It's not the details of the preposterous plot that make it work; it's the skillful way Goldsmith wove them together and his sly, fluid way with dialogue. And it's not any of these fine performances individually that galvanize this revival; it's the brightly colored vision saddled up by the director and the gifted creative team, and the gusto with which the actors take the reins.
Read More »Jon Sobel
Theater Review (NYC): ‘8th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Festival’ by Radiotheatre
Radiotheatre's rotating series featured "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Horror at the Museum" at last night's show.
Read More »Language Matters: Manning Up for Women
"Man up." What a curious phrase to use in the context of a wave of accusations of sexual harassment and assault.
Read More »Music Review: Lara Downes – ‘America Again’
The pianist captures the essences of small works by Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland as sensitively as she does songs and pieces by Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington and Howard Arlen.
Read More »Language Matters: Study Finds Sound and Meaning More Closely Tied Than We Thought
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But "any other name" just might not do.
Read More »Music CD/DVD Review: Joe Bonamassa – ‘Live at the Greek Theatre’
Bonamassa and his band fire on all cylinders on this live 2-CD or 2-DVD set. Recorded, amazingly, at a single sold-out Los Angeles concert in 2015, the selections pay tribute to the three "Kings" of the blues: Freddie King, Albert King, and Bonamassa's mentor B.B. King.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Hedda Gabler’ by Henrik Ibsen
The sharp poignancy of Ibsen's classic comes through strongly in a flawed but sincere new production by the young company The Instigators. The tragic story of an unhappy young wife whose hopes of a glorious future of social ascendancy are being dashed before her eyes rings as true today as it did when Ibsen wrote it 125 years ago.
Read More »Music Review: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – ‘Circlin’ Back: Celebrating 50 Years’
Back when the term "Americana" just meant pioneer-era antiques, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was bringing American folk music into the pop-music mainstream. To celebrate half a century of making music, the group is releasing a live album of 18 favorite tunes recorded at Nashville's famous Ryman Auditorium, many featuring guest artists from the pantheon of folk, Americana, and country music.
Read More »Music Review: Lisa Delan and Kevin Korth – ‘Out of the Shadows: Rediscovered American Art Songs’
Soprano Lisa Delan's direct, humanistic approach and pianist Kevin Korth's sensitive musicality strike just the right balance between liquid emotion and straightforward braininess.
Read More »Exclusive Interview: Tulis McCall on Her One-Person Show ‘Are You Serious? A Woman of a Certain Age Inquires’
'Age is something that we avoid talking about in our Western society. We either ridicule it or try to ignore it, or we box people in by calling them senior citizens. So I say let's bring it out into the open and shine a light on this aging process.'
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