Lobenthal.com

From a vegetarian correspondent:

“Caught this amazing, Hamilton-esque hip-hop (kind of) import from the West End, now in a limited run at BAM/Harvey, with Scots actor James McAvoy in the title role. I confess to never having seen or even read the original, so I do not opine on faithfulness to text, but it was funny, moving, creepy, sad. The direction involved a kind of stage cubism: actors facing the fourth wall but purport to be face to face to one another. It really works. Too bad such a brilliant cast feels such a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem to rely on over-amplification; they could easily have been heard in their true vocal nakedness and it all would have been that much more personal. Don’t miss the astonishing ginger-flavored babaganoush at Miss Ada in Fort Greene pre-curtain.”

Paul Ryan lives in a thirteen-room mansion acquired with the help of his wife’s wealthy family.

When Paul Ryan’s father died prematurely, Social Security benefits kept Paul Ryan from destitution.

But Paul Ryan believes that the rest of the American population deserves to have its tattered social safety net torn asunder.

Raw Story reports on Ryan’s horrifying comments at the American Enterprise Institute.

with the sound off is almost fun.

Until you remember that millions of Americans take his specialty act for truth.

Trump won’t. Marsha Blackburn won’t.

It’s the latest GOP gotcha scam.

It’s important to note that the Murdochs are constantly bitching that Britain’s media regulations won’t let them bring a Fox “News” clone to Britain, which is a tribute to the superior wisdom of British media policy compared with ours–long may it stand firm.

Piers Morgan and his gadfly ass-kissing is bad enough: “a despicable white man allowed to fail up,” Mary Trump brands Morgan on Lawrence O’Donnell.

In his written pitch to the Twitter board, all we hear are technocratic, corporate cliches of thought, manipulation, and hype. Incredible that this is what America considers a leader.

Before he tries to turn the entire country Fascist.

The Democrats must not retreat to their usual disengagement, hoping that a Republican circular firing squad will take care of everything.Instead, to coin another metaphor entirely, we can be sure that the stinkiest cockroach will get to the top of the GOP jar.

From a correspondent:

“I returned for the last performance of Elektra at the Met for one last chance to luxuriate in Lise Davidsen’s magnificent artistry pitted against Nina Stemme’s fearlessness only to notice a little white slip in the program announcing that both leads were indisposed. (One assumes it is Covid and hopes for speedy and uneventful recoveries.) Much the same experience on Monday night at Macbeth on Broadway with the super hard-working (and to great effect) Daniel Craig matched ounce-for-ounce in the charisma department by Ruth Negga, the performance of which was prefaced by a speech from the director Sam Gold announcing that, true to its curse, this Macbeth had been afflicted to the extent that understudies of understudies were performing, and to ask for our indulgence that the remarkable stand-in Tina Benko would be on-book.

But back to Elektra: at times like these one considers walking out and cutting one’s losses. Inertia set in and thankfully so: the stand-in Wendy Bryn Harmer was IMHO very much the equal to Davidsen. Harmer has a bright, high and enormous voice, easily sailing over the orchestra (which was kept in check, in volume at least, and perhaps due to the occasion, by conductor Donald Runnicles who led an understated account if it is possible to do so). She is a rare and genuine dramatic soprano, and should be honored as such. At the curtain call she sent multiple kisses to the prompter as if to underscore the immensity of her standing-in achievement. Let us hope that, despite the unfortunate circumstances of her birth — she is American — she is able to command the respect she deserves: I am talking Isolde, Turandot, and anything and everything that Lise Davidsen can sing.

I had the same reaction to hearing mezzo Sasha Cooke, also a Lindenman graduate, not a stand-in but a featured player in Rodelinda in the house and Figaro on the radio — this is a major talent, elegant phrasing and buckets of volume ricocheting about the hall. Her stage presence, which might be called clueless, was endearing and served only to highlight her great and unaffected artistry.

For that matter, let us consider Canadian baritone Etienne Dupuis whom I heard as Rodrigo on the radio: another high, clear-attacking and elegant singer.

These three are great stars, the equal of [INSERT NAME OF LEGENDARY RECORDING ARTIST OF THE STEREOPHONIC AGE HERE]. These are great days for singing.”

the more outlandish accusations he levels against his imaginary “Antifa” organization.

“The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned How to Act” would in all honesty be better titled “How the Twentieth Century Learned How to Method Act.”

The twentieth century knew how to act long before Method became orthodoxy.