Articles

6207 results
Page 526
Howard Norton Cook, 'Skyscraper,' 1929: Truth behind the glittering facades.

"Skyscrapers' at the Art Museum

American icons: Skyscrapers and the way we were

Are skyscrapers “documents of progress,” as the Art Museum's new show suggests? That notion short-changes the almost religious awe in which these modern ziggurats were held not very long ago.

Andrew Mangravite

Articles 2 minute read
Robert Frank's 'Political Rally, Chicago' (1956): A fascination with ourselves.

"Spectacle' at the Art Museum

The curious photographers

“Spectacle” is all about looking—but who is photographing the photographers?

Andrew Mangravite

Articles 2 minute read
Rinnat Moriah (left), Tamara Mumford: Beneath the laundry, two warring traditions. (Photo: Katharine Elliott.)

Opera Company's "Rape of Lucretia' (2nd review)

Raging and raping: Christians and Greeks together

The Rape of Lucretia is the only musical creation I know of that places both the Judeo-Christian and the Greco-Roman traditions on the same stage.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Articles 4 minute read
David Greenspan as Other Mother: Casting against type, in a big way.

"Coraline' off-Broadway

The joy of quirkiness

Coraline, based on the young adult novel by Neil Gaiman, is musical proof positive that you don't have to be cynical to be sophisticated.
Toby Zinman

Toby Zinman

Articles 3 minute read
Leah Stein's dancers: What we feel, vs. what we think we should feel.

"Battle Hymns' at Hidden City Philadelphia (1st review)

Making sense of war: Musicians invade the Armory

The Hidden City Arts Festival presents a remarkable choral and dance response to war that merits comparison with the works of writers like Hemingway and George Orwell.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Articles 6 minute read
Dutoit: A stifling glaze.

Orchestra's season finale

Odd couple: The Orchestra's difficult season ends

The Philadelphia Orchestra ended its season with a program that unprofitably yoked Debussy's meandering composite, Images, with the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony. The latter, though unevenly played, sent the musicians home with a standing ovation that, one hopes, will leave them with a final good memory of what has been a difficult year.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 4 minute read
Brown and Browning: Struggle for control.

Olive Prince's 'Serenade'

The agony of a lopsided relationship

In ten powerful minutes, Olive Prince's erotic and psychologically perverse Serenade brought racing back some of the most painful (as well as some of the best) moments of my existence— moments that, like the intense experience watching her choreography, I wouldn't replace for the life of me.
Jim Rutter

Jim Rutter

Articles 3 minute read
Mumford as Lucretia: In her downfall, the birth of democracy.

Opera Company's "Rape of Lucretia' (1st review)

Raping Lucretia, raping Europa

The Opera Company of Philadelphia's deft staging of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia is both a welcome revival of a pioneering work of chamber opera and, in the midst of our own current wars, a timely reminder of man's inhumanity to man.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 3 minute read

James Toback's "Tyson'

The dark prince of boxing

Tyson, James Toback's celebrated documentary, explores a life that the boxer himself called “a Greek tragedy.” The former “baddest man on the planet” obviously trusted Toback to the point that he acquiesced in Toback's brilliant cinematic strategy of using Tyson himself as the sole interviewee and narrator of the film.
Bob Ingram

Bob Ingram

Articles 5 minute read
Langella, Sheen: Two men in search of mutual redemption.

"Frost/Nixon' on DVD

Frost/Nixon on DVD: The play vs. the movie vs. the real thing

Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, now available on DVD, works as a tale about two ambitious men confronting each other in search of redemption, absolution, worldly success and ultimate closure.
Mark Wolverton

Mark Wolverton

Articles 4 minute read