Terry Teachout | |
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 Teachout in 2014 | |
| Born | Terrance Alan Teachout (1956-02-06)February 6, 1956 Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | January 13, 2022(2022-01-13) (aged 65) Smithtown, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Education | William Jewell College (BA) |
| Genre |
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| Subject |
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| Years active | 1979–2022 |
| Spouses | Liz Cullers (divorced) |
Terrance Alan Teachout (February 6, 1956 – January 13, 2022) was an American author, critic, biographer, playwright, stage director, andlibrettist.[1][2][3]
He was the drama critic ofThe Wall Street Journal, the critic-at-large ofCommentary, and the author of "Sightings", a column about the arts in the U.S. that was published biweekly inThe Wall Street Journal. Heweblogged at About Last Night and wrote about the arts for many other magazines and newspapers, includingThe New York Times andNational Review. He was a co-host onThree on the Aisle, a monthlypodcast about theater in the United States, hosted byAmerican Theatre magazine, which ran from September 2017 to December 2021.
Terrance Alan Teachout was born on February 6, 1956, inCape Girardeau, Missouri, the oldest son of Herbert H. Teachout, a hardware salesman, and Evelyn Teachout (née Crosno), a secretary.[4][5] He grew up inSikeston, Missouri.[6]
Teachout attendedSt. John's College inAnnapolis, Maryland, but left after one semester.[4][7] He received a BA in journalism and music fromWilliam Jewell College inLiberty, Missouri, in 1979 and attended theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1983 to 1985, in a graduate psychology program, but left to pursue his journalism career.[4]
From 1979 to 1983, Teachout lived inKansas City, Missouri, where he worked as a bank teller and jazz bassist; during this period, he also wrote about music forThe Kansas City Star.[8] In 1985, Teachout relocated to New York City, where he worked as an editor atHarper's Magazine from 1985 to 1987 and an editorial writer for theNew YorkDaily News from 1987 to 1993. From 1993 to 2000 Teachout was the classical music and dance critic at theDaily News.[4]
In 2003, Teachout became the drama critic forThe Wall Street Journal.[4] He was also critic-at-large for the magazineCommentary.[8]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Presentation by Teachout onThe Skeptic, November 11, 2002,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Teachout onPops, January 7, 2010,C-SPAN | |
| Q&A interview with Teachout onPops, January 31, 2010,C-SPAN |
Teachout's books includeAll in the Dances: A Brief Life ofGeorge Balanchine (2004),[9] which was "highly recommended" byPublishers Weekly,[10]A Terry Teachout Reader (2004), whichPublishers Weekly called "an impressive testament to Teachout's talents, eloquence and integrity,"[11]The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken (2002), andCity Limits: Memories of a Small-Town Boy (1991).[12]
Teachout was the editor ofBeyond the Boom: New Voices on American Life, Culture, and Politics (1990), which featured an introduction byTom Wolfe,[4] andGhosts on the Roof: Selected Journalism ofWhittaker Chambers, 1931–1959 (1989).
In 1992, Teachout discovered the manuscript ofA Second MenckenChrestomathy amongH. L. Mencken's private papers and edited it for publication byAlfred A. Knopf in 1995.[13]
In 2009, Teachout publishedPops: A Life ofLouis Armstrong. "WithPops, his eloquent and important new biography of Armstrong, the critic and cultural historian Terry Teachout restores this jazzman to his deserved place in the pantheon of American artists,"Michiko Kakutani wrote in herNew York Times review of the book.[2]The Washington Post chosePops as one of the ten best books of 2009,[14]The Economist chose it as one of the best books of the year,[15] and theNew York Times Book Review chose it as one of the "100 notable books" of 2010.[16]
In 2013, Teachout's biographyDuke: A Life ofDuke Ellington was published.[17]Duke was longlisted for theNational Book Awards nonfiction prize. James Gavin, writing in theNew York Times Book Review, calledDuke a "cleareyed reassessment of a man regarded in godlike terms" that "humanizes a man whom history has kept on a pedestal", praising its "sound scholarship and easy readability."[18]Kirkus Reviews called it “an instant classic…Teachout solidifies his place as one of America’s great music biographers.”[19]Publishers Weekly called it “revealing…Teachout neatly balances colorful anecdote with shrewd character assessments and musicological analysis.”[20]
Satchmo at the Waldorf, Teachout's one-man-two-character play aboutLouis Armstrong and his managerJoe Glaser, was premiered atOrlando Shakespeare Theater's Mandell Theatre in Orlando, Florida, on September 15, 2011, in a production starring Dennis Neal and directed by Rus Blackwell. An extensively revised version ofSatchmo at the Waldorf in whichMiles Davis is also briefly portrayed was produced byShakespeare & Company of Lenox, Massachusetts, in August 2012, withJohn Douglas Thompson playing Armstrong, Glaser, and Davis. The production, which transferred toLong Wharf Theatre of New Haven, Connecticut, in October 2012, and to Philadelphia'sWilma Theater in November 2012, was directed byGordon Edelstein.[3]
