The Telephone

Musicals and plays based on movies? Many. Based on books? Also plentiful. Based on true stories? Of course. But musicals and plays based on or inspired by magazine articles? These are a rare breed. One recently opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre.

“Judgement at Nuremberg” at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s (MET) Warwick Theatre is a fictional rendering of the 1947 Judge’s War Crime Trial held at Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. “Judgement at Nuremberg” is a painful remembrance of an attempt to both punish those accountable for the barbarisms committed in the name of the German state and to be consciously impartial in the administration of an accused’s trial rights. Eighteen million people died at the hands of the Third Reich and its National Socialist (NAZI) leaders. Six and a half million of the dead comprised two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population. It was a determined and deliberate stated goal of genocide of a people. Post war, many of Europe’s surviving Jews fled places they had lived for millenniums in favor of reestablishing a sovereign state in their ancestral homeland where they could finally feel safe. It is ironic that this play opened in Kansas City on the very day that South Africa brought an accusation of genocide against the descendants of the survivors, today’s Israelis, at the International Court of Justice. The play centers on three main characters. One is Dan Heyward, a retired American District Court Judge called to lead a panel of three non-biased jurists in the trial of three NAZI era judicial officials. The second is a renowned German Judge named Ernst Janning. Janning had once sat in the chair similar to America’s Attorney General during pre-NAZI days. The third character is a youngish defense attorney named Oscar Rolfe, a volunteer defender of the estimable Ernst Janning. Janning initially refuses to recognize the authority of the court. It is two years since the end of the war in Europe. The scope of the evil that was done has become clear. The question facing the court is how far down into the German Bureaucracy must consequences for the German people reach? Usual suspects have already been tried, convicted, jailed, executed, or committed suicide. What is left to adjudicate are those who have allowed the worst to happen and why they allowed it. Were they true believers? Were they people who went along in hopes the system would self-correct? Is there any defense for crimes against humanity? Judge Heyward is our eyes as we attempt to understand how this monstrosity that was the Third Reich could have ever happened. “Judgement at Nuremberg” by Abby Mann is sixty-three years-old, yet it mirrors the Donald Trump era in exquisite detail. The arguments put forward in the staged court and from Judge Heyward’s investigation are heard in today’s legal briefs almost word for word. This makes “Judgement” frightening and important for 2024 audiences to see. When you see this play, you will recognize modern, living associates of the past administration mouthing dialog written before they reached their majority. MET has done an excellent job of casting. Director Karen Paisley has choreographed an exquisite twenty-four scene, two-act play in precise detail using minimal, yet effective set pieces. The few conceits adopted for this production work exceptionally well. Most acting is restrained and understated; except for two or three explosions from wholly appropriate characters when needed. Ms. Paisley has incorporated vintage documentary film from the era and what almost seems like a motion picture score backing up the action. “Judgement” is the third iteration of this story by Abby Mann, born Abraham Goodman, a son of Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States. The story first appeared as a television episode of Playhouse 90 in 1957, a feature film in 1961, and this version, a Broadway play in 2001. The Broadway version of “Judgement” was performed a total of fifty-six times. The expanded filmed version recently became available on “Prime Video.” The leading cast members in the MET production are John Clancy as Judge Dan Heywood, Tim Ahlenius as Ernst Janning, and Michael Dragen as Oscar Rolfe. They are backed up by a fine supporting cast. All the characters in this play are products of the playwright’s imagination. They are inspired by similar, real life people. True, historic situations influenced the plot and the legal arguments. “Judgement at Nuremberg” continues at the Warwick Theatre through January 21. Tickets are available at https://www.warwickkc.org/ or by telephone at (816) 569-3226.

EDDIE, the play, ends with the recognition of Israel by the United States.  A short, two- paragraph statement immediately conveyed the backing of the world’s wealthiest nation with the world’s most powerful military.  But that was not the end of the story either for Israel or for Eddie Jacobson.

On the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, a not commonly cited friendship, between President Harry S. Truman and a Kansas City friend may well have had an outsized influence on the success of the new tiny country.   That man was Eddie Jacobson, Truman’s close friend since 1905. Both Truman and Jacobson served in the same World War I artillery unit, became business partners, and remained lifelong friends.   

