Words and Music

HARVEY SACHS WROTE THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY of conductor Arturo Toscanini in 1978. He just did it again, this time producing a book that’s a...

THE MUSICAL “FUN HOME” got its start as a graphic coming-of-age novel by Alison Bechdel, and, with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyri...

From the Cinematic Vault : I found this years-old review of “Dead Again” lurking in the vault in a “Misc.” folder. Its original formatting s...

Guest Blogger Dept. : Robert Benchley returns us again to the essays of yesteryear, when a little self-deprecation went a long way.       ...

Ethan Botwick and John Romeo | Photo by B. A. Nilsson From one of the six short plays by Harold Pinter being presented as the inaugural...

LISTEN TO THE OPENING TRACK on “Uptown Jump,” a recording by guitarist Glenn Crytzer ’s Savoy Seven. It’s a tune titled “The Savoy Special,”...

From the Vault Dept. : I was delighted to travel out to the Washington County lair of Tom Lopez in 1990 to interview the man behind a series...

Guest Blogger Dept. : Mark Twain captured his adventures as a newspaper correspondent out west in the book Roughing It, from which the foll...

From the Slush Pile Dept .: As far as I can remember, this piece never ran in Metroland, for which I wrote it in 1996, prompted by a then-no...

From the Vault Dept .: What a disappointing review! When I wrote it, I was heavily involved in improv performance myself, so I’m sure I cons...

    Enjoy a deeply meditative experience with two minutes of fascinating farmyard activity.

From the Recent Past Dept .: Schenectady County Community College has been giving the Culinary Institute of America some tough competition f...

John Romeo | 29 Sept. 2017 | Photo by B. A. Nilsson In rehearsal for “New World Order,” an evening of works by Harold Pinter, directe...

From the Vault Dept .: As senescence creeps in, I’m often pleasantly reminded of the shows I’ve seen (but by now have forgotten) as I leaf t...

Guest Blogger Dept. : Novelist Booth Tarkington served a single term in the 63rd General Assembly of Indiana, beginning in 1903, and, while ...

From the Arts Vault Dept. : I can find online references to the Albany League of Arts up until 2002, after which it mists away. When I wrote...

From the Chef’s Table Dept .: Perreca’s, a century-old bakery in Schenectady’s Little Italy neighborhood, bakes the finest Italian bread you...

AT NO POINT during his lengthy performance at the Troy Music Hall Saturday night did Randy Newman mention his new album, “Dark Matter.” It’s...

From the Concert Stage Dept. : The Albany Symphony Orchestra spent part of the summer on a rivergoing barge, performing works old and new at...

Provincetown, MA | 16 August 2017 | Photo by B. A. Nilsson