Our guest for this episode is Ben Brantley, who retired in October 2020 after 27 years (most of them as chief critic) as a daily theater reviewer at The New York Times. That’s a lot of years and a lot of reviews — more than 2,500 of them.

Ben is an effusive man with a quick wit and a memory like a steel trap. That’s a combination that makes for a great podcast guest. But don’t take our word for it, just listen in as we revisit many theatrical highs and listen to Ben gush about Bernadette Peters’s performance of a single particular line.

Follow Ben on Twitter

Ben’s farewell to The Times

Ben’s exit interview with current chief critic Jesse Green — whose new book with Mary Rodgers, “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” is waiting for Elisabeth to pick it up at the Brooklyn Public Library (excerpt here).

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

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