Who would have thought Kander and Ebb's classic musical of 1930s Berlin would take on political relevance in the United States in the 21st century? An intimate new production makes the point with snazzy staging and a fine cast.
Read More »Jon Sobel
Concert Review: Pianist Gábor Farkas (NYC, 2/2/2017)
The Hungarian pianist's clean-cut appearance and sober air contrasted with the full-tilt Romantic force he brought to these difficult works.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood’ by Adam Szymkowicz
The Flux Theatre Ensemble's crisp new show careens from laugh to laugh. But the final action of its heroine/hero reminds us what really makes a legend, and how Robin Hood, who may never have really existed, is always with us.
Read More »Music Review: ‘Jethro Tull – The String Quartets’ from Ian Anderson, John O’Hara, and the Carducci Quartet
While Ian Anderson has put out several albums of new material in recent years, he seems happy to rework old successes too. Reviving classic Jethro Tull material for string quartet is a striking new twist. The result is a serious lark: lighthearted but with plenty of creative depth.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): Victor Attar in ‘Golgotha’ – a Holocaust Remembrance Monodrama by Shmuel Refael
The memories of his forced service at Auschwitz haunt a Sephardic Jew for the rest of his life in this searing, frighteningly timely one-man play.
Read More »Music Review: Acoustic Jazz Guitarist Nate Najar – ‘This is Nate Najar’
A new jazz palette for the nylon-string guitar is due, and on the strength of this album it's clear Nate Najar is an avatar for just that.
Read More »Music Reviews: Vivaldi Concerti from Gli Incogniti, Sacred Motets by Giaches de Wert from Stile Antico
Two new releases show the continuing vitality of music of centuries past.
Read More »Puppet Theater Review (NYC): Wakka Wakka Presents ‘Made in China’
The first musical from this fabulously inventive puppeteer ensemble may be the troupe's most charming production yet. Brightly gripping, and written and directed in a classic fabulist style, it's replete with innovative marvels of illusion.
Read More »Theater Review (Broadway): ‘The Present’ with Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh
Blanchett's Anna is as complex a lost soul as Broadway is likely to host this season, her yellow-hot energy as vital and clamorous when she's fuming in silence at the dinner table as when she's swooping in desperate high spirits from friend to friend in Act I. Roxburgh, in the most central role, is just as compelling.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Holden’ from George & Co. Takes on the Mysteries of Salinger
If you have some tolerance for the avant-garde and the unexplained, 'Holden' will be well worth your time. The actors and creative team of George & Co. have put their heart, soul, and blood into a powerful imaginative portrait of the psyche of one of literature's most fascinating characters, J.D. Salinger.
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