Clifford Odets

NEW YORK —There is something uniquely appealing, entertainment history reveals, about urban urchins in cloth caps, be they Parisian waifs, London pickpockets or unflaggingly optimistic New York orphans. If they sing and dance and have lost a...

Ben Gazzara, who died Friday in New York at the age of 81, was an actor with a gruff voice and intense demeanor. His acting legacy, which included the films of John Cassavetes and originating the role of Brick in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway, was a...

In a career less than a decade old, Pablo Schreiber has been in one of the most critically acclaimed series, "The Wire," on Broadway opposite Brian Dennehy in a Clifford Odets revival, and now as Anton, the cool shaman on CBS' "A Gifted Man." Naturally...

Adultery, infanticide, overtones of incest and patricidal urges: Eugene O’Neill’s 1924 American classic, “Desire Under the Elms,” with its deliberate evocation of mythic Greek tragedy, caused an uproar when it was first produced....

Harry Morgan, who died Wednesday at age 96, could command your attention while still seeming quite ordinary. That was Harry Morgan's particular magic....

Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president who died Saturday at 75, was the perfect example of an increasingly rare specimen -- the politically engaged playwright. In today's theatrical climate dominated by silly movie retreads and safe little dramas,...

Ben Gazzara, who died Friday in New York at the age of 81, was an actor with a gruff voice and intense demeanor. His acting legacy, which included the films of John Cassavetes and originating the role of Brick in......

As we bid farewell to the Summer of Swelter, it's a grand time for pulling up the appointment app on your smart phone (or pulling out the day planner, if you're a traditionalist) and setting aside some play dates with the hottest shows in town. BIG DEALS...

Three days before American Blues Theater opened its new Chicago production of "Waiting for Lefty," that classic Clifford Odets drama of the fervent years, Teamsters president James Hoffa Jr. warmed up a Detroit Labor Day crowd for President Barack Obama....

Art and political protest have historically gone hand in hand, each feeding off the anger, the idealism and the creativity of the other. Occupy LA, the grassroots movement now entering its third week in downtown, is no exception....

Louis B. Mayer warned anyone who made a movie at MGM: "Be smart, but never show it." The still-subversive thrill of "Sweet Smell of Success" — an independent production released through United Artists — is that it's unabashedly smart in every...

They’re not communists, they’re just broke: “Don’t tell me red,â€� growls a working stiff, “We’ve been kicked around so long we’re black and blue from head to toes.â€� A body can’t catch a break in “Waiting for Lefty,â€� Clifford Odetsâ€...