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  • An American Soldier at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

    Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang are Dynamite

    By: Susan Hall - Jun 04th, 2018

    Huang Ruo in music and David Henry Hwang in words ask: What will you do to become American? What will you endure? In a seamless wrought tale of a first generation Chinese American from Chinatown, we watch the world rect to a young man's wish. It is a horrifying story whose conseuqences we have only begun to grapple with. Huang Ruo and Hwang make great opera out of the story.

  • The Rose Elf by David Hertzberg

    Unison Media and Greenwood Cemetery Present Opera

    By: Susan Hall - Jun 07th, 2018

    David Hertzberg's opera, The Rose Elf, opened The Angel Space series, a collaboration between Unison Media and Green-Wood Cemetery. After whiskey amidst gravestones, the audience took a walk through the glorious grounds, where ancient trees are thick, tall and promising. The production in the Catacombs was thrilling.

  • Tilson Thomas Conducts the MET Orchestra

    Ruggles, Mozart and Mahler

    By: Paul J. Pelkonen - Jun 07th, 2018

    Carnegie Hall ended its 2017-18 season Tuesday night with the last of three concerts featuring the MET Orchestra. This year, the pit band at the Metropolitan Opera has been playing under a succession of different conductors. This one was conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

  • The Royal Family of Broadway at Barrington Stage

    Is This All Star Production Headed for Broadway

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jun 14th, 2018

    Barrington Stage Company has assembled a dream team for the world premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway. It is a musical makeover of the 1927 play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. When word gets out about the first smash hit of the Berkshire season tickets may be hard to come by between now and July 7. This production was home grown by Barrington's Musical Theatre Lab.

  • Roger Daltrey Brings Tommy to Tanglewood

    See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jun 16th, 2018

    After nearly a half century lapse Tanglewood has doubled down on the vintage British rock group The Who. Last summer we heard Pete Townshend leading Quadrophenia with the Pops. Last night lead singer Roger Daltrey performed the entire 75-minute Tommy as well as three encores minus the orchestra.

  • David Crosby Headlines at Tanglewood

    Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chris Hillman and Herb Peterson Also on Bill

    By: Maria Reveley - Jun 18th, 2018

    It was a long but satisfying evening at Tanglewood. Chris Hillman, a founder of The Byrds, and Herb Peterson, one of The Dillards went on at 7 PM. They were followed by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then David Crosby brought it on home at 10:30 PM. The hits just kept on coming.

  • Judy Collins and Stephen Stills Share Memories

    Lost Love Rekindled at Tanglewood

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jun 18th, 2018

    Fifty years ago Stephen Stills and Judy Collins met and had a relationship that lasted for two years. That breakup resulted in "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" the hit of the debut album of Crosby Stills and Nash. Not long ago they were booked for an AARP event. That chance encounter resulted in a tour that touched down at Tanglewood. On September 22 they will release a studio album "For What It's Earth" titled for a Leonard Cohen song.

  • Die Nase at Komische Oper, Berlin

    The Nose, a Surreal Opera, Delights

    By: Angelika Jansen - Jun 21st, 2018

    This final opening of the 2017/18 season at the Komische Oper, Die Nase/The Nose, in Berlin is a typical Barrie Kosky production - eccentric, colorful, and totally entertaining in its over-the-top action on stage. It will be performed in June and July.

  • Jeff Becker's Sea of Common Catastrophe

    Irondale in Brooklyn Presents

    By: Susan Hall - Jun 21st, 2018

    The Sea of Common Catastrophe by Jeff Becker is playing at Irondale, a dramatic and inviting space on South Oxford Street in Brooklyn. Becker was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ short story and invites the audience to suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the beautiful images and dance of the performers. The words of Marquez and poet Jessica Henricksen are spoken in snippets as lights dance and the waters of the ocean swirl around. This is immersion theater at its best.

  • Harry Connick, Jr. at Tanglewood

    Laissez les bons temps rouler!

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jun 24th, 2018

    Harry Connick, Jr. was the real deal at Tanglewood. Backed by a fabulous eleven piece band over two and a half hours of non stop fun he explored a wide range of musical genres with a distinctly New Orleans flavored patois.

  • An Afternoon With Audra McDonald

    Perfection at Tanglewood

    By: Maria Reveley & Philip S. Kampe - Jun 25th, 2018

    A special concert with an unparalleled talent at her peak. Audra McDonald captivated the audience at Tanglewood with her voice, charm, wit and humor. A mother, storyteller and musical ambassador, McDonald prevailed at the nearly full house in Lenox, Massachusetts.

  • Knot an Opera by Constantin Basica

    Freshly Squeezed Opera Provokes

    By: Susan Hall - Jul 03rd, 2018

    Knot an Opera is an amusing and provocative presentation by Freshly Squeezed Opera. The company is committed to genre pushing new works of the highest caliber that explore the depths of the opera form.

  • James Taylor Is Alive And Kicking

    Another July 4th At Tanglewood

    By: Philip S. Kampe - Jul 05th, 2018

    The traditional James Taylor July 4th Concert was like a high school reunion. Fans returned to see JT and his All-Star Band at Tanglewood. Yet again he was knee high on the Fourth of July and as corny as Kansas in August.

