Perhaps, as I do, you know Daniel Okrent best as the Prohibition historian and former New York Times public editor? Now he is also an Off-Broadway wrangler and macher! And just like that, previews of "Old Jews Telling Jokes" begin May 1. Buy a ticket now!
For obscure historical reasons plenty of people have asked me what I thought about Justin Timberlake's cover of the Leonard Cohen standard "Hallelujah" during that Haiti telethon the other night. And, you know, whatever, at this point there's nothing that could be done to that song that would surprise-or, probably, interest-me. What DOES interest me today is an assessment of Leonard Cohen written by "an octogenarian who still considers Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' and Baez's 'Diamonds and Rust' to be two of the greatest folk songs ever written." He appears not to be a fan.
