Jonathan Dove's Flight is given a near perfect mounting this fall at the Juilliard School. Juilliard's neighbor across the way could take a page on opera production from the young artists whose talent and sensibility bodes well for the future of the opera form.

This is a thoughtful drama (with comic lines) about the nature of law and constitutionality and father-son relationships. Director Gary Griffin takes Mike Bartlett’s carefully shaped story and brings out its drama, compassion and relevance to the day’s events.

The Polonsky Shakespeare Center mounts a charming production of Carlo Goldoni's famous play. Improvisation abounds. You'll hear about Flatbush and election night mares.

The Whitney Museum of American Art was founded in 1931 and opened its first of several venues in 1931. Initially American art was viewed as inferior to the School of Paris. That shifted after WWII with the ascent of the New York School. Early on the museum mounted Annuals which eventually evolved into Biennials. They have long been regarded as reflecting the latest developments in the field. With 63 participating artists the 2017 Whitney Biennial (March 17 to June 1) continues that tradition.

Mike Grgich emigrated to America after World War II. He moved to California following an American Dream. Today, he is a legendary winemaker who just turned 93.

When Edward Albee died, the social networks were inundated with spontaneous comments. One admirer reminisced about the exquisite instructions on preparing the perfect crème brulee in Counting the Ways and made me realize how many such excerpts have stayed in my mind over the years. I’ve been thinking about them like memorializing snapshots – all those stimulating tricks with words, like Agnes wondering whether she can say “I dropped upstairs” and Jerry asking about saying “A dog I knew.”

Now that it is assured of ongoing financial stability The Mount, a landmark in the Berkshires, is moving toward increased winter programming., Here is a schedule of upcoming events.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time closed on Broadway in September after 800 performances (including 23 previews) and won five Tony Awards, including Best Play and garnering a host of other honors. Our correspondent reports on the touring company that performed briefly in Palm Beach, Florida.

Chateau de La Dauphine in Bordeaux offers wine tourism possibilities for all visitors, year round. Marion Merker heads the operation of this beautiful estate.

In his most significant commitment yet to Tanglewood, Andris Nelsons will lead both the opening and closing BSO concerts, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, and Beethoven Symphony No. 9; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Kristine Opolais; an opera gala with Ms. Opolais and Dmitri Hvorostovsky performing excerpts from Simon Boccanegra, La traviata, and Eugene Onegin; the world premiere of John Williams’s Markings with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter; and the first-ever BSO and festival concert performance of the complete Das Rheingold, a tour de force milestone in the history of the festival.

Claudio Monteverdi is considered the first major composer of an opera. The richness of his talent is on abundant display in William Kentridge’s direction of The Return of Ulysses.

“Vicuna” is comedy rich in innuendo and roman à clef portrayals. I’ve seen several of Jon Robin Baitz’s plays in the past, but this one is a little different from his usually serious efforts as a dramatist.

The Eastman Philharmonia under the brilliant Neil Varon, performed Maurice Ravel, Kevin Puts and Serge Prokofiev at Alice Tully Hall.

The brutally honest play From Silence by Anne Marilyn Lucas is based on her observations of second generation Holocaust survivors and their families. The piece centers on a Jewish Holocaust survivor who, as a coping mechanism, has remained silent about her experiences in detention.

Any theatre company, group, or person who wants to do a reading of my feminist political comedy, The Taming, on Inauguration Day 2017 can do so for free, with thanks to Playscripts.

Located in the 'Basque' country, the Navarra region is gaining recognition for producing superb wines at reasonable costs.

The Berkshire theatre gilterrati crammed into Mr. Finn's Cabaret for a raucous evening celebrating The First Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards. Seventeen arts journalists voted on 120 nominees in 25 categories chosen from artists in the 75 live theatre productions mounted in Berkshire County and adjacent areas between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016.

For a Venetian Coronation, the golden wood of Alice Tully Hall is lit around the stage by floor floodlights cast upwards. The 1595 Coronation ritual inducted Marino Grimani who would rule until his death in 1605. The Baroque style of the performance was delivered with clarity and beauty Challenges in playing period instruments with fewer vents and using the high larynx to produce tones of exquisite beauty were not apparent in the formal but easy movements of the groups.

“Now what” are the words playwright Michael McKeever wants us to ponder after watching his devastatingly honest, explosive, unflinching and all-too-topical play titled simply “After.”

Young (45 years old) hotshot Thomas Ades is a triple threat: composer, conductor and pianist. In his first outing with the BSO as artistic partner he showcased each of those skills. The results were mostly good. Among the highlights was the local premiere of his "Totentanz," a major work by any standard.

FInian's Rainbow was first produced in 1947, but the tough issues it raises are very contemporary. In Southern United States blacks and whites live comfortably, but are challenged by land grabs, Sears Roebuck salesmen and a Senator ripe for conversion.

The brilliance of Samuel Beckett is captured by the Pan Pan Theatre Company of Dublin. Beckett's magical words never had more music and humor. The irony of death's grip is fully evoked in our mind's eye as we sit in rocking chairs, imagining figures. Beckett is laugh-inside funny, his words ricocheting around the room.

Stephen Adly Guirgis opens the veins of family feelings in his plays, with his gritty, piercing dialogue. He writes scenes we usually don’t see in public, scenes that reveal long histories of family abuse that become painful memories. He does this in Between Riverside and Crazy and The Motherfucker with the Hat, He is is a member of New York’s highly regarded LAByrinth Theater Company. Little Flower premiered at LAByrinth in 2008, directed by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Carnegie Hall programs explore an individual's musicality. For those who are born with the musical gene, their basic instincts are led out into the beat and the song. For those who do not have the gene, music is brought inside and listeners made.

The narrative of Sharr White’s play is not its strongest asset. It’s the performances of the actors that win the day. The technical credits at CV REP are always top tier.