La Jolla Playhouse has announced complete programming for its 2023 Without Walls (WOW) Festival of immersive and site-inspired work.

Robyn Nevin has assembled a great cast and neatly captured the style of the era.

Therry Theatre has announced that its next production is the South Australian premiere of the Cameron Mackintosh musical, Betty Blue Eyes, adapted by Alan Bennett from his screenplay for the film, A Private Function.

On Wednesday, April 21, We begin this week’s tour with one of the Los Angeles Opera website’s most popular “Living Room Recitals.” Soprano, Latonia Moore sings with pianist Roberto Berrocal. After the recital, we leave for NYC. On arrival, we go to Shut Up and Eat, a most generous Toms River restaurant that offers a discount to patrons in pajamas. 

On October 3, I watched an updated version of Gian Carlo Menottia??s 1947 short opera, The Telephone. The dial telephone tethered to one room of the home that some of us oldsters grew up with has become a portable smart phone and each person has one. The Parea Virtual Recital Series which explains the opera to English speakers around the world offers a fine performance of The Telephone.

Edinburgh International Festival, the world's leading performing arts festival, today unveils My Light Shines On a?" a series of video works and light installations across Scotland's capital to mark the beginning of the festival season and celebrate the enduring spirit of the Festival City. 

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

Menotti's opera comedy The Telephone will be presented at the 2019 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival (Tuesday, Sept. 10 - Saturday, Sept. 21) on Friday, September 20th at 10PM at MuCCC (142 Atlantic Ave Rochester, NY 14607).

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive, interactive, inside look at renovations at The Muny as the venue gears up for it's 101st season of bringing St. Louis audiences first-class Broadway productions at America's largest ourdoor musical theatre!

MTH Theatre's 'Broadway's Golden Age' is a couple of hours well spent for those of us who love classic musical theatre. A revue full of show tunes is relatively common in Kansas City, but this George Harter written retrospective has a throughput theme and a singing - dancing cast that is particularly satisfying.

Julien's Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house, has announced its highly anticipated event Icons & Idols: Hollywood AND MORE to take place today, November 17, 2017 at their pop up auction gallery 805 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California and live online.

AC Smith is memorable as Troy Maxson

Julien's Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house, has announced its highly anticipated event Icons & Idols: Hollywood AND MORE to take place on November 17, 2017 at their pop up auction gallery 805 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California and live online.

On October 14, 20 and 22, Long Beach Opera (LBO) will present three performances of The Consul with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, and starring Patricia Racette, making her Long Beach Opera debut at the Centinela Valley Center for the Arts, Lawndale.

Designed as a very funny screed against Jim Crowe and political corruption, Rainbow continues to shine on its audiences after 70 years.

Beginning 2 February 2017, Hauser & Wirth will present 'Nothing and Everything: Seven Artists, 1947 - 1962,' an exhibition dedicated to the synergistic relationship that existed between visual artists and composers during the years following World War II.

Beginning 2 February 2017, Hauser & Wirth will present 'Nothing and Everything: Seven Artists, 1947 - 1962,' an exhibition dedicated to the synergistic relationship that existed between visual artists and composers during the years following World War II.

Julien's Auctions, the world record breaking auction house to the stars, has announced on offer one of the most personal collections of Marilyn Monroe from the estate of Lee Strasberg.

From Pica Pica Press: First published in 1934, Petras Cvirka's merry tale Frank Kruk presents the story of an American immigrant from Lithuania, Pranas Krukelis, and his transformation into Frank Kruk, the proprietor of a Brooklyn funeral parlor. Although Cvirka had never been to America, his novel is remarkably perspicacious despite its minor accuracies, and many of the issues it touches on, including mortgage and insurance fraud, collusion, income inequality, and the pursuit of the almighty dollar, remain relevant yet today. Thirty years before Jessica Mitford, Cvirka's book raised a firestorm among Lithuanian-American undertakers, prompting Cvirka to write, 'Many undertakers completely misunderstand my good intentions. It seems I composed a kind of advertisement for them, the best I could. I praised the coffins, their business abilities, and described them as patriots, too.'

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), now through October 24. Opening Night is tonight, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), tonight, October 2, through October 24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.