The life of a composer is something like that of a permanent student, says Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Which will come in very handy this week when the eminent American composer confers with some young practitioners of the craft at Lynn University’s New Music Festival. “I’m always learning. I think that’s one of the fun things about what I do,” Zwilich said last week. “I always … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 21-23
Theater: Slow Burn Theatre Company usually opts for dark-toned musicals like its recent triumphs with Side Show and Sweeney Todd. But in the summer, the troupe lightens up — as they did last summer with Xanadu — and they don’t come much lighter than The Wedding Singer. This show, based on the 1998 Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore movie about a hapless wedding band crooner has a … [Read more...]
Whedon’s take on Shakespeare is really something
By its very title, Much Ado About Nothing is immune to criticisms about its triviality. In its central conceit, it’s one of Shakespeare’s silliest comedies, and he must have known it. But its structure of combative, polarized characters gradually coming to love one another has become a romantic comedy archetype for the ages, and its other, opposite storyline, about an … [Read more...]