TheBoston Globe described the revised version of the play as a "tour de force.... Aided by director Gordon Edelstein and the consummately skilled Thompson as interpreter, Teachout—in his debut as dramatist rather than drama critic—has contributed a work of insight and power."[21] According to theNew York Times, "Reviewing a play is one thing; writing a play is quite another. Terry Teachout, drama critic for The Wall Street Journal, makes this hat-switching look far easier than it is with his first play.... Mr. Teachout has done a fine job of building a fiction-plus-fact theater piece."[22]
Satchmo at the Waldorf transferred to New York City's Westside Theatre, an off-Broadway venue, on March 4, 2014.[23] It closed there on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. According toThe New Yorker, "Teachout, Thompson, and the director, Gordon Edelstein, together create an extraordinarily rich and complex characterization. The show centers on the trumpeter’s relationship with his Mob-connected Jewish manager of more than thirty-five years, Joe Glaser. Thompson forcefully inhabits both men—and throws in a chilling Miles Davis—delivering an altogether riveting performance."[24] Thompson won the 2013–14Outer Critics Circle Award andDrama Desk Award for "Outstanding Solo Performance" for his performance in the play.[25][26] It was produced at theWallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California in May 2015, and at Chicago'sCourt Theatre, Colorado Springs' Theatreworks, Palm Beach Dramaworks, the Seacoast Repertory Theatre of Portsmouth, N.H., and San Francisco'sAmerican Conservatory Theater during the 2015–16 season. It was produced by New Venture Theatre of Baton Rouge, La., Triangle Productions of Portland, Ore., B Street Theatre of Sacramento, California, and theMosaic Theater Company of Washington, D.C., during the 2016–17 season. The Palm Beach Dramaworks production was directed by Teachout in his professional debut as a stage director.[27] On February 24, 2018,Satchmo opened at theAlley Theatre of Houston in a production directed by Teachout that ran through March 18, 2018; it was performed byJerome Preston Bates.[28]
Teachout's second play,Billy and Me, a four-character-three-actor play about the relationship betweenWilliam Inge andTennessee Williams, premiered atPalm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 8, 2017.[29]
Teachout also wrote the libretti for three operas byPaul Moravec:The Letter, an opera based on the 1927 play byW. Somerset Maugham that was premiered on July 25, 2009, by theSanta Fe Opera;[30]Danse Russe, a one-act backstage comedy about the making ofIgor Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Spring that was premiered by Philadelphia'sCenter City Opera Theater on April 28, 2011; andThe King's Man, a one-act companion piece toDanse Russe aboutBenjamin Franklin and his illegitimate sonWilliam that was premiered by Louisville'sKentucky Opera on a double bill withDanse Russe on October 11, 2013. In addition, Teachout was the librettist for Moravec's cantata "Music, Awake!," which was premiered atRollins College by the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) on April 16, 2016.[31]
Teachout wrote the forewords toPaul Taylor'sPrivate Domain: An Autobiography (1999, University of Pittsburgh Press),[32]Elaine Dundy'sThe Dud Avocado (2007,New York Review Books Classics),[33] William Bailey'sWilliam Bailey on Canvas (2007, Betty Cuningham Gallery),[34] andRichard Stark'sFlashfire andFirebreak (2011,University of Chicago Press)[35] and contributed toThe Oxford Companion to Jazz (2000, Oxford University Press),[36]Field-Tested Books (2008, Coudal Partners),[37] andRobert Gottlieb'sReading Dance (2008, Pantheon).[36] He also appears inAlex Gibney'sSinatra: All or Nothing at All (2015)[38] and two film documentaries about dance,Mirra Bank'sLast Dance (2002)[39] andDeborah Novak'sSteven Caras: See Them Dance (2011).[40]
Teachout contributed notes on recordings byLouis Armstrong,Gene Krupa andOscar Peterson toJazz: The Smithsonian Anthology (2011) and wroteliner notes for CDs by jazz musiciansKarrin Allyson,Gene Bertoncini,Ruby Braff andEllis Larkins,Julia Dollison, Jim Ferguson,Roger Kellaway,Diana Krall,Joe Mooney,Marian McPartland,Mike Metheny,Maria Schneider,Kendra Shank andLuciana Souza, the pop-jazzLascivious Biddies, the bluegrass bandNickel Creek, theAlec Wilder Octet, and the classical ensemblesChanticleer and theTrio Solisti, as well as for the original-cast album ofHands on a Hardbody.[36][41]
The New York Times described Teachout as aconservative who was "an acolyte ofWilliam F. Buckley Jr. andNorman Podhoretz", though he did not believe his political views should overtly influence his criticism.[4] In the 1990s, he was a founding member of The Vile Body, a social club of right-wing intellectuals from the fields of publishing and journalism in New York City.[42][43]
Writing inThe Nation,Jeet Heer said about Teachout, "He got his start withNational Review but eventually embraced a more philosophical and nonpolitical strain of conservatism [...] his work addressed a wider audience and eschewed the liberal-baiting that dominates right-wing political discourse". He further described Teachout as a "Never Trump conservative" whose beliefs were bothtraditionalist andcosmopolitan.[44]
In 2005, Teachout was diagnosed withcongestive heart failure.[45] He lived inUpper Manhattan.[46][47] He was married twice, first to Liz Cullers, until their divorce, and then to the former Hilary Dyson from 2007 until her death in 2020.[4][48] In June 2021, he began a relationship with Cheril Mulligan.[47]
Teachout died on January 13, 2022, at the age of 65, while staying at a friend's home inSmithtown, New York.[8]
