Rawlins is an engaging writer who obviously relishes digging out the meaty stories behind the songs he loves. His new book will delight anyone interested in music history or who loves early jazz.
Read More »Jon Sobel
Language Matters: Rescuing Dying Languages
Money and genius grants can't revive the hundreds of languages native to the Americas that have died out over the last few centuries.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’
This powerful little production of Shakespeare's depiction of one of the foulest sides of human nature makes the racial aspect of the tragedy ring resoundingly true, especially in today's climate of fear and prejudice.
Read More »Concert Review: Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys with Orchestra of St. Luke’s – Haydn’s ‘Creation’ (NYC, 10/27/2016)
A joyful, optimistic, brilliantly composed vision, Haydn's great oratorio jibed perfectly with Enlightenment philosophy, and went on to offer a couple of hours of comfort and relief as war darkened the start of the 19th century. Today, it continues to bring joy.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘The Motherf**cker with the Hat’ by Stephen Adly Guirgis
This brilliantly acted small-stage revival of the Pulitzer Prize winner's Broadway play dives into the culture of machismo and finds answers elusive.
Read More »Book Review: ‘The Secret Chord’ by Geraldine Brooks
This novel about the biblical King David gives strong personalities to the women of the story, who in the texts are mostly merely wives, pawns, and victims. And the richness of the flowing prose matches Brooks's heightened imaginative powers.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘BLDZR’ by Peter Galperin, a Musical About Robert Moses
This musical-in-progress about a legendary New York City innovator and force of nature – who isn't Alexander Hamilton – shows a lot of promise.
Read More »DVD Review: ‘She Who Must Burn’
A rural healthcare provider draws the ire of a trio of religious fanatics in Larry Kent's strange new horror flick.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Dracula’
Devised by playwright Patricia Lynn and director Geordie Broadwater, this hybrid or mutant entertainment is told in old-style cinematic fashion, but updated storywise to the present day, while hewing largely to the plot of the original novel. I found its curiosities just right for Halloween season.
Read More »Theater Review (Off-Broadway NYC): ‘Tick, Tick… BOOM!” by Jonathan Larson
Keen Company's production of the 'Rent' auteur's rarely-performed early musical is just plain great. An all-around skillful team does right by the show's simple, focussed story, letting its sincerity and real-life evocativeness shine.
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