Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.social
America's Copy Editor®
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
Pinned
Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.social
· Nov 27
Greetings, new people here at House of Copyediting. Besides first-rate, IISSM, prose advice, you'll get:
• a random theater photo of the day, sometimes more than one
• birthday alerts for dead actresses, and occasionally live ones
• Sallie updates
And it's all free!
• a random theater photo of the day, sometimes more than one
• birthday alerts for dead actresses, and occasionally live ones
• Sallie updates
And it's all free!
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night
December 26, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night
Poirot: Mrs. McGinty's Dead.
Best. One. Yet.
Best. One. Yet.
December 26, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Poirot: Mrs. McGinty's Dead.
Best. One. Yet.
Best. One. Yet.
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
lots of great birthdays tomorrow, none more delightful than that of Alan King
December 26, 2025 at 2:24 AM
lots of great birthdays tomorrow, none more delightful than that of Alan King
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Breaking | Trump orders airstrikes to aid Nigerian Christians despite Stephen Miller's frantic cries that Nigerian Christians are Black.
December 26, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Breaking | Trump orders airstrikes to aid Nigerian Christians despite Stephen Miller's frantic cries that Nigerian Christians are Black.
BTW, and then it'll be time to tuck this away for a year:
A great thing about this great essay is that the author is actually reading and illuminating what's on the screen, not devising spurious, fantastic alternatives.
A great thing about this great essay is that the author is actually reading and illuminating what's on the screen, not devising spurious, fantastic alternatives.
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
open.substack.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:14 AM
BTW, and then it'll be time to tuck this away for a year:
A great thing about this great essay is that the author is actually reading and illuminating what's on the screen, not devising spurious, fantastic alternatives.
A great thing about this great essay is that the author is actually reading and illuminating what's on the screen, not devising spurious, fantastic alternatives.
A Christmas Carol (1946)
Val Lewton, producer
Jacques Tourneur, director
Boris Karloff (Scrooge)
Ernest Thesiger (Marley)
Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. Dilber)
Julia Dean (The Ghost of Christmas Past)
Robert Newton (The Ghost of Christmas Present)
Bela Lugosi (The Ghost of Christmas Future)
Val Lewton, producer
Jacques Tourneur, director
Boris Karloff (Scrooge)
Ernest Thesiger (Marley)
Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. Dilber)
Julia Dean (The Ghost of Christmas Past)
Robert Newton (The Ghost of Christmas Present)
Bela Lugosi (The Ghost of Christmas Future)
December 26, 2025 at 12:31 AM
A Christmas Carol (1946)
Val Lewton, producer
Jacques Tourneur, director
Boris Karloff (Scrooge)
Ernest Thesiger (Marley)
Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. Dilber)
Julia Dean (The Ghost of Christmas Past)
Robert Newton (The Ghost of Christmas Present)
Bela Lugosi (The Ghost of Christmas Future)
Val Lewton, producer
Jacques Tourneur, director
Boris Karloff (Scrooge)
Ernest Thesiger (Marley)
Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. Dilber)
Julia Dean (The Ghost of Christmas Past)
Robert Newton (The Ghost of Christmas Present)
Bela Lugosi (The Ghost of Christmas Future)
and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die! die! my darling!
December 26, 2025 at 12:18 AM
and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die! die! my darling!
*puts on eyeglasses*
Nice punt
December 26, 2025 at 12:15 AM
*puts on eyeglasses*
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
I’m not doing it because I NEED to I’m doing it because it’s pleasant and I enjoy it
We don't need to wish poverty and suffering on the people who are very squarely in the wrong. Hate the sin, love the sinner, and try to point her in the direction of justice and fairness.
December 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I’m not doing it because I NEED to I’m doing it because it’s pleasant and I enjoy it
That weird Instagram algorithm that equates any interaction, including blocking, with interest. Which means I’m up to my ears in AI accounts. Fine, I can just keep blocking them.
December 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM
That weird Instagram algorithm that equates any interaction, including blocking, with interest. Which means I’m up to my ears in AI accounts. Fine, I can just keep blocking them.
Just realized that in the ancient book of Harley Granville-Barker plays I just picked up for a relative song, the bloody pages aren't cut.
Where's my paper knife...?
Where's my paper knife...?
December 25, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Just realized that in the ancient book of Harley Granville-Barker plays I just picked up for a relative song, the bloody pages aren't cut.
Where's my paper knife...?
Where's my paper knife...?
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
So I sez to da boid, I sez, dis is what happens to boids that don't pay up on time.
December 25, 2025 at 10:18 PM
So I sez to da boid, I sez, dis is what happens to boids that don't pay up on time.
Not to put too fine a point on it:
Dude's insane.
Dude's insane.
December 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Not to put too fine a point on it:
Dude's insane.
Dude's insane.
Hank, Irene, and Loretta.
December 25, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Hank, Irene, and Loretta.
musical theater parlor game
Please name one (1) stage musical, original or adaptation, you absolutely adore that, when you first heard about it, your immediate thought was "Oh, god, what a dreadful idea."
