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Tony Frankel
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Los Angeles Music and Dance Preview: Mí„LKKI, STRAUSS & DANCE (Zimmermann’s Cello Concerto & Alpine Symphony, Susanna Målkki and the LA Phil)
DANCE! U.S. PREMIERE! ALPINE SYMPHONY! One of the reasons that the LA Phil is doing better than ever is the programming variety. With plenty of classics, we are also getting a slew of new music, much of it seeing its premiere at The Walt Disney Concert Hall (there will be over 50 such works next…
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Theater Review: SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (National Tour at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica)
YOU LEAVE SEEKING PEACE AND A PLOT When a play comes along that is entirely different from any play that has preceded it, especially in our era of over-informative white noise and copycatting creativity, it deserves attention. Even Small Mouth Sounds — Bess Wohl’s 2016 work, now stopping at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica as…
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Los Angeles Art Preview: L.A. ART SHOW (Los Angeles Convention Center)
ART YOU TAKE PART IN I never in my wildest imaginings would have thought Los Angeles to become a mecca for art. But the combination of a rich cultural stew, the burgeoning arts life of downtown L.A., an explosion of galleries (of which Culver City was at the forefront), the opening of the Getty, better…
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Los Angeles Music Review: DEBUSSY, RAVEL, & BEYOND (Matthias Pintscher, Renaud Capuçon and the Los Angeles Philharmonic)
“MAR’EH” GETS A “M’EH” While musicians and devotees of “new” music may find Matthias Pintscher’s mar’eh cool, the patrons at Disney Hall were not having it at the opening night last Friday. Truly typical of way too many modern works, mar’eh (with an also-typical all-lowercase title spelling) is a violin concerto that’s an atmospheric stew-of-notes perfect for a melody-free…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: BUGABOO & THE SILENT ONE (Lounge Theatre in Hollywood)
THANKFULLY, NOT SO SILENT Based on her three previous theater outings alone, it’s fitting that writer/director Marja-Lewis Ryan has recently been tapped to be showrunner and executive producer of he upcoming The L Word sequel series. L.A. is lucky to have Ryan, who loves to keep working in theater even as her career in film…
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Theater Review: LUZIA (Cirque du Soleil on tour)
MEMORIES OF MEXICO, LUZIA UNLEASHES A RAIN OF JOY The Cirque du Soleil just made a run for the border ’” and not the Canadian one — as the Montreal-based human circus lavishes its unstoppable imagination on our neighbor to the south. Luzia, the latest (ad)venture under the redesigned white-and-gold Grand Chapiteau (its tent planted in the…
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CD Review: IN FULL SWING (Seth MacFarlane)
A CAPITOL IDEA I got a chance to catch Seth MacFarlane with orchestra at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa last night, and it’s clear that this handsome, dapper, multi-talented artist isn’t just making his fan base happy, he’s making both the lovers of the Great American Songbook and the musicians in the band very…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: HOW THE PRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! (Troubadors at El Portal Theatre)
A PRINCH ASSAULT For 22 years, the Troubadour Theater Company (aka The Troubies) has amalgamated freely altered classics with music of a particular artist, creating riotous sketch/improv/entertainments that are liberally seasoned with an air of Commedia dell’Arte; this gives the immensely talented players the opportunity to act, sing, dance, improvise, and perform feats of acrobatic…
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Los Angeles Music Review: BRUCKNER’S SEVENTH; MOZART’S PIANO 23 (Michael Tilson Thomas, Khatia Buniatishvili and the Los Angeles Philharmonic)
SEVENTH HEAVEN While he existed in the Romantic Era, “Romantic” isn’t necessarily the word that springs to mind when I hear an Anton Bruckner Symphony (except perhaps his Fourth, actually titled Romantic). His giant mesmerizing symphonies, nine in total, are closer to religious experiences (a devout Catholic who never married, Bruckner dedicated his unfinished Ninth…
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CD Review: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (2017 Broadway Cast Recording)
COME FOR GYLLENHAAL; STAY FOR SONDHEIM Although a hit, the 2017 revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George had a strictly limited run, christening the newly refurbished Hudson Theatre, a 1903 playhouse that hadn’t operated as a Broadway venue in nearly 50 years. Originally conceived as…
