by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. In 1962 one of the grandest American musicals hit the cinemas of the Great Republic. It was Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man”… and we got up and marched as we heard its effervescent score. No high fallutin’ Eye-talian music you had to scratch your head about, understanding hardly …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I doubt that the subject of today’s article is familiar with the celebrated English novelist E.M. Forster, but he ought to be. Foster’s famous aphorism “Only connect” is the basis for what is already one of the greatest fortunes in the history of the world. Only connect… and …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. Here is the most important four-letter word in the entire English language: home. It conjures up and is connected to every element of the well-lived life: spouse, family, peace, comfort, security. Nothing can match its importance, nothing can duplicate its significance. Nothing is more powerful than our memories …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus, artillery captain for the General Staff of France, was charged with treason and espionage… thereby inaugurating one of the most outrageous and ignoble events in the entire history of France. It was a story of lies… but not by Dreyfus. It was the …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. In 1936 the world was transfixed by a story so big, so engrossing, so incredible that only the Second Coming could have topped it. It was the story of Edward VIII, King of England, Emperor of India… and a twice- married American lady from Baltimore, Maryland — Mrs. …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. As far as I can tell, everyone in the world has either run a personal ad (mostly online), is running one at this moment… or will run one before you can say “Jack Robinson.” This means you. The question is not whether you will use personal ads… but …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. In 1921, that sultry chanteuse with a silken voice seasoned with a touch of honky-tonk and life’s deflating experience — Ethel Waters (1896- 1977) — got up before the microphone one fine day and belted into history a little ditty by Billy Higgins and W. Benton Overstreet. It …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. In 1921, that sultry chanteuse with a silken voice seasoned with a touch of honky-tonk and life’s deflating experience — Ethel Waters (1896- 1977) — got up before the microphone one fine day and belted into history a little ditty by Billy Higgins and W. Benton Overstreet. It …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. Winter. What a revoltin’ development this is. I often wonder on days so ridiculously cold like this one is why the Puritans stayed here after arriving and sampling the depths of a Massachusetts winter. I suppose it had something to do with their land grants and, of course, …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. One of Broadway’s happiest and most enduring musicals is “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” Written by Frank Loesser; it was released in October, 1961 to immediate acclaim — and a Pulitzer Prize to boot. Most recently it was revived with Daniel Ratcliffe — famous for …