EXTRA CRITICUM

The Recent Hadestown Kerfuffle Only Proves One Thing: "It's 2022 and still... we are all just a little out of sorts."

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How ready are we for live performance as we used to enjoy it? We're circulating a very short survey. Please take 3-5 min. to answer a handful of key questions about your feelings in the fall of 2022.

Oct 2022 Live Performance Comfort Survey

 

 

Quiz: Name 3 or 4 musical or dramatic elements of this song that make it amazing.

Put your songwriting know-how to the test. Listen to this song 2 or 3 times and then either post a comment or shoot me an email with your thoughts on what might be a few of the most interesting, smart, special or unforgettable things about this song.

I happen to think it's a pretty wonderful song. 

What do you think?

And why do you think I love it so much? And am I right or am I wrong? Be opinionated!

Let’s Get Creepy: Brothers Quay at MoMA

There’s really no point in me trying to convince you that the Quay Brothers exhibit at MoMA is worth your time and money. Either you find them deeply disturbing and you like them or you find them deeply disturbing and you don’t like them. However, since they are not a household name, I thought it might be useful to design a little quiz, a litmus test, really, so that you can decide whether or not they’re right for you.

The David Licata Film School

Facebook told me Werner Herzog is someone I might know so naturally I clicked on Herr Herzog's link. It brought me to his page. Click on the image to read the text.

Doing the Box Office

Quick, which category has seen the sharpest drop in sales over the last ten years?
• Plays at nonprofit theaters
• Broadway theater attendance
• Music albums/CDs
• Rap albums/CDs
• Movies

Morality Quiz - vol. 1

Life in the performing arts world presents us with moral dilemmas, almost on a daily basis. Here's a fun little quiz we can all take to assess where we fall on the spectrum between Machiavelli and Mother Theresa.

Hypotheticals.

When memory fails us, what can we learn?

On a recent trip, I found myself sharing a drink with Andrew in a room whose walls were lined with chalk boards. It didn't take long before I was trying to write out my favorite Robert Frost poem from memory. In spite of the fact that this is a poem I'd actually once set to music, I had the nagging fear I'd left something out. A quick Google search the next day revealed my error. But what struck me as odd was how absolutely essential to the poem's overall meaning were the two lines I'd accidentally omitted.

See if you can spot my omission. And, if so, offer a compelling psychoanalytical explanation for it. Here's a picture of me and my incomplete version of the poem in chalk.

The Winning Mr. Softee Lyric is Announced!

After days of arduous nail-biting debate, we have an official winner to the "Put Words in Mister Softee's Cone" Lyric Contest. Congratulations to E.C. regular contributor, Robert David Sullivan, whose lyric appears below. Mr. Sullivan wins an all-expenses paid trip to the original Ben & Jerry's store in Vermont so that he can thoroughly cleanse his palette of the taste of pseudo-ice cream. Congratulations, Robert!

It's All About the Ensemble: Which Law & Order Cast Worked Best?

One major key to the success of the original Law & Order series is the intangible known as "ensemble."

Which of the following combinations of core actors do you think resulted in the best chemistry? Register your vote (with explanations, please) in the COMMENTS section below.

It's a tie! We have two winners of the Broadway Legends Quiz!

Joseph Millett and Robin Rothstein both scored 100% on our recent quiz and for their efforts they are now proud owners of their very own 100% organic cotton EXTRA CRITICUM T-shirt.

Congratulations! You're both very very smart!

Correct answers are listed below.

If you missed this Quiz and would still like to test your knowledge, first click here.

Put Words in Mister Softee's Cone Contest: Best Lyric Wins Big!

In the recent flurry of commentary over our four 2nd looks at the 1985 film, After Hours, it came to light that Andrew Altenburg had been trying to put lyrics to the Mister Softee ice cream truck tune for years. See following quote:

Well, I never did actually finish the Mr. Softee lyrics but maybe now that I have a little extra time on my hands (see my post from late yesterday) maybe it's something I can work on...

We at Extra Criticum decided to help him finish this vital cultural project by soliciting you, our readers, as our best resource. Come up with your lyric to the Mister Softee tune (provided in mp3 below) and you may win one of several as-yet-undetermined door prizes as well as the satisfaction of knowing that you have breathed new life into this classic tune, a fixture of the New York City landscape for at least 25 years. [Enter your lyrics in the Comments section below]

Download MrSoftee

Take the Broadway Legend Quiz

Six pictures of six Broadway legends appear below. All are dead. Three were actors. Three were playwrights. See if you can identify all six faces. (If you can ID all six faces AND correctly link them to their clues below, you win a free EXTRA CRITICUM t-shirt.)

1.

2.

Snapshot Guessing Game

Left, a publicity photo from a theater production. The first person who correctly guesses a) the name of the play and b) the name of the character in the play will be my guest for a drink next week when I am performing in Manhattan (or anytime you're in Los Angeles). Now, if you can also guess the year and location the photo was taken, I will throw in dinner.

HINT: Pictured is an iconic "routine" from the play, a classic of twentieth century drama.

No fair guessing if you already know the answer.

(Click on thumbnail to see the image full-size.)

"An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer" Take The Indie Film Lover Quiz

Most film lovers don't pay much attention to which company is distributing which film. But given the current climate for truly independent feature films in this marketplace, I'd like to suggest that they start paying attention. And fast.

To illustrate the point, I've put together a few multiple-choice questions about some of the current crop of films on screens right now. Take this simple quiz, tally up your score and see whether you qualify as a Maverick or a Drone.