Another first for the Philadelphia Orchestra

An orchestra program without an orchestra? Actually, yes

The Philadelphia Orchestra expanded its repertoire with its first performance of Fauré’s Requiem and five pieces that prove you can present an orchestra concert without an orchestra.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

‘A Doll’s House’ in Brooklyn

The Scream comes to life

The resemblance between Munch’s terrified figure in The Scream and Hattie Morahan as Ibsen’s tortured protagonist, Nora, is even scarier than the lot of modern women.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

Lantern’s ‘Julius Caesar’ (2nd review)

The man who made ‘dictator’ a dirty word

Charles McMahon chose to set Julius Caesar in feudal Japan, a period contemporaneous with Shakespeare’s England, and, in McMahon’s view, similarly dominated by an aristocratic ethos of military prowess and honor. The analogy goes only so far, but the verse is as resonant as ever.

Robert Zaller

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

'All the Way’: LBJ on Broadway

Utterly charming, utterly ruthless

Robert Schenkkan’s stage adaptation of Lyndon Johnson’s first year in office is a hugely ambitious work about a hugely overwhelming politician. But it offers only brief interior glimpses of the man behind the Texas-sized swagger.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

A Sunday with AVA and Chestnut Street Singers

War and peace, music and politics

When you listen to music based on a religious or political text, to some extent you’re sharing the feelings of the people who believe in those words.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

The Lantern Theater’s Japanese-‘influenced’ staging of 'Julius Caesar'

At last, lend your ears to Charles McMahon

The Philadelphia theater community has been abuzz with reactions to the Lantern Theater's recent production of Julius Caesar, which is set in feudal Japan but features no Japanese actors. Director Charles McMahon has remained silent — until now.

Alaina Johns

Mar 21, 2014 · Articles · 6 minute read

New City Stage's 'Hinckley'

The mind of a would-be assassin

A theatrical tour-de-force, Hinckley is a classic example of how much can be done with nothing more than actors on a stage.

Mark Wolverton

Mar 20, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

HBO's 'True Detective'

True romance?

HBO's True Detective is deceptive: on the face of a traditional cop-buddies-hunt-serial-killer procedural, it actually breaks new ground in portraying the relationship between the two protagonists.

Paula Berman

Mar 17, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

George Clooney’s 'Monuments Men'

Saving Michelangelo

George Clooney’s Monuments Men makes an American heroes’ story of the largely British effort to recover looted art treasures during World War II. The historical record is considerably more mixed, though, and the film itself has neither the documentary fidelity nor the cinematic edge of such earlier takes on the subject as The Rape of Europa or John Frankenheimer’s The Train.

Robert Zaller

Mar 17, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

Azuka’s ‘Skin and Bone’

Four characters in search of a story

Azuka Theatre ventures outside the box with the world premiere of Jacqueline Goldfinger’s Skin and Bone, but the premiere might have been premature.

Gary L. Day

Mar 17, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read