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Chrissie Hynde at MASS MoCA
Pretenders the Real Deal
By: - Jul 27th, 2019It was standing room only last night for the packed performance of Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. On a perfect summer night, with just a touch of heat relief, they performed on stage in a large courtyard of MASS MoCA.
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Working: A Musical in Stockbridge
Great Enertainment at Berkshire Theatre Group
By: - Jul 28th, 2019For a deliciously entertaining evening of theater it is hard to top Working: A Musical at Berkshire Theatre Group. Last night the intimate Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge was filled to capacity by a thoroughly delighted audience.
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Blck, Whyte, Gray at Mostly Mozart Festival
British Hip Hop Takes Us Deep into Dance
By: - Aug 03rd, 2019Blck, Whyte, Gray is performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival, a clear invitation for a wide swathe of ethnic groups to join the Festival audience, and also a pleasure and a revelation for regulars. Advance notice was served at the White Light Festival last fall, when Blck, Whyte, Gray was a smash hit of the Festival.
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Train Meets The Goo Goo Dolls
Tanglewood Rocks
By: - Aug 06th, 2019A major billing with two headliners, Train and the Goo Goo Dolls, played to an enthusiastic audience of many generations, dominated by women at Tanglewood on Monday evening. Both bands played enthusiastic seventeen song set lists, before the encore. Cannons, fireworks and bouncing balloons helped keep the crowd active throughout the evening.
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International Contemporary Ensemble
The 12th Annual Journey of Sonic Landscapes
By: - Aug 06th, 2019You can count on every International Contemporary Ensemble concert to deliver surprise, shock and awe. Performers are always in tip-top shape. You might hear an instrument you’ve never heard before, like the Cimbalon or the Kamanchah at a Mostly Mozart concert at Merkin Hall. ICE is superb and daring.
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If I Were You.
Composed by Jake Heggie with Libretto by Gene Scheer
By: - Aug 07th, 2019If I Were You possesses a compelling score with drama to match. Full of symbols of soul transporters and apples and grieving elephants as well as contrasting venues from offices to bars, it stimulates the ears and eyes and holds the attention throughout
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National Black Theatre Festival
Biannual Event in Winston-Salem, NC
By: - Aug 09th, 2019Some thirty members of American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) attended the Winston-Salem, NC National Black Theatre Festival. Here is the first report from our Chicago correspondent Nancy Bishop. More coverage will follow.
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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
August Wilson Play Produced by Multi Ethnic Theater
By: - Aug 10th, 2019Set in 1927 Chicago, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the only play in August Wilson’s great ten-play, ten-decade “Pittsburgh Cycle,” of the black experience in America that takes place outside his home town. Although the black bottom in the title refers to the flapper dance of the period, it seems intended as a double entendre with sexual innuendo. Both connotations are relevant to one of the important verbal clashes among the band members.
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National Black Theatre Festival
Audience as Congregation in Winston-Salem
By: - Aug 10th, 2019Thirty years ago the late Larry Leon Hamlin founded National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The biannual event, July 29 to August 3, featured 30 productions on stages in and around the city, They ranged from intensive dramas to entertaining musicals. A great part of the experience was being part of audiences that might better be described as congregations. People assemble from all over American for this unique celebration of African American history, theatre and culture.
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Sustaining Regional Black Theatre
Harlem, Houston,Winston-Salem, Chicago, Sarasota
By: - Aug 12th, 2019In a conference organized by Florida critic, Jay Handelman, 30 members and guests of American Theatre Critics Association attended the biennial of the 30-year-old National Black Theatre Festival. In and around Winston-Salem, North Carolina there were 30 productions. During two insightful panel discussions we met artistic directors from Winston-Salem, Sarasota, Chicago and Houston. It provided a compelling overview of black theatre in America.
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Oliver Beer's Vessel Orchestra at the MET Breuer
Nico Muhly and John Zorn compose for the Vessels
By: - Aug 13th, 2019The Metropolitan Museum of Art has mounted its first sound-based installation. British artist Oliver Beer selected 32 vessels from the Museum's vast collection. They form a 32 note chromatic scale which can performed on an electronic keyboard. The exhibit was a feast for eyes and ears.
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Steve Martin's Comedy The Underpants
Extended Again at Old Globe
By: - Aug 14th, 2019Silly is, as silly does, could easily be the subtitle following the name of the current comedy/farce romp “The Underpants,” now on stage at the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White stage. The Steve Martin comedy has been extended twice now through September 8/
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More on National Black Theatre Festival
Biennial Event Seeks to Inspire All
By: - Aug 14th, 2019American Theatre Critics Association members hold their annual conference to coincide with the National Black Theatre Festival. 'Black theater is for everyone,' a panelist tells critics during one of several discussions. This year's festival line-up ranged from well-known works to new plays. The event attracts black theater companies worldwide to perform productions from an African American perspective.
