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Tennant, Tate: If you can't act, try schtick.

Two "Much Ados' in London

Shakespeare, straight and schlocky

Two delicious and hilarious productions of Much Ado About Nothing are currently playing in London: one at the Globe, where “original practices” rule, and one on the West End, where high profiles, schlock and schtick are the order of the day.

Toby Zinman

Jun 13, 2011 Articles 5 minute read

Reiter (left), Mumford: Don't blame the score.

Henze's "Phaedra' by the Opera Company (3rd review)

Phaedra's big problem (and it wasn't onstage)

I would go back to see and hear Phaedra again in a heartbeat. But dozens of Opera Company subscribers, unjustly afraid of 12-tone music, let their seats go vacant.

Steve Cohen

Jun 12, 2011 Articles 5 minute read

DaPonte, Grove: Hitler's cat and her Jewish captor. (Photo: P. Nogueras.)

"Playing Leni,' by Madhouse Theater

The doyenne of denial

Playing Leni, a drama about a power-hungry filmmaker willing to walk over bodies, encourages the American audience to discover not only some of the inner workings of a Third Reich mind, but also our own.

Henrik Eger

Jun 12, 2011 Articles 5 minute read

Philadelphia's Bach Festival

More Bach for your buck

Modern arrangements of Baroque musicians require scholar-musicians steeped in a tradition that died 200 years ago and blessed with creativity and taste. Philadelphia's Bach Festival provided an ample supply in a single packed weekend.

Tom Purdom

Jun 08, 2011 Articles 5 minute read

Reiter (top), Mumford: Surviving Hitler's homophobia. (Photo: Kelly & Massa.)

Henze's "Phaedra' by the Opera Company (2nd review)

The artist as his own legend

Hans Werner Henze is the major composer of German opera since Richard Strauss, but productions of his work on this side of the Atlantic are infrequent at best. His 14th and latest opera, Phaedra, is static despite the dramatic legend on which it's based, but the music is fresh and inventive, and Tamara Mumford outstanding in the title role.

Robert Zaller

Jun 06, 2011 Articles 6 minute read

Upton with Blanchett: Tinkering with perfection.

Taking liberties with Chekhov

Who (did you say) wrote that play?

Why would the Royal National Theatre mount a “version” of The Cherry Orchard laced with lines Chekhov never would have written, rather than a faithful translation? What is meant by a “version,” anyway? As a Chekhov translator, I wonder: Who would hang a "version" of Monet?

Carol Rocamora

Jun 06, 2011 Articles 5 minute read

Simon's "Lost in Yonkers' at Plays & Players

A different take on ‘coming of age'

In an age that's overrun with “coming of age” stories, Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers takes a different tack, examining the coming-of-age of an entire dysfunctional family. A superb production expertly navigates the journey.

Madeline Schaefer

Jun 06, 2011 Articles 3 minute read

Mumford in the title role: Pleasing eye as well as ear. (Photo: Kelly & Massa.)

Henze's 'Phaedra' by the Opera Company (1st review)

A spectacular new work of art

Hans Werner Henze's Phaedra demonstrates convincingly that contemporary opera can deliver the wow factor. The Opera Company of Philadelphia took a huge chance in staging this new production, and it paid off.

Jun 06, 2011 Articles 4 minute read

Why the Parkway Barnes will fail

The making of a disaster: The new Barnes and its financial projections

The Barnes Foundation's priceless art collection, we're told repeatedly, must move to Philadelphia because it can't make a go of it in Merion. But a close examination of the numbers leads to the opposite conclusion: The Barnes can survive only in Merion, whereas a Parkway Barnes is bound for financial disaster.