Murder!  Mystery!  Mayhem! are the order of the day (er – night) as Center Rep takes on the classic trapped-in-a-scary-mansion who-dunnit?  Did the butler do it?  In a play that relies on style rather than gravitas, Director Nancy Carlin pulls all the right strings to make for a fluffy and entertaining ninety minutes.

This is a big show for TheaterWorks Hartford with a cast of nine and a band of seven. Under Rob Ruggiero’s sure hand, it comes together to create a thought-provoking and moving play.

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is presented in honor of  Shakespeare & Company Costume Director Govane Lohbauer, and in memory of actor, teacher, and weapons master Bob Lohbauer,who passed away in September 2022.

Upcoming at the Williams College '62 Center are theater and dance performances. THEATRE: A LOVE STORY By Caridad Svichm directed by Emmanuelle Delpech and Pachedu (F)ALL Ensembles.

In response to these difficult times, artist Justin Freed, former owner and programmer of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, has created An Evening of Jazz and Healing with live music, photography, drawings, projection and film.

In 1929 Erich Maria Remarque published the controversial anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. It follows the tale of Paul and his classmates who enlisted to fight for the Fatherland. One by one they died until Paul, the last, is killed by a sniper in the final minutes before Armistice. Just a year later Hollywood released the classic film which won two Oscars. Now available on Netflix is an epic, cinematic, gruesome remake by the German director Edward Berger. The spectacular retelling is disrespectful in selecting some and discarding many of the plot points and metaphors of a literary masterpiece.

Alice Denison refers to this large body of work as her Pangloss series and they are rooted in her interest in ornately rendered plants and flowers.  At once dreamlike and mysterious with a tangle of floating flora, they are now beginning to allude to a real place—it’s as if the tapestry has been lifted to reveal a distant landscape.     

During the Depression years Mitchell Siporin found relief and commissions through the mural program of the WPA. In 1939 he traveled to Mexico and drew inspiration from the muralists. Recently discovered negatives from that trip led to an exhibitiion by his daughter Rachel Siporin at Bowery Gallery in New York. Siporin founded the studio program at Brandeis University.

If you think spending an evening with Hamlet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is not your best choice for a fun experience, think again. This production is a hoot.  Pure pleasure.

Curator Susan Erony presented a talk about Schlemm's career and impact on Cape Ann and throughout the world of watercolor artists, followed by remembrances from family and friends. The exhibition is now available online as a silent auction.

The impresario Andrew Ousley is deeply in touch with audience needs in the 21st century. In selecting dramatic and unusual settings for concerts which range from the most formal performances of classical music’s iconic and ineffably beautiful Goldberg Variations to a completely improvised concert, he helps a new audience open their ears and hearts, and more traditional concert goers to hear works anew. 

The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton has mounted an impressive production of the rarely-produced musical, "Milk and Honey." The production runs through Nov. 6. "Milk and Honey" takes place in early 1960's Israel. The plot focuses on a lover affair, set against the backdrop of Israel trying to gain recognition as an independent nation.

Director Bundy and René Augesen and Dan Donohue as Martha and George, manage to convey that these two people – as dysfunctional as their relationship may be – truly and deeply love each other.  In other productions this often  gets lost in the fighting, obscenities, insults and lies that they hurl at each other. Because of this, the play in this production ends on a more optimistic note.

As usual, General Director and Conductor José-Luis Moskovich marshals a fine orchestra and production.  Of course, the party scenes in particular require special attention, and director Igor Vieira ensures their grandeur.

Known as the nation’s foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music, Grammy Award-winning BMOP/sound announced the world premiere recording of the revised version of Anthony Davis’s seminal opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.

We can often overlook any deeper meaning when seeing a comedic play, but this one actually has a lot to say.  It honors selfless mothers; urges the courage to say and do the right things before it is too late; advocates following our dreams; pillories slavish devotion to status symbols; and asks us to better understand those who are near to us.

We The Innumerable is an opera created by the Iranian/American composer Niloufar Nourbakash with libretto by Australian aborigine Lisa Flanigan. Sara Jobin, who is committed to works which bring about peace and global understanding, conducted. National Sawdust staged. The opera tells the story of a woman who protects the truth at all costs  It is set during protests in Iran after a contested election in 2009. It echoes in today’s protests.

4000 Miles is a comedy-drama that nourishes the soul and makes you think. Palm Beach Dramaworks in Southeast Florida is presenting Amy Herzog's dramedy through Oct. 30.

The projections and the equipment used – which I’m told were very expensive – by Shawn Duan really helped to create the setting and the locations without taking up room on the stage. I wanted to “ooh” and “aah” at them

“Dialogues” is based on the true story of 16 Carmelite nuns of Compiègne who were guillotined in 1794 during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror because of their unwillingness to compromise their faith. Historically, the nuns’ singing as they ascended the gallows quieted the bloodthirsty crowd that gathered at these beheadings.  In less than two weeks, Robespierre’s degenerate reign ended with his execution at the guillotine.

Joshua Bell and his wife, the soprano Larisa Martinez, performed together at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Paul Dugan accompanied on the piano with his own special touch

We met in Chicago in 2012 as new members of American Theatre Critics Association. Since then critic Jack Lyons and I have shared a decade of theatre. He generously reposted to this site reviews first appearing in Desert Weekly News in Palm Springs, California. At the ripe age of 91 he passed recently. With credits in writing, producing and directing, he was a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild.

In 1936 Henry Luce bought Life Magazine and transformed it into a publication where pictures told the story. At his command to convey a narrow white supremacist fantasy of America's global dominance he employed the legendary photo journalists of his generation. Luce also published Time Magazine, Fortune Magazine and later Sports Illustrated. With a weekly circulation in the millions Life initially had a cover price of ten cents which at that time got you a cup of coffee. LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts captures its essence with an engaging but ultimately disappointing exhibition.

Laura Eason’s “Sex With Strangers” explores the concept of public versus private behavior and much more.  At first, it seems that this may simply be an amusing story, but the longer it plays, the deeper it gets, exposing many provocative layers, peppered with humor and conflict.  San Jose Stage presents a sensationally acted and directed production of this powerhouse two hander.  

TON orchestra arrived at the Rose Theater under the baton of JoAnn Falleta. She is a conductor one wishes would spend more time in New York.  Music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, she conducted  at Tanglewood  last summer.  She brings thrilling musicality to her program choices.