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Tony Frankel
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Music Review: PHILIP GLASS: THE PIANO ETUDES (Timo Andres, Maki Namekawa, Anton Batagov, Lara Downes, Jenny Lin at Disney Hall)
FOR SOME, THIS GLASS IS HALF-EMPTY. MINE OVERFLOWETH. Although Philip Glass‘s works can be described as minimalist, he prefers to describe himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures.” He also noted, “If I’m to be remembered for anything, it will probably be for the piano music, because people can play it.” He conceived…
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Highly Recommended Concert: KRONOS QUARTET & GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA PLAY MOONDOG (The Town Hall in New York City, Tuesday April 16, 2024 at 8pm)
FLY ME TO THE MOONDOG Kronos Quartet and the jazz-chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra will perform Music of Moondog at The Town Hall on Tuesday, April 16 at 8 p.m. The concert will be the first time both ensembles collaborate to present their album Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog live in New York City. The performance will also feature David Byrne, and…
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Recommended Screenings: FILMS OF PATRICIA ROZEMA – A RETROSPECTIVE (Toronto, NYC, L.A.)
Considered part of the informally defined collection of independent filmmakers to make up the Toronto New Wave in the 1980s and early 1990s, filmmaker, television director, artist, and educator Patricia Rozema (b. 1958) found breakout success at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival when her first feature, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, nabbed the Prix de la…
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Highly Recommended Theater: HANGMEN (by Martin McDonagh West Coast premiere at San Jose Stage Company)
A DO-NOT-MISS REGIONAL PREMIERE Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen at San Jose Stage Company I was lucky enough to catch the limited run of Martin McDonagh’s tense and very funny Hangmen on Broadway, and it was sensational. Now, San Jose Stage Company, where not long before the lockdown I saw The Humans done better than the original…
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Highly Recommended Album and New York/L.A. Appearances: THINGS ARE LOOKING UP (Queen Esther)
THING ARE LOOKING UP, INDEED! The press release says, “Armed with original songs, formidable vocal chops and a powerhouse of a band, Queen Esther uses her Southern roots to create a sound she calls Black Americana.” But I call her latest album Things Are Looking Up simply the coolest jazz around. It’s a scintillating mix…
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Concert Review: BERNADETTE PETERS (Tour at Luckman)
SAINT BERNADETTE After she hung up her late-Victorian hat after taking over for Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway, the inimitable Bernadette Peters made her West End debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends on the West End, which ended on January 6, 2024. Now, she has embarked on another concert tour, making her first…
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Music Review: LEGACY: DEBUSSY + HAMELIN (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
WHAT’S ON THE MENU? FRANCK AND HAMELIN Finally, I got to see pianist Marc-André Hamelin in person, thanks to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which presented him in two of four salon pieces that made up Legacy: Debussy + Hamelin — a program which which played last Saturday at The Wallis, a great venue for LACO’s…
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Dance Review: COPPÉL-I.A. (Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo)
AN UPDATE COPPÉLIA ABOUT A.I. IS ALL INTELLIGENCE AND NO ARTIFICE Coppélia — a comic ballet from 1870 with music by Léo Delibes and libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter — is produced quite often, either in a classical vein a la Giselle, or with updates to make the story relevant to a particular era. Opening tonight…
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Theater Review: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY: A THEATRICAL CATASTROPHE (Henry Murray Stage at the Matrix Theatre)
LOOK AT WHAT THE CATASTROPHE DRAGGED IN He’s funny. He’s avuncular. He’s unpretentious. He’s loveable. He’s dry and urbane. And, he’s a decent person. But Nick Ullett is an actor by trade, so you may wonder if he’s that decent offstage (hint: he is). Upstairs at The Matrix Theatre, all you’ll want to do is…
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Theater Review: REDWOOD (La Jolla Playhouse World Premiere Starring Idina Menzel)
THE TALLEST LIVING THING ON EARTH INSPIRES A MUSICAL ACORN As one who has hiked many times deep in the ancient Redwood groves, those which have been relatively untouched for thousands of year, and it truly does steal your heart. And with names such as “Cathedral Grove Trail,” Redwoods are spiritual. There’s magic in them…
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Highly Recommended Jazz Music: BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB AND THEATER (March, 2024)
