The blind date actually took place on November 19, 1985, in Geneva. Goodman Theatre’s world premiere of Blind Date by Rogelio Martinez, directed by Robert Falls, takes us through the tense period and the negotiations leading up to that summit—and finally, briefly, the summit itself.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra invited Tine Thing Helseth, a star trumpeter, to join them at Carnegie Hall. Clarion tones rang out at Helseth displayed her consistently singing instrument with a special touch.

Julia Cho’s play is often successful, yet the fantasies become less effective as the play goes on even though they are ratcheted up. Despite reservations about the play, the production is excellent.

Center Rep has produced a sharply drawn realization of Lucas Hnath’s Obie winning play. The story line is riveting, and director Markus Potter’s pace is brisk and assured.

The classic comic-drama On Golden Pond is enjoying a funny, touching production at Palm Beach Dramaworks. Cast members and director create complex characterizations. This production set in 1988 looks homey and rustic

Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau is set in an automobile stamping plant in Detroit in 2008. Its window to the greater world is the shabby break room of the laborers on one of the assembly lines, where the abiding concern is the rumor that the plant will shut down. And if so, when and how?

In the spring of 1825 Ludwig von Beethoven was very sick with liver disease and stomach inflammation. He wrote to his doctor asking for help. The doctor wrote back: "No wine, no coffee, no spices. And I wager if you drink any spirits you will be on your back in pain." He recommended recuperating in the country for fresh air and natural milk. Beethoven went to the country and cured himself with musical notes. These notes are the music of Opus 132.

North Coast Repertory Theatre (NCRT) of Solana Beach, CA is gifting its audiences with a ‘master class’ in farce/comedy ensemble acting with its delightful, whimsical, tongue-in-cheek, production of the Jules Verne classic tale “Around the World in 80 Days”.

Without the benefit of a narrative arc, A. R. Gurney has written a cohesive and compelling comedy/drama with a structure that moves successfully from one climax to another. Director Joey Hoeber has molded this small but significant play into a very convincing theater piece.

“Romance/Romance,” by Barry Harman and Keith Herrmann, is another stellar production that performs at CV REP Theatre in Rancho Mirage, through February 11, 2018. Emmy winning set designer Jimmy Cuomo doesn’t disappoint with another outstanding design

Brett Neveu has taken Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, and transmogrified it into a contemporary setting. Neveu transplants a scandal surrounding the water flowing through the Municipal Baths in a Norwegian town to the soil underlying a charter school in an Illinois town. Traitor in a slashing world premiere at Chicago's A Red Orchid Theatre, is directed by the company's most famous alum, Michael Shannon.

Over the years, we have come to count on Theatre for a New Audience for superb productions of interesting work. They do not disappoint in their mounting of Adrienne's Kennedy's first play in a decade. At the Polonsky Center, the stage is configured with the audience on three sides. A very tall staircase looms in the center, bridging time and place.

While described as a retrospective in eight galleries with just 60 paintings, 21 portrait drawings and five of his ground-breaking “Joiner” photo collages the David Hockney exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a bit of a tease. Now 80 when Hockney depicted homosexuality during the 1960s it was still illegal in Great Britain. He left for the laid back lifesyle of LA in 1964 and now commutes between continents. The exhibition is on view through February 25.

Stories by Heart is really Lithgow presenting two short stories to us. The first is by Ring Lardner, “Haircut.” It is essential the thoughts and words of a small town barber, circa 1925 talking to his customer who sits silently in the chair. With no props, Lithgow recreates the old-time barbershop experience from the hot towels, to the stropping of the blade, the lather and more.

Sharon Washington is a fine actress, but as she plays the multiple people in her story, including her mother, aunts, grandmother and others, her portrayals are good, but not great. This 90 minute play is heading to Off-Broadway’s Primary Stages

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity deftly uses professional wrestling to shine a light on racial stereotypes, politics and hypocrisy. Kristoffer Diaz's electric play is a bold statement on the darker side of America. Miami New Drama and Asolo Repertory Theatre shine in co-production of bitingly funny play.

With just 43 works Edvard Munch: Between the Clock and the Bed at Met Breuer through February 4 provides a small but succinct view of his work. He was a prolific artist, creating approximately 1,750 paintings, 18,000 prints, and 4,500 watercolors, in addition to sculpture, graphic art, theater design, and photography. More than half of the works on view were part of Munch's personal collection and remained with him throughout his life.

Playwright and composer Morris Bobrow is the master of what San Franciscans might consider the Pier 39 musical, a light but entertaining diversion. His previous compositions include “Shopping! The Musical” and “Foodies! The Musical.” Can anyone detect a common theme here?

Marilyn Horne created The Song Continues for emerging vocal artists. She retires this season to be succeeded by an artist for whom she has enormous respect, Renee Fleming. Another icon, Graham Johnson, led a master class the night before Fleming's.

In 1993 I was intrigued by ersatz weapons fabricated from funky materials by Jimmie Durham in the Whitney Biennial. To explore creative freedom the artist left America in 1987 never to return. While acquiring a global reputation it is only now that the work is again being seen and debated in the States. A long overdue retrospective "Jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World" organized by the Hammer Museum traveled to the Walker Arts Center and is finishing its run at the Whitney Museum. It states a case for Durham as one of the formost American artists of his generation.

Ride depicts a physical and emotional journey while three young actresses shine in comic-drama. This is a coming of age play which is strongly mounted at Coral Gables' Area Stage Company.

Before its Broadway debut, the musical played at smaller theaters. So the transfer of this big, yet small, production to Custom Made Theatre’s intimate space is not only a sensible artistic decision, but the outcome is a winning one.

The motive was not to miss a once- in-a-lifetime exhibition Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It remains on view through February 12. In addition to visiting museums by day we enjoyed four nights on Broadway. During the Big Chill we avoided threeh our holiday lines at the Met. There was easy access and a good selection for half price TKTS in Times Square.

david lang prefers lower case and the whisper opera is as lower case as a sound can be. it can almost be inaudible and invites you to lean your ear in as you sit like Winnie, in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, with most of your body below the level of the performance platform.

The play is set in 1947 in the back yard of the home of Joe and Kate Keller. The setting is usually a traditional mid-century back yard with plants, trees, a porch, outdoor furniture and the facades of two other houses partially visible. In the Court Theatre version, John Culbert’s scenic design suggests this back yard in a deconstructed, stylized way.