Front Page
-
In The Penal Colony Updated by Miranda Haymon
Powerful Kafka in the Present
By: - Jul 18th, 2019At Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop The Hodgepodge Group and Lucy Powis presents, In the Penal Colony, a new and dynamic re-creation of Kafka's story by writer/director Miranda Haymon. What are the personal responsibilities of those who bear witness to the abuse of power? What is the relationship of the victim to the support of breaking institutional norms? What of the admiration for power, and the adulation of murderous solution?. At what point can we shed the reverence for brutal traditions?
-
The Skin of Our Teeth
Last Call for Humanity at Berkshire Theatre Group
By: - Jul 18th, 2019Clocking in at three acts and three hours it's a long, tough slog through Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth at Berkshire Theatre Group. Having endured an epic assault on the senses we much appreciated the experience. There is far too much relevance to this grim, Pulitizer Prize winning 1942 play. Then America was facing fascism abroad and now we are confronted by racism and fascism within.
-
The Great Buster at Mostly Mozart
What Buster Keaton and Mozart Have in Common
By: - Jul 17th, 2019Mostly Mozart programmers ask the most obvious question at the start. Why a film about Buster Keaton in this festival related to Mozart? Seeing the film, an easy comparison can be made with Papagano, the physical actor/singer in The Magic Flute, which will play in a charming version at Lincoln Center. Yet it is the quality of the work that is truly similar.
-
Raphael and the Pope’s Librarian
Up Close and Personal at the Gardner Museum
By: - Jul 16th, 2019To mark the 500th anniversary of the legendary painter Raphael’s death, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will bring together - for the first time – Raphael’s portrait of papal librarian, Tommaso Inghirami, from its collection and a painting depicting an episode in his life from the Musei Vaticani in Vatican City.
-
She Shorts
Inaugural Series of Short Plays in South Florida
By: - Jul 15th, 2019She Shorts is a series of short plays about women, by women.The series was borne out of a collaboration between Miami's City Theatre and Ft. Lauderdale's Thinking Cap Theatre. She Shorts is empowering, funny and thought-provoking. The inaugural series runs through Aug. 4.
-
Verdi’s Requiem Mass at Tanglewood
Andris Nelsons Conducts Massive Work
By: - Jul 15th, 2019On the specal occasion of its annual Gala there was a special treat for partrons and the general audience. The long awaited and much anticipated Verdi’s Requiem Mass was conducted by Andris Nelsons at Tanglewood.
-
The Newport Jazz Festival 2019
Talking with Bass Player Ron Carter
By: - Jul 15th, 2019Bass player Ron Carter at 82, still performing around the world – will bring his trio to the Newport Jazz Festival Saturday, August 3rd at Fort Adams. He shared some thoughts about performing, music and musicianship.
-
Toni Stone Story of Vintage Baseball Player
Home Run Off Broadway
By: - Jul 15th, 2019April Matthis, as Toni Stone (1921-1996) the first woman to play professional baseball in the Negro League, is knocking it out of the ballpark every night at New York's Laura Pels Theatre through August 11.
-
Michael Gordon's Acquanetta at Bard
Texture and Noir Images Engross in Video Opera
By: - Jul 14th, 2019Acquanetta, the video opera by Michael Gordon, a multi-dimensional composer on the contemporary scene, was premiered as grand opera in Aachen, Germany in 2006. Commissioned in chamber form by Beth Morrison Productions, it now is mounted at Bard SummerScape. Grand or not grand, the sound in this version, with members of the Bang on the Can Ensemble, is big. Loud was the word used in warning. The nature of the production, details of which remain closely held, enables the electronic bass and also the string instruments to resound throughout the hall. The music makes the show, as it should in opera.
-
Selling Kabul By Sylvia Khoury
Co production of Williamstown Theatre Festival and Playwrights Horizon
By: - Jul 14th, 2019With promises of visas and relocation to the United States the mlitary recruited interpreters in Afghanistan. That promise was reneged on when America started to withdraw and wind down in 2011. The world premiere play Selling Jabul by Sylvia Khoury focuses on the fate of one individual and his family who was left high and dry.
-
A Mark Morris Concert at Mostly Mozart
Satie, Ives and Schumann at the Rose Theater
By: - Jul 13th, 2019Mark Morris is as serious about music as anyone. A questioner dared to state that of course music performed for dance was not up to concert expectations. Morris quickly took exception. His standards are the highest. He expects the music to be performed as written by the composer. He decried excessive rubatos. Yet Morris is as impish as Eric Satie. Satie's Sports and divertissements inspired a world premiere commissioned by Mostly Mozart.
-
Dance Theatre of Harlem
50th Anniversary Performance at Jacob's Pillow
By: - Jul 12th, 2019From the High School of Music and Art the young Arthur MItchell rose to become a principal dancer in George Balanchine's New York City Ballet. Responding to the death of Dr. Martin Luther KIng, Jr., fifty years ago with Karel Shook they founded Dance Theatre of Harlem. The company first appeared at Jacob's Pillow in 1970. This week they returned with a diverse program in tribute to Mitchell who passed away last September.
