I have to make a confession – I have never watched FOX News.  I’ve heard all the stories, seen all the parodies, but I have never watched the network…until last week.  There I was, on the treadmill at the gym and noticed that Tucker Carlson was an odd shade of burnt umber.  I thought maybe there was something wrong with the tint on the TV, but Sean Hannity looked fine.  Maybe Tucker is using Mr. Trump’s spray tan equipment – although it’s just been disclosed that Carlson said of the embattled ex-president, “I hate him passionately.”  Well, you know – there’s a fine line between love and hate.

On the topic of “Fake News”, the following headline was seen on the front page of New York Times Arts – “The stakes are high for the new Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford.  The musical hasn’t been seen or heard in New York for 43 years.”  A curious claim, since there were Broadway revivals in 1989 and 2005 – both of which were nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the Tony Awards.  Then there are the New York City Opera productions of 1984 and 2004 at Lincoln Center, or the New York Philharmonic’s semi-staged productions in 2000 and 2014.  And, let’s not forget the 2021 immersive production that took place in an actual pie shop!  In short, New York Times, the musical has had at least seven productions in New York City since the original.

The Broadway revival of Funny Girl will close when Lea Michele leaves this fall.  While there was wild speculation that the producers would try to find another Fanny Brice, it was determined that nobody could fill Ms. Michele’s shoes.  That’s quite a contention, since the original Broadway production lasted almost two years after Streisand departed.  The show continued to do good business with the accomplished Mimi Hines.  I guess they don’t make ‘em like Mimi anymore – unless I’m supposed to believe Lea is more irreplaceable than Babs!