From April 30 to June 12, 2016 at Theatre for a New Audience Arin Arbus will direct John Douglas Thompson in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and August Strindberg’s “The Father.” They will be presented in repertory. Previously he performed as Judge Brack in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at the New York Theatre Workshop directed by Ivo von Hove but this will be his first role in a Strindberg play.

You would never know that symphony orchestras had problems reaching a younger audience. Geffen Hall in New York was packed with young people eager to listen and offer their opinions on characters, stories and their expression in music. Theodore Wiprud, the NY Phil's Vice President for Education, was master of ceremonies. Peter, the Wolf, Babar and Celeste and the impish Till Eulenspiegel were a delight.

The critical essay "Gonzo Shine" was written by Robert Henriquez on the occasion of the publication of Total Gonzo Poems by Charles Giuliano. He was also essayist for the first book Shards of a Life. Here Henriquez further explores the development and sources for gonzo poetry. These ideas germinated through an ongoing dialogue as the work developed and morphed into a signature style.

A bustling metropolis within easy reach of the Atlantic rain forest, Curitiba is an urban planner's dream with wide avenues, ample green space, and unique modern architecture. The cobblestoned historic center, along with the typical ethnic neighborhoods enhance the city's charm.

Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities in Japan and center for the appreciation of its ancient Samurai culture.

Why has Dangerous Liaisons been translated onto the stage and into three movies, including films by Milos Forman and Roger Vadim? Because it's the stuff of which great art can be made. Playing the game of life (and money) is something Wall Street understands well. We can benefit from watching it spin out. But there are no metaphors in the luurious period costumes. The opera by Conrad Susa with text by Philip Littell is an enticing guide.

The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women, established at the ICA in 2014, represents three decades of collecting by Lee and brings together painting, sculpture, photography, and videography by iconic modern and contemporary women artists.

Handel lovers were in heaven this Thanksgiving. Local reigning early music superstar, soprano Amanda Forsythe set the First Church in Cambridge on fire with her vocal pyrotechnics, while across the river, the BEMF assembled a number of her colleagues to repeat its delightul "Acis and Galatea." What more could you want?

Tom Krens joined the Guggenheim Foundation in 1988 when museums were attempting to transform to business models. Now, for North Adams he is developing Global Contemporary Art Museum. In a new paradigm it is being privately funded as a for profit institution. With reverse momentum he is establishing a business on the model of a fine arts museum.

For seven years former Guggenheim Foundation director, Tom Krens, made grueling monthly trips to China. He declines to discuss how he was "beaten down" in negotiations with the Chinese. He has opted to develop two museum level projects closer to home. Krens, a Williams alumnus and former director of its museum, initiated what is now Mass MoCA. He left decades ago but has maintained a residence in Williamstown.

Noel Coward is known as the playwright of brittle, witty Roaring Twenties drawing room comedies such as Blithe Spirit, Design for Living, Private Lives and Hay Fever, which are part of the regular repertoire for theaters all over the world. Fallen Angels, a 1923 play, is not as well known and reviewers considered it vulgar and risqué when first produced in 1925 in London and in 1927 in New York.

Diana Damrau attends every detail of her performance. A gifted programmer, she started small and moving, with a Schubert song and ended vamping Dvorak.

Hamilton the hottest ticket in New York City, boasting $ 27 million advance ticket sales in just the first few weeks since opening. Rumors have it that orchestra tickets are selling on the street in excess of $1300 each for a weekend performance.

Using a satellite image Tom Krens commented on a six mile line connecting North Adams and Williamstown. It was a part of an engaging power point presentation to develop a cultural corridor connecting world class resources including a new for profit museum and one in North Adams featuring model railroads and maquettes by renowned architects. Former governors Dukakis and Weld attended the presentation.

The investigative stories depicted in "Spotlight" and "Truth" although based on events that occurred not that long ago represent that last gasp of the tradition of great American journalism. Beyond entertainment these films raise issues about the ever diminished means by which we get the news.

Noted as a golf-lovers paradise with opportunities to play on many different courses Hilton Head Island features spectacular natural scenery. There are fabulous restaurants, gracious homes surrounded by live oaks and Spanish moss, dozens of shopping venues from upscale to outlets. And fantastic resorts!

Host for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympic Games, Rio has spectacular natural landmarks, gorgeous sparkling beaches, notable museums and an appealing laid-back joyous lifestyle evident all hours of the day and night.

For the past several decades, photography has been a creative media for urban designer/artist Mark Favermann. However, he came to it rather late only starting to take pictures when he was 33. His current exhibit at Newbury College in Brookline, MA displays his critical and appreciative eye for architecture, environment and culturally relevant structures and details.

Bellini died young, but like Mozart and Schubert, will never be forgotten. Norma is the all-time great Bellini opera. In the age of Lena Dunham, it comes as a shock that women in antiquity could choose friendship over boyfriends. Even the Roman consul is shocked when one of his lovers upends him. For great singing, rush to the LA Opera's Norma.

Do all, who have experienced war first-hand respond differently, perhaps more knowingly to images, reports and articles, now inundating the air waves about current wars, notably in Syria and Iraq? So very timely is the poetry and picture book by Erika Marquardt, which I received recently. And what a book it is! Her WW II childhood memories have haunted her all her life and she has written poems and painted pictures and collages for decades. Marquardt now collected those memories eloquently in her 2015 published book, which deserves a wide reception and circulation. Will there ever be PEACE?!

The old south lives in the quaint seaside charm of Beaufort, South Carolina just 70 miles from Charleston. It indeed deserves her status as “Queen of the Carolina Sea island.”

Moby Dick, the opera by Jake Heggie is inspired by Melville, but not the tale as we know it. As the librettist points out, since most people who think they have read Moby Dick haven't, the audience is not left wondering, for instance, where is "Call me Ishmael." Instead the extraordinary music conducted by James Conlon and the video projections which are the heart of the set sweep you up and carry you off on the obsessive chase for revenge.

Between the matinee and evening performances of the smash Broadway musical, Hamilton, we met backstage with Leslie Odom who plays Aaron Burr. The meeting was arranged by Jack Lyons, a California critic and friend of the actor's family. In a cramped dressing room we were joined by Florida based critic William Hirschman. This resulted in a lively, insightful discussion of the show and its unique casting which is causing a paradigm shift for Broadway musicals.

In an Ivy League mashup, Yale grad, our man Martin Mugar, takes a go at Princeton alumnus Frank Stella. More on Zombie Formalism. Let the games begin.

David Lefkowitz, a member of American Theatre Critics, as is his colleague Ed Rubin, moonlights as a stand up, sit down or whatever. This is a performance not to be taken lightly but those of us who give a shit about theatre.