Charles Grippo

The movie Revolutionary Road is getting a lot of attention because it reunites Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio eleven years after Titanic. But in my opinion there's a much better reason to see this movie: actress Zoe Kazan who has an important supporting role as DiCaprio's lover. Along with the (more…)

Just as we're about to inaugarate the nation's first African American President, the Goodman Theatre is stirring up a hornet's nest with its new production of Eugene O'Neil's The Emperor Jones.
The reason: the lead is being played by a white actress in blackface.
Once a common theatrical device, still in use as late as the (more…)

I'm worried about the damage this bad economy is doing to the theater. Several well known, long established theaters have already either filed for bankruptcy or are teetering on the brink. Rumors are swirling about others. Donations are drying up. Foundations are holding back on grant money. The states are scraping the bottoms (more…)