A monthly column written by Frank Behrens of Keene, NH. Retired in 1991 from teaching English, Math and Science in the NYC school system, his love has been language and music. Under the auspices of Brandeis University Study Groups, the New Hampshire Humanities Council and Pilgrim Pines Elderhostel (Swanzey, NH), and the CALL program at Keene State College, Behrens lectures on Shakespeare, Gilbert & Sullivan, Opera, British Comedy, Broadway Musical History and Mythology. His publications include: Dante's Infernal Guide to Your School, published by Simon & Schuster, 1971 and numerous articles and columns for a variety of journals and newspapers.

Most Recent
When the Words Go A-Pitterpatter pt. 2 (November 2008)

Archives:
When the Words Go A-Pitterpatter pt. 1 (October 2008)
Laugh Along with Haydn! (September 2008)
I Have a Song to sing, O! (July August 2008)
A Few Modest Proposals for Staging Musicals (June 2008)
The Right Musical at the Right Time (May 2008)
Wagner's Motifs & Their Consequences (April 2008)
How Annie Got her Gun (March 2008)
Rooney and Garland: Great Casts, Weak Plots (January February 2008)
The Sweet & Sour Smell of Success (December 2007)
Bluebeard: the Legend, the Spoof, the Two Operas (November 2007)
Love Me Tonight: An Appreciation of a Great Almost Forgotten Musical (October 2007)
The Riddle of the 3 Riddles in “Turandot” (September 2007)
A Director's Guide for Ruining an Opera (July/Aug 2007)
Opera on Video: “Live” or Studio Made? (June 2007)
The Search for the American Sound — 3 (May 2007)
The Search for the American Sound — 2 (April 2007)
The Search for the American Sound — 1 (March 2007)
Songs (and Dance) That Do Not Move the Plot Along (January/February 2007)
Songs That Move the Plot Along (December 2006)
A Musical Parabola (November 2006)
“It’s the Wrong Time and the Wrong Place” (October 2006)
Memorable Musical Movie Moments (September 2006)
Musical Movements (July/August 2006)
Dancing in Verona (June 2006)
The Poetics of Music and the Music of Poetry (May 2006)
I’ve Heard That Song Before (April 2006)
Shakespeare on Broadway 3 (March 2006)
Shakespeare on Broadway 2 (Jan/Feb 2006)
Shakespeare on Broadway (December 2005)
The Thorny Road to Opera as Film (November 2005)
The Three Bohemes (October 2005)
The Three Barbers of Seville (September 2005)
How Annie Got Her Gun (August 2005)
Cinderella With and Without Magic (July, 2005)
The Stories Behind the Songs (2) (June, 2005)
The Stories Behind the Songs (1) (May, 2005)
A Few Ways to Discourage Watching Opera on DVDs (2) (April, 2005)
A Few Ways to Discourage Watching Opera on DVDs (1) (Jan / Feb, 2005)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Singer & the Song (Dec, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Question of Rehearsals (Music) (Nov, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Role of the Choreographer (Oct, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Role of the Music Director (Sept, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: Finding a Director (Aug, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: Choosing the Play (Jul, 2004)
A Plea Against Verbal Pollution in Lyrics (Jun, 2004)
A Mathematical Look at Musical Plagiarism (May, 2004)
The Most Remarkable Unknown Composer of All Times (Apr, 2004)
We Are Advertised by Our Loving Friends (Mar, 2004)
The Question of "Morality" in Musical Drama (Jan/Feb, 2004)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Part III) (Dec, 2003)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Part II) (Nov, 2003)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Oct, 2003)
Musical Weeds (Sept, 2003)
Sing a Sexy Song for the Well-Dressed Armed Forces (Aug, 2003)
Some of Opera's Little Inside Jokes (Jul, 2003)
A Painless Path to Learning Italian: A Look at Musical Terms (June, 2003)
The Product as Advertised: The Hollywood Musical Adaptation (May, 2003)
The Product as Advertised (Again): The Question of Revivals (Mar, 2003)
"Comic" Characters On the Musical Stage Are Nothing to Laugh At (Apr, 2003)
Shakespeare's Symphones: "Macbeth" As Wagnerian Opera (Part II) (January/February, 2003)
Shakespeare's Symphonies: Basics and "Hamlet" (December, 2002)
The Product as Advertised? Glenn Gould and the Goldberg Variations (November, 2002)
September 11 and the Healing Power of Song (November, 2001)
Confessions of a Compulsive Collector, Part Two (October, 2002)
Confessions of a Compulsive Collector, Part One (September, 2002)
Singing in English, or The Impossible Dream (August, 2002)
Teaching Tiny Tots the Joys of Good Music, Part Two (July, 2002)
Teaching Tiny Tots the Joys of Good Music, Part One (June, 2002)

Art Times HomePage