Tony Frankel

COMPRESSED CRUELTY IN A SMALL STRINDBERG SHOCKER August Strindberg, the “father of modern psychological drama,” told his publisher that Creditors, a drama that he prized as much as he did his masterpiece Miss Julie (also written in 1888) was “humorous, loveable, all of its characters sympathetic.” Nothing could be further from the truth – as…

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF SOCRATIC PROBLEM Perhaps one of the reasons Socrates has become a god-like figure in the world of philosophy is that we know very little about the actual man who existed during the dawn of writing. He kept no diaries and wrote no treatises, yet philosophies attributed to the classical Greek thinker’”Socratic…

LA PHIL FIRST IN PREMIERES Having presented exceptionally successful premieres this year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is on a roll. From the West Coast premiere of Adam Schoenberg’s Bounce  to the U. S. Premiere of Tan Dun’s The Tears of Nature  to the posthumous World Premiere of Peter Lieberson’s percussion-rich composition Shing Kham,  the LA Phil has proven…

WORDS FAIL TO EXPRESS THE TRIUMPH When one of the finest chorales in the world offers a musical compendium from their last five decades, one expects a sterling program. Yet the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 50th Season Celebration at Disney Hall went beyond mere expectation. LAMC cleverly compiled signature works heard under the leadership of…

MORE THAN A CELEBRATION The Walt Disney Concert Hall celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, but the program last night was more of a celebration of The Los Angeles Philharmonic. Do Angelinos truly understand that one of the finest orchestras in the world is in their own backyard? Even with Gustavo Dudamel at the helm,…

RELATIVITY,  STAGED A trusty theater friend witnessed Einstein on the Beach at BAM in New York last year, and she told me it was not just one of the greatest theatrical experiences of her life, but one of the greatest experiences she had ever had, period. I have consistently heard that the 1976 opera by Philip…

SAFETY IN NUMBERS The production of Carmen that opened this week at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion has been seen before. Emilio Sagi’s production originated at Madrid’s Teatro Real and was previously seen in Los Angeles in 2004 and 2008. To put it mildly, this seems like a safe choice for the season opener: With music…

STARRY STARRY NIGHT David Roussève’s full-length dance piece that opened at REDCAT last night is something of a miracle. Choreographed, written, and directed by Roussève, Stardust effectively amalgamates so many elements of multi-disciplinary performing arts–theater, story, dance, multi-media–that it should be a template for any dance company that desires to move, touch and inspire their…

THE HEART OF THE MATTER Larry Kramer’s blistering condemnation that chronicles the early years of the AIDS epidemic has arrived with an intimate production that highlights the urgency of the play but produces mixed results in casting and direction. A brilliant juxtaposition of love story and agit prop, The Normal Heart follows activist and unruly…

A VOYAGE YOU HAVE TO TAKE Have you ever been to a Chamber Concert of virtuosic musicians in a grand venue such as Walt Disney Hall or Carnegie Hall but wished you could experience the program in an intimate setting? Do you wish that you could be just a few feet from the musicians? Have…