• The Oldest Boy  |  Essays

    Students are in the (New)House

    Brendan Lemon  |  Dec. 5, 2014

    When student audiences attend a matinee at Lincoln Center Theater, onstage hints of love and sex tend to elicit the most audible response.

  • The King and I  |  Essays

    Bruce Pomahac Keeps the Score

    Brendan Lemon  |  Dec. 1, 2014

    The first question most people ask when they hear about a musical revival is: who’s in it? But the starting point for the production’s interpreters is the book and the score.

  • James Yaegashi Tells His Stories
    The Oldest Boy  |  Essays

    James Yaegashi Tells His Stories

    Brendan Lemon  |  Nov. 24, 2014

    James Yaegashi, who plays Father in THE OLDEST BOY, grew up in Japan. “That fact was helpful when it came time to begin work on the play,” Yaegashi told me the other day, backstage, between a matinee and evening performance.

  • Celia Keenan-Bolger Faces the Audience
    The Oldest Boy  |  Essays

    Celia Keenan-Bolger Faces the Audience

    Brendan Lemon  |  Nov. 14, 2014

    When I asked Celia Keenan-Bolger to name the biggest surprise so far in her work on THE OLDEST BOY, she replied, “The audience.”

  • The Oldest Boy  |  Essays

    Opening Night

    Brendan Lemon  |  Nov. 4, 2014

    Last evening, after the opening-night party for THE OLDEST BOY, I got on the uptown subway at 66th Street. I’ll admit it: I was reading the reviews.

  • The King and I  |  Essays

    Mary Rodgers and the Legacy of Rodgers and Hammerstein

    Brendan Lemon  |  Oct. 31, 2014

    As we approach Mary Rodgers’ memorial, to be held this Monday, at New York’s Town Hall, and the imminent Lincoln Center Theater revival of THE KING AND I, I have been thinking about the legacy of R & H – their exuberant days -- and why it continues to exert such a tidal pull on theatregoers around the world.

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