Articles
6207 results
Page 387
Bright Light's "The Fifth Floor'
Standing room only
Why didn't Shakespeare think of this? The Fifth Floor is a drama performed entirely in an elevator, complete with real (albeit unsuspecting) passengers who have no idea what they've stumbled into.
Articles
4 minute read
Yannick's homage to Stokowski (2nd review)
Stokowski's excitement, rekindled
At last weekend's Stokowski's celebration, the performances justified the palpable excitement. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has set the bar for the Philadelphia Orchestra very high indeed.
Articles
4 minute read
"Harvey' on Broadway
Rabbit on a slippery slope
Long before the American theater of the absurd, Mary Chase's Harvey offered useful lessons about the value of an active imagination as a survival tool in an absurd world.
Articles
5 minute read
Bill Viola's "Ocean Without a Shore' at PAFA
A mythic underworld, coming at you
The characters in Bill Viola's video installation, soaking wet and fully fleshed, seem more real than real, as if they have pushed right through their screens into the room. It's a compelling experience of mythic human narratives.
Articles
3 minute read
Commotion Festival: The city as a work of art
The city you thought you knew
What James Joyce did for Dublin, Commotion Festival is doing for three emerging Philadelphia neighborhoods— that is, savoring the poetry in the lives of ordinary urban people and places.
Articles
6 minute read
Ridley Scott's "Prometheus'
Ridley Scott phones it in
With Prometheus, the acclaimed director Ridley Scott falls afoul of Blumgart's Law, to wit: The bigger the author or director, the more likely he is to be given a free hand, to the detriment of his work.
Articles
3 minute read
Yannick's homage to Stokowski (1st review)
Yannick's Stokowski quandary: Showmanship or artistry?
In four memorable concerts this past weekend, the Philadelphia Orchestra's new leader, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, paid homage to the showmanship and musicianship of its late conductor Leopold Stokowski. He also demonstrated that he still has a thing or two to learn from Stoky.
Articles
6 minute read
Ray Bradbury: science fiction writer (2nd tribute)
Can a serious writer contemplate the future?
Literary pundits embraced Ray Bradbury because they mistakenly saw him as someone who shared their distaste for technology. On the contrary, he was a science fiction writer to the core, captivated by technology and its implications for humanity's future.
Articles
5 minute read
Stokowski's forgotten Youth Concerts
The maestro who listened to teenagers
Leopold Stokowski may have terrorized his musicians, audiences and board members, but he forged a genuine connection with teenagers that the Philadelphia Orchestra hasn't achieved since his departure.
Articles
3 minute read
Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson
Be careful what you wish for: Lyndon Johnson assumes power
Just below the surface of Robert Caro's praise for Lyndon Johnson's assumption of the presidency in 1963 lurks an underlying, fundamental belief that LBJ's demons outnumbered his angels.
Articles
10 minute read