CHOIR BOYS TO MEN Shotgun Players in Berkeley is presenting the Bay Area premiere of the Tony-nominated play, Choir Boy. It’s a fine fit. This one-year chronicle of a distinguished African-American institution — the imaginary Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys — is written by gay playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (Head of Passes, Brother/Sister […]

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STORMY, WHO STORMED VOLDEMORT’S CASTLE “It was a dark and Stormy night…” That was my favorite of the various taglines printed on the shirts of the eclectic crowd who attended One Night Stand with Stormy Daniels at The Bourbon Room in Hollywood, Saturday, October 5th, 2024. This was a crowd brought together by an uncanny […]

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American History Unbound and American Public Television (APT) have alerted Stage and Cinema that The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day, a concert with the Boston Pops which we reviewed at Boston Symphony Hall in May, 2024 (reprinted below), will begin airing on public television stations nationwide and streaming on PBS and the PBS app […]

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Veteran keyboardist/composer Dan Siegel brings together a stellar rhythm section and a roster of ace guitarists for his groove-heavy 23rd album, featuring David “DJ” Ginyard on bass and Oscar Seaton on drums. UNITY also features percussion great Lenny Castro, whose relationship with Siegel dates back to the keyboardist’s self-titled 1982 album, as does that of  Tom Scott (sax), […]

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GRINDHOUSE 101 [Editor’s Note: An ode to Grindhouse films, the 2007 pic Grindhouse consists of two features, Planet Terror by Richard Rodriquez and Death Proof by Quentin Tarentino. Preceding and separating the features are faux trailers by Rodriguez, Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Shaun of the Dead’s Edgar Wright. Grindhouse was a box office disaster, making only […]

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THE SECRET GARDEN: A NEW MUSICAL STREAMING FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME StarVista Music has reissued of The Secret Garden: A New Musical, featuring an extraordinary ensemble of West End talent — Broadway legends Barbara Cook, John Cullum, Judy Kaye, George Rose and Max Showalter, along with child actors Victoria Coote, Paul Glen and Daniel […]

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Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Oliver (Darren Criss) lives a happily quiet life listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a HelperBot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow HelperBot neighbor Claire […]

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The history and origin of handpans The handpan is a beautiful, relatively new entry in the world of percussion instruments that demonstrates what happens when art and creativity mix together. The instrument traces its roots back to the early 2000s with PANArt Hang as a visionary creator from Switzerland was crafting first this kind of […]

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THERE’S GOLD IN THESE HILLS It’s always difficult for the children when a mother passes away, even if those children are adults. And if that mother is a strong-willed widow who struggled and fought to raise her four daughters by herself, supported only by the inconsistent income of running a lower-end, seaside hotel in Blackpool, […]

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Fulcrum Festival offers opportunities for discovering the fascinations, curiosities, and tensions ignited by the integrations of art and science. For over 20 years, Fulcrum Festival (formerly the AxS Festival) has presented a regional celebration across Greater Los Angeles that foregrounds the union of art and science as a powerful engine of contemporary culture. This year’s […]

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