Articles
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Varèse festival in New York
A sudden thirst for Varèse (but only in New York)
Edgard Varèse's music has no melodies and virtually no tonal implications; it's all wild, intense blocks of sound filling up musical and physical space. New York audiences went wild over it, and so did I.
"The Gross Clinic' restored (1st review)
The secret in the shadows
At last The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins's 1875 masterpiece of art as well as medical science, can be seen as Eakins envisioned it, revealing details that have been distorted since its aggressive brightening of the 1920s. Now we can see the artist's original point: Before electricity, surgeons operated largely in the dark— literally as well as figuratively.
Articles
5 minute read
Temple Repertory's "Three Sisters'
Fulfillment is out there somewhere
In a Russian garrison town far from the cultural capitals, three sisters dream of a better life. In three hours that end too soon, Temple's staging evokes a world throbbing with a pulse of hope and despair that still beats today.
Articles
5 minute read
Chris Isaak at the Keswick
A troubadour's lighter side
Chris Isaak has made his reputation as a tormented rockabilly troubadour, but his live performances reveal another side: A singer who refuses to take himself as seriously as he takes his music.
Articles
3 minute read
Temple Repertory Theater's "Measure For Measure'
Is there a hypocrite in the house?
It's a wonder that anyone would take on such a complex and difficult work as Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. Yet director Douglas C. Wager and his new Temple Repertory theater team have navigated this riddle of a play with two original (albeit flawed) features.
Articles
4 minute read
Second City's 50th anniversary tour (2nd review)
It's the material, stupid
Great comedians can always elevate even bad material. But in this collection, it's the superb writing that ensures the show's hilarity.
Articles
2 minute read
Second City's 50th anniversary tour (1st review)
50 years of taking risks
After 50 years, Chicago's Second City still displays a distinct style of satirical humor that transcends its competitors. Its forte is spontaneous improvisation, but its real distinction is an indescribable weird, dark quality.
Articles
3 minute read
Orchestra's Chamber series: Maurice Wright
Maurice Wright's trifecta
The once-underappreciated composer Maurice Wright rounds out a winning season with a romp from his past.
Articles
3 minute read
Laurie Anderson at World Café Live
A legend with a laptop
Laurie Anderson brings her quirky take on life in America to Philly, raising a question: How should an audience respond to an artist who has made a career of defying any categorization?
Articles
3 minute read
Word feast at Canada's Shaw Festival
Where words speak louder than actions
The treat of Canada's Shaw Festival, held annually in the charming, flower-filled town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is that it offers productions of plays you rarely get to see— not only by George Bernard Shaw, but by his contemporaries like Chekhov, Wilde and Barrie.
Articles
7 minute read