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This Month in Theatre History

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · 2h

A thread of protest, censorship, and direct action runs through this month’s entries, including El Teatro Campesino’s founding amidst the Delano Grape Strike, the inaugural Women’s One World Festival, and more.
www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/07/t...

A thread of protest, censorship, and direct action runs through this month's entries.

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 16h

On a whim tonight, we took in Spielberg’s great folly, the bonkers war farce “1941.” Though it felt a bit like having a small child scream in my ear for two hours, I did find a lot to marvel and laugh at. My 16-year-old couldn’t believe it wasn’t a hit.

YouTube video by The Replacements - Topic

Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 23h

The Velvet Underground were constantly falling apart, never moreso than around this, their fourth record, but you'd never know from listening. They sound like a band with nothing to prove and nothing to lose; this disc has Rolling Stones-worthy swagger. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/4RMGrh...

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Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 1d

under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 1d

It's theoretically possible I would have fallen in love with The Replacements even if this all-time banger were not the first thing I heard by them, but who's to say? The chorus is catchy, but it's Bob Stinson's imposing lead guitar that provides the tune's real hook. #dailysong youtu.be/Ln3iKL6wF-M

I Will Dare

People to Watch: Marga Gomez

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 1d

They lead with their celestial vocals, obviously. What I wasn’t prepared for, on Lucius’s most recent record, were their rockier edges and 1970s sounds; at times they evoke Abba covering Fleetwood Mac. Key track for me: the groovy “Gold Rush.” #dailyalbum ilovelucius.bandcamp.com/album/lucius

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · 1d

In our latest issue, prolific solo performer Marga Gomez talks about ‘Spanish Stew,’ a new show about her arrival in San Francisco in the 1970s.
www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/06/p...

The prolific solo performer talks about 'Spanish Stew,' a new show about her arrival in San Francisco in the 1970s.

Only One Performer Has Won Three Best Actor Oscars. Is It Fair That He’s Also a Joke?

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

Ed Stern @edstern.bsky.social · 1d

If you are even ambiently curious about the art and craft of acting, I can’t recommend this feller’s history of The Method highly enough. Unsurprisingly boffo on DD-L to boot.

Isaac! At the Butler! @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 2d

I finally got a chance to write one of my dream assignments, an in depth evaluation of Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor whose achievements and methods cast a long shadow over the field, and whose work is often misunderstood.

slate.com/culture/2025...

He might be the greatest actor of all time—and the most misunderstood.

slate.com

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Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · 1d

It’s a good thing that unions and employers have a shared interest in the robust funding of the NEA and NEH—because it’s going to take a united front to make it happen, writes Jennifer Dorning, president of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO.

www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/06/f...

Federal Funding for Nonprofit Arts Is Going to Be a Team Effort

It’s a good thing that unions and employers have a shared interest in the robust funding of the NEA and NEH—because it’s going to take a united front to make it happen.

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 1d

From Juana Molina to Vivaldi, Shirley Scott to Eric Dolphy, last week's Music Diary is up.

Music Diary, Vol. 91

trainmyear.blogspot.com

Only One Performer Has Won Three Best Actor Oscars. Is It Fair That He’s Also a Joke?

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

Isaac! At the Butler! @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 2d

I finally got a chance to write one of my dream assignments, an in depth evaluation of Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor whose achievements and methods cast a long shadow over the field, and whose work is often misunderstood.

slate.com/culture/2025...

He might be the greatest actor of all time—and the most misunderstood.

slate.com

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 2d

It's now most famous because Nujabes sampled Laurindo Almeida's tasteful guitar version, but this elegant repurposing of Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte" is worth hearing in Mildred Bailey's smoky, evocative original vocal rendition from 1939. Listen for the marimbas. #dailysong

The Lamp Is Low (Remastered)

YouTube video by Mildred Bailey - Topic

www.youtube.com

Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 2d

I knew without clicking who wrote this. Who else? (To be clear, it's great)

Slate @slate.com · 2d

Daniel Day-Lewis is the poster child for Method acting. He in fact does its exact opposite. slate.trib.al/Wbu7x4x

He Might Be the Greatest Actor of All Time—and the Most Misunderstood

Only one performer has won three Best Actor Oscars. Is it fair that he’s also a joke?

slate.trib.al

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 2d

A great choral work is like a cathedral of sound, and you could do a lot worse than spend time inside the bright, dramatic contours of this Vivaldi masterwork. There are some dark corners here, sure, but the whole thing is suffused with a pulsating light. #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/0jkM5C...

Weyes Blood - God Turn Me Into a Flower (Official Music Video)

Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 3d

I hear “It’s good to be soft when they push you down” as a variation on Jesus’s admonition to “turn the other cheek,” but that’s hardly the only line in this hymn-like Weyes Blood tune that makes it sound like it should be sung in church (and it has been, at ours). #dailysong youtu.be/bczKVMPmDlk

YouTube video by Weyes Blood

dodie - Darling, Angel, Baby (official lyric video)

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

Elsa Hiltner @elsahiltner.bsky.social · 3d

I keep talking to people outside of Chicago who do not know what is happening here.

So much has changed so quickly. It is hard to comprehend, even when you see it yourself, or see it on social.

We cannot allow this to be normalized.

Peter Nickeas @peternickeas.bsky.social · 3d

Chaos in Brighton Park. This is representative of the amount / direction of pepper and smoke sent into the neighborhood, in this case, for no reason I can discern other than because they were leaving. Feds had a clear path out in a different direction, and residents were vocal but not violent here.

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 3d

Don’t agree but that’s okay. I share the consensus that ACHTUNG BABY is probably their peak, but I find a lot to love in all their records, even POP

Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 4d

A classic with caveats: I’ve never warmed to the opening or title tracks, and there’s a bit of meandering in the margins. Still a powerful artifact of pre-ubiquitous U2, and I always love hearing the deep cuts “‘Wire” and “Indian Summer Sky.” #dailyalbum open.spotify.com/album/3FFosI...

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 4d

One reason I love this track from Dodie’s great new record, made with her one-time Fizz bandmate, Greta Isaac: It has a distinct Roches vibe, not only in its tight vocal harmonies but in its po-faced whimsy—the “she loves her edamame” outro would not sound out of place on NURDS. #dailysong

YouTube video by doddleoddle

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 4d

The same little dude who slept in a stroller while we watched PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at your place in Bushwick in (checks notes) 2010

Artistic Directors Should Create Space, Not Control It

Reposted by Rob Weinert-Kendt

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · 5d

“How do we sustain our organizations? How do we secure our future and remain relevant in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape?” For Val Day, the artistic director of 59E59 Theaters, shaping the space where the work happens and letting partnering artists lead can lead to a sustainable art form.

The leader of 59E59, an Off-Broadway theatre complex that programs more than 30 shows a year, offers a vision for the sustainability of the art form.

John Leguizamo’s Latin American Dream

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Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 5d

This was a great conversation

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · 5d

“I really wanted to create a classical American, classical Latin play—put the Latin family into the canon of great American family plays… I wanted us to be a part of that.” - John Leguizamo
www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/03/j...

On this episode the editors dive deep into our fall AT issue with dramaturg/journalist Dezi Tibbs, then dig into Latin American representation with playwright-performer John Leguizamo.

Rob Weinert-Kendt @robkendt.bsky.social · 5d

The weakest track comes first on this Eric Dolphy/John Lewis record of Weill tunes (a queasy, overly literal "Alabama Song"), but it immediately improves from there, transforming this iconic theater music into bop/free-jazz fugues. A must listen. #dailyalbum music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...