A Sense of Mystery and Wonder in a New “Color Purple”

The prime success of the new movie version of “The Color Purple” is its tone: it plays like legend, filtered through the pleasure and the pain of the telling. It’s a musical, adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and from Marsha Norman’s book for the stage play (which is also a musical and provides the new … Read more

Danielle Brooks Comes Full Circle

Although Danielle Brooks has become most known for her role as Taystee, on the television show “Orange Is the New Black,” she is a creation of the stage. Our generation’s yen for Black-theatre revivalism is rooted in her gift for externalized performance: she is the kind of actor who interprets the monologue as she delivers … Read more

Bay Area author pioneered travel that went outside ‘mainstream appeal’

Bay Area author Elaine Lee traveled to 69 countries and curated a forum of ideas in her anthologies. Courtesy of Elaine Lee There has been a recent explosion of travel stories from hosts who push borders — ranging from “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” to “Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi” or Stephen Satterfield’s recent series … Read more