Seventy-nine-year old New York theater reviewer John Simon has been released from active duty by New York Magazine EIC Adam Moss after 37 years - 37 years - at New York. According to an anonymous source (yeah, that's right, Wired News, whatcha gonna do about it?), when Simon got the call about the meeting he thought it was for cake and ice cream to celebrate his 80th birthday on May 12th - instead he was told that Moss "wanted to go in a different direction." Happy Birthday! Exit the cakeless Simon; enter Jeremy McCarter, New York Sun theater critic and New Republic contributing editor, effective June 1st.

Meanwhile, who says Adam Moss isn't funny? (Yes, we know who, we all know who). In the press release announcing McCarten's appointment, Moss lays it on thick, declaring himself a "great admirer of John Simon's courage as a critic and of his powerful prose." But this is my favorite part: "John has outlasted every critic in the long and illustrious line of cultural writers for this magazine -- and almost every other critic in this business." UNTIL YOU FIRED HIM! Kind of a weirdly meta thing to say, dontcha think? And to follow it up with "He will be missed?" Yep, it's really a shame I had to go and FIRE HIM! Yep, funny stuff, that.

Here's hoping that John Simon won't forget, can't regret, what he did for love. In the meantime, the show must go on and to that end he told the NYT's Boldface Names that "he is now willing to consider any offers." John, we at Fishbowl would welcome any and all suggestions you might have for showtune-media synergies, but barring that, why don't you try the Times? We hear they like a good, meaty think piece on regional theater...

John Simon to Leave Long-Held Post at New York Magazine; McCarter Named New Critic [Playbill]
Jeremy McCarter Named Chief Theater Critic for New York Magazine [PRNewswire]