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Los Angeles Music Review: TCHAIKOVSKY’S FIRST PIANO CONCERTO (Sergio Tiempo, Xian Zhang and the Los Angeles Philharmonic)
TIEMPO’S TANTALIZINGLY TEMPESTUOUS TEMPO Sergio Tiempo is the real deal. When a pianist can take a work as familiar as Tchaikovsky’s 1874 First Piano Concerto and turn it into an exciting Olympic event, I’m more than sold. Appearing at a packed Disney Hall this morning (in a program that runs through Sunday), the very cool…
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CD Review: I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY (Katherine McPhee on BMG)
TAKING IT MCPHEEASY It took a few spins of Katharine McPhee’s standard-drenched new CD to realize that not all interpretations of the Great American Songbook have to strike you over the head with originality and flair. Sitting in the producer’s chair is the great Don Was, who ensured that this languorous, lush, piano-lounge set puts…
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Los Angeles Dance Preview: THE NUTCRACKER SUITE (American Contemporary Ballet)
BUSTING A NUTCRACKER Before you grumble and run screaming, “Not another Nutcracker Suite!” — trust me when I tell you that American Contemporary Ballet has something up its red-fur, white-trimmed sleeve with an all-new imagining that presents new choreography while putting you directly inside the Land of the Sweets. When I was told patrons will…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: THE HEART OF ROBIN HOOD (The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
WE GET EVERYTHING BUT THE HEART Certainly one of the most gorgeous lavish sets ever seen at the Wallis, with gorgeous sumptuous costumes, and gorgeous talented athletic actors. With all of the boisterous shenanigans, you won’t be bored; there’s undeniable entertainment value. But what happens when you throw everything into a show to make sure…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: PACIFIC OVERTURES (Chromolume Theatre)
PLEASE HELLO! Remarkably, one of the most difficult things about Pacific Overtures is that Harold Prince directed the original production utilizing the ancient Japanese theater-form, Kabuki, which isn’t necessary to elucidate John Weidman’s book (can you imagine if every production of Merrily We Roll Along used a teenage cast, as Prince’s original production did?). The…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: CAUGHT (Think Tank Art Gallery in the Fashion District, DTLA)
CAUGHT IN ITS SPELL An onion-skin experience, Christopher Chen’s magnificent Caught is indeed scripted, but you won’t know that when you’re watching it. Part immersive theater, part performance art, part installation, part thrust theater, part food and drinks, and pure play, this exhilarating look into politics, propaganda, and perception is pocked with paradox. It begins…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: DECK THE HALL HOLIDAY CONCERTS (Disney Hall)
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Deck the Hall Holiday Concerts at Disney Hall are just around the corner, and the variety this year is unmatched. I may be enchanted by the ever-popular Holiday Sing-Along (Dec. 16); I may be enraptured by jazz great Dianne Reeves’ Christmas Time Is Here (Dec. 20); I may be excited about the beat-boxing a…
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Los Angeles Music Review: WEST SIDE STORY: FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA (LA Phil’s BERNSTEIN 100)
THE MUSIC PLAYING IS, INDEED, ALMOST LIKE PRAYING As is becoming increasingly popular, films with astounding soundtracks are being shown with just dialogue and sound effects while an orchestra plays the score live; it’s cost-effective for the presenting organization and offers the spectator the chance to hear live music while waxing nostalgic over a great…
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CD Review: CHRISTMAS TOGETHER (The Piano Guys)
CHRISTMAS MUSIC OUTSIDE OF THE BOX All it took was one spin for me to appreciate The Piano Guys’ second Noel album, Christmas Together. Oddly enough, when I recommended it to a few friends, they hadn’t heard of this amazing quartet. For those who don’t know, there’s only one main pianist in the bunch (though…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: HOLIDAY CANDLELIGHT (Pasadena Symphony)
IT’S BETTER BY CANDLELIGHT I always waited until too late to procure tickets to Pasadena Symphony’s enormously popular extravaganza, Holiday Candlelight. Consistently a sell-out in the past, they started to add an extra performance a few years ago, which allowed me to finally see what all the Ho-Ho-Ho-hoopla was about. The gorgeous concert actually exceeded…
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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