Remembering Rock and Roll Legend Lou Reed

november 01, 2013

Lou Reed performing at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Welcome to American Mosaic from VOA Learning English.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

On the show today, we play some music by Lou Reed, who died earlier this week.

But first, we tell you about a new stage production of a classic play.

‘The Glass Menagerie’ Revisited

The Tennessee Williams play “The Glass Menagerie” was first performed in 1944. The next year its New York production on Broadway won the Drama Critics Circle Award.

The story of heartbreak and lost dreams has held true for theater goers in the many years since. “The Glass Menagerie” was also adapted for film, television and radio.

Now, the show is back on Broadway. Christopher Cruise tells about it.

Tennessee Williams’ "The Glass Menagerie" is back on Broadway. (Photo by Michael J. Lutch)

When people enter New York’s Booth Theater, they see a simple but striking stage. It looks like a small apartment, with a sofa, a dining room table and a few other pieces of furniture. There is also a long fire escape reaching upward, but no walls. Everything else, all around, is black. The set appears to be floating in an empty space.

“I want people who hate the theater to see it.”