Front Page
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The Jazz Singer at Henry Street Settlement
By Joshua Gelb
By: - Oct 06th, 2019Joshua Gelb and Nehemiah Luckett do more than put on a good show. They ask us to look within the iconography and stereotypes of The Jazz Singer as props for the American story. The Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Art Center is the quintessential stage for this piece. A theatrical venue that reforms and reshapes itself to respond to an ever changing neighborhood demographic it is both old and new. The old playhouse in which the play was performed was built in 1915. It stands a block away from the historic Bialystoker Synagogue which opened in 1905 in a building originally built in 1826. The building was reputedly a stop on the underground railroad.
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Barrington Stage Looks to 2020
South Pacific, Assembled Parties and Anna in the Tropics
By: - Oct 09th, 2019Barrington Stage Company has announced three productions for its upcoming 2020 season – the musical masterpiece South Pacific by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan and The Assembled Parties by Richard Greenberg on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, and Anna in the Tropics, the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Nilo Cruz, on the St. Germain Stage.
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Blue Heron Stillness Explained
Home From the Monestary
By: - Oct 09th, 2019Having reuturned from a monestary in China the North Adams based monk and teacher Michael McGrath resumes his writing. He says in part that " For the Daoist, the Longevity Practice is for the purpose of cultivating stillness. In stillness, we become fully aware of the present moment, and that awareness brings clarity."
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Jason Hardink at National Sawdust
Ives' Concord Sonata and World Premiere Jason Eckhardt
By: - Oct 10th, 2019Jason Hardink will perform at National Sawdust in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on October 20. This is an unusual concert celebrating the centennial anniversary of the premiere of Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata.
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Les Miz Remains A Winner
New Production Stops In Florida
By: - Oct 17th, 2019New Production of Les Miserables immerses us in the dark, yet hopeful tale of redemption and the capacity for change. An equity U.S. touring production is docked in the Sunshine State. Jean Valjean is unrecognizable following his transformation, thanks to deft acting by Nick Cartell
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New England Conservatory
50th Anniversary of Jazz Department
By: - Oct 21st, 2019In recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Jazz Studies department and the Jazz Studies program, New England Conservatory is hosting Jazz50, a year-long series of concerts and events.
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The Thanksgiving Play By Larissa FastHorse
Holiday Hilarity at Lyric Stage Company of Boston
By: - Oct 21st, 2019The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse at Lyric Stage Company is not the usual family oriented family entertainment. This hilarious satire comments that some 50 million turkeys are slaughtered to feed the occasion. The only juveniles suited for this production are delinquents.
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The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh
Recalling 19th Century Sideshow
By: - Oct 22nd, 2019This fictional account tells of the life of the real Afong Moy, who in 1834 at age 14, became the first Chinese female to step foot in the United States. Unique to her era, only in the 20th century did Chinese women begin to trickle into this country. The Chinese Lady is a two person play by Lloyd Suh.
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Verdi's Nabucco
Produced by West Bay Opera
By: - Oct 22nd, 2019Nabucco evidences the Verdi sound and style associated with the masterpieces of his rich middle period. The music is melodious throughout, with demanding arias and complex ensembles, though none are among his more memorable. However, the overture, which includes many of the opera’s themes, captivates and is often performed on its own in concert halls.
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Charles Giuliano Photo Collages
Solo Exhibition at Real Eyes Gallery
By: - Oct 22nd, 2019Last summer for exhibitions at Gallery 51 and the Eclipse Gallery, both in North Adams, with Amanda at Beck's Printing I created large format digital prints on canvas. There were five last summer. Three classical based surreal prints are included in the November exhibition at Real Eyes Gallery in Adams. Ten more large canvases have been created for the project curated by gallerist Bill Riley. There are also some framed giclee prints as well as original collages.
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Bunkaru Theater at the White Lights Festival
Sugimoto's The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
By: - Oct 24th, 2019White Lights Festival at Lincoln Center brings bunraku Puppet Theater from Japan to The Rose Theater. Hiroshi Sugmoto, an artist of many disciplines, has updated Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s Love Suicides at Sonezaki. Monzaemon was Japan’s Shakespeare and first to advance the notion that lovers whose relationship could be realized in this world could find happiness in a Buddhist paradise.
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Boston Country Singers Annie Brobst & Samantha Rae
Country Women for Women’s Cancer Benefit at Hard Rock Cafe
By: - Oct 28th, 2019Boston’s country singers Annie Brobst & Samantha Rae are behind the Country Women for Women’s Cancer Benefit at Hard Rock Café. The sold out event will occur on Saturday, November 2 at 8PM. The fundraiser will help the Susan F. Smith Center Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
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The Musician John Hiatt
A Nashville Artist
By: - Oct 29th, 2019I was invited to a 'pop-up' John Hiatt show the Noho section of Manhattan. It was a solo rooftop performance.