WHERE THE RHYTHM SWOOPS AND SWIRLS, THIS REALLY IS THE JAZZ CORNER OF THE WORLD From bands like The Hot Sardines, Hot Club of Cowtown and Maria Schneider Orchestra to cabaret stalwarts such as Karen Mason and Tedd Firth, there is nothing but excitement this month, March 2024, at Birdland Jazz Club — named after…
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Theater Film Release: HERE WE ARE (Stephen Sondheim’s final musical at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts)
STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S FINAL MUSICAL NOW AVAILABLE AT THE NEW YORK LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’ THEATRE ON FILM AND TAPE ARCHIVE The world premiere production of Here We Are, the new musical from David Ives and Stephen Sondheim that debuted at The Shed’s Griffin Theater in 2023, was filmed by the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT)…
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Highly Recommended Album: SONDHEIM IN THE CITY (Melissa Errico on Concord Theatricals)
Sondheim In The City, a new album by Tony-nominated actress, singer and author Melissa Errico, is now available to buy, DL, or stream HERE. Errico has also announced a special Sondheim In The City vinyl release celebration concert on May 7-9, 2024 at 54 Below. “Emotional, authentic, stirring, and gracious with sophisticated interpretations,” is what I called Errico’s…
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Theater Review: ARROWHEAD (IAMA Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre)
THERE’S GOLD IN THE HILLS OF ARROWHEAD Move over, Bluefish Cove, you’ve had your last summer. Now, a modern-day retreat of lesbians is here, only this one isn’t by the ocean, it’s by a lake. Arrowhead, actually. But this is no summer retreat. It’s a gathering of two, maybe three, lesbians (what is the plural…
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Theater Recommendation: GUN & POWDER (New Musical at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey)
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCESFULL CAST & CREATIVE TEAM FORGUN & POWDER The full cast and creative team has been announced for the new musical Gun & Powder, which — with book and lyrics by Angelica Chéri and music by Ross Baum.– explodes onto the stage at Paper Mill Playhouse April 4 – May 5, 2024, with opening…
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Highly Recommended Event & Streaming: TONY KUSHNER (The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (The Center for Fiction, Brooklyn)
The Center for Fiction, a 200-year-old literary nonprofit that has created an immersive home for readers and writers in downtown Brooklyn, and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, will co-present Story/Teller Arts with Isaac Butler: Tony Kushner on The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (or iHo) on February 27…
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Highly Recommended Album: GODSPELL EL MUSICAL (Original Spanish Cast Recording; Produced by Antonio Banderas)
The Concord Theatricals Recordings cast album of the acclaimed Spanish production of Godspell is now available. This is the first Spanish language recording of John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz’s iconic musical. Now available for streaming or download, CDs are available for purchase in Spain. Check out the booklet with Spanish lyrics HERE. And it’s a blast. I have been…
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Recommended Theater: SHAKESPEARE’S R&J (PrideArts at Pride Arts Center in Chicago)
REIMAGINING THE REIMAGINED AT PRIDEARTS Four young female prep school students, tired of going through the usual drill of conjugating Latin and other tedious school routines, decide to vary their very governed lives. After school, one breaks out a copy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and they all take turns reading the play aloud….
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Theatre Recommendation: FESTIVAL 2024 PRODUCTIONS (Chichester Festival Theatre, UK)
Festival 2024 includes seven world premieres, a spectacular summer musical, and modern masterpieces. Here are the 2024 productions Priority booking for Friends of Chichester Festival Theatre 24 February (online and booking forms) Tuesday 27 February (phone and in person) Booking for Groups and Schools Thursday 29 February General booking 2 March (online only); 5 March…
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Highly Recommended Theater: MACK & MABEL IN CONCERT (All Roads Theatre Company at El Portal in North Hollywood)
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO MACK & MABEL Rare, fully staged and choreographed presentation comes to El Portal with a 40-member cast and an 18-piece orchestra, Feb. 16-18, 2024 Some of the most charming musical experiences are fully staged and choreographed “in concert” presentations of revivals from Broadway’s heyday, the 1930s through the 1960s, and a…
Off-Broadway Review: THE MAIDS (St. Ann’s Warehouse / Brooklyn)
by Gregory Fletcher | May 27, 2026
in New York, TheaterTheater Review: AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (TimeLine Theatre / Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | May 27, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterTheater Review: LE BAL (Trap Door Theatre / Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | May 26, 2026
in Chicago, Theater
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