"Sweeney Todd' in Wilmington

Clothes make the killer

Is Sweeney Todd growing too familiar? Michael Gray's new conception of Stephen Sondheim's horror musical focuses on its cast of desperate and volatile characters rather than its time and place. It's like seeing the show for the first time.

Julius Ferraro

Dec 19, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Alex Ketley: A choreographer's failure

The itinerant choreographer: What seeds does he plant?

The itinerant choreographer Alex Ketley rolled into town, created something beautiful, and then swept it away into dust. What community does his art create?

Jim Rutter

Dec 19, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Molière's "Scapin,' by the Lantern

Adults acting childish

Although Scapin was first staged in 1671 in Paris, the English adaptation of this archetypical French farce not only retains much of Molière's original structure but also thrillingly engages a 21st-Century audience, adults and children alike.

Gresham Riley

Dec 19, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Clint Eastwood's 'Invictus' (1st review)

Win one for Mandela?

Like the recent Precious, Clint Eastwood's Invictus is a feel-good film about race that asks for a willing suspension of disbelief. Morgan Freeman is worthily dull as Nelson Mandela, but he'll probably win an Oscar anyway. Eastwood owes us more, though.

Robert Zaller

Dec 19, 2009 · Articles · 6 minute read

"A Little Night Music' revived in New York

Send in the you-know-whats

A Sondheim musical is always a balancing act between the big commercial demands of the Broadway stage and the intimate, understated demands of the author's subtlety. This splendid revival achieves both.

Toby Zinman

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Handel's "Messiah' by Philadelphia Singers and Philadelphia Orchestra

The Messiah as Handel must have heard it

Handel's Messiah, often watered down to a benevolent Christmas carol, got the all-out passionate Baroque interpretation this magnificent oratorio deserves. Credit conductor Paul Goodwin, a stickler for historical intent.

Victor L. Schermer

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Roundup: Orchestra's Wagner, Dolce Suono's Tango, Trio Cavatina

Wagner and the tango, re-examined

The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dolce Suono chamber players presented two contemporary additions to the grand tradition of instrumental suites taken from opera and ballet music.

Tom Purdom

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Schumann Trio's debut

Do I hear a clarinet?

In its much-anticipated Philadelphia debut, the Schumann Trio demonstrated why three diverse and busy musicians have chosen to join forces.

Michael Woods

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

David Mamet's "Race' on Broadway

Mamet, the equal-opportunity cynic

David Mamet's new play about sex and race, currently receiving a vigorous Broadway premiere under the author's direction, reprises a familiar Mamet theme: betrayal, especially by women.

Toby Zinman

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Peter Serkin piano recital at Perelman

Professor Serkin's grand tutorial

Peter Serkin's recital at the Perelman Theater was a tutorial in the Western classical tradition, anchored in two seminal works of Arnold Schoenberg that began and ended the program. Chopin and Debussy were on hand too, but the evening's highlight was a mesmerizing performance of Charles Wuorinen's ferocious Scherzo, a work written for Serkin that few other pianists in the world could have played.

Robert Zaller

Dec 15, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read