George S Kaufman

George Furth, an actor and playwright who wrote the book for the innovative Stephen Sondheim musical "Company," died Monday. He was 75. Furth died at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., said Dennis Aspland, his agent, who didn't know the cause of death....

Shanghai Moon ( Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, June 3-29). It's no wonder Bay Street wanted Charles Busch back this summer. His starring role in his own cross-dressing hit, "The Lady in Question," was the sold-out smash of last season. While "Lady" was...

The new season at the Melon Patch Playhouse is one play short of its usual six-play schedule. Melon Patch President Sue Thomas said lopping off the summer play is a temporary move. "We are taking time this summer to fix up the theater," Thomas said. "We...

If you want to catch two wicked talents get into trouble, head for the Fountain Theatre, where Tony winner Tonya Pinkins and "Cold Case" actress Tracie Thoms are tearing it up in "And Her Hair Went With Her," Zina Camblin's vivid if uneven look at African...

The UCLA Film & Television Archive is no small place. The Library of Congress aside, it's the biggest collection in the country, with film holdings alone numbering a staggering 85,000 titles. Wouldn't you like to take a peek at the rarities hidden in...

As I write this mash note to the Algonquin, the clubby enclave with the most storied literary history of any Manhattan hotel, the resident cat, Matilda, is lounging on one of the bell carts near the front desk. I'm sitting a few yards away, with my laptop...

The rolling countryside of Bucks County, with its covered bridges, stone walls, and old-fashioned barns is a relaxed destination for a weekend. Fifty years ago, this part of Pennsylvania drew writers and actors from Manhattan with its laid-back country...

Satire is the most challenging form to pull off successfully, especially on TV. Witness "The Naked Gun." Before it became a money machine in theaters, it was a multi-megaton bomb on ABC as "Police Squad." Even after the Leslie Nielsen movies became box...

The New Yorker's "The Talk of the Town" section is a far-flung proposition these days, but in the magazine's fledgling years in the 1920s, much of the town's talk worth printing originated around a dining table in the nearby Algonquin Hotel. Witticisms...

It takes a while to crank up, and its male lead suggests the casting was left not to Central Casting but, mistakenly, Central Miscasting. For musical theater aficionados, however, the Drury Lane Oakbrook revival of the 1931 political lark "Of Thee I Sing"...

What is it about lost manuscripts and the Actors Studio? Two separate upcoming projects connect affiliates of the famous acting group with recently unearthed work. First up is "Sherry!" A musical adaptation of the classic George S. Kaufman and Moss...

The world is full of playwrights who remain unfamiliar to Chicago audiences until someone does what it takes to remove the "un-". One such writer is Brooke Berman, whose "Until We Find Each Other," now at the Steppenwolf Garage, wrestles with notions of...