My problem with Junot Diaz's 'Oscar Wao'

Power of the pen, or: This author could destroy my life's work

I've spent decades arguing that Americans must expand their literary horizons beyond our narrow shores. So I was pleased by the honors bestowed upon Oscar Wao, by the Dominican novelist Junot Diaz. Then I had the misfortune of actually reading this mindless book.

Patrick D. Hazard

Oct 30, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Carson Kreitzer's "Behind the Eye' (1st review)

She did it her way

The beautiful and talented American model and photographer Lee Miller constantly reinvented herself throughout a long and tumultuous life, while repeatedly wangling her way onto the world's center stage. What drove her, and why should we care? Carson Kreitzer's Behind the Eye offers food for thought without providing a completely satisfying answer.

Dan Rottenberg

Oct 29, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra plays Bernstein and Brahms

Bernstein's shadow

The first post-bankruptcy season of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the first of Yannick Nézet-Séguin's tenure as music director, has begun. The Orchestra, happily, still holds, and Yannick seems determined to inject fresh energy into it. But will finances, and morale, keep up with the pace?

Robert Zaller

Oct 27, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

Mendelssohn Club's Cathedral program

The space is the thing

Some musical works are deliberately theatrical; others become theatrical in the right venue, as the Mendelssohn Club's recent program at Philadelphia's grandest cathedral reminded us.

Oct 27, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

PTC's "Stars of David' at the Suzanne Roberts (1st review)

What's it mean to be Jewish?

Having grown up ambivalently Jewish, Abigail Pogrebin embarked on an intriguing project: to interview famous Jews about their Jewishness. The new musical based on her book is equally intriguing.

Steve Cohen

Oct 26, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

PTC's "Stars of David' at the Suzanne Roberts (2nd review)

The new Jew revue

Jews comprise a large segment of urban theater audiences, so any show with a Jewish theme enjoys a good head start. But even discriminating Jewish theatergoers may gag on this musical celebration of Jewishness. It's all heroes, no villains, and too many cooks concocting the songs.

Dan Rottenberg

Oct 25, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Philadelphia Orchestra's Verdi "Requiem' (2nd review)

God (or Yannick) grant us eternal rest

Yannick Nézet-Séguin approached Verdi's Requiem much as Eugene Ormandy once did: revealing the warm sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra, accommodating his quartet of famous singers and paying close attention to the libretto's intimate thoughts about death.

Steve Cohen

Oct 23, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Dolce Suono's "Debussy and Jazz'

Do I hear a saxophone?

Dolce Suono opened its season-long Debussy celebration by surveying the composer's relationship with jazz and that often-disrespected instrument, the saxophone.

Tom Purdom

Oct 23, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

TV's 'Walking Dead': Why kill zombies?

Revenge of the couch potatoes

Why do some 10 million Americans watch “The Walking Dead,” the violent zombie TV series on the American Movie Classics channel? Well, what could be more satisfying than vicariously murdering death?

Rick Soisson

Oct 23, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Graham's "Outgoing Tide' in Wilmington

Alzheimer's, rendered more believable

In Delaware Theatre Company's incarnation, nothing has changed in Bruce Graham's script about a man with Alzheimer's, but the direction and acting interpretations revealed the story in a new light.

Steve Cohen

Oct 23, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read