British playwright John Hollingsworth has penned a cautionary tale that exposes the conservative view of multiculturalism that believes that brown people, especially followers of Islam, can never really be “British” even if they are born in the UK or have been there since childhood. The fear Englishman express from those of color and those who embrace Islam have started raising their ugly heads in Bradford, England.
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Hamilton lives up to the hype as it is engaging, high-energy and an emotionally thrilling theatrical experience. It is an opera, a rap show, and an accurate history lesson that presents as dazzling entertainment. In this breakthroughs work, Lin-Manuel Miranda has moved the Broadway musical (opera) into new areas. It is terrific storytelling that bravely takes pop culture into the world of opera and Broadway musicals. The good news is that he has brought a new audience to musicals as young folks love this show.
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But Lucia Di Lammermoor rests on the performance and vocal acumen of Lucia and Edgardo. Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova’s mad scene (one of the most famous in opera) was powerfully sung and acted by Shagimuratova. She is becoming the finest Lucia in the world! Also Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is known as thee Edgardo in the world today. Together these two propel this opera to the heavens. Add the fine coral work and the fine work from Romanian bass Adrian Sampetrean as chaplain Raimondo and this opera plays as a triumph bel canto opera
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One of the main reasons to see Pirandello’s Henry IV is to enjoy the fantastic work by Mark L. Montgomery as the possibly mad Italian nobleman. Montgomery is one of the most skilled actors working on Chicago stages. His ability to articulate and dominate the stage leaving much doubt if his character is cured from his insanity or still mad or possibly playing games with his enablers? With Pirandello there is always doubt as to where fantasy and reality end. Questions of identify, truth and psychology receive unique treatment by Pirandello
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Tunes from Funny Girl (lyrics by Bob Merrill) with like know shows that produced songs that became standards, this songfest produces one tuneful song after another. we remember songs like “The Party’s Over,” ” Don’t Rain on My Parade,” I’ve Heard That Song Before,” “It’s Been A Long Time,” “Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week, “It’s Magic, ” “Time After Time,” and “Make Someone Happy” and “People” are among the wonderful tunes that not only were sung expertly but presented with their meaning or spirit.
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Apartment 3A features a female liberal PBS TV station on air fund raiser in a Midwest town, Annie (Eleni Pappageorge) who is having a bad time. She catches her lover having sex with another woman that makes her leave in rage. She quickly find an apartment in a questionable part of town – Apartment 3A. She takes the place and she immediately meets her neighbor in 2A, Donald (Daniel Smith), a well dressed man who immediately tells Annie not to fall in love with him since he is happily married. Annie has weird attraction to the quirky man who is a landscape painter who loves to cook eggs.
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In a new production, the Lyric Opera of Chicago has mounted the finest staging that I have ever seen of an opera! Wagner, who wanted his Der Ring des Nibelungen to be know as a music drama, would be proud of David Pountney’s stage of Das Rheingold which was based on Johan Engels and Robert Innes Hopkins designs. Below you’ll see a vast array of photos in order for readers to get a feel for this magnificent staging that enhances Wagner’s music drama as a compliment to Wagner’s power score and the fantastic voices from the world class singers.
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It is the story of the first African-American actor to play Othello for two performances at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden in London in 1833. When the famous Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean becomes ill, company manager Pierre LaPotre (Mtthew Klinger) brings on his friend and well qualified veteran actor Ira Aldridge 1807- 1867 (Brandon Greenhouse) to play Othello. This was a daring choice by LaPorte since a black man had never before played Othello on a major London theatre. 1833 was a riotous time in London with the abolition of slavery in England and various social and political reforms being enacted. Change at all levels was being challenged.
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As the protagonist. Psmith comes to New York in 1910 from Cambridge, edits a newspaper, fights organized crime and loses his straw hat in this wacky wordy comedy of manners. Psmith states: ““the work is not light. Sometimes the cry goes round, ‘Can Psmith get through it all? Will his strength support his unquenchable spirit?’ But I stagger on. I do not repine.” The P that begins his name is silent (“as in pshrimp,” he helpfully points out), but he himself is not. He is wittily eloquent in any situation, always confident that, as he puts it, “with the aid of the Diplomatic Smile and the Honeyed Word I may manage to pull through.”
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Kate Henning’s drama focuses on the character of King Henry as Steve Pickering plays him as a tough, commanding despot who appreciates a strong woman if they are sexy and ultimately loyal. This Henry is, indeed, king who is willing to use his power however he desires. His love for Kate allows her to be more that a nurse-mate to his three children. Rather he elevates her to political power due to her loyalty and competence. She emerges as an almost equal in an age when most women spent their time knotting. Kate open the doors (literally) for Mary and Elizabeth to govern.
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