Articles
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Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust' (2nd review)
A century ahead of his time
After ignoring Berlioz's masterpiece for a century, the Philadelphia Orchestra has now performed The Damnation of Faust twice within two years. I'm glad the orchestra's management indulged Charles Dutoit, even if he taxed the audience's endurance.
Articles
4 minute read
Lynn Nottage's "Ruined,' by PTC
Sunshine among the ashes
Lynn Nottage's Ruined, set in a bar during the Congolese civil war, demonstrates how people create community and happiness even in the midst of devastation. But how to reverse the world's endless cycle of civil warfare? For the answer to that question, you must search elsewhere.
Articles
4 minute read
"Coffee Cantata' by Philadelphia Bach Collegium (1st review)
Bach takes a coffee break
Bach's Coffee Cantata, about a soprano who's hooked on caffeine, offers proof that the great Johann Sebastian had a sense of humor.
Articles
2 minute read
"In a Daughter's Eyes,' by InterAct (2nd review)
Daughters without fathers
The shadows of Mumia and MOVE haunt the stage of InterAct Theatre's world premiere production of A. Zell Williams' In a Daughter's Eyes, as they do Philadelphia itself. The play sheds more heat than light, though, as its two characters grope in a world of pain in which neither can truly find the other.
In a Daughter's Eyes. By A. Zell Williams; Rebecca Wright directed. InterAct Theatre production through June 19, 2011 at Adrienne mainstage, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 568-8077 or www.interacttheatre.org.
Articles
6 minute read
"In A Daughter's Eyes,' by InterAct (1st review)
Mumia, and the ignorance of certainty
What if Officer Daniel Faulkner's widow and Mumia Abu-Jamal's wife had to hang out together in a setting that required them to acknowledge their common humanity? That's the intriguing premise of this new play, which unfortunately suffers from superficial execution.
Articles
5 minute read
Savoy Company's "Iolanthe'
Political humor, here and over there
At its 108th annual production, the theoretically amateur Savoy Company demonstrated once again that the enduring appeal of Gilbert and Sullivan is based on qualities that transcend nostalgia.
Articles
2 minute read
Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust' (1st review)
Dutoit's long goodbye
Charles Dutoit ended his penultimate year as chief conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra with a grand finale worthy of his long (albeit sometimes shabby) relationship with the Philadelphians.
Articles
3 minute read
Directors vs. Critics: BSR's debate (2nd comment)
Who critiques the critics?
Who will hold theater critics accountable? Other critics, for one. But the Internet offers an even more effective solution.
Articles
3 minute read
Directors vs. critics: BSR's debate (1st comment)
Theaters, critics and delusions of injustice
At Broad Street Review's debate on theater criticism, three Philadelphia directors largely ignored the panel's Internet-based critics and mostly complained instead about the Inquirer. Earth to directors: Hip theatergoers no longer care about, much less read, the Inquirer.
Articles
3 minute read
"Gauguin: Maker of Myth' at National Gallery
The seeker of Eden
The current exhibit of Paul Gauguin at the National Gallery of Art casts interesting light on his self-construction as an artist in quest both of personal identity and cultural renewal. But if there's no truth without ego— the Romantic assumption— that truth is necessarily limited and partial.
Articles
5 minute read