Phedre, Jean Racine (trans. Ted Hughes)

In the year of cougars, who could turn down a chance to see Jean Racine's Phedre, especially in a translation by Ted Hughes? The text did not disappoint, though Yale School of Drama's production did. The acting started at a high emotional pitch and had no where else to go. Plus there's the lethal problem of casting a young engenue (and what else will a director find at YSD?) as the fading leading lady.

Recommend. Caveats

Aida, Verdi

Lots of fun. No elephants.

Recommend.

Leonard Cohen

We so loved Cohen's May concert in Waterbury, that we splurged and caught his Madison Square Garden performance. We were not disappointed.

High recommended.

The Orphans' Home Cycle, Horton Foote

We thoroughly enjoyed Hartford Stage's production of Horton Foote's "The Orphans' Home Cycle," a 9-hour journey back in time to the rural Texas of my grandparents' childhood.

Highly recommend.

Ritual Incantations

We attended primarily to hear the solo performance of Mike's former student, Mihai Marica, a Romanian cellist who took his undergraduate degree at SCSU while studying music at Yale.
The new music (commissioned through grants from Music Alive, a program from composers-in-residence) was the most interesting, though the peculiar Mozart was surprisingly structured. The Beethoven kept everyone around.

Jin Hi Kim, NORI III for Percussion Quartet and Electric Komungo
Augusta Read Thomas, Ritual Incantations for Cello and Orchestra
Mozart, Symphony No 32 in G major (K 318)
Beethoven, Symphony No 7 in A Major (Op 92)

Recommend.

Lipsynch, Robert Lepage

Maybe because some lukewarm reviews had lowered my expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed this nearly 9-hour marathon performance. Interweaving narratives of nine characters across nine acts, the play becomes a powerful denunciation of sexual abuse, whether in the form of incest or the international sexual slave trade. It achieves this by exploring the power and limitations of language and the spoken word, often using visual effects to underscore the constructed nature of our reality.

Highly recommend.

Julie & Julia, Nora Ephron

A thorough delight. Starring two of my favorite actors, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, the film provides a lovely afternoon's entertainment...plus enough inspiration to make me try anew recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Recommend.

American Buffalo, David Mamet

Very good production of one of Mamet's less dark (though still very shadowy) play.

Two cons and one junkie play how to steal of valuable coin. The play ends up presenting honor among thieves rather than any successful robbery of a nickel.

Recommend.

The Wall Street Chamber Players

The first performance of the season provided an amiable evening of all Mozart in the comfortable confines of a neighborhood home.
Piano trio in C major (K 548), Flute Quartet in D major (K 285), and Piano Quartet No 2 in E-flat major (K 493).

High recommend.

The Informant! Steven Soderbergh

I like capers enough that I would have gone to see this sooner or later. I ended up going early in its release because I heard an NPR interview with Marvin Hamlisch (not one of my favorites) about the ways the peppy soundtrack works against the corporate espionage of the narrative.

Recommend.

Brandenburg Concerto 5, J. S. Bach

A small ensemble from Orchestra New England performed the concerto on original instruments for SCSU students. Wonderful, intimate experience.

Recommend.