The Orchestra Now Performs Hermann and Korngold Carnegie Hall Snapshot Review: Must See Patricia Contino, Reviewer "Star Wars Night" is not only a mainstay of MLB and NHL Many major symphony orchestras know that film music is an easy sell, and John Williams' iconic fanfare was part of the orchestra now (TŌN)'s opening season concert at Carnegie Hall. The difference was hearing it played alongside Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opening theme for 1942's "King's Row.” Discovering Williams' inspiration from a Ronald Reagan film served as a precursor to Korngold's” Symphony in F-Sharp,” part of a program conducted by TŌN's music director Leon Botstein celebrating glorious

The Snow Queen New Ohio Theatre Snapshot Review: Warm and Loving Patricia Contino, Reviewer A show with “snow” in its title involving a journey to the coldest place on earth may not sound ideal during this Tri-State deep freeze. While understandable, Blessed Unrest’s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” is warm and loving, transforming the New Ohio Theatre into a favorite cozy room where this story of true friendship comes to life. Written by Blessed Unrest co-founder Managing Director Matt Opatrny and directed by company Founding Director Jessica Burr, “The Snow Queen” is indeed the Anderson fairy tale that inspired “Frozen” For those

Mugen Noh Othello The Public Theater and the Japan Society Snapshot Review: Spellbinding Patricia Contino, Reviewer Cyprus is under Ottoman rule. The Venetians not only abandoned the island, but their court women and courtesans. During the 50 years since the island’s power shift, they are slaves to their conquerors and memories. One is the weary, thirsty ghost of Desdemona, whose story director Satoshi Miyagi and Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) told in their spellbinding “Mugen Noh Othello” presented at Japan Society during the final weekend of The Public Theatre’s Under the Radar Festival. Let’s answer to the first question usually asked about an “Othello”

"Onegin" American Ballet Theatre Metropolitan Opera House Snapshot Review: Must See Patricia Contino, Reviewer One of the first visitors to the "New Met" was The Stuttgart Ballet. Their Artistic Director John Cranko brought a substantial repertory of his own work and Marcia Hayde, one of the great ballerinas of the late twentieth century. (There are clips of her on YouTube and she is part of "The Turning Point\'s" priceless gala performance). In 1973, Cranko suffered a fatal heart attack on the company\'s flight home following their Met engagement. It is appropriate that American Ballet Theatre revived Cranko\'s "Onegin" during the 50 th anniversary of

Jericho The Wild Project Snapshot Review: Sad, Beautiful Love Story Patricia Contino, Reviewer During his long lifetime, Ferenc Molnár saw his 1909 play “Liliom” become a classic 1934 Fritz Lang film (recently shown on TCM as part of their “Star of the Month” salute to Charles Boyer) and adapted in 1945 by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their second masterpiece, “Carousel”. The musical, a school and community theatre favorite about to return to Broadway, is better known but shares its source’s unhappy love story and unusual resolution. Michael Weller reimagines both in the touching and magical “Jericho” now being performed by The Attic Theater

The Fountainhead Brooklyn Academy of Music Snapshot Review: Could not be Timelier Patricia Contino, Reviewer There is no in-between with Ayn Rand. Her brutal individualism is the closest thing to political theory that the current White House and their followers embrace. The long-term effects of such thinking are frightening, as is the acceptance of reading Rand as a literary rite of passage. In this time of “alternative facts” Rand would have relished, there is one way of dealing with her legacy, Ivo van Hove’s visceral, slow-burning stage adaptation of ‘The Fountainhead’ now at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Following his own aesthetic, van Hove

Le Nozze di Figaro Metropolitan Opera Snapshot Review: Frustrating Patricia Contino, Reviewer Like their Lincoln Center neighbors, The Metropolitan Opera took full advantage of the holiday season with lighter programming. Along with Hansel, Gretel, a Merry Widow and the puppet-populated cast of “The Magic Flute” was the household of “Le Nozze di Figaro” (“The Marriage of Figaro”) performed before a sold-out audience on December 29. Mozart’s celebration of love needs no holiday to revel in Ildar Abdrazakov’s Figaro, Nadine Sierra as his bride Susanna, or Isabel Leonard as love-struck teen Cherubino, but deserves a better production. Sir Richard Eyre’s displaces the opera from the

Daughters of the Mock Theatre 80 St. Marks Snapshot Review: Must See Patricia Contino, Reviewer Amanita (Kristin Dodson) announces she\'s engaged. Her fiance never appears, which might be a good thing: Grandmother Maumau (Edythe Jason) is unresponsive; though she always is. Mom Oralia (Brenda Crawley) and older sister Maneda (Claudia McCoy) are equally unenthusiastic. The reason for their displeasure isn\'t Amanita\'s youth: marriage means initiation into the family\'s vodou heritage in Judi Ann Mason\'s "Daughters of the Mock." The powerful drama directed with great care by Denise Yvonne Dowse and performed by a perfect cast was presented in May and June as part of