Town & Country features the latest in luxury, from beautiful homes, sumptuous dining to exotic locations. In 11 gorgeous annual issues, Town & Country covers the arts, fashion and culture, bringing the best of everything to America's trendsetters
1962 THE NEW WEST SIDE STORY In Town & Country’s Christmas 1962 issue we reported on the massive urban transformation taking place in Manhattan between 42nd Street and Morningside Heights, referring to this moment as the new West Side Story: “Its choreographers are real estate agents… Its music is the raucous cacophony of uninhibited riveters…” The cover image, shot by Charles Rotkin, features illustrations by Ludwig Bemelmans. This month New York City will welcome a new era of excitement once again, much of it swirling around the city’s beating heart: Broadway. After 18 months of darkness, theaters will reopen at full capacity, and we’re celebrating their return with our cover star, Rachel Zegler, who plays Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film adaptation of the legendary 1957 musical West Side…
On July 6, after more than a year of dreaming about it, and after hundreds of walks past the Delacorte Theater dreaming of its return, and after weeks of heightened anticipation, I stood in line with my niece to see Shakespeare in the Park. It got rained out. A wise man explained what it meant: We are all going to come back from this; it just may not go as smoothly as we would like. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to get there soon. As I write this, I have just returned from the joyous and triumphant production of Merry Wives (which runs through September 18). There was no rain this time—in fact, it was one of the prettiest nights we had this summer. And so, now on…
House SEAT WHAT’S #VERYTANDC HERE? The history: Starting with his most famous role—King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I, on Broadway and in the film—Yul Brynner cut a majestic figure: handsome and irresistible, with a fascinating (if occasionally apocryphal) backstory. (Born in Russia and raised in China and Paris, Brynner liked to claim he was the son of a Mongolian prince and a gypsy.) The sophistication and commitment to craft that earned him two Tony awards and an Oscar also defined his behind-the-scenes life. “He was a man of great style, and he liked beautifully made things,” says his daughter Victoria Brynner. He treasured comfort backstage, which isn’t surprising given how much time he spent there; Brynner played King Mongkut 4,625 times. And the actor never settled into…
CLASS PREVIEW / DROP - OFF - LINE DRAMA / WHITHER IVIES? One day last spring, while chitchatting with other moms at the private elementary school their children all attended in Los Angeles, Mimi (her name has been changed) learned about a video that had been shown in her daughter’s first-grade class. Intended to help kids understand the racial unrest sparked by George Floyd’s death, the film, which was made by the educational company BrainPOP, was a five-minute lesson in structural racism. An animated character walked viewers through the civil rights movement and the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black individuals at the hands of police. According to Mimi, it was the latest example of how the school had developed a “fetish with race,” which included “blasting out…
THE CONSCIENCE OF BROADWAY / DEEPTH ROAT’S REVENGE / DRINKING FOR VEGANS It’s safe to say that once again une star est née. From Sarah Bernhardt to Brigitte Bardot to Léa Seydoux, French actresses have long found that a certain continental countenance can pave the way to a formidable career on American stages and screens. Thanks to Stillwater, a dramatic thriller in theaters now, it’s happening again. Camille Cottin, the 42-year-old Paris-born actress, established herself in France with the 2013 TV comedy Connasse, but it was last year, when the razor-sharp series Call My Agent! began streaming on Netflix, that Cottin (who played Andréa Martel, a glamorous, ruthless rep for France’s A-list actors) received international attention. In the coming months she’ll appear in House of Gucci, opposite Lady Gaga and…
Kenny Leon has plenty of reasons to feel hopeful. Despite the fact that until recently Broadway stages were dark for an unprecedented stretch, the Tony winner—who serves as senior resident director at the Roundabout Theatre Company—hasn’t lost faith in his medium. Recently Leon helped found the advocacy group Black Theatre United, and he has worked to launch the Roundabout’s Refocus Project, which highlights writers and works that have been historically overlooked; its inaugural performance last spring was Home, the 1979 play by Samm-Art Williams, directed by Leon. Later this season Leon will direct the Broadway-bound production of Trading Places and The Tap Dance Kid (which opens in February at City Center). Here, he speaks with Vanessa Williams, a Roundabout board member and BTU founder, about making Broadway a better place.…
