"Fela!' at Academy of Music (1st review)

Cardboard hero

Fela Anikulapo Kuti became famous first for his catchy music, then as an advocate for human rights in Nigeria. This manipulative if entertaining tribute strips the real Fela of his flaws and contradictions, leaving us with a show bereft of any real drama.

Steve Cohen

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

"DanceBrazil' at Annenberg

When ‘Wow!' is all there is

DanceBrazil's high-octane, multicultural fusion of dance from three continents offered a feast for the eye and ear while somehow neglecting to feed the soul.

Jonathan M. Stein

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Claude Lanzmann at the Free Library

How to describe the indescribable?

In Philadelphia to promote his autobiography, the formidable Claude Lanzmann touched on his personal Jewish heritage, his experience as a wartime resistance fighter, his relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre, and the making of his classic Holocaust documentary, Shoah.

Robert Zaller

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Between Bach and "O-o-h Child'

Kicking down the (musical) door, then and now

What does the drummer in “O-o-h Child” by the Five Stairsteps have in common with the cellist in a Bach Cantata? Well, try listening to either work without them.

Kile Smith

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina ' at the Met

Perpetually suffering Russia

The Metropolitan Opera's revival of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, rarely performed outside Russia, is a primer in the history of that country's unexampled suffering, and, for all its flaws, a testament to our common humanity.

Robert Zaller

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Pennsylvania Ballet's "Messiah' (2nd review)

What would Handel have said?

If you're a Baroque music purist who's trying to be open-minded, the Pennsylvania Ballet's Messiah will evoke cheers in its best parts and raised eyebrows in others.

Tom Purdom

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Zoe Strauss photos at the Art Museum (2nd review)

The Empress's off-the-rack clothes, or: The selling of Zoe Strauss

When the media hype surrounding the Art Museum's “Zoe Strauss: Ten Years” finally subsides, maybe someone will ask the relevant question: Just how important is this proletarian photographer's work artistically?

Tom Goodman

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Education and "The Wild Bunch'

Everything I needed to know about learning, I learned from The Wild Bunch

What motivates kids to learn? Sam Peckinpah's violent 1969 Western is as good a place as any to seek the answer.

Andrew Mangravite

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Curse of the Starving Class' at the Wilma (2nd review)

California surreal

Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class is a fascinating juxtaposition of realism and surrealism. His characters aren't the type I'd hang out with, and their actions are off-putting to the extreme. Yet there's something mesmerizing about their struggles.

Steve Cohen

Mar 17, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Adventures with 'Megawords' at the Art Museum

Is this ‘new art thinking' or old management thinking?

Megawords, now at the Art Museum, calls itself an “experimental media project” designed to “ask questions about the way things are done.” Sounds like the kind of work I used to do as a management consultant.

Victoria Skelly

Mar 17, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read