An Audience of None
Whomever you're performing for, make it count
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players” — William Shakespeare, 1599
There’s a little-seen movie — a remake of a golden-era Hollywood film from 1942 —that is a goofy favorite for me.
It’s To Be or Not To Be, Mel Brooks’ 1983 remake of the Jack Benny original. I recall seeing it when it first came out, then later on VHS. It rarely airs anymore, and is only available on streaming services with a subscription.
The over-the-top performance by Charles Durning, the back and forth between the real husband and wife team of Brooks and Anne Bancroft, and the repeated “we’re world-famous…in Poland” line always stuck with me, forcing me to stop on any channel that happens to be airing it.
Brooks played Frederick Bronski, a theatre own…
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