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ATCA at Sardi’s 2019
Marisa Tomei & Charles Busch Headline Broadway Luncheon
By: - Nov 05th, 2019When Marisa Tomei developed her role in Rose Tattoo at Williamstown Theatre Festival Mandy Greenfield made sure that she was off limits to local critics. That made it all the more exciting to get up close and personal with the her during the annual ATCA lunch at Sardi's. We also enjoyed quality time with the outrageous Charles Busch. He proved to be accessible, charming and down the earth.
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Wrong Man Off Broadway Musical
By 2015 Pop Songwriter of the Year Ross Golan
By: - Nov 06th, 2019Several years ago, 2015 Pop Songwriter of the Year Ross Golan, who has written for Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Michael Bublé, and many more, developed a concept album called The Wrong Man. The project morphed into a one-man theatrical show that won Ovation Awards in Los Angeles. Now, a compelling, fully-formed, dark, rock opera appears Off Broadway.
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The Height of the Storm on Broadway
Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce Struggle With Loss and Memory
By: - Nov 06th, 2019This mind-bending drama is performed by a great, almost all-British cast headed by two of contemporary theater’s most renowned artists. Jonathan Pryce is André, the father. The equally formidable Eileen Atkins plays his wife.
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Derren Brown - Secret
Cort Theatre, Broadway
By: - Nov 08th, 2019The Master Illusionist, Derren Brown, currently excites audiences at the Cort Theatre on Broadway with his extra ordinary performance in SECRET. He and his show have been imported from London's West End and promise sold out performances for a very long time. Who would not like to be thoroughly entertained and perplexed at still reasonable Broadway prices?
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ATCA NY Conference 2019
Day of Panels at MCC Theatre
By: - Nov 08th, 2019Located in the belly of the beast the annual Anerican Theatre Critics Association New York conferences consistently feature superb programming. The best and brightest of American theatre are as accessible as a phone call and cab ride away. This year a day of panels were held for some 60 national members and guests at the new MCC theatre complex. Where else can you encounter a Pulitzer winning playwright interviewed by a fellow Pulitzer Prize winner. The panels. convened from 9 to 5, were varied, provactive and galvanic.
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Victoria Bond's Opera Clara
A Child Prodigy Negotiates Career and Marriage
By: - Nov 09th, 2019Victoria Bond's Clara on the life of the pianist and composer who was married to Robert Schumann premiered at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden Germany last spring. The German Forum offered a concert version in New York. It is a superb exploration of this important musician.
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Bishop on Broadway
Coverage During NY ATCA Conference
By: - Nov 09th, 2019I spent a long weekend in New York, including a meeting of the American Theater Critics Association. Busy days but time for theater at night, of course. Somehow I managed to stay on Broadway (or close) for five plays. Here are mini-reviews of the plays I saw.
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Country Women Concert for Women’s Cancer
Rocked Boston's Hard Rock Cafe
By: - Nov 09th, 2019Taking the stage for a “blow-out” sold-out performance, both Massachusetts-area country singers Annie Brobst and her band and Samantha Rae with Whiskey-6 delivered an over-charged performance from the heart. Full throttle voices reminded the Hard Rock Café audience of the importance of funding research for women’s cancer.
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Berkies 2019
Fourth Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards
By: - Nov 13th, 2019On a night that was colder than a witch's tit the faithful packed the pews of Zion Lutheran Church in Pittefield. We gathered for the fourth annual Berkshire Theatre Awards. Because the heating system failed baby it was cold inside. But an evening in honor of great theatre proved to be a stellar and heart warming occasion.
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Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma
Broadway's Circle In The Square Theatre
By: - Nov 14th, 2019Revival of Oklahoma unearths a darker tale.Brightness and tension combine to create a memorable production. The production, directed by Daniel Fish, runs through January.
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Verdi's Requiem with Tedor Currentzis at The Shed
New Views on a Great Work
By: - Nov 14th, 2019A hundred-member orchestra and an 80-member chorus from Perm Russia perform Verdi's Requiem at The Shed in Hudson Yards, New York. Direct from Salzburg where it received rapturous reviews this re-imagining has been eagerly awaited. For ten days prior to the performances on November 19-24, Jonas Mekas' filmed response to the music was screened. It was at first a shocking take, beautiful images of flower blossoms one after another. The Requiem is a work of sublime beauty. It also has Dylan Thomas's rage at death. Mekas shows this in black screens and sometimes winds raging through branches and dessicating leaves.
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American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Jamie Barton Featured in Ives' songs
By: - Nov 14th, 2019Jamie Barton showed up at Carnegie on the wings of her tweet, "Be there or be square." Nothing about her performance of some of her favorite songs by Charles Ives was square. She is a gorgeous performer who ventures always to the edge of experience.
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