Articles

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Page 471
Whelan, Coon, Peter Schmitz, Lemenager: Wasted opportunities. (Photo: Mark Garvin.)

"Curtains' at the Walnut

Overlooked, and rightly so

Eschewing the sure-fire opportunities of Broadway hits classics is a brave and welcome change of pace by the Walnut. Unfortunately, Curtains is contrived and uninvolving— a weak example of its creators' talents.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 2 minute read

Mumia again: "Justice On Trial'

The case that won't (and shouldn't) go away

Justice on Trial, one of two documentaries about Mumia Abu-Jamal, puts Philadelphia's criminal justice system in the dock, showing how the dubious circumstances that made Abu-Jamal's trial and conviction in the 1981 slaying of Officer Daniel Faulkner were typical rather than exceptional— then and now.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 7 minute read
'The Night Wind' (1918): Nature's invisible energy.

Charles Burchfield at the Whitney in New York (1st review)

Struggles of a not-so-simple artist

Can a man be born again? Charles Burchfield knew that he couldn't, so he found a way, both artless and ingenious, to recover the vital spark of his youthful revelations. “Heat Waves in a Swamp: Painting of Charles Burchfield.” Through October 17, 2010 at Whiney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Ave. (at 75th St.), New York. (212) 570-3600 or www.whitney.org.

Andrew Mangravite

Articles 4 minute read
Zielinski (left) and Saunders: More nuanced than the film.(Photo: Mark Garvin.)

"Cuckoo's Nest' at People's Light

Chief Bromden, front and center again

William Zielinski and Marcia Saunders make fine sparring partners as McMurphy and Nurse Ratched in the stage adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the season opener at People's Light.

Bill Murphy

Articles 2 minute read
Phillips: Real-life soap opera.

Thaddeus Phillips's "¡El Conquistador!' at the Fringe (2nd review)

How do you say klutz in Spansh?

¡El Conquistador! was a triumphant comic thriller, the most effective work yet from Thaddeus Phillips and his creative company.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 2 minute read
Pacek (at microphone) and (from left) Keiper, Nix, Morton and Doherty: Geeks under pressure.

"Putnam County Spelling Bee' in Norristown

The insecurity Olympics

This engaging musical comedy explores childhood and adolescence through the sweet and funny prism of school spelling competitions. In some respects the new Theatre Horizon production is the best version yet.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 4 minute read
Fearful, or familiar?

Tribe of Fools' "Dracula' at the Fringe

I alone (and everyone else) survived: The true terror of the Fringe Festival

For all their bragging about bringing the ultimate scare-fest to the stage, Tribe of Fools' Dracula was mostly a marketing gimmick. It did, however, force me to think about the times in my life when I've been truly terrified in a theater— like finding myself empathizing with a pedophile, or being urged to go onstage.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Articles 7 minute read
The emphasis is on space, time, movement and shape.

Nichole Canuso's "Takes' at the Fringe (1st review)

Anatomy of a relationship

This inventive portrayal of a couple's relationship, as seen from several perspectives, is less important than the expression of feelings and the visceral movement of bodies. Dito van Reigersberg and Nichole Canuso are so convincing as a couple that we're rarely aware of them as performers.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 3 minute read
Andrieux: Up from painful humiliation.

JérÓ´me Bel's "Cédric Andrieux' at Fringe Festival

A dancer's interior life

In his relentless quest for honest connection between dancers and audience, choreographer JérÓ´me Bel asks the veteran dancer Cédric Andrieux to shed his stage artifice and instead peer deeply into his own soul— to think about his life as a dancer and confront the question of why he does what he does.
Jonathan M. Stein

Jonathan M. Stein

Articles 6 minute read
Phillips: Doorman's delight.

Thaddeus Phillips's "¡El Conquistador!' at the Fringe (1st review)

Charlie Chaplin reinvented

The wildly crafty Thaddeus Philips continues his quest to mine the eccentricities of international culture, this time as a Bogota doorman fantasizing a career as a telenovela star. Rarely has political humor been hitched to theatrical imagination so effectively. ¡El Conquistador! By Tatiana Mallarino and Thaddeus Phillips in collaboration with Victor Mallarino; Phillips directed. Lucidity Suitcase production for Fringe Festival, September 8-11, 2010 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St. (at Lombard). www.livearts-fringe.org/details.cfm?id=12723.
Jonathan M. Stein

Jonathan M. Stein

Articles 3 minute read