Saturday, April 30, 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Capriccio (Strauss)

A delightful (and sometimes comic) meta-meditation on the nature and purpose of opera. Renee Fleming's final, soulful aria was moving.

Recommend.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Black Watch (Gregory Burke)

From its first appearance in the states in 2006, we had read and heard terrific reports of Black Watch but hadn't managed to get tickets during its initial foray to the states. In 2008, we stood in line for a couple of hours in London trying to get tickets to a performance there, but gave up when it became clear that out chances of getting tickets to the sold out performance were null. We knew the Scottish National Theatre was coming back to the states this year, but for the longest time the website didn't mention any stops in the NYC or Boston areas. Because we contemplated traveling to Chicago or Washington DC for a performance, we were delighted to discover that SNT would return to St. Ann's Warehouse in Dumbo Brooklyn.

Perhaps four years is too long to see a play. The anticipation builds, and expectations exceed anything a production could meet. We were very disappointed. The dialogue was very difficult to follow, and the narrative seemed, well, if not trite, then at least predictable.

I've linked Ben Brantley's most recent review. I wish I'd like it as much as he did. And I recommend it because so many other recommended it to me.

Recommended. With my own personal caveats.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Win Win (Thomas McCarthy)

Another winner from Thomas McCarthy (director of The Station Agent)and starring Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan as a married couple in middle-class New Jersey struggling to make ends meet. When Giamatti's character--a lawyer with a small practice built on court referrals and a side-job coaching the high-school's perennially losing wrestling team--finds a way to add to the family cash flow with what seems to be only a small ethical violation, he enmeshes himself (and his wife) into the heart of an old man's dysfunctional family. The situation gets further complicated when the old man's grandson moves into the lawyer's household and turns out to be a top-notch wrestler.

As with most family-based comic dramas, trusts are violated and lessons learned. The narrative is deftly handled and the audience isn't clubbed with the moral.

Recommend.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Music for Palm Sunday (Yale Camerata)

This concert featuring David Lang's little match girl passion and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas provided an excellent window to the shared sonorities and interests of these two very different composers.
Lang's elegant, spare work for chorus and percussion must be difficult to perform, yet Yale's young performers carried off its sophisticated harmonies and rhythms with confidence.
Britten's cantata, on the other hand, was written for amateur performers, requiring only a professional tenor to sing Nicolas' part. To fill out the chorus, the Camerata brought in the Elm City Girls Choir as well as three boy singers from the Trinity Choir. And the audience sang its two hymns with great gusto.

A lovely way to observe Palm Sunday.

Highly Recommended.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Macbeth (Shakespeare)

Interesting Cheek by Jowl production with no props makes for effective murders and convincing insanity.
Great Lady McDuff scene.

Recommend.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Diane Bish.

The Queen of the Organ: pure unironic schlock.

Shame on any academic institution for providing a platform for this self promoting embarrassment.

Avoid.

Hop

Even our 7- and 8-year friends recognized this animated flick's limited appeal.

Animated segments far superior to lousy acting and dialogue of live action segments.

Not recommended. For anyone.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)

Lovely to see Natalie Dessay in this overwrought, umpahpah role once again.

Recommend for Dessay; otherwise forget it.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (Kushner)

This is the third play in Signature Theatre's season devoted to Tony Kushner. Clocking in at 3.75 hours, the play is 3 times longer than many dramas now performing on off-Broadway. It is also 3 times more intelligent and thought provoking than most drama performed anywhere.

IHGCSKS delivers a compassionate look at the difficulty of living up to our ideals and our commitments.

Highly recommended.

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