  • Van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic

    A Beethoven Prelude to Action

    By: Paul J. Pelkonen - Jul 05th, 2018

    With all the secrecy that surrounds the arrival of a new music director for America's oldest orchestra, one must rely on live performances and recorded documentation to assess such a relationship. Happily, such documentation arrived earlier this year in the form of a DeccaGold recording of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, made by the New York Philharmonic under the aegis of its new boss, Jaap van Zweden.

  • Lang Lang Soars at Tanglewood

    Triumphant Return for Injured Pianist

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 07th, 2018

    Since April, 2017 the superstar pianist, Lang Lang, has been recovering from an injury to his left arm. In a scheduling coup he returned to performing last night during Opening Night of the BSO's 2018 season at Tanglewood., He was adored by the audience which was rewarded by sublime encore of Copin. Andris Nelsons conducted an evening of Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

  • Kevin Puts' Silent Night at Glimmerglass

    Pulitzer-Winning Opera Wrenching and Gorgeous

    By: Susan Hall - Jul 16th, 2018

    Silent Night by Kevin Puts with libretto by Mark Campbell is being presented at the Glimmerglass Festival. Tomer Zvulen directs this complex tale revealing each subtle turn in the story of a 24 hour truce during the First World War. Nicole Paiement conducts to bring forth all the subtlety and beauty of Puts’ score. Puts is both a fabulously gifted entertainer and a deep musical thinker. The music paints the scenes. The singers capture the tone in gorgeous melodies and often appropriately harsh recitative.

  • The Wedding Singer

    At The Palm Canyon Theatre

    By: Jack Lyons - Jul 17th, 2018

    “The Wedding Singer,” the stage musical is based on the Adam Sandler movie of the same name that debuted in 1988. The current ‘Wedding Singer’ stage musical now on the Palm Canyon Theatre stage has been updated with a total of 20 musical numbers; some of which are new. The PCT show also retained some the original songs written in 2006.

  • On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

    Musical at Irish Rep in NY

    By: Karen Isaacs - Jul 18th, 2018

    On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, the Alan Jay Lerner/Burton Lane musical, is getting a delightful production at the Irish Rep under the skilled hand of director (and adaptor) Charlotte Moore.

  • On A Clear Day at Irish Repertory Theatre

    Charlotte Moore Keeps Lerner Alive!

    By: Susan Hall - Jul 19th, 2018

    On a Clear Day You Can See is running at the Irish Repertory Theater. Charlotte Moore adapts and directs this musical in an intimate production. The story has been pared down and shaped to display the lush score of Burton Lane. The cast has been reduced to 11 and the chamber orchestra four instrumentalists multi-tasking on cello, harp, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, violin and viola. The result is delightful theater.

  • Ninagawa's Macbeth at Mostly Mozart

    Lincoln Center Farewell to Japanese Classic

    By: Susan Hall - Jul 22nd, 2018

    Ninagawa’s Macbeth packs a wallop at the Koch Theater. Presented as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival, Shakespeare in Japanese sits well in the highly dramatic Gabriel Fauré Requiem, and other music of the classical West.

  • Handel's Atalanta at Caramoor

    A New Opera Initiative

    By: Paul J. Pelkonen - Jul 24th, 2018

    Nicholas McGegan and his San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performed Handel's Atalanta at Caramoor. The pastoral opera was written to commemorate the marriage of Frederick, Prince of Wales and son of King George II to a German princess. This is Handel the craftsman at his best, with enchanting melodies, cascades of inventive orchestration and vocal fireworks.

  • Lempicka an Art Deco Musical at Williamstown

    World Premiere by Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould

    By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 26th, 2018

    Fleeing the Russian Revolution Tamara Lempicka (born Maria Gorska, 16 May 1898-18 March 1980) settled in Paris. Initially the couple with an infant girl survived selling the last of family jewlery. Her husband, Tadeusz Lempicki, a lawyer and aristocrat at first refused to get a job. She took up painting society portraits as a means of supporting their daughter. During the 1920s she was a leading exponent of the Art Deco style. It fell out of fashion during the depression and war years. Williamstown Theatre Festival has a world premiere musical about her life and career.

  • Lawrence Brownlee Rocks The Crypt

    Myra Huang and Damien Sneed Collaborate

    By: Susan Hall - Jul 25th, 2018

    Lawrence Brownlee names his performance in July "Up Close and Personal". Brownlee is a singer who feels up close and personal on the stage of the great opera houses of the world, because his voice is warm and inviting. As we listen to a program which begins the iconic ‘single tear’ from L’Elisir d’Amour of Gaetano Donizetti, we too have "our hot pulses beating", like Adina, whose tear is addressed. Andrew Ousley of Unison again produces a gem.

  • Oliver at Goodspeed

    The Dickens of a Musical

    By: Karen Isaacs - Jul 29th, 2018

    Director Rob Ruggiero has done the same thing with this production of Oliver! now at Goodspeed Musicals through Sept. 13. Perhaps you have forgotten or never knew the basic plot of the show. Oliver Twist is a young orphan who escapes from a workhouse where food was scarce and love non-existent, into an underworld of pickpockets and worse.

  • Sunday in the Park with George

    Sondheim at San Francisco Playhouse

    By: Victor Cordell - Jul 29th, 2018

    James Lapine’s book of Sunday in the Park with George focuses on change, not just change in art, but in life. Stephen Sondheim is noted as perhaps the most intellectual among composers of musicals

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