Year: 2012

Theater Review: “Memphis” Doesn’t Sing the Blues

December 14, 2012
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In Memphis, the risqué exhilaration of early rhythm and blues is airbrushed away, to the point that the show appears to argue that from its inception black music sold out to mainstream tastes.

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Short Fuse: “Jewish Jocks” — Many Avenues Into Jewish History

December 13, 2012
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But sometimes, though it may defy certain sorts of expectations, Jews excel not because they have higher sports IQs but just because they are better.

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Hanukkah Book Review: “Jews and Words” — More Than Tongue Can Tell

December 12, 2012
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At first glance, Oz and Oz-Salzberger’s “Jews and Words” seems to be an unexceptional if elegantly written and occasionally witty contribution to the Jewish bookshelf.

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Theater Review: A Striking “Of Mice and Men”

December 10, 2012
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Moonbox Productions, one of the small theater troupes that bubbles with new talent from the Boston area, has mounted an affecting production of “Of Mice and Men.”

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Theater Review: A Schizoid “Chinglish”

December 9, 2012
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Larry Coen directs “Chinglish”’s awkwardly written romance with a savory earnestness, but he can’t put the pieces of the fragmented script (you laugh/you cry) together.

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Book Review: The Wonderful and Silly Adventures of “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared”

December 8, 2012
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Touted in author Jonas Jonasson’s native Sweden as the perfect antidote to the grim noir Swedish trilogy that begins with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo this delicious book has sold over 3 million copies around the world.

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Theater Review: “Beauty and the Beast” — Only Skin Deep

December 7, 2012
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This version of “La Belle et la Bête” never commits to a through-line about how its metaphors and rich visual imagery are supposed to operate.

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Concert Preview: New England Philharmonic Family Concert with PALS Children’s Chorus and Ilana Zaks, violin

December 7, 2012
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On Sunday, the New England Philharmonic and music director Richard Pittman are presenting a family concert that pays no heed to the season but showcases some of the area’s finest young performers in action.

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Concert Review: Discovery Ensemble/Courtney Lewis at Sanders Theater

December 4, 2012
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Bravo to Courtney Lewis and the Discovery Ensemble for programming Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Five Images” and pulling off such an engrossing performance.

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Fuse Theater Review: A Powerful “Ulysses on Bottles”

December 4, 2012
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Despite being a staged reading with scripts still in hand, the members of the Israeli Stage ensemble were already comfortably inhabiting their roles, striking just the right balance between the tragic and comic dimensions of their characters.

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