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Quote by John Lahr

“Did you come of age in those sweet summers of the early nineteen-sixties, when the airwaves were full of rock and roll's doo-wop promise of joy and the nation was full of J.F.K.'s eloquent promise of a New Frontier? I did. Life seemed to be laid out before us like a banquet; everything was for the taking, especially hearts.”

Quote by John Lahr

Author

John Lahr, born on July 12, 1941, is an accomplished theater critic. His reviews are renowned for their insightful interpretations and profound understanding of the art of theater. more

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“I was the first critic ever to win a Tony - for co-authoring 'Elaine Stritch at Liberty.' Criticism is a life without risk; the critic is risking his opinion, the maker is risking his life. It's a humbling thought but important for the critic to keep it in mind - a thought he can only know if he's made something himself.”

Ifs Knows Mind Firsts Made Important Winning Liberty Opinion Risk Criticism Critics Makers Humbling

Author:John Lahr

“In Britain, the theatre has traditionally been where the public goes to think about its past and debate its future. The formation of the National Theatre, at the Old Vic, near the South Bank, in 1963, institutionalized the symbolic importance of drama by giving it both a building and state funding.”

Thinking Giving States Past Building Drama Importance South Theatre Debate Britain Funding Symbolic Formation Youth Theatre

Book:Joy Ride: Lives of the Theatricals

Source: Joy Ride: Lives of the Theatricals

“Like the tail fins on fifties American cars or the parabolic shapes of Populuxe furniture, 'West Side Story' incarnates the dream of momentum in the golden age of the twentieth century.”

Stories Dream Age Sides Century Car Shapes West Golden Tails Furniture Twentieth Century Momentum Golden Age Fins West Side West Side Story American Cars

Author:John Lahr

“Of the modern critics, although I disagree with almost everything she says, I admire Mary McCarthy's eloquence and social observation in 'Sights and Spectacles'; she thinks in print, but she doesn't have a real feel for the stage.”

Thinking Feels Real Social Modern Stage Sight Critics Admire Observation Print Disagree Mary Eloquence Spectacles

Author:John Lahr

“Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot,' billed as 'the laugh sensation of two continents,' made its American debut at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, in Miami, Florida, in 1956. My father, Bert Lahr, was playing Estragon, one of the two bowler-hatted tramps who pass the time in a lunar landscape as they wait in vain for the arrival of a Mr. Godot.”

Made Two Father Waiting Laughing Landscape Vain Sensations Continents Florida Arrivals Miami Debut Grove Beckett Coconuts Tramps Bowlers Godot Waiting For Godot

Author:John Lahr

“The New Yorker's' drama critics have always had a comparable authority because, for the most part, the magazine made it a practice to employ critics who moonlighted in the arts. They worked both sides of the street, so to speak.”

Art Made Speak Sides Practice Streets Drama Authority Critics Magazines Made It Both Sides New Yorkers

Author:John Lahr

“Theatre is a game of hide-and-seek. For both the hiders and the seekers, the thrill is in the discovery. When the rules of the game are too vague or too complicated, however, the audience can lose its urge to play; the prize no longer seems quite worth the hunt.”

Play Seems Games Loses Audience Discovery Complicated Theatre Urges Prize Vague Thrill Hunts Seekers Hide And Seek Rules Of The Game

Author:John Lahr

“Theatre people, who are an adaptive species, know that to remain sane in the process of production where everyone and his uncle has an opinion about how to fix a show, you must pick the people whose knowledge and taste you trust and stick only to these few. The Tweetocracy is no place to look.”

People Knows Looks Shows Process Opinion Taste Picks Sticks Species Productions Theatre Sane Uncles Adaptive

Author:John Lahr

“The tensions between authority and the people need to be heard, especially when they are suffering and they can't eat.”

People Needs Suffering Heard Authority Tension

Author:Ralph Fiennes

“Tony Awards boost Broadway attendance and sell the shows on the road. They're the sugar to swat the fly. If you needed more explanation for the yearly ballyhoo, in the metropolitan areas where a Broadway show plays, the local economy is boosted by three and a half times the gross ticket sales. So when we're talking Tonys, we're talking moolah.”

Ifs Play Shows Three Half Talking Economy Needed Areas Sells Locals Explanation Awards Sugar Tickets Broadway Gross Boost Attendance Metropolitan Broadway Shows Half Time

Author:John Lahr