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Two Great Sustainable Wines From Chile
The Vineyard Is Next To The Pacific Ocean
By: - Aug 15th, 2019Five years ago I had my first meeting with winemaker Alejandro Galaz, who produces dozens of wines from Chile. We focused on a couple of wines that he brought to lunch, a Pinot Noir and a Sauvignon Blanc. Both wines were special in 2014, as well, as in 2019. Galaz is known as a cold climate winemaker. The proof is the Kalfu 2017 Pinot Noir, as well as the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc.
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Martha Graham Company Returns to Jacob's Pillow
Program Combines Old and New Works
By: - Aug 16th, 2019The greatest modernist dancer and choreographer of her generation, Martha Graham (1894-1991), had a long and unique connection to Jacob’s Pillow. This week the company she founded in 1926 is making its fifth posthumous appearance in the Berkshires. The program combines old and new, her own work and that of other women choreographers.
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What We May Be By Kathleen Clark
World Premiere Comedy at Berkshire Theatre Group
By: - Aug 17th, 2019The structure of Kathleen Clark's world premiere comedy What We May Be, at Berkshire Theatre Group, is a play within a play. Actually, four plays within a play. That makes for a hard to follow , count them, five plays. It's confusing and not particularly funny. The writing of Clark and misdirection of Gregg Edelman squander generally fine performances by a terrific cast.
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Love, Noël: The Songs and Letters of Noël Coward
In NY at The Irish Repertory Theatre
By: - Aug 17th, 2019Alone and in duo, Ross and KT perform some two dozen Noel Coward songs, read a number of letters and first night theater opening telegrams (remember those days) both written by and received from his fans, famous friends, and yes, you might have guessed it, letters both to and from his mother.
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Dell Arte Opera's La Liberazione di Ruggiero
Brilliant Baroque Presentation of the First Opera by a Woman
By: - Aug 17th, 2019In their summer home at La Mama in New York, dell'Arte Opera is presenting the first opera composed by a woman, Francesca Caccini. The composer understands the power of women well. She also portrays the power of evil in women. An exciting performance by a stellar cast of young artists accompanied by a small ensemble featuring lutes was conducted by Charles Weaver.
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TIME:Spans Festival at DiMenna Center
Nikel with Tscherkassky's CinemaScope Trilogy
By: - Aug 17th, 2019TIME:SPANS is a Contemporary Music Festival presented by the Earle Brown Music Foundation Charitable Trust at the DiMenna Center in New York. The Nikel Ensemble was featured in the first half of the Festival. Nothing daunts them. Wearing long extensions on their fingers, they kept the beat to Simon Løffler's music which accompanied a Peter Tscherkassky adaptation of The Entity, a classic psychological horror film.
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Romeo and Juliet
At San Diego's Old Gold Theatre
By: - Aug 21st, 2019Barry Edelstein, the Old Globe Theatre’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director, is not only a recognized scholar of the Shakespearean canon, He’s also the author of “Thinking Shakespeare” a book that has become the standard text on American Shakespeare Acting in universities and academies across America. Who better, then, than Edelstein to direct the Bard’s famous and tragic story of star crossed lovers, “Romeo and Juliet,.”
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Topdog/Underdog by Susan-Lori Parks
Riveting Pulitzer Prize Drama at Shakespeare & Company
By: - Aug 22nd, 2019Directed by Regge Life Shakespeare & Company is presenting a riveting, superbly acted production of Topdog/Underdog by Susan-Lori Parks In 2002, Parks received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Outer Critics Circle Award for the play. The actors Booth (Deaon Griffin-Pressley), and Lincoln (Bryce Michael-Wood) give astonishing performances. This is on the short list of best dramas of the 2019 Berkshire season.
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Gershwin Alone By Hershey Felder
A Musical Seance at the Colonial Theatre
By: - Aug 25th, 2019Gershwin Alone by Hershey Felder has been performed on Broadway and toured globally. Too briefly this remarkable musical seance is at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Felder is actor/ entertainer, musicologist and biographer switching from schtick to instructive. With a "that's not all folks" surprise the ninety minute performance was followed by an eclectic engagement with the audience. That included a couple of sing alongs from The Great American Songbook.
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Sea Wall/A Life at Hudson Theater in NYC
Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal
By: - Aug 27th, 2019Sea Wall/A Life, two-one act plays now at the Hudson Theater in New York City through Sept. 29 takes you on an emotional roller coaster. In part, this is due to the spectacular performances by Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Tanz im August 2019, Berlin
Produced by HAU, 9 - 31 August
By: - Aug 31st, 2019Eagerly awaited, but somewhat disappointing, could be the short assessment of the 31st International Dance Festival 'Tanz im August' in Berlin, a performance marathon. The sold out festival drew18,000 visitors. This is a must read for all dance enthusiasts!
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The Flick by Annie Baker
Shotgun Players in Berkeley, California
By: - Sep 01st, 2019One weakness in the storyline of Annie Baker's The Flick is the playwright’s inability to edit down from a three-hour running time to a length reasonable for the topic matter. Like many contemporary movie directors, she seems unable to abandon story elements that may stand well on their own but dilute the overall effect. One tract that is an unnecessary waste of 10 or 15 minutes is the opening scene. Not only does it bore to tears, but it takes some time for the audience to put that experience behind them and hope that things will get better. Fortunately, they do.
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