Jesse Green
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
When I was a kid growing up, I went to public school in the Bronx, and it was in the sixth or seventh grade.
I'm sure he was a fine-to-good math teacher.
The reason, however, that I remember him most is because I recall him, vividly recall him, taking an inordinate amount of time the year that I had him to have us read and listen to the lyrics and music for the musical Les Miserables.
So instead of teaching math, he would play what I assume was the cast recording in class, and he would explain to us what was going on in the story.
And then eventually, we went to see a live Broadway performance of Les Mis.
I cannot say it wasn't.
All I remember is, why are we not learning math here?
I feel like math will be more useful to me, this is what I was thinking at this age, than theater.
And buddies, I was wrong.
Because theater has proven much more useful to me in life than math.
This is the Sunday special.
Joining me today is Jesse Green, a culture correspondent here at The Times and a longtime theater critic for The Paper.
And Elizabeth Vincentelli is the former chief theater critic for The New York Post and a regular arts and culture contributor to The Times.