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Classical Concert Review: Sean Newhouse Conducts the BSO

October 9, 2011
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Despite some interpretive shortcomings, Sean Newhouse, the orchestra’s 30-year-old assistant conductor has solid technique, and a major orchestra whose players, management, and audience believe in him.

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Theater Review: A Rousing Night of Burlesque at The Wrathskellar

October 9, 2011
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Given the power, glory, and fun the Boston Babydolls supply with their burlesque routines — pasties and nipple tassels whirl with furious aplomb — the lack of spooky payoff in “The Wrathskellar” amounts to a minor drawback.

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Poetry Review: A Playful Walk along “The Illustrated Edge”

October 8, 2011
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In locales as varied as Israel, Kenya, Massachusetts, and the country of the brain, and in rough groupings of poems about small daily epiphanies, relationships, loss and death, and the sad affairs of the world, the poems in “The Illustrated Edge” explore the meandering paths of all sorts and mixtures of feelings.

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Movie Review: “The Ides of March” — Even with George Clooney, It’s Politics as Usual

October 8, 2011
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“The Ides of March” tells the same old political story: we know how tedious the campaign season is, we know that deals are made behind doors and that all that really matter are the numbers.

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Poetry Review: Heaney Still

October 7, 2011
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Must age diminish a great poet’s strengths? If I grant that age has such power, I’m left to ponder the truly strange fact that death does not.

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Fuse Book Review: Why Do American Critics Fear Being Critical?

October 4, 2011
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A symptom of our times: two books by self-described critics that aren’t particularly critical. Informed, lucid, thoughtful, and explanatory, yes –- strongly evaluative, no

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Music Review: Celebrity Series Audience Falls in Love with Audra McDonald

October 4, 2011
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Audra McDonald is so popular on stage, in concert, and on television that she has become, to many, a one-name goddess like Bette, Judy, and Barbra. Judging from her recent star turn in the American Repertory Theater’s production of “Porgy and Bess” and this brilliant concert, she can give the other One-Named Ones a run for their money.

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Short Fuse Review/Interview: Trotsky’s Revolutionary Life

October 2, 2011
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Joshua Rubenstein’s succinct account of Leon Trotsky’s life rescues the Russian radical from a remoteness, positioning him at a useful distance for contemporary readers

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Coming Attractions in Film: October 2011

October 2, 2011
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New England theaters, and especially Boston’s, have compiled a fantastic lineup of programs for October, a classically-great month for films (especially if horror is your thing).

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Music Review: Who Loves You, Baby? Wilco Loves You … A Whole Lot

October 2, 2011
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Honestly, the first thought I had when the two-hour Wilco show wrapped up was, when will I see this band again?

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