Month: August 2014

Classical Music Commentary: Closing Thoughts on the Discovery Ensemble

August 7, 2014
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For those who got to know the Discovery Ensemble over its truncated life, this was a vital ensemble, one that regularly embodied all that’s good about classical music.

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Theater Review: Somerset Maugham’s “The Circle” — Drawing-room Comedy Presented with Aplomb

August 7, 2014
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Gus Kaikkonen has shown himself particularly adept at directing period pieces in such a way that they don’t bog down in their period, but convey the life of their own time into our own.

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Jazz Review: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Lights Up the Future of Jazz at Newport 2014 (But Who Will Pay the Bills?)

August 6, 2014
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The jazz of tomorrow is in gifted hands. The future of the music business is more up for grabs.

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Music Preview: Portsmouth, NH and PARMA Recordings Host an Eclectic Music Festival

August 6, 2014
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Given the diverse musical tastes of label head Bob Lord, it should be no surprise that the second annual PARMA Music Festival will be a thoroughly eclectic affair.

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Fuse Film Review: “A Most Wanted Man” — A By-the-Numbers Espionage Yarn

August 6, 2014
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A Most Wanted Man could have been a tense espionage yarn, but director and cast seem distinctly uninterested in delivering the nail-biting goods.

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Arts Fuse Tip: “Boyhood” — An Extraordinary Look at the Contemporary American Family

August 5, 2014
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The title of Richard Linklater’s extraordinary film did not lure me to the theater. A friend’s recommendation did.

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Theater Review: Behind the Corset – Maiden Phoenix Theatre Company’s “Playhouse Creatures”

August 5, 2014
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Some four centuries after Playhouse Creatures takes place, women are still facing inequality in the theatre world; companies like Maiden Phoenix are part of the solution to that problem.

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Fuse Film Review: “Boyhood” — Life Happens Then You Move On

August 5, 2014
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Director Richard Linklater does something in Boyhood that is virtually unique. He filmed it over a twelve year period, so the actors actually grow older right before our eyes.

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Film Essay: On the Top 50 Documentaries of All Time — From a Bostonian’s Perspective

August 5, 2014
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I’m miffed that three of the greatest documentaries ever produced, all from around Boston, didn’t make the cut on the Sight & Sound list.

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Fuse Theater Review: “4000 Miles” — A Journey Worth Taking at the Gloucester Stage Company

August 4, 2014
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4000 Miles is a showcase for dramatist Amy Herzog’s quirky sensibilities and canny insights into family dynamics.

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