-
Time Flies and Other Comedies by David Ives
Great Escape at Barrington Stage Company
By: - Jul 11th, 2019For a change of pace Barrington Stage Company has opted not to give us yet another social justice scolding. Summer escapism with a belly full of laughs is provided by David Ives's Time Flies and Other Comedies. An all star cast of Barington actors are off the leash with total gonzo performances. They are anchored by the comedic genius of Debra Jo Rupp. Just wait till you see her paired with Cary Donaldson. With wings and buggy butts as Mayflys they wll be born, meet, mate, hatch and die all on one hilarious day. And that's just the first of six outrageous skits.
-
Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story
Pittsfield's Colonial Theatre Shakes, Rattles and Rolls
By: - Jul 10th, 2019Berkshire Theatre Group and its Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield is producing the world premiere of Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story. The jukebox musical, rumored to be headed to Broadway, has a book by Gary Kupper, Larry Marshak and Rose Caiola with original music and lyrics by Gary Kupper. A cast of nineteen performs some 47 musical interludes. The music was fun but the long and often slow production needs a lot of work.
-
The Good Person of Szechwan
Brecht at California Shakespeare Theater
By: - Jul 09th, 2019So, a Bertolt Brecht play can actually be fun! The play’s central theme is about goodness, something that would seem intuitively straight forward, but the playwright examines the concept from many sides, resulting in more questions than answers.
-
The Scottsboro Boys
Playhouse on Park, West Hartford
By: - Jul 08th, 2019The Scottsboro Boys is getting a terrific production at Playhouse on Park through Aug. 4. Previously the show won acclaim, nominations and awards off-Broadway, on Broadway, in London and other places.
-
Compagnie CNDC-Angers/ Robert Swinston
Celebrating Merce Cunningham Centennial at Jacob's Pillow.
By: - Jul 08th, 2019For his centennial Jacob’s Pillow presented three dances by the avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919-2009). The “music” featured his collaborator and life partner John Cage (1912-1992). In July, 2009 we attended the final performance at Jacob’s Pillow by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Several days later, on July 26, he passed away.
-
Ronald K. Brown's Evidence Troop at Bard
Classic Grace is Followed by Premiere of Mercy
By: - Jul 07th, 2019Ronald K. Brown’s classic Grace was mounted in the Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center of Bard. For the first time, accompanying music was live, an adaptation of the tapes usually run with the dance. Grace was followed by a world premiere of Mercy, a work commissioned by SummerScape at Bard among others.
-
Twelfth Night at Shakespeare & Company
Fun, Fun, Fun in Lenox
By: - Jul 07th, 2019You may have seen Twelfth Night, perhaps a dozen times. But don't miss one more sharply directed by Allyn Burrows at Shakespere & Company in Lenox. What a hoot yet again to see the absurd Malvolio, a love sotted fool, decked out in yellow stockings with crossed garters. Expect a raucous night of fun, fun, fun.
-
Marjorie Minkin: The Shape of Light
Museum Quality Work at Real Eyes Gallery in the Berkshires
By: - Jul 05th, 2019In a relatively short time Real Eyes Gallery. located in the heart of Adams in the Berkshires. is notable for programming museum level exhibtions. Marjorie Minkin: The Shape of Light sets the bar high. Gallerist Bill Reilly has been able to work with artists from an expanding and ever more remarkable community of artists. How long can MASS MoCA ignore phenomenal work being created in its own back yard?
-
Herrens vije (Ride the Storm)
A Masterful Danish Television Series
By: - Jul 05th, 2019For 250 years the Danish Krogh family has been in the God business. Brilliant, fanatical and tyrranical the elder Johannes dominates his parish as well as immediate family. The role earned Lars Millelsen an Emmy for the the 20 episode, 2017-2018 Danis television series. You will want to binge/view this best ever family drama on Netflix.
-
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Broadway Revival of Terrence McNally Play
By: - Jul 04th, 2019Johnny is sure that he and Frankie should be a couple – after all their names reflect the hold song. So he is going to convince Frankie of that fact, no matter how she tries to resist.
-
Josh Groban Delights at Tanglewood
Songs and Patter
By: - Jul 03rd, 2019Starting late last night at Tanglwood the quirky man/ child, Josh Groban, delivered a chatty 90 minute set with ten minutes of encores. In tribute to James Taylor, who performs tonight, in a total gonzo move, Groban fell to his knees and "kissed the hallowed ground" of Tanglewood. All kidding aside he has truly awesome pipes.
-
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion Produced by Aurora Theatre
By: - Jul 02nd, 2019Joan Didion has crafted an engaging peek into her soul at a time of great tribulation, though there are numerous flashbacks to earlier times which flesh out her personal attributes and relationships and offer colorful vignettes from her past. She is unembarrassed to discuss some of her own foibles, including her frequent arguments with her beloved husband.
-
A Human Being, of a Sort
WTF World Premiere by Jonathan Payne
By: - Jul 02nd, 2019A new play by Jonathan Payne, A Human Being, of a Sort, at Williamstown Theatre Festival is based on an historical event. In 1906 a Congolese Pigmy native, Ota Benga, was brought to New York City, placed in a cage along with monkeys, orangutans and other primates for display in the Bronx Zoo. From this Payne has created a social justice drama that explores racism at the turn of the 20th century.
<< Previous Next >>