Theater
Holiday season is kicking in, which means it becomes harder to find theater that doesn’t set out to warm your heart and melt your mind. Though a Santaland Diary or two remains, the vogue for cynical Xmas shows has run its course. Still, all is not lost when you can still find such extraordinary family…
Read MoreAt the invitation of AF editor Bill Marx and at the risk of further delaying my observations on the New World Jazz Composers Octet, I’m straying from the jazz beat to offer some words on ArtsEmerson’s presentation of Aftermath at the Paramount. The regrettably short run of this New York Theatre Workshop production (October 27–31) will…
Read MoreThis is a play where characters don’t remove their clothes but the walls they’ve built to protect their inner selves.
Read MoreThe Hartford Stage may be far from the shores of the Nile, but this lively production of Antony & Cleopatra and the company’s rejuvenated theater space are fit for the entertainment of a Pharaoh. Anthony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Directed by Tina Landau. At the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT, through November…
Read MoreBook lovers and filmgoers have long been able to sample art from anywhere they wish—to read a book in translation or to rent a DVD if they didn’t like the latest releases in the theaters. Now, because of HD, devotees of the stage will be able to roam the world. By Bill Marx. A Disappearing…
Read MoreParody is an art, and like any other art it calls for both imagination and technical skill. It is not enough for a parodist to detect absurdity in others. He must create something absurd himself—something deliberately, enjoyably absurd – John Gross, The Oxford Book of Parodies. The Method Gun by Kirk Lynn. Directed by Shawn…
Read MoreCan’t we get our unjustly neglected American playwrights right? A chance to see a marvelous, overlooked American play of the 1950s. And it is not by the prosaic William Inge. “When something seems ‘the most obvious thing in the world’ it means any attempt to understand the world has been given up.” — Bertolt Brecht…
Read MoreAs a musical, Rock of Ages may not be an innovative or brilliantly written work of art, but the show’s delightfully cheesy enthusiasm, self-deprecating humor, and talented cast make it very hard to resist, especially for fans of 80s rock. Rock of Ages. Book by Chris D’Arienzo. Directed by Kristin Hanggi. Music Direction by Brandon…
Read MoreLike just about everything nowadays, the word epic has been downsized, cut and packaged for the short-attention-span generation. Sure, there are ballyhooed mammoth projects, such as the recent films of James Cameron, but the director/producer pulled them off after years of preparation and with millions of dollars at his disposal. By Chantal Mendes. You want…
Read MoreOctober brings in epics from the classics (Shakespeare and Dickens), ghost stories from the classics (Poe, Henry James), a tragicomedy from a classic (O’Neill), and a comedy from a classic (Ben Jonson). Annie Baker, Ethan Coen, and the Rude Mechanicals provide some welcome respite from the tried-and-true. Given the state of the economy and the…
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Music Commentary: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest versus French Quarter Fest