Areas We Cover
Categories
Concerts / Events
-
Concert Review: LISE DAVIDSEN & FREDDIE DE TOMMASO (BroadStage, Santa Monica)
TWO VOICES, ONE VOLTAGE An evening of operatic power finds its charge in connection, not just scale BroadStage does not often present evenings of this ambition. A sold-out house, a freelance orchestra under Iván López Reynoso, and two singers at or near the summit of their respective careers: Lise Davidsen, the Norwegian soprano who has…
-
Concert Review: STANDARD TIME WITH MICHAEL FEINSTEIN—ON THE TOWN (Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall)
THE SONGBOOK LIVES ON Feinstein’s Carnegie Hall “On the Town” concert celebrates classic songs and those who wrote and performed them with style, wit, and swing Like a party that keeps going and on, the granddaddy concert auditorium in Carnegie Hall and its in-house smaller “cousin,” Zankel Hall, are having a ball this calendar year…
-
Theater & Concert Preview: MY FAIR LADY IN CONCERT (Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa)
THE RAIN IN SPAIN, UNRESTRAINED At full symphonic scale, My Fair Lady finally sounds the way it was written to be heard George Bernard Shaw got what he deserved. He spent decades refusing to let anyone set Pygmalion to music, having been burned once already by an operetta adaptation of Arms and the Man that…
-
Theater Review: THEATER OF THE MIND (Goodman Theatre at the Reid Murdoch Building)
MEMORY PLAYS TRICKS— AND SO DOES EVERYTHING ELSE An immersive maze where perception falters and certainty slips through your fingers Unreliable narrators everywhere—but not the ones you think. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí is one of the most famous paintings in the world, so iconic that even if you do not know its…
-
Music Review: LANG LANG PLAYS BEETHOVEN (Pacific Symphony)
FATE AND THE NEW WORLD Beethoven’s Egmont Overture was still settling into the air above Segerstrom Concert Hall when it became clear that Monday evening March 23 was going to demand more than the usual pleasant surrender to familiar music competently played. Carl St.Clair opened the Pacific Symphony’s program with the Egmont, followed by Dvorak’s…
-
QUINCY’S WORLD: THE NEW FOUNDING FATHER OF AMERICAN MUSIC (MUSE/IQUE at The Wallis)
A THRILLER OF A CONCERT MUSE/IQUE’s vibrant tribute traces the extraordinary career of one of America’s greatest musical innovators Quincy Jones changed the face of music as a bold, brave, multi-hyphenate music mogul whose storied legacy is unlike anyone else’s—as a record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger, and cultural force. Over a career spanning more…
-
Concert Review: FROM MOZART TO MAHLER (Pacific Symphony)
INTIMACY AND ENORMITY: MOZART AND MAHLER IN COSTA MESA Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488, is a peculiar piece to a classical program. It omits oboes entirely, replacing them with clarinets for a softer, more inward blend, and there are no trumpets or drums at all, no means of making a…
-
Concert Review: PATTI LuPONE: MATTERS OF THE HEART (Carnegie Hall / New York)
LOVE, LuPONE STYLE A master performer balances tenderness and trademark wit On Groundhog Day, February 2, Patti LuPone fans emerged from wherever they were holed up during that cold winter week and made their way to Carnegie Hall for a concert of love-related songs called Matters of the Heart. The generous program, conceived and directed…
-
Concert Preview: MISSA SOLEMNIS (Gustavo Dudamel and The LA Phil at Disney Hall)
Beethoven’s towering Missa Solemnis arrives at Disney Hall for a rare, monumental performance. Dudamel leads a massive musical and choral force in one of Beethoven’s most demanding—and least-heard—masterworks. “From the heart—may it go further to the heart.” That’s what Ludwig van Beethoven inscribed on the score of his Missa Solemnis, a work he labored over for four years—the…
-
Concert Review: THE DOVER QUARTET (Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall)
TRADITIONS IN CONVERSATION From Mendelssohn to Chickasaw works, a program unified by thoughtful playing The Dover Quartet — Joel Link, Bryan Lee, violins; Julianne Lee, viola; and Camden Shaw, cello) — is small but mighty. Originally formed at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia in 2008, they are one of the greatest quartets you will ever…
-
Concert Review: ESPERANZA SPALDING (Well-Being Concert at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Room)
