Posts

Book Feature: “Charity & Sylvia” —  A Life Together, in Defiance

June 3, 2026
Posted in , ,

Tillie Walden’s “Charity & Sylvia” transforms archival fragments into a resonant portrait of devotion in early 19th-century Vermont.

Film Review: “Masters of the Universe” — IP Management with a Sense of Humor

June 3, 2026
Posted in , ,

Director Travis Knight’s self-aware reboot turns Reagan-era toy marketing into a surprisingly sharp, character-driven comedy about power, nostalgia, and growing up.

Classical Album Review: Sea Songs in Full Sail

June 2, 2026
Posted in , , ,

Arpeggione Ensemble turns music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Mahler into a resonant chamber seascape.

Theater Review: Quick Changes, Big Laughs in “The Mystery of Irma Vep”

June 2, 2026
Posted in , ,

Gabriel Graetz and Paul Melendy power Charles Ludlam’s camp classic, even as a stripped-down design leaves some comic potential untapped.

Jazz Concert Review: The Write Stuff – Kurt Rosenwinkel Quintet at the Regattabar

June 2, 2026
Posted in , ,

This was not genre-pushing experimentation. Kurt Rosenwinkel’s tunes stayed well within recognizable patterns of chords and rhythms, but the inventive craft alerted the ear at every turn.

Spring 2026 Appeal — Keep the Fuse Lit!

June 2, 2026
Posted in ,

Your support helps us pay our writers, expand our coverage, and keep independent arts criticism and cultural commentary available without a paywall.

Concert Review: At the Gardner, John Zorn’s New Masada Quartet Balances Edge and Elegance

June 1, 2026
Posted in , ,

Prolific avant-garde composer, saxophonist, arranger, producer, and improviser John Zorn led a sharply attuned band through knotty takes on his Masada songbook.

June Short Fuses — Materia Critica

June 1, 2026
Posted in ,

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

Arts Commentary: The Last Laugh — Stephen Colbert, Comedy, and Cultural Resistance

May 31, 2026
Posted in ,

How Stephen Colbert’s late-night run became a casualty of corporate power, political retaliation, and the thin skin of America’s oligarch class.

Concert Review: War, Remembered in Song

May 31, 2026
Posted in , , ,

At Shalin Liu, Skylark pairs Poulenc’s “Figure humaine” with Civil War–era music in a program of striking contrasts

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives