By Robert Croan Antonio Somma’s libretto for Verdi’s A Masked Ball was originally based on the assassination in 1792 of Swedish King Gustav III. The political situation in Europe in the 1850s, however, was too volatile for the censors to pass on such a sensitive subject, so by the time the opera had its premiere in Rome in 1859, the locale had been moved from Sweden to … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2017
‘The Wall’: War and mind games, in a tight space
The Wall is as lean and economical as a war movie can be. There is one location, no musical score and three speaking parts, only two of which come from actors that appear onscreen. The film is 81 minutes, and it feels like it — a refreshing break from the increasing bloat of studio actioners. Set in a tumbleweedy, post-“Mission Accomplished” Iraqi oilfield in 2007, The Wall … [Read more...]
Stage Door’s ‘Nine’ is one of its finest productions
By Dale King The task of nearly every theatrical protagonist, it seems, is to struggle. And so it is with famed Italian movie producer Guido Contini, the lead character in the Tony Award-winning musical, Nine, now playing at the Broward Stage Door Theater in Margate. With Guido, though, struggles come in multiples. Internally, he wrangles with his own mind. Externally, … [Read more...]
Fist & Heel’s ‘Citizen’ was powerful, subtle
There was a subdued elegance to Citizen, the multimedia work presented May 6 at the Rinker Playhouse in West Palm Beach. It wasn’t at all what I had expected from the Brooklyn-based dance company that calls itself Fist & Heel Performance Group. The clean and concise structure of the work was reminiscent of the post-modern dance movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 12-14
Music: Like her or hate her, writer Ayn Rand has had a large influence on a certain segment of American politics and culture. This Saturday, Rand’s most famous novelistic creation, John Galt, is the musical subject of a new piece for 10 pianos and two percussionists by the American composer Peter J. Learn. The piece was created at the behest of Circle founder Mia Vassilev, who … [Read more...]
Touring ‘Sound of Music’ returns winningly to pre-movie style
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were known for the many innovations they brought to the musical theater, but also for a signature streak of sentimentality. Both are evident in 1959’s The Sound of Music, which would prove to be their final collaboration. Director Jack O’Brien has done what he can to scrape off the layers of sugar encrusted on the show in his buoyant … [Read more...]
Violinist Gourdjia opens Mainly Mozart Festival with high style, elegance
One of the joys associated with the Mainly Mozart Festival, now in its 24th season in Coral Gables, is that it introduces audiences to rising players they are unlikely to have heard before. This past Sunday, for the festival’s opening, it was the young Russian-born violinist Liana Gourdjia, who studied in Moscow, the Cleveland Institute and Indiana University, and now lives … [Read more...]
Guitarist Herring key to Widespread Panic’s impressive maturity
California may be the heavyweight champion of propelling prominent American bands and artists into popular music history (Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Little Feat, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, N.W.A., Joni Mitchell, The Doors, the Grateful Dead, Tower of Power, Rage Against the Machine, War, Stone Temple Pilots, Los … [Read more...]
Current theater: Twisted ‘Broken Snow;’ bubbly ‘Beehive’
A dark, twisting and twisted tale called Broken Snow inaugurates the professional theater program of JCAT at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in North Miami Beach. With a decade of community and children’s theater under its belt, the company makes a polished debut into Carbonell Award-eligible productions, even if the subject matter of Ben Andron’s world premiere … [Read more...]
‘A Quiet Passion’: A compelling study of artistic vision, personal suffering
“I wish I could feel as others do, but it is not possible,” says a teenage Emily Dickinson. She’s standing alone in front of the headmistress of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, in the opening scene of Terence Davis’ haunting A Quiet Passion. The rest of her classmates have, at the headmistress’ request, divided into two camps: Those ready to be good Christians and be saved … [Read more...]