Ryan Donovan

New York! I'm giving a talk on my new book-in-progress at The New School on March 23 at 5pm.

Come hear about how Broadway turned backbreaking.

event.newschool.edu/broadwaybodi...

and ugly to look at.

Frederick Wiseman, 96, Penetrating Documentarian of Institutions, Dies

According to the NYT, it's now held up on music permission issues and not the Dolans.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

See also "Something to Talk About"

The Kennedy Center was thriving until the hostile takeover...

crickets from the free speech crowd, of course

Ann Reinking as Cassie

the Washington Post effectively blew up its arts section today, dismissing its books, TV, music, and theater critics, features writers, and several editors. (I'm also guessing the vacant film critic position will stay that way.) Just an insane loss of talent and a huge self-inflicted wound.

stunning cover design!

Where does Liza fall for you? I know she played Roxie, but I think she'd also have been equally good as Velma...

I hate to say it but it really doesn't suit her own very special talents.

Has me wondering what will they call "Prince Faggot" in Japan...

Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton. All former cabinet secretaries. All need to speak up. Why are they silent at this moment? Why is up to ordinary Americans to lead in this crisis?

If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.

American survived without ICE from 1776 to 2003

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."

- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.

Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!

Falling Enrollment, Money Woes: The New School Seeks a Path to Survival

As an alum and former part-time faculty member, it is heartbreaking to see this happen. Not mentioned here is that the institution has upwards of 80% part-time faculty, which is depressing enough--and a sign that the university has been in bad fiscal health for decades.

And btw Whipple burns every bridge when he walks away unlike access journalists in DC who can never tell the whole story. He then has to start all over again for his next story

Were there moments that you missed? Anything that happened that’s on the cutting room floor? I don’t think there’s anything I missed that I wish I’d gotten. I’ll give you a little anecdote: Stephen Miller was perhaps the most concerned about the portrait session. He asked me, “Should I smile or not smile?” and I said, “How would you want to be portrayed?” We agreed that we would do a bit of both. And then when we were finished, he comes up to me to shake my hand and say goodbye. And he says to me, “You know, you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to people.” And I looked at him and I said, “You know, you do, too.”

The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story.

Holy. Shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Happy 100th Birthday Dick Van Dyke, and thank you for the joy!

Saddest thing is that Neeson’s late wife Natasha Richardson was a AIDS advocate and AmFAR spokesperson and now he’s palling around w anti-vaxxers and AIDS denialists.

Fall for Modern Dance With This Masterpiece

Fantastic piece about one of the all-time great dances

Love these shots from a great LIFE magazine article from 1967

Why did Annie always have such bad wigs in Gwen's roles?

Anyone have favorite or iconic backstage photographs from 1960s/1970s Broadway musicals?

Maybe a snapshot from the wings or a dressing room

Streisand's voice is her instrument; Midler's audience is her instrument. She plays on us and we bring her to life, or at least she makes us feel that we do. (1980)

Before the 1919 formation of Chorus Equity Association, "chorus girls" normally rehearsed weeks on end without pay. The union aimed to reduce this to 4 weeks without pay.

Giving the world Dinesh D'Souza and Laura Ingraham is no longer the worst thing Dartmouth has ever done.

Tovah as Eva!