Front Page
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The Good Person of Szechwan
Brecht at California Shakespeare Theater
By: - Jul 09th, 2019So, a Bertolt Brecht play can actually be fun! The play’s central theme is about goodness, something that would seem intuitively straight forward, but the playwright examines the concept from many sides, resulting in more questions than answers.
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The Scottsboro Boys
Playhouse on Park, West Hartford
By: - Jul 08th, 2019The Scottsboro Boys is getting a terrific production at Playhouse on Park through Aug. 4. Previously the show won acclaim, nominations and awards off-Broadway, on Broadway, in London and other places.
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Compagnie CNDC-Angers/ Robert Swinston
Celebrating Merce Cunningham Centennial at Jacob's Pillow.
By: - Jul 08th, 2019For his centennial Jacob’s Pillow presented three dances by the avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919-2009). The “music” featured his collaborator and life partner John Cage (1912-1992). In July, 2009 we attended the final performance at Jacob’s Pillow by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Several days later, on July 26, he passed away.
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Ronald K. Brown's Evidence Troop at Bard
Classic Grace is Followed by Premiere of Mercy
By: - Jul 07th, 2019Ronald K. Brown’s classic Grace was mounted in the Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center of Bard. For the first time, accompanying music was live, an adaptation of the tapes usually run with the dance. Grace was followed by a world premiere of Mercy, a work commissioned by SummerScape at Bard among others.
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Twelfth Night at Shakespeare & Company
Fun, Fun, Fun in Lenox
By: - Jul 07th, 2019You may have seen Twelfth Night, perhaps a dozen times. But don't miss one more sharply directed by Allyn Burrows at Shakespere & Company in Lenox. What a hoot yet again to see the absurd Malvolio, a love sotted fool, decked out in yellow stockings with crossed garters. Expect a raucous night of fun, fun, fun.
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Marjorie Minkin: The Shape of Light
Museum Quality Work at Real Eyes Gallery in the Berkshires
By: - Jul 05th, 2019In a relatively short time Real Eyes Gallery. located in the heart of Adams in the Berkshires. is notable for programming museum level exhibtions. Marjorie Minkin: The Shape of Light sets the bar high. Gallerist Bill Reilly has been able to work with artists from an expanding and ever more remarkable community of artists. How long can MASS MoCA ignore phenomenal work being created in its own back yard?
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Herrens vije (Ride the Storm)
A Masterful Danish Television Series
By: - Jul 05th, 2019For 250 years the Danish Krogh family has been in the God business. Brilliant, fanatical and tyrranical the elder Johannes dominates his parish as well as immediate family. The role earned Lars Millelsen an Emmy for the the 20 episode, 2017-2018 Danis television series. You will want to binge/view this best ever family drama on Netflix.
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Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Broadway Revival of Terrence McNally Play
By: - Jul 04th, 2019Johnny is sure that he and Frankie should be a couple – after all their names reflect the hold song. So he is going to convince Frankie of that fact, no matter how she tries to resist.
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Josh Groban Delights at Tanglewood
Songs and Patter
By: - Jul 03rd, 2019Starting late last night at Tanglwood the quirky man/ child, Josh Groban, delivered a chatty 90 minute set with ten minutes of encores. In tribute to James Taylor, who performs tonight, in a total gonzo move, Groban fell to his knees and "kissed the hallowed ground" of Tanglewood. All kidding aside he has truly awesome pipes.
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The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion Produced by Aurora Theatre
By: - Jul 02nd, 2019Joan Didion has crafted an engaging peek into her soul at a time of great tribulation, though there are numerous flashbacks to earlier times which flesh out her personal attributes and relationships and offer colorful vignettes from her past. She is unembarrassed to discuss some of her own foibles, including her frequent arguments with her beloved husband.
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A Human Being, of a Sort
WTF World Premiere by Jonathan Payne
By: - Jul 02nd, 2019A new play by Jonathan Payne, A Human Being, of a Sort, at Williamstown Theatre Festival is based on an historical event. In 1906 a Congolese Pigmy native, Ota Benga, was brought to New York City, placed in a cage along with monkeys, orangutans and other primates for display in the Bronx Zoo. From this Payne has created a social justice drama that explores racism at the turn of the 20th century.
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Compania Irene Rodriguez
Post Modern Flamenco at Jacob's Pillow
By: - Jul 01st, 2019In 2017 Compania Irene Rodriguez sold out its first booking in the smaller Doris Duke Theatre. They have now completed a sensational engagement on the Ted Shawn main stage. The Cuban company was formed in 2012 with a mandate to create a fusion of traditional flamenco with other forms of Afro Cuban music and dance. This is a company destined to make many visits to Jacob's Pillow.
