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525,600 Minutes to Preserve

tomkins123@gmail.com (tomkins123) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:11:00 +0200

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD �RENT� closed with the usual celebratory brouhaha. Hours before its final curtain on Sept. 7, the sidewalk in front of the Nederlander Theater, where the musical had played for more than a dozen years, was strewn with barricades signaling the potential presence of celebrity � or at least the expensively self-important. Gawkers piled up three or four deep behind the barriers, cellphones in picture-taking mode. Sure enough, a freshly minted young tabloid star stepped out of a car and splashed into the glare of television cameras, looking at home in the spotlight, her long tresses curling picturesquely across her shoulders, beautiful accessory boyfriend huddled protectively (if a little shortly) at her elbow. She was Blake Lively, a star of �Gossip Girl.� Or so I was told by the daughter of a colleague. And that Abercrombie boy was no mere human bangle but a star in his own right, Penn Badgley, of the same television series. �Oh, my God, I�m such a teenager,� my

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tomkins123@gmail.com (tomkins123) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:47:00 +0200

Act One, Scene One With the expository material explained through the use of a magazine article, Sheridan Whiteside, confined to a wheelchair, is rolled out of the library, his temporary quarters, into the Stanley living room. He intends to sue Ernest Stanley for $150,000 as well as occupy his home for the time required to heal. Through the minutes Whiteside continues to insult everyone, including Dr. Bradley, Miss Preen, Ernest Stanley, his wife Daisy and teenage children Richard and June, and even his secretary of 10 years, Maggie Cutler. Maggie, however, is used to Whiteside's tirades and performs her duties with tact and reliance. Dr. Bradley also gives a manuscript of his memoirs to Whiteside, hoping the Whiteside will give some positive feedback on the book. Whiteside is later met by the eerie Harriet Stanley, Mr. Stanley's sister. She presents him a holly branch as a present. Whiteside, though taken aback by her bizarre nature, is convinced that he has seen her before. White

tomkins123@gmail.com (tomkins123) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:43:00 +0200

Plot synopsis The story of The Man Who Came to Dinner is set in a small town of Mesalia, Ohio in the weeks leading to Christmas in the 1930s. The exposition reveals that the famously outlandish radio wit Sheridan Whiteside of New York City was invited to dine at the house of the rich factory owner Ernest W. Stanley and his family. However, before Sheridan Whiteside enters the house, he slips on a patch of ice outside the front door and injures his hip. He is attended by Dr. Bradley, the absent-minded town physician, and Miss Preen, his frantic nurse.

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525,600 Minutes to Preserve

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