Who is this Anita Gates you speak of?

A.G.’s journalistic triumphs over 25 years at The New York Times include drinking with Bea Arthur (at a Trump hotel), Wendy Wasserstein (at an Italian restaurant) and Peter O’Toole (in his trailer on a mini-series set near Dublin). It is sheer coincidence that these people are now dead.

At The New York Times, she has been Arts & Leisure television editor and co-film editor, a theater reviewer on WQXR Radio, a film columnist for the Times TV Book and an editor in the Culture, Book Review, Travel, National, Foreign and Metro sections. Her first theater review for The Times appeared in 1997, assessing “Mrs. Cage,” a one-act about a housewife suspected of shooting her favorite supermarket box boy. The review was mixed.

Outside The Times, A.G. has been the author of four nonfiction books; a longtime writer for travel magazines, women's magazines and travel guidebooks; a lecturer at universities and for women’s groups; and a moderator for theater, book, film and television panels at the 92nd Street Y and the Paley Center for Media.

If she were a character on “Mad Men,” she’d be Peggy.

Come On, 'Merry Wives' — When We Said 'Break a Leg,' It Was Just a Metaphor

Anita Gates
MERRY WIVES harlem set.jpeg

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HAPPY UPDATE: “Merry Wives” did open on the new date, Monday, Aug. 9. And the reviews are in. Ming-Trent, as The New York Times wrote, “hilariously combines into one bigger-than-life portrait your drunk uncle, a horndog Redd Foxx and some would-be Barry White.” Praise all around for script, players and park.

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THINGS WERE LOOKING GREAT for “Merry Wives.” There was something innately cheerful and energetic about the set — a Harlem street corner, because that’s where Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor,” in a new adaptation by Jocelyn Bioh, now takes place. Previews had begun. Opening night was set for Tuesday, July 27.

(In photo: The “Merry Wives” set, by Beowulf Boritt, a Tony Award winner for “Act One.”)

And everybody was excited about seeing Jacob Ming-Trent as Falstaff, the jovial older gentleman who sets out to find a new bride. Because old age is unpredictable, and there were no Social Security checks in Elizabethan England.

Then, on July 19, there was an announcement. Opening night was canceled. That is, it had been moved, all the way into the distant future (Monday, Aug. 9). Because Ming-Trent had been injured. And that was pretty much all we were told.

(In photo: Ming-Trent with what must be one of the modern Falstaff’s favorite breakfast cereals.)

“The actor is recuperating and will return to the show when he is able,” a Public Theater statement said. What part of his body did he injure? How serious is it? Exactly how did it happen? No further details were given — and still haven’t been.

Meanwhile, standing in/on line on the day of the performance to get free tickets — a proud if not cherished Shakespeare in the Park tradition — had been eliminated. Now it’s back. The number of people allowed at each performance was raised from 428 to 1,468 (it’s a 1,500-seat outdoor theater). No further Covid news, since three preview performances were canceled in July because of positive tests among the production team. Fingers crossed.

Shakespeare in the Park, “Merry Wives,” Delacorte Theater, publictheater.org

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