Philadelphia Orchestra's "Sound of Christmas'

Opportunities seized, and missed

The Philadelphia Orchestra's Christmas program missed some golden opportunities to peddle the Orchestra's wares to people who don't normally attend Orchestra concerts.

Tom Purdom

Dec 20, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Titus' in New York, "Carnage' on screen

All the world's an abattoir

Five centuries apart, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Yazmina Reza's Carnage wallow in violence that's so outrageous it's actually entertaining. If you think you've never contemplated eating the entrails of yours sons, these and similar works will cure you of your illusions.

Carol Rocamora

Dec 20, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

"Jersey Boys' at the Forrest

One jukebox musical worth seeing

Jersey Boys, based on the career of the Four Seasons, has succeeded where other so-called jukebox musicals have failed. Let's consider why.

Steve Cohen

Dec 20, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Pennsylvania Ballet's "Nutcracker' (1st review)

Even Scrooge's heart would melt

Once again, Pennsylvania Ballet trotted out a new corps of sugar plum fairies and little angels in what's become a Christmas tradition for the whole Philadelphia metropolitan region.

Janet Anderson

Dec 20, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

The Met's new "Faust'

The devil to pay

I'm all for tinkering with Faust, Gounod's beautiful but unwieldy relic of 19th-Century French grand opera. But it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that America's atomic scientists were cutting a deal with the devil. That honor belonged more appropriately to Hitler's scientists.

Steve Cohen

Dec 18, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

AVA's "Evening of Russian Romances'

The Cold War is over, thank God

Russian opera singers like Anna Netrebko and Marina Poplavskaya have entered the mainstream. But Russian arias get little exposure. That's our loss, as AVA's recent sparkling Russian concert demonstrated.

Steve Cohen

Dec 18, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Coward's "Private Lives' at the Lantern (2nd review)

Who's afraid of Noël Coward?

Unlike Edward Albee, who heaped pity and abuse on two dysfunctional married couples, Noël Coward's Private Lives pokes fun at them— and at us for judging them.

Jackie Schifalacqua

Dec 17, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Coward's "Private Lives' at the Lantern (1st review)

How to revive Noël Coward

Noël Coward worried endlessly whether his works would endure. The Lantern Theater's current production of Private Lives suggests one answer: The only way to prove that an old play continues to breathe is to revive it as an unforgettable theater experience.

Marshall A. Ledger

Dec 17, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

La Scala's "Don Giovanni' in HD-TV (1st review)

Missing the point about Don Giovanni

Director Robert Carsen is so besotted with Don Giovanni's protagonist that he overlooks the opera's other fascinating characters. There's much more to Mozart's opera than one man's energetic sex life.

Steve Cohen

Dec 13, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Krapp's Last Tape' in Brooklyn

Beckett without bitterness

In 55 fleeting minutes, Samuel Beckett and John Hurt give us an icy blast of raging age with the same ferocity and velocity that Shakespeare provides in his full-length play King Lear— with one critical difference.

Carol Rocamora

Dec 13, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read