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A Raisin in the Sun at Williamstown
Gilding the Lily of Lorraine Hansberry's Masterpiece
By: - Jun 30th, 2019Six decades later Williamstown Theatre Festival is presenting the Lorraine Hansberry masterpiece Raisin in the Sun. A superb cast is anchored by S. Epatha Merkerson (Lena Younger [Marner]), Francois Battiste (Walter Lee Younger), and Mandi Masden (Ruth Younger). The director Robert O'Hara has stated that he avoided presenting the classic drama as a "museum piece." His improvements and updates, however, are less than judicious
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Mysterious Circumstances at the Geffen Playhouse
Elementary Dear Watson
By: - Jun 29th, 2019So convincing was Conan Doyle’s creation at the turn of the 20th century both Holmes and Watson were believed to be real people. So much so that the city of London actually turned Holmes’ fictional living quarters at 221- B Baker Street into a physical replica in a building located at 221-B Baker Street; due to the demand of tourists wanting to visit the famous detective’s home.
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Ruthless at Desert Rose Playhouse
By Joel Paley, with music by Marvin Laird
By: - Jun 29th, 2019“Ruthless” is blessed with a cast of experienced farceurs and comedy actors who can sing, and singers who act and dance. What more does one need from a musical comedy in order to enjoy a hilarious evening in the theatre?
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Passion by Sondheim and Lapine
Custom Made Theatre in San Francisco
By: - Jun 29th, 2019Passion is a distinctive and less performed work from one of the greatest creators of musical theater, and this production captures its essence. Sondheim enthusiasts will definitely want to see it, and it is well worth experiencing for the broader public as well
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La Voix Humaine Mixes Poulenc and Cocteau
DIVAria Brings Emotion Forward
By: - Jun 28th, 2019The Human Voice/La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau melds text from the play by Cocteau with the monologue opera Poulenc was inspired to write. DIVaria and Sergej Productions often work together to present works pared down to their emotional heart. They effectively reach audiences unfamiliar with the opera form by drawing them in to beautiful music and understandable stories.
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Boston Pops Celebrates Queen
James Burton Conducts with Marc Martel
By: - Jun 28th, 2019For the past eight years the Candian Marc Martel has toured performing the music of Freddie Mercury. Rami Malek won an Oscar for portraying him in "Bohemian Rhapsody." That was among the songs that Martel performed in Boston Pops Celebrates Queen. Conducted by James Burton the orchestra rocked the Shed.
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Gertrude and Claudius by Mark St. Germain
Rehearsal Break at Barrington Stage Company
By: - Jun 27th, 2019Mark St. Germain met for a lunch break on the first day of rehearsal for his play Gertrude and Claudius based on a 2000 novel by John Updike. Opening on July 31 it will be the thirteenth play by St. Germain to be produced by Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. The company's second stage is named for him. We discussed the process from Shakespeare to Updike and now St. Germain.
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Green Wood Cemetery Hosts Voyage Sonique
Transcendant Music Making at the Angel's Share
By: - Jun 26th, 2019Andrew Ousley has instituted the most exciting and comforting series of concerts in the greater New York area. Using unusual spaces which afford superb acoustics and warming the audience up with excellent whiskeys and cheeses, followed by moonlit walks under a canopy of glorious first growth trees, the audience might end up in Catacombs.
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Outside Mullingar By John Patrick Shanley
Drama as a Cottage Industry
By: - Jun 26th, 2019The Irish American playwright, John Patrick Shanley, crafted a small intimate drama, Outside Mulligar, set in bleak rural Irish cottages. The dark, ironic tale of heritage and inheritance has been given as richly detailed production directed by Karen Allen.
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Patricia Hills on American Art
Whitney Museum Curator and Boston University Professor
By: - Jun 25th, 2019A leading scholar of American Art, Patricia Hills curated major exhibitions for the Whitney Museum including "John Singer Sargent."Her books and catalogues range from Eastman Johnson, to Alice Neel and Jacob Lawrence. At Boston University she trained a generation of scholars and curators. As a Marxist she has been particularly involved in social justice projects.
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Monty Python's Spamalot
A South Florida Production By Entr'acte Theatrix
By: - Jun 24th, 2019The semi-professional, educational-oriented Entr'acte Theatrix combines young, promising talent with seasoned veterans in its production of Monty Python's Spamalot. While the results are mixed, this production of the iconic Python musical thoroughly entertains. The Delray Beach-based company's production runs through the weekend.
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Mugar's Theory of Zombie Abstraction
An Update and Controversy
By: - Jun 24th, 2019When I first wrote about Zombie abstraction in December 2013 several months before the concept achieved notoriety in Walter Robinson's now famous essay on Zombie Formalism, I got a blowback in a comment on my Zombie blog from artist Craig Stockwell.
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Leo Mazzeo Photographs MASS MoCA
The Night Watch
By: - Jun 24th, 2019Working the night shift as a security guard at MASS MoCA has inspired Leo Mazzeo to use his cell phone to make images. They are shared with a growing fan base through Instagram. Here is a stunning sample of these night visions.
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