Articles

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Crowd-pleaser Hilary Hahn (Photo © Michael Patrick O'Leary)

The Philadelphia Orchestra with Hilary Hahn

A spicy menu of works

The Philadelphia Orchestra cooked up a sizzling Carmen Suite No. 1 by Bizet, a delicious Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No. 4 played to perfection by Hilary Hahn, and a thankfully rare performance of the complete Firebird ballet, flat as a pancake until a searing finale almost saved the day.
Linda Holt

Linda Holt

Articles 3 minute read
Tackling race, guns, and ‘Star Wars’: Jain, Close, Childs, Bechtel, Kelly, and Jadico. (Photo by John Flak)

1812 Productions' 'This Is the Week That Is,' 2015 edition

A satirical revue that hasn't lost its bite

Philadelphia's all-comedy theater, 1812 Productions, scores again by skewering today's news stories in the company-created This Is the Week That Is .
Mark Cofta

Mark Cofta

Articles 3 minute read
An acting tour de force by Tom Hardy. (Photo by Simon Mein - © 2015 - Universal Pictures)

Brian Helgeland's 'Legend'

Two for the price of one

Tom Hardy is extraordinary in Legend, Brian Helgeland’s biopic of the East End twins who dominated London’s crime scene in the 1960s. But a more searching film would have had more to say about the connections between high and low society.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 4 minute read
An end, not a failure. (“Empty House” by Bryan Rosengrant via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Flashpoint Theatre Company calls it quits

Flashpoint Theatre was founded in 2004 to produce socially provocative and emotionally resonant works of contemporary theater while supporting diverse, emerging artists. Financial support for that mission has dried up, and the company is disbanding.

Samantha Maldonado

Articles 3 minute read
Pre-battle calisthenics: Jade Anouka (left) as Hotspur.

All-female 'Henry IV' directed by Phyllida Lloyd

Same-sex Shakespeare

An all-female Henry IV features stellar performances and agile ensemble work, but what insight does it provide into the play itself?

Carol Rocamora

Articles 4 minute read
An innovative interaction of music and dance. (Photo by Bill Hebert)

Duende and the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble

Schoenberg, dance, and cabaret

Performances in informal settings can create a less elitist atmosphere and be the catalyst for meaningful conversations about art.
Gregory King

Gregory King

Articles 3 minute read

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Places, please! (Photo by Mark Garvin)

Philadelphia Theatre Company’s ‘Baskerville’ (second review)

A tasty holiday trifle

Instead of the usual December fare (A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker), Philadelphia Theatre Company presents a Sherlock Holmes spoof this month. It will put you in the holiday spirit.
Gary L. Day

Gary L. Day

Articles 2 minute read
A pair of pros with excellent diction: Dench, Branagh. (Photo by Joan Persson)

Kenneth Branagh in 'The Winter's Tale'

Is this some kind of Shakespearean prank?

Kenneth Branagh launches a new theater company with one of Shakespeare’s most flawed plays, in a production that will air on local movie screens in HD.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 4 minute read
There’s nothing like a little musical mayhem to clear the mind.” (Photo: Mark Garvin)

Philadelphia Theatre Company’s ‘Baskerville’

Sherlock in Wonderland

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, reason always triumphs over fakery. In this delightfully inventive production of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, stagecraft trumps everything.
Dan Rottenberg

Dan Rottenberg

Articles 3 minute read
Is everybody a critic? Statler and Waldrof. (Photo via muppet.wikia.com)

A response to 'Ethics for theater critics'

Does an analysis by a privileged journalist have value?

Theater criticism is an art, and artists have a right to ask for and receive payment for their work. I’d love to provide every writer with adequate reward for his or her valuable work. But to say unpaid or poorly compensated work has no value, and to denigrate the ethics of those writers, is insulting.
Christopher Munden

Christopher Munden

Articles 7 minute read