"Fraulein Maria' by Doug Elkins (2nd review)

A hip-hop Sound of Music

Fraulein Maria is more than a terrific dance presentation; it's great theater as well. Choreographer Doug Elkins has achieved something truly unique by combining an iconic old musical with today's street movement and pure sass.

Janet Anderson

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Dolce Suono: From Clearfield to Mozart

Grace and substance at the Art Museum

Dolce Suono presents a program that ranges from Mozart to Clearfield and glows from start to finish.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Piffaro's "Portuguese Vespers'

‘God's musicians come from Portugal'

Piffaro presents a historically accurate Vesper service that combines good-humored Portuguese nationalism with a tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Classical Symphony's 19th-Century musicale

Pregnant girlfriends, and other 19th-Century curiosities

Karl Middleman presents a 21st- Century version of a 19th-Century event that acquired a history without actually taking place.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Beckett's "Endgame' by EgoPo (3rd review)

Beckett's vision, expanded

Purists object to setting a European work like Endgame in a cluttered South Jersey basement. But EgoPo's idiosyncratic interpretation brings a fresh vision to Beckett's classic: It's no longer about post-nuclear holocaust but foremost a personal play of family relationships gone to rot but still clinging.

Julius Ferraro

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Another Barnes groundbreaking

The incredible shrinking Barnes, or: Friday the 13th on the Parkway

A year ago the Barnes Foundation's movers and shakers staged an elaborate groundbreaking ceremony for their proposed new home on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Last Friday they broke the same ground all over again. Methinks the bigwigs doth break ground too much.

Robert Zaller

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Fraulein Maria' by Doug Elkins (1st review)

How do you solve a problem like Maria? Or: Why didn't the nuns think of this?

When is a parody better than the original? When it's choreographer Doug Elkins spoofing The Sound of Music. His Fraulein Maria lets the movements of his gay, Asian and male Marias speak for itself.

Merilyn Jackson

Nov 14, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Art Museum's Craft Show

Seeds, twigs, shells and stones: Where crafts really take off

The Art Museum's annual Craft Show, in its 33rd year, is the gold standard for fine crafts. Artists from all over the U.S., as well as this year from Korea, knocked out my eyes and expectations with an extraordinary wealth of skill and imagination.

Marilyn MacGregor

Nov 14, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Beckett's "Endgame' by EgoPo (2nd review)

Beckett in South Jersey

EgoPo's latest Beckett production, Endgame, succeeds despite itself, largely due to Ed Swidey's stylized but finely judged performance as Hamm, the play's principal. Director Lane Savadove has given the play an incongruous South Jersey setting, but the text, thank goodness, speaks for itself, and Swidey makes sure that its poetry gets through.

Robert Zaller

Nov 14, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Treacy Ziegler's "Before An Ocean' at F.A.N.

A psychic drama about to unfold

In this large new exhibit, my old favorite Treacy Ziegler seems to be moving from stark rural settings into the surreal world of dreams.

Andrew Mangravite

Nov 14, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read