(Feel free to go beyond Broadway and the West End.)
Mine:
Adding Machine
Please name one (1) stage musical, original or adaptation, you absolutely adore that, when you first heard about it, your immediate thought was "Oh, god, what a dreadful idea."
(Feel free to go beyond Broadway and the West End.)
Mine:
Adding Machine
December 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
musical theater parlor game
Please name one (1) stage musical, original or adaptation, you absolutely adore that, when you first heard about it, your immediate thought was "Oh, god, what a dreadful idea."
(Feel free to go beyond Broadway and the West End.)
Mine:
Adding Machine
Please name one (1) stage musical, original or adaptation, you absolutely adore that, when you first heard about it, your immediate thought was "Oh, god, what a dreadful idea."
(Feel free to go beyond Broadway and the West End.)
Mine:
Adding Machine
True story:
When I got my first copies of the UK hardcover of DE, I couldn't figure out what was going on on the jacket, so I asked two of my production colleagues.
me: Is that debossing?
colleague 1 (peering through a loupe): No, it's clear foil.
colleague 2: Oh, I love her on The Crown.
When I got my first copies of the UK hardcover of DE, I couldn't figure out what was going on on the jacket, so I asked two of my production colleagues.
me: Is that debossing?
colleague 1 (peering through a loupe): No, it's clear foil.
colleague 2: Oh, I love her on The Crown.
And of course please cite the lyric.
One is neither clairvoyant nor Foy.
One is neither clairvoyant nor Foy.
December 25, 2025 at 7:55 PM
True story:
When I got my first copies of the UK hardcover of DE, I couldn't figure out what was going on on the jacket, so I asked two of my production colleagues.
me: Is that debossing?
colleague 1 (peering through a loupe): No, it's clear foil.
colleague 2: Oh, I love her on The Crown.
When I got my first copies of the UK hardcover of DE, I couldn't figure out what was going on on the jacket, so I asked two of my production colleagues.
me: Is that debossing?
colleague 1 (peering through a loupe): No, it's clear foil.
colleague 2: Oh, I love her on The Crown.
That's one of mine, yes!
A hint re the other: a smash hit musical that's never been revived on Broadway, though it was filmed (poorly).
A hint re the other: a smash hit musical that's never been revived on Broadway, though it was filmed (poorly).
“Tunnel of Love” from Side Show. Terry sings, “She’s raising my Fahrenheit.”
The fake revival cutting this song was one of its many sins!!!
The fake revival cutting this song was one of its many sins!!!
December 25, 2025 at 7:51 PM
That's one of mine, yes!
A hint re the other: a smash hit musical that's never been revived on Broadway, though it was filmed (poorly).
A hint re the other: a smash hit musical that's never been revived on Broadway, though it was filmed (poorly).
They're multiplying!
(Still waiting for the two I was thinking of...)
(Still waiting for the two I was thinking of...)
“Got a fever, a hundred four fahrenheit
Need your lovin', can I come over tonight
Feelin' lowdown, my equilibrium's shot
Gimme, Gimme that tranquilizer you got”
Need your lovin', can I come over tonight
Feelin' lowdown, my equilibrium's shot
Gimme, Gimme that tranquilizer you got”
December 25, 2025 at 7:32 PM
They're multiplying!
(Still waiting for the two I was thinking of...)
(Still waiting for the two I was thinking of...)
musical theater pop quiz
Broadway songs (I assume in London it would be Centigrade) that talk about love or lust raising one's Fahrenheit.
I can think of two right away.
Perhaps there are more...?
Broadway songs (I assume in London it would be Centigrade) that talk about love or lust raising one's Fahrenheit.
I can think of two right away.
Perhaps there are more...?
December 25, 2025 at 7:13 PM
musical theater pop quiz
Broadway songs (I assume in London it would be Centigrade) that talk about love or lust raising one's Fahrenheit.
I can think of two right away.
Perhaps there are more...?
Broadway songs (I assume in London it would be Centigrade) that talk about love or lust raising one's Fahrenheit.
I can think of two right away.
Perhaps there are more...?
Happy Evelyn Nesbit's birthday!
December 25, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Happy Evelyn Nesbit's birthday!
today's random theater photo:
The Fabulous Invalid, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1938)
The Fabulous Invalid, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1938)
December 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM
today's random theater photo:
The Fabulous Invalid, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1938)
The Fabulous Invalid, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1938)
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
I'm surprised this isn't obvious to everyone but he sucks and people don't like him
JUST IN: CBS’s Kennedy Center Honors just hit an all-time ratings low. Preliminary Nielsen data shows only ~2.65M viewers tuned in to the Trump-hosted show, down from 4.1M in 2024. A stunning 35% year-over-year collapse.
December 25, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I'm surprised this isn't obvious to everyone but he sucks and people don't like him
Quite the spectrum of birthdays tomorrow.
December 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Quite the spectrum of birthdays tomorrow.