There Goes Whinin' Simon
John Simon, New York magazine's lead theater critic lo these 37 1/2 years, got the boot from editor Adam Moss yesterday. Simon told BOLDFACE that Moss intends to take theater coverage in a "new direction"—which, judging by the magazine's other bold new initiatives, presumably means intensive coverage of one-woman shows involving teen overspending and the psychosexual implications of rapid weight loss. To be sure, Simon, who never seems to have met a racial minority or gay agenda he liked, will be unmourned in much of the theater community: Playwright and neophyte Huffablogger David Mamet famously remarked that Simon and former Times theater scribe Frank Rich were the syphilis and gonorrhea of the theater world. Simon seems to have, um, picked up that meme himself: "My last review is 'Sweet Charity,' " he told the Times, "Which is ironic."
Dude, that's not irony—it's mimesis. No wonder they canned your ass. MnG
