By Sharon McDanielLouisa May Alcott, author of Little Women (1868), was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 29, 1832, and grew up in New England. An ardent abolitionist, she volunteered in the Civil War as a nurse and served for six weeks (1862-1863) at a Union hospital. (Photo: Nancy Porter Productions, http://www.alcottfilm.com/; Louisa at age 20)She also wrote Work (1872), an … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2008
Music calendar: ‘Messiah,’ times four
By Greg StepanichAlmost since the day it was premiered in a long-ago Irish spring in 1742, George Frideric Handel's Messiah has been a staple of professional and amateur music-making organizations.Along with Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the Brandenburg Concerti of Bach, Messiah is one of the three most popular and accessible works of the Baroque era. These three pieces more than … [Read more...]
Theater review: ‘Avenue Q’: Call it ‘Sesame Street’ with attitude
By Hap ErsteinAs the snarky revue Forbidden Broadway puts it in song, to succeed these days in the New York theater, “You gotta have a puppet.” Sure, The Lion King and Little Shop of Horrors feature human-powered cloth characters, but the show that most relies on puppets is the very welcome, very adult take-off on children’s television, Avenue Q.An unexpected hit on Broadway … [Read more...]
Happy Thanksgiving! … [Read more...]
Art review: Get your ‘art fix’ before Basel bash
By Katie Deits Art Basel opens in Miami Beach next Wednesday, and the buzz has already begun to build.It’s not just about the celebrated international art show. It’s about the people that come from all over the world to see it, to be seen, to collect art, to discover the latest greatest “hot” artist, to party, party, party. It’s also about all the other events, gallery and … [Read more...]
Film review: ‘Australia’ an old-fashioned Down Under epic
By Hap ErsteinSay what you want about Baz Luhrmann’s big-budget epic Australia, but you can never accuse him of thinking small. Part mythic Western, part hot-blooded romance, part war movie and part racial melodrama, there are several different films densely packed into this $130 million, two-and-three-quarter-hour saga.Although confined to the decade of the 1940s, Australia … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks
Theater: The world premiere of William Mastrosimone’s Dirty Business, a none-too-veiled fictional version of the political and private life of Sen. John F. Kennedy, ends its run at Manalapan’s Florida Stage this weekend. It deserves to be seen, if only for Gordon McConnell’s performance as charming mobster Sam Giancana. Tickets are $42-$45, available by calling (561) 585-3433. … [Read more...]
Theater Review: “Enter Laughing” worth a few giggles
By Hap ErsteinIn 1976, Carl Reiner’s affectionate memoir of his earliest efforts to break into show business, Enter Laughing, was turned into a Broadway musical, redubbed So Long, 174th Street. Perennially boyish Robert Morse, then in his mid-40s, was miscast as teenage David Kolowitz — the Reiner character — and he became the scapegoat when the show closed two weeks … [Read more...]
Tribute: Happy Birthday, Toulouse-Lautrec
By Sharon McDanielI didn't know it at the time — the great painter was attracted to redheads.I'm a musician, but hell: Beauty is beauty. In a dream-of-a-lifetime experience, I discovered a painting style that I'd never attributed to the French genius Toulouse-Lautrec.Unlike his rowdier, oversize output, he barely shows you the face of the red-headed woman. She stands simply; … [Read more...]
Music review: Michael Unger, organist
By Greg StepanichThere are many neglected rooms in the mansion of music, when it comes to the average listener, and one of those rooms holds music for the organ.This is unfortunate primarily because there is a rich and fascinating literature for the instrument, and on Sunday afternoon one of its rising young practitioners showed an audience at the First Presbyterian Church in … [Read more...]