Peter Marks
@petermarksdrama.bsky.social
Recovering journalist, 21 years as WaPo's theater critic, 9 years before that at NYT as reporter and critic. Now host of theater podcast, Marks & Vincentelli marksvincentelli.substack.com
Attended Randy Rainbow’s show at Town Hall tonight. I needed that.
October 5, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Attended Randy Rainbow’s show at Town Hall tonight. I needed that.
The Pointless Triumph of a Hapless President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/o...
“If Barry Goldwater was the book and Ronald Reagan the movie, Mr. Trump is the glitzy jukebox musical.”
This is the kind of dumb, lazy analogy that “intellectuals” use to disparage theater.
“If Barry Goldwater was the book and Ronald Reagan the movie, Mr. Trump is the glitzy jukebox musical.”
This is the kind of dumb, lazy analogy that “intellectuals” use to disparage theater.
Opinion | The Pointless Triumph of a Hapless President
www.nytimes.com
July 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The Pointless Triumph of a Hapless President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/o...
“If Barry Goldwater was the book and Ronald Reagan the movie, Mr. Trump is the glitzy jukebox musical.”
This is the kind of dumb, lazy analogy that “intellectuals” use to disparage theater.
“If Barry Goldwater was the book and Ronald Reagan the movie, Mr. Trump is the glitzy jukebox musical.”
This is the kind of dumb, lazy analogy that “intellectuals” use to disparage theater.
So, once and for all, is Hamlet a head case? Director/author Jeremy McCarter has decided to get inside Hamlet's head -- and get him inside yours, too -- to probe the question in a delicious new audio version of the play. Let us three tell you about it!
marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/is-hamlet-...
marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/is-hamlet-...
Is Hamlet a total head case? We talk to the director who has set a new audio version of the play in the Prince's mind.
Jeremy McCarter's Make-Believe Association asks you to put on headphones to fully experience "Hamlet."
marksvincentelli.substack.com
June 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So, once and for all, is Hamlet a head case? Director/author Jeremy McCarter has decided to get inside Hamlet's head -- and get him inside yours, too -- to probe the question in a delicious new audio version of the play. Let us three tell you about it!
marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/is-hamlet-...
marksvincentelli.substack.com/p/is-hamlet-...
Reposted by Peter Marks
It's worth doing if only to force a reaction from Vichy homosexual Ric Grenell.
So...okay, good. I'm kind of losing patience with the standard smug Bluesky "Oh, how cringe" or "Democrats amirite?" reaction. People are going to try a lot of things, from big policy actions to small performative gestures. If your reaction is "It won't fix things," yeah, no shit.
Five Democratic senators have rented a small theater at the Kennedy Center and invited the producer of “Hamilton” to stage a gay pride concert there as a form of protest against President Trump’s takeover of the institution.
June 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
It's worth doing if only to force a reaction from Vichy homosexual Ric Grenell.
Early voting, Saturday 6/21. Lower Manhattan.
June 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Early voting, Saturday 6/21. Lower Manhattan.
Staying at a house in Maine. Conservative Republican family next door.
They’ve put up a Dump Trump sign.
They’ve put up a Dump Trump sign.
June 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Staying at a house in Maine. Conservative Republican family next door.
They’ve put up a Dump Trump sign.
They’ve put up a Dump Trump sign.
We talk Tonys - the proceedings were the best in memory. And ratings were up. (My first time in the audience. Elisabeth followed avidly from afar.) A discourse for our paying subscribers!
open.substack.com/pub/marksvin...
open.substack.com/pub/marksvin...
Peter was sitting in the hall. Elisabeth was sitting at her screen. Listen to their scintillating post-Tony Awards talk!
The 78th Tony Awards, broadcast on June 8, 2005, was by many accounts one of the best shows in years. How come? Peter and Elisabeth drill down.
open.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
We talk Tonys - the proceedings were the best in memory. And ratings were up. (My first time in the audience. Elisabeth followed avidly from afar.) A discourse for our paying subscribers!
open.substack.com/pub/marksvin...
open.substack.com/pub/marksvin...
I was there. Best Tony Awards show in ages.
June 9, 2025 at 5:52 AM
I was there. Best Tony Awards show in ages.
How it looks in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 2:42 AM
How it looks in the hall!
What it looks like in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 2:17 AM
What it looks like in the hall!
How it looks in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 1:51 AM
How it looks in the hall!
How it looks in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 1:48 AM
How it looks in the hall!
How it looks in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 1:28 AM
How it looks in the hall!
How it looks in the hall!
June 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
How it looks in the hall!
What do we see during commercial breaks? Set changes!
June 9, 2025 at 12:33 AM
What do we see during commercial breaks? Set changes!
How the Buena Vista Social Club number looks in the hall.
June 9, 2025 at 12:29 AM
How the Buena Vista Social Club number looks in the hall.
Great opening number. In the room, goosebumps.
June 9, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Great opening number. In the room, goosebumps.
Could you feel Harvey Fierstein’s emotion at home? In the room it was electric.
June 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Could you feel Harvey Fierstein’s emotion at home? In the room it was electric.
Maybe Happy Ending score note: Darren Criss showed me the cramped little room adjacent to the Belasco Theatre stage, where the several string players sit. Several stories above them is located the conductor, whom they see on closed circuit TV.
June 8, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Maybe Happy Ending score note: Darren Criss showed me the cramped little room adjacent to the Belasco Theatre stage, where the several string players sit. Several stories above them is located the conductor, whom they see on closed circuit TV.
First standing O of the night goes to Edwin Robinson, the teacher teacher at Boys and Girls HS in Brooklyn. The voice!
June 8, 2025 at 11:16 PM
First standing O of the night goes to Edwin Robinson, the teacher teacher at Boys and Girls HS in Brooklyn. The voice!
In Radio City Music Hall, it feels like a Maybe Happy Ending night.
June 8, 2025 at 10:45 PM
In Radio City Music Hall, it feels like a Maybe Happy Ending night.
I met Terry Moran when he was a reporter for Court TV. I was on the metro desk at the New York Times, and we were both covering the Woody-Mia custody trial in Manhattan in 1993. There is not a finer, more conscientious journalist.
June 8, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I met Terry Moran when he was a reporter for Court TV. I was on the metro desk at the New York Times, and we were both covering the Woody-Mia custody trial in Manhattan in 1993. There is not a finer, more conscientious journalist.