"new season in the arts 1979-80"

There was no New Season section in the Times in 1978 because of a newspaper strike, but the 1979 edition picked up where Hirschfeld had left off. This complicated composite of personalities to watch in the new season is a collection of deceptively simple images compiled into an integrated tapestry of the arts of the time. The only repeats from two years earlier were Henri Matisse, who had a show at the Guggenheim, and Beverly Sills was sang Menotti’s “La Loca” at the New York City Opera. Music had a mix from Elton John to Dizzy Gillespie to Leonard Bernstein, and television personalities included two Black actors, Robert Guillaume and James Earl Jones who were starring in new series. Theater was still the centerpiece of the new season for the artist. Here he captured what would be the most talked-about role of the year, Patti Lupone in the title role of Evita. He also had Mickey Rooney, about to open in the burlesque styled Sugar Babies, almost in conversation with Maggie Smith in Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day. For film he drew Meryl Streep in her memorable role in Kramer vs. Kramer, Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman, and Bob Fosse in his semi-autobiographical film, All That Jazz. This work included his only drawings of dancers Murray Louis and Martine Van Hamel.