ESPERANZA SPALDING’S HOMEMADE FIELD OF LOVE A communal cleansing at Carnegie Hall Stepping out at night this winter requires real chutzpah because New York City is absolutely freezing, but you can always find small treasures that warm you through both the weather and these bleak political times. I was lucky enough to stumble upon one…
-
Concert Review: AN EVENING WITH LAURA BENANTI (Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY)
MUSIC, MEMORIES, MOTHERHOOD & MELANIA Laura Benanti sparkles in a knowing, joyful evening at 92NY Her silver gown sparkled. Her voice sparkled. Her wit sparkled. Yes, Laura Benanti was aglow on January 29 in a concert at 92NY. Self-aware, self-confident, and a bit full of herself in the most entertaining way possible, her musical menu…
-
Cabaret Events: AMERICAN SONGBOOK HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION & CABARET WORKSHOP CONCERT (Mabel Mercer Foundation, Laurie Beechman Theatre)
A CONTEST AND A CONCERT The Mabel Mercer Foundation nurtures the next generation of cabaret artists Three cheers for the Mabel Mercer Foundation (MMF) and its ongoing commitment to introducing younger performers to the Great American Songbook and the art of cabaret. This winter, the Foundation has presented two related initiatives: a concert held last…
-
Concert Review: ISABEL LEONARD AND FRIENDS (Carnegie Hall)
A VARIED AND VOLUPTUOUS NIGHT OF SONG A night at Carnegie Hall always feels special and elegant, and the evening of January 15 was no exception. Applause was plentiful, cheers resounded, and moments of surprise and comic relief brought amused laughter that banished any fear that a heavy layer of formulaic formality would settle over…
-
Concert | Theater Review: OKLAHOMA! IN CONCERT (Carnegie Hall)
OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EVENIN’! RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN RIDE AGAIN AT CARNEGIE HALL With a full cast, full dialogue, and a glorious orchestra, this Oklahoma! concert leans into the classic’s warmth— exclamation point included. Ah, the classic musical Oklahoma! It begins with the offstage cowboy character named Curly singing about nature—“There’s a bright golden haze…
-
Highly Recommended Concert: MARTIN CHALIFOUR & FRIENDS: THE ART OF CHAMBER MUSIC (The Music Guild at St. Alban’s, Westwood)
CHAMBER MUSIC IN AN IDEAL SETTING Glorious acoustics, a resonant space, and musicians who know how to listen to one another. There are few places in Los Angeles better suited to chamber music than St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, whose warm, luminous acoustics allow strings to bloom and piano lines to resonate without ever turning brittle….
-
Concert Review: A PLACE CALLED HOME (NY Pops with Megan Hilty and Essential Voices USA)
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE A PLACE CALLED HOME A late-season course correction that feels like a homecoming Christmastime is filled with traditions. And one of the best ones in New York City is the New York Pops Christmas Concert, when the stage is bathed in rosy light, a wreath hangs from overhead, and the hall…
-
Concert Preview: THREADS OF GOLD—DOLLY PARTON GOES SYMPHONIC (National Tour)
THREADS OF GOLD—DOLLY PARTON GOES SYMPHONIC Her songs get the orchestral treatment in a cross-country concert experience Dolly Parton has never been one for half measures. When she says the threads of her life run through her songs, she means it. That idea is taken literally with Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony, a…
-
Concert Review: CHEYENNE JACKSON (Carnegie Hall Debut / National Tour Launch)
A BROADWAY BARITONE TAKES STOCK A career-spanning concert that blends ambition, gratitude, and sheer vocal muscle When Cheyenne Jackson stepped onto the stage of Carnegie Hall on December 8 and announced, “This is a dream come true in real time,” it didn’t feel like a rehearsed line. It landed as a genuine moment of arrival—one…
-
Event Review: LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE, DIOS INANTZIN (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels)
MIRACLE ON TEMPLE STREET Faith, fiesta, feathers, and unexpectedly fabulous ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ With candor, color, and ceremony, La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin has become a Los Angeles holiday ritual — and after more than twenty years under the stewardship of Latino Theater Company, it’s a miracle…
Search Articles
Please help keep
Stage and Cinema going!
