critic … Read more
Last year’s horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, which resulted in the deaths of 130 people, hit me hard. Over half of the dead had been at the Bataclan, a rock club that I had attended on my last visit to the city to see the band Shellac. The performers on the night of the massacre were … Read more
As I’ve previously covered, one of my favorite days of the year is the Alameda Legacy Home Tour, an annual event in which locals who have painstakingly restored beautiful century-old homes open them to the public. Due to my longstanding interest in architecture and historic houses, I look forward to the tour all year. When I’m walking around … Read more
I was feeling so positive about having a letter published in the East Bay Express a couple weeks ago that I submitted a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Unfortunately, this time, my contribution was apparently not fit to print. I was responding to a letter in the Aug. 13 edition; it’s available here, but that’s behind a paywall for … Read more
Thanks to my friend Jeff, who just posted a link on Facebook to something I wrote back in 2012, which is now relevant again! I just reread it and thought, “Wow, I sure made a lot of good points four years ago.” I Hate the Olympics
Nothing says “I’m turning into an old crank” more than writing letters to the editor of a print newspaper! I had a letter printed in this week’s edition of the East Bay Express, a free weekly. So far nobody’s commented on it, which means (a) no one I know reads the letters column in the … Read more
I came across this article today, a beautifully meandering meditation on one fan’s life after “Late Show with David Letterman,” which went off the air in May 2015. “He shouldn’t have been allowed to retire,” states Julie Hecht. “It was a job, like being President. His term wasn’t over.” There was a time when Letterman was … Read more
