The making of a teenage musical

“How can I get through a year of Spanish? How can I not look dumb in track? How can I gain 20 pounds by Friday? How can I make my voice not crack?” These questions, from “Thirteen/Becoming a Man,” are central to 13, the rollicking teen musical that opens at Live Arts on July 23. […]

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran; Rob Sheffield; Dutton, 288 pages

 It’s a mistake to open Rob Sheffield’s new book looking for another Love is a Mixtape, Sheffield’s Charlottesville-loaded debut about the sudden, unexpected death of his young wife. In that book a natural tension arises in the disconnect between Sheffield’s corny, pop-obsessed voice and the book’s dark subject. His second book, Talking to Girls About […]