Odysseus (in Latin, Ulysses) is the hero of Homer’s second epic who survives 18 adventures trying to find his way home. Much of what we usually think of as suspense has just evaporated: a man comparing himself to Odysseus and facing certain death examines his life.

Syracuse journalism legend Joan E. Vadeboncoeur left us last week, dying at home after a brief, painless illness. She was 78 and still busy at her keyboard a few weeks before the end.

The irony was there, if anyone bothered to make the connection. Just when the Brenda Starr comic strip was wrapping its 70-year run, so too did Joan E. Vadeboncouer pack it in. Known to friends and colleagues as “Joan E.

“Dark” is part of theater lexicon, but in the case of the under-renovation Landmark Theatre, it’s daily reality; that and cold. The renovation work, which began Oct. 20, and is projected to cost $16 million, is all part of a master plan of creating modern space while retaining the theater’s historic architectural significance.

Smith is what can be called a derivative playwright, drawing on reliable models like Georges Feydeau and Ray Cooney, as well as Benny Hill. As an actor himself what he really likes to do is to give each performer a chance to show off. In a sense, everyone is a lead.

We learned that show folk can be more given to support than back-stabbing. When architect and set designer Navroz Dabu had his arm and leg crushed in a May 16 auto crash, hearts were opened all over town. Karis Wiggins offered her house for recovery. Dabu responded so well he could play (mostly sitting) the patriotic immigrant in Twelve Angry Men.

The No. 1 Syracuse impresario Murray Bernthal liked to declare, “There will be no retirement.” He was a man of his word. Bernthal remained engaged with running Famous Artists, the company that brings touring Broadway shows to Central New York, until a few weeks before he left us last Thursday, Dec.

True to form, Rarely Done Productions’ holiday effort goes against the expected grain. Thus, Marley has been dead seven years at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

This is what she does for love. Thirtysix years ago director Sharee Lemos was a very, very young assistant director on The Butterfingers Angel, a signal event in Syracuse theater history. One of America’s then-leading playwrights

We like familiarity and assurance at the holidays. No matter how many times we have seen them, The Messiah and The Nutcracker will remain in demand.