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Theater Review: A Listenable ‘Opus’

April 10, 2010
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“Musicians take all the liberties they can.” — Ludwig Von Beethoven Opus by Michael Hollinger. Directed by Jim Petosa. Staged by the New Repertory Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA, through April 17. Reviewed by Bill Marx In Opus, dramatist Michael Hollinger belies Beethoven’s frustrated observation about the free-wheeling nature of…

The Judicial Review — What Is It?

April 5, 2010
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There is now an eighth Judicial Review, with the panel deliberating on the Boston University College of Fine Arts production of the 1990 Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical “Assassins,” which looks at the lives and sensibilities of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to kill the President of the United States. Below: background on…

Food Muse: Pictures At An Exhibition, Exhibitionist Food–Luis Melendez At The MFA and Tapas At Toro

April 4, 2010
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What is the food that Luis Melendez paints? Is it food? More than food? Less than perfect food? Food stand-ins for something else? What is this stuff called “every species of food produced by the Spanish climate”? Is it about the food or something beyond, beyond the canvas? by Sally Levitt Steinberg What fruits! What…

Classical Music Review: Ursula Oppens

April 3, 2010
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Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb The noted pianist Ursula Oppens is no stranger to the standard repertory, but she has for decades been an ardent champion of new music for her instrument. Indeed, she has commissioned and premiered works by 15 or 20 composers. In Harvard’s Blodgett Distinguished Artists Series, she gave an April 1 recital…

Coming Attractions in Theater: April 2010

April 1, 2010
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Any month that includes an attempt to get kids into the poetry of Shakespeare, inspirational women, and talking chickens looks fairly promising. By Bill Marx 1: Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World by Kevin G. Coleman. Directed by Jenna Ware. Presented by Shakespeare and Company at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA,…

Book Review: Timothy Leary and Daniel Ellsberg — Dangerous Men?

March 31, 2010
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By Harvey Blume The major problem with these treatments of Timothy Leary and Daniel Ellsberg is that they portray their main characters as if there was no possible resonance between them, as if they came from different eras. The Harvard Psychedelic Club, by Don Lattin, HarperOne, 256 pages, $24.99. The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel…

Classical Music Review: Yo-Yo Ma

March 28, 2010
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Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest living cellist. Now 54, he has been playing the cello for 50 years amassing a huge number of awards and other honors along the way. The Celebrity Series coaxed him home from his world-wide touring for a sold-out Symphony Hall recital on March 26 with British…

Arts Fuse Author: ‘Who Knows One’

March 28, 2010
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By Bill Marx Critic Debra Cash’s excellent writings on dance can be found on The Arts Fuse. She has new book of poetry out, timed perfectly for the upcoming Jewish holiday. The lyrics in the volume Who Knows One are “based on stories, language, and associations connected to the Passover Haggadah.” Those who have admired…

Great News For the ‘Fuse — Support for the Judicial Review

March 27, 2010
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I am not sure that men at present think more profoundly than half a century ago, but beyond question they think with more rapidity, with more skill, with more tact, with more method and less of excrescence in the thought. Besides all this, they have a vast increase in the thinking material; they have more…

Book Review: ‘Making Toast’

March 26, 2010
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Although the memoir has been called luminous, wise, humble, piercing, and all sorts of other laudatory adjectives, it is, nevertheless, not an easy book to read because you keep wondering how you would manage in this situation. Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt, Ecco Press, 166 pages, $21.00 Reviewed by Roberta Silman At the end of…

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