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Tony Frankel
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Theater Reviews: STILL. and BOB BAKER’S THE CIRCUS (PlayhouseLIVE from Pasadena Playhouse)
STILL. WAITING FOR THEATER No one has articulated the black American experience in such a way that I, as a white man, “get it,” as has James Baldwin. His cool, unflappable, authoritative delivery is one thing, but his writings — which brilliantly connect the dots between American slavery and growing up Black in America in…
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Album Review: TRIOS FOR ONE (Josh Lee, Bear Machine Records)
TRIOS FOR ONE AND FOR ALL “What started as an experiment ended up as a necessity,” said Josh Lee of his latest release, which consists of Viola Da Gamba trios. Josh Lee joins Josh Lee and Josh Lee for this positively engaging concoction of English madrigals from the 16th and 17th centuries. “Recording these pieces…
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Theater Review: WIESENTHAL (The Wallis)
WIESENTHAL ENTHRALLS Writer/performer Tom Dugan’s solo show Wiesenthal capitalizes on the strengths of the famous Nazi hunter – his resilience, tenacity and humor. Dugan has crafted a show in which the retiring Simon Wiesenthal — who claimed he flushed out nearly 1,100 war criminals — addresses us as he packs up memorabilia and memoranda in…
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Film Review: NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL AND RISE OF VAMPIRO (directed by Michael Paszt)
YOU GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK I know little in the way of pro-wrestling, but I most certainly understand about the audience. Since well before Rome’s Coliseum was built, people’s, especially men’s, fascination with the battle for dominion has been at the forefront of history — you know, things like gladiators, box office champs and war….
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Music Review: SERGEI BABAYAN (Rachmaninoff: Préludes — Études-Tableaux — Moments Musicaux on Deutsche Grammophon)
SOLID LIKE THE RACH Armenian-American Sergei Babayan, 59, was Daniil Trifonov’s piano teacher for a time, but in recent years the student has surpassed the teacher, at least in reputation. I saw the two in a duo-piano recital concert at Disney Hall in 2018 (which seems like decades ago given COVID-19), and I was mesmerized…
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Film Review: MY NAME IS PEDRO (directed by Lillian LaSalle)
REMEMBER HIS NAME I like when some experts discuss global warming with a realistic bent, but allow that the subject may be too overwhelming for some, causing inertia. The best thing, we are told, is to start now with whatever steps we can take so that it doesn’t seem so daunting to fix a huge…
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Theater Preview: INSIDE THE BOX (Geffen Playhouse)
A CROSSWORD, CODE-BREAKING COLLABORATION WITH KWONG One of my happiest achievements was getting my husband hooked on solving Crossword Puzzles. Here’s your opportunity to find out why puzzling is so addictive for so many (aside from the mental benefits!). Now, after the enormous popularity of Geffen Playhouse’s production of The Present, it’s no accident that…
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Theater Preview: CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ANNOUNCES 35TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
CHICAGO SHAKES UP ITS SEASON Chicago Shakes’ 35th Anniversary Season offers an amazing array of options, both in’‘person performances and virtual streaming. Look for plays written and inspired by Shakespeare, new musicals, a timely contemporary opera, and engaging digital content for audiences, students, and teachers. Virtual programming and streamed productions will launch the season in September 2020. In’‘person…
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Music and Concert Preview: SOUND/STAGE (LA Phil)
LA PHIL BRINGS THE BOWL TO YOU Although LA Phil and The Hollywood Bowl had to cancel this year’s performances, that doesn’t mean they’re done performing for you. Debuting September 25, 2020, is SOUND/STAGE, a 9-episode series of concert films from the LA Phil. Captured by directors James Lees and Charlie Buhler, these are all…
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Theater Feature: AHMED BEST ANNOUNCED AS ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR (Echo Theater Company in Los Angeles)
BEST LEADS THE BEST Los Angeles-based Echo Theater Company, dedicated to creating new work for the theater, has named Ahmed Best (best known as Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) as Associate Artistic Director. Echo is hands-down the most continuously innovative theater company in L.A. One of my…
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Theater Preview: IRISH REP ONLINE (Fall Season 2020)
IRISH REP ANNOUNCES NEW FALL SEASON When it comes to online theater, which basically began with the COVID-19 shutdown, no other company in the States has offered more compelling evidence for the new medium than Irish Rep. Their production of The Weir was more effective for me than the Original Broadway outing, and spending an…
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Film Preview: THE DARK DIVIDE (directed by Tom Putnam)
THE DIVIDE BETWEEN NATURE AND CIVILIZATION IS DARK INDEED The new film The Dark Divide tells the true story of renowned lepidopterist and nature writer Dr. Robert Pyle’s perilous 1995 journey across one of America’s largest undeveloped wildlands. Based on Pyle’s terrific book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide, the picture opens with a…
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Theater Review: A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO (feature-length film adaptation at San Diego Rep)
When I first saw Herbert Siguenza’s solo show A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, I knew this tour-de-force triumph would live among the greatest one-person shows I could ever see, including James Whitmore as President Truman in Give ‘em Hell, Harry, Robert Morse as Truman Capote in Tru, and Ann Randolph as the kookiest daughter on record in Loveland….
