The Academy Award-winning director Robert Benton with our entertainment columnist Michele Willens. He passed on May 11 at the age of 92. ( Photo: Courtesy Willens family) Robert Benton Remembered The first time I met Robert Benton, I asked him, “Off the record, who’s the most difficult actor you worked with?” His response:... Voices 17 May 2025 | 04:12
Norm Lewis plays Russell Parker, a former vaudevillian who is down on his luck as the proprietor of a failing barbershop in Harlem. The seldom-produced play from 1969 is now enjoying a short-run Off Brosdway revival. ( Photo: Maria Baranova) Norm Lewis Is Back in a Revival of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men People often joke about already knowing the last line of their obituary. Norm Lewis has performed for decades and still one... City Arts 02 May 2025 | 09:58
Robert Dilenschneider, author and founder of the Dilenschneider Group, has just published his 23rd book, Character: Life Lessons in Courage, Integrity, and Leadership. ( Photo: Courtesy Robert L. Dilenschneider) For Author with Long Career in Crisis PR, It All Comes Down to “Character” in Latest Book How often do we describe someone as funny or weird or just a “character”? Now, a serious writer is taking a deep dive into... City Arts 13 Apr 2025 | 08:53
Photo of Bobby Darin performing. Darin’s own television show began when he hosted a summer replacement program for “The Dean Martin Show.” ( Photo: NBC Television) A Personal Bobby Darin Memory I must confess. Although I have been reviewing theater for a decade or so by now, rarely have I looked so forward to a show... News 09 Apr 2025 | 09:23
Patrick Bringley was on the talk circuit promoting his memoir, All the Beauty in the World, when he was persuaded to turn the book into a one-man play. It opened Off Broadway on March 27 at the DR2 Theatre. ( Photo: Shahdmurshed/Wikimedia Commons) All the Beauty in the World Jumps from Print to Stage Patrick Bringley spent 10 years as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He had just lost his brother to cancer and... City Arts 27 Mar 2025 | 03:11
An author who spent years involved in politics and actively promoting some of the biggest stars on Broadway says his biggest accomplishment was starting the Fortune Society, giving the formerly incarcerated a new lease on life. ( Photo: Courtesy David Rothenberg) Publicist to the Stars David Rothenberg Pens Rollicking Book of Remembrances David Rothenberg‘s multilayered life has propelled him into Broadway‘s brightest lights, prison riots, political campaigns,... News 22 Mar 2025 | 04:34
Georgia O’Keefe was married to Alfred Stieglitz in 1924 until his death in 1949 but from 1941 to 1949 she had an unusually close and at times explosive relationship with a woman in the Southwest, which was also the scene of some of her most vivid paintings over the years. ( Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger/Wikimedia Commons) “Georgie & The Butch” Explored Relationship Between Woman and Famed Painter Georgia O’Keefe I confess I have always loved plays about letters. I even wrote one for kids, called “Dear Maudie.” That began as a book... City Arts 08 Mar 2025 | 07:05
Mark Moses and Melissa Gilbert star in a new production of “Still,” playing a couple who dated 30 years ago and meet up again after both have had long and successful careers. They ponder the timeless questions of love lost and what if . . . ( Photo: Michele Willens) New Comedic Production of ‘Still’ Raises Timeless Questions of Love Who, as they reach their later years, doesn’t occasionally look back and wonder . . . was he or she the one who got away?... City Arts 27 Jan 2025 | 03:18
The view from Malibu Beach where the author spent happy days in her youth and now worries about her many friends as Los Angeles battles fires that have already consumed an area twice the size of Manhattan. ( Photo: Michele Willens) Reflecting on the LA Fires It’s difficult to ask for sympathy when one has a home in the Malibu Colony. But I am touched by all the concern my family... Voices 20 Jan 2025 | 04:12
Visitors to “Barbie®: A Cultural Icon” can sit in a life-size Barbie pink convertible and pretend that they too are Malibu Barbies. ( Photo: Youtube/Museum of Arts and Design) Need More Barbie? The Museum of Arts & Design has Exclusive East Coast Exhibit If there’s anyone who can one-up Taylor Swift...well, it’s that doll who became a smash hit movie, and is now pulling in... City Arts 10 Jan 2025 | 12:53
The four person cast of “Frank and Me,” includes (from left) Linda Miller, Jim Barone, Susan Mitchell and Robert Levey II. ( Photo: Debra Smalls ) “Frank and Me” at Triad is a Love Letter and Comeback Story for Director Linda Miller It’s not quite fair to say Frank Sinatra is having a moment....but then again, why not? The Apollo Theatre recently hosted... City Arts 02 Jan 2025 | 03:17
Lily Tuck, an UES resident who is a past winner of a National Book Award for fiction, has at 86 years old, just had her latest novel, “The Rest is Memory” published by an imprint of W.W. Norton & Co. ( Photo: National Book Foundation) Award Winning Author Reveals New Novel Was Sparked by a Single Image of Young Girl Tragically, it happened: the holocaust that killed eleven million innocent people in World War 11. From “Schindler’s List”... City Arts 02 Jan 2025 | 12:43
“The Wall Street Boy” is a financial espionage thriller about a tech whiz who runs afoul of authorities in Kenya after he amasses a small fortune using the Internet to play the stock market. ( Photo: ) “Wall Street Boy,” A Financial Espionage Thriller Set in a Dusty Kenyan Village The film is called ‘Wall Street Boy” (“Kipkemboi”) and yet it takes place in a rural poor area of Africa. The lead character... City Arts 09 Dec 2024 | 05:39
Annabelle Gurwitch, stars as Lily, a teacher who survived the 2018 shooting at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in the new docudrama “Room 1214” in which she returns and encounters her former students as they were. ( Photo: Hunter Canning) “Room 1214” Tackles Gun Violence Told Through Eyes of Teacher Who Survived Deadly School Shooting “In the dark we hear vague sounds of construction in the background. Then, closer, we hear footsteps in an empty hallway,... City Arts 26 Nov 2024 | 10:37
John Lewis a civil rights leader who became known as the “Conscience of Congress” is the subject of a new biography. ( Photo: Official Portrait of Rep. John Lewis) New Take on Civil Rights Icon John Lewis We may think we’ve read and heard—not to mention watched, if we were fortunate—everything about John Lewis. Jon Meacham,... News 09 Oct 2024 | 04:26
Opposition Growing Against NYPD’s Criminalization Push for Bike-Traffic Infractions