Scott Kerr, a fifth-generation art dealer in St. Louis, didn’t know what to expect last year as he was crossing the Mississippi River into East St. Louis, a once vibrant city in Illinois with a large Black population that never recovered economically after the civil unrest of the 1960s. Kerr was responding to an unsolicited … Read more
MICHAELS Because Chevy said his own name and because it was popular, he was the first person to emerge. Subsequently, it’s where most people broke out: Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and to this day it continues. [When Chase left], I thought, You can’t follow Chevy. Any other guy doing it would be seen as a … Read more
Chiwetel Ejiofor went to see “Bridget Jones’s Diary” back in 2001, fully expecting to be bombarded by female energy. Instead, he left the theater stunned by how much he related to her, he said: “feeling all of that chaos and a little bit out of step with the world but somehow with optimism and hopefulness … Read more
A few years ago, the translator Jeremy Tiang was browsing in a bookstore in Singapore when he came across an unusual book of stories. Written in Chinese under a pen name, the book, “Delicious Hunger,” drew on the author Hai Fan’s 13 years fighting in the jungles of Malaysia and southern Thailand as a guerrilla … Read more
Dear listeners, Every once in a while, I like to compile a playlist composed entirely of songs with identical titles. You may recall that, last October, I sent out a newsletter about six different tracks vying to be the greatest “The Greatest.” Today, in honor of a certain loved-and-occasionally-loathed holiday, I made a playlist of … Read more
Lucy Dacus, ‘Best Guess’ Lucy Dacus recognizes that love can be precarious in “Best Guess.” She sings, “I love your body, I love your mind/They will change, so will mine.” The tempo is measured and the band supplies a subdued folk-rock march as Dacus overcomes self-conscious skepticism to commit: “You may not be an angel, … Read more
Season 3, Episode 1: ‘It Girl’ Welcome back to the wilderness, darlings. “Yellowjackets” is back and we’re — wait, what is this? Are we having fun? Can that be possible in a show that ended its last season with multiple devastating deaths? With an adolescent’s heart being eaten? If Season 2 got bogged down in … Read more
Walter Robinson, Exuberant Art-World Participant and Observer, Dies at 74
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for Ambrose and Kessell to have their breakout moments. Episode 2 doesn’t really offer that up for Ambrose, though she does have the chance to sing Jamiroquai karaoke. The episode does allow Kessell the opportunity to show new sides of Lottie, though, who is still a bit cuckoo but also serene … Read more
Ken Wydro, a playwright, director and producer who with his wife, Vy Higginsen, poured their life savings into the Off Broadway gospel musical “Mama, I Want to Sing,” an enduring work of Black theater that ran for more than 2,800 performances, died on Jan. 21 at his home in Harlem. He was 81. The cause … Read more