Unlike most audience members, reviewers yearn to be surprised. If civilian theatergoers take comfort in the familiar, critics crave an encounter with the unexpected, particularly in a show they have viewed countless times before. Not that director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge makes novel staging choices for the sake of being different, but nor does she settle for the … [Read more...]
‘Hunger Games’ works for adult viewers, too
Budding young romance and the threat of violent death are powerful dramatic forces, but who knew they were strong enough to get teens to read? That formula has worked three times now in recent years, first with the Harry Potter books, then the Twilight vampires vs. werewolves trilogy and now with The Hunger Games phenomenon. Each time, Hollywood followed up the blockbuster … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Poetic ‘Buffalo,’ sharp ‘Song,’ shocking ‘Blasted’
After some of playwright David Mamet’s recent anemic attempts at whimsy (Romance, November), it is a pleasure to be reminded by his 1977 Broadway breakthrough, American Buffalo, how visceral and, yes, poetic he can be. The poetry is of the fragmentary, high-profanity, elliptical street type, but at Palm Beach Dramaworks, a trio of capable actors are demonstrating that the … [Read more...]
Organist Unger offers strong, diverse recital
Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008 For the average listener, there are many neglected rooms in the mansion of music, 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 Delray … [Read more...]