Theater

In the theater, while you recognized that you were looking at a house, it was a house in quotation marks. On screen, the quotation marks tend to be blotted out by the camera. 

Arthur Miller 

Deadly Vanity

The Weasels and the Mice waged a perpetual war with each other, in which much blood was shed. The Weasels were always the victors. The Mice thought that the cause of their frequent defeats was that they had no leaders set apart from the general army to command them, and that they were exposed to dangers from lack of discipline. They therefore chose as leaders Mice that were most renowned for their family descent, strength, and counsel, as well as those most noted for their courage in the fight, so that they might be better marshaled in battle array and formed into troops, regiments, and battalions. When all this was done, and the army disciplined, and the herald Mouse had duly proclaimed war by challenging the Weasels, the newly chosen generals bound their heads with straws, that they might be more conspicuous to all their troops. Scarcely had the battle begun, when a great rout overwhelmed the Mice, who scampered off as fast as they could to their holes. The generals, not being able to get in on account of the ornaments on their heads, were all captured and eaten by the Weasels.

The Challenge

“Maintaining our standard; that's our challenge day-in and day-out.”

 Tim Rice

Don't Act, Dammit!

In the 50s and 60s, Ethel Merman was one of the greatest Broadway stars. After a performance of the 1966 revival of Annie Get Your Gun, she summoned Jerry Orbach, one of the supporting actors, to her dressing room. She was upset. "What were you doing during my speech in the boat scene," she demanded. "Nothing, Miss Merman," Jerry said, baffled. "Yes, you were; you were doing something," she insisted, "I saw it out of the corner of my eye."- "I was only reacting to your speech," he replied, "I acted."- "Look," she snapped, "you don't act when I talk. Don't you ever react to my lines, I don't react to yours, okay?"

Hit or Flop

You write a hit the same way you write a flop. 

Alan Jay Lerner 

Dramatic Themes

"The theatre is supremely fitted to say: 'Behold! These things are.' Yet most dramatists employ it to say: 'This moral truth can be learned from beholding this action.' "

Thornton Wilder 

Hero's Hero

"DuBose Heyward has gone largely unrecognized as the author of the finest set of lyrics in the history of the American musical theater - namely, those of Porgy and Bess. There are two reasons for this, and they are connected. First, he was primarily a poet and novelist, and his only song lyrics were those that he wrote for Porgy. Second, some of them were written in collaboration with Ira Gershwin, a full-time lyricist, whose reputation in the musical theater was firmly established before the opera was written. But most of the lyrics in Porgy - and all of the distinguished ones - are by Heyward. I admire his theater songs for their deeply felt poetic style and their insight into character. It's a pity he didn't write any others. His work is sung, but he is unsung." 

Stephen Sondheim

Coffee To Rave About

I found an incredible coffee-to-go shop in London which deserves being recommended. There is a choice between coffee from the espresso machine and filter coffee. If you choose the latter - which I did - they grind coffee beans especially for you, pour the powder in a filter and brew the coffee as you wait. You see it drip directly into the paper cup. Not very economical, I admit, but obviously successful. Each time I go there to pick up my hourly dose, I have to stand in line. I don't mind though, the shop is filled with smells of warm pastry the likes you can only find in Vienna. Next time you're in London, go to Monmouth Street in the West End and spoil yourself. 

Poetic Language

"A true poet does not say 'azur', a true poet says 'blue'."

Else Lasker-Schüler

Good Story

There are many movies that inspired musicals, but it is a rare exception that one inspired two different shows. This exception is the American comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968) which tells the story of a woman who is uncertain which of her lovers is the father of her daughter - and therefore regards all three responsible. In the 1970's Joseph Stein, Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane based their musical Carmelina upon the film. The Broadway production closed after only 17 performances in April 1979. Twenty years later the British playwright Catherine Johnson was luckier. Her version of the story, enhanced by the hits of Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus, has become one of the biggest musical hits of all times: Mamma Mia!