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Theater Preview: ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS (UK’s Bristol Old Vic, streamed for The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS MAKES U.S. DIGITAL PREMIERE LIVE One of the saddest cancellations due to COVID-19 was The Wallis Annenberg Center’s U.S. premiere of writer/director Emma Rice’s production of Romantics Anonymous, a new musical experience. Until the global pandemic passes, and we will hopefully get a chance to see this on stage in the U.S., the…
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Music/Theater Preview: KRITZERLAND’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW (Kritzerland — @ Home Again)
PETULA CLARK, PAMELA MYERS, BETH MALONE AND MORE SING THEIR HEARTS OUT AT KRITZERLAND’S TENTH ANNIVERSARY SHOW Petula Clark. For the 109th Kritzerland show, roll out the ribbons and toss the confetti, because Kritzerland is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The monthly Kritzerland shows debuted in September of 2010 and over the years, audiences have heard…
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Music Preview: THE GILMORE 2020-2021 VIRTUAL CONCERT SEASON (Gilmore International Keyboard Festival)
WONDERFUL PIANO FESTIVAL COMING TO YOU THIS YEAR The Gilmore — the organization known for its biennial Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, a three-week celebration in western Michigan of keyboard artistry — has come up with a 2020–21 virtual concert season, webcast from September 20, 2020 to May 16, 2021. Until now, one of the biggest…
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New York Theater Preview: NICK CORDERO MEMORIAL TRIBUTE (Broadway on Demand)
NICK CORDERO MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO STREAM ON BROADWAY ON DEMAND One of the last performances I saw before the COVID-19 shutdown was Rock of Ages here in Los Angeles. I had always had issues with the show until that night in a small club in Hollywood, where an immersive, intimate production got the show perfectly…
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Off-Broadway Event Preview: MISCAST20 (MCC Theatre)
MISCAST TO PERFECTION OK, for all of you theater fans who have been grumbling you can’t get into MCC Theatre’s Miscast, this year it’s coming to you — digitally, naturally. This annual New York gala — where the biggest stars of stage and screen take the stage to sing songs from roles in which they…
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Film Review: POT LUCK (directed by Jane Wells)
BLAZING A TRAIL I can pinpoint most of today’s ills beginning with Ronald Reagan’s tenure. AIDS? Failure; the man didn’t even mention the word although thousands had already died. The homeless crisis? Dismantle the federal health care system, and put thousands of people with mental health concerns on the streets. Smart, huh? From economics to…
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Film Reviews: BEYOND THE VISIBLE: HILMA AF KLINT, Newly Restored A BIGGER SPLASH & MORE (Kino Lorber)
AWESOME DOCS ABOUT ARTISTS NOW AVAILABLE ON KINO LORBER As our readers know, Stage and Cinema has been trumpeting documentaries as the most engaging and affecting movies made in our times. And these documentaries about artists are no different. Not only will you increase your knowledge of fine art, but your jaw will drop at…
Theater Review: ST. NICHOLAS (Black Button Eyes / City Lit / Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | July 3, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterFAST PAYOUT CASINOS USA 2026 — 5 BEST INSTANT WITHDRAWAL CASINOS RANKED
by Michael Carr | July 3, 2026
in ExtrasTheater Review: MEN OF SOUL (Black Ensemble Theater / Chicago)
by Mitchell Oldham | July 1, 2026
in Chicago, Theater
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