Alan Smason, Rex Reed
Alan Smason, Trixie Minx, Irma Thomas
Orleans). Of course, if you’re a theatre
critic you have to live on Broadway,” he
chuckled.
Alan’s lifelong love for music predates
the 25-30 years he spent working
at Smith’s Records. His father and uncle
founded and owned S&S (Smith &
Smason) Productions, bringing in some
of the top acts in popular music at the
time. And, for nearly every concert, “I’d
get to sit in the front row, direct center,”
he said. “I got to see some of the best
names in the business,” he added,
reciting a litany of groups that included
the Moody Blues, Simon & Garfunkel
and The Tijuana Brass, as well as some
of the earliest Meters concerts in New
Orleans when they were in their infancy,
opening for other featured artists.
Over time, Alan’s love for rock and
pop expanded into a love for Broadway
and other musical art forms – including
opera. Working in a record shop further
enhanced those feelings. “The shop on
St. Charles was noted for classical and
opera records, but was also well-known
for Broadway soundtracks,” he said.
Among the mail order customers for
Smith’s were renowned New York-based
Broadway composers Stephen Sondheim
and John Kander, who was half of the
composing team of Kander & Ebb that
created Cabaret, Chicago, and other hit
musicals.
“Part of how I got involved in theatre
criticism was through my association
with musicals,” Alan explained. “I liked
them most of all at first because they
have all the elements that I love most in
theatre: acting, singing, choreography,
and dance, along with wigs, costumes,
props, and scenery. The same reasons
why I enjoy opera.”
After technological changes in the
recording industry made records stores
less profitable, Smith’s shut down its
stores in two New Orleans area malls
and its flagship St. Charles location
in the mid to late 1990s. Alan went to
work for a series of Jewish publications
in New Orleans and Cleveland, writing
largely about theatre and other items of
interest to the Jewish community and he
landed his seat at the table of “Steppin’
Out” in 2011.
“My mission on ‘Steppin’ Out’ is to
get as much information to preview and
review these shows as I possibly can in the
five minutes allotted to me,” Alan said.
“Sometimes it’s even less; occasionally a
little more. Not easy with so many shows
that might be on the boards around town
at a given time but I do what I can.”
Commenting on Peggy Scott Laborde,
the creator, host, and producer of
“Steppin’ Out,” Alan said, “I love working
with her. She is very polished and
professional and has made that show a
local institution.”
Also in 2011, Alan began posting
the Crescent City Jewish News, finally
heading up his own Jewish publication
after more than two decades of writing
for others. In addition to posting news
about the local Judaic community and
Jewish-related items of national interest,
the CCJN also publishes an annual
Jewish resource guide.
The Theatre Criticism website, which
Alan started posting this past summer,
serves as a convenient vehicle for
Alan to post his show reviews, which
include Broadway and off-Broadway
productions. He travels to New York at
least once – sometimes twice – a year,
taking in and critiquing some of the topgrossing
shows and often meeting and
interviewing their stars. The website also
invites contributions from other critics
and it attracts reviewers from several
other cities in the U.S.
“We’re really trying to build up the
content on the site and get it noticed,”
Alan said, adding that both of his
online publications have international
audiences.
In what little free time he has, Alan
enjoys visiting with his Dallas-based son,
David, and his daughter-in-law, Shannon,
and his only grandchild – two-and-a-halfyear
old Sally, named after Alan’s late
wife, Sally Sobel, whom he had known
since their student days together at Alcee
Fortier High School.
Summing up his busy and eventful
life, Alan said, “If I had to say anything
at all, it would be that my love of writing
has really generated opportunities for
me. I hope to keep writing as long as the
Almighty sees fit for me to continue to
do so. With His blessings and with the
support from my family, I hope that I’ll
be able to do it for a long time.”
Alan Smason with Jose Llana, co-star
of the touring Broadway production of
The King and I
Alan Smason, Arlene Wieder
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALAN SMASON
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