O19: A Genuine Festival and an Operatic Feast
Producing one opera is a chore. Even when, in an unusual course of events, scenery and costumes are minimal, there’s a score, orchestrations, a libretto, the staging, and the delicate … Continue reading
One Eclectic Season — 2019-2020 in Philadelphia
The list, not totally complete, sometimes because of forgetfulness, sometimes because of blissless ignorance, and mainly because all the imminent Fringe activity might double the number, stands at 211, including … Continue reading
Our Town — People’s Light & Theatre Company
Thornton Wilder’s elegy to unadorned simplicity, “Our Town” receives a warm, moving, pitch-perfect production at People’s Light & Theatre Company where director Abigail Adams and cast endow this valentine to … Continue reading
2018-2019 Helen and Morris Zoren World Theater Awards — The Recipients
I enjoy showing appreciation. I began keeping a diary of the shows I see when I saw my first professional performance ever — Carol Lawrence, James Mitchell, Sylvia Syms, and … Continue reading
Alexander Hamilton: A Favorite Before It Was Fashionable
Lin-Manuel Miranda did Alexander Hamilton, and students of American history, a gratifying favor. Reading Ron Chernow’s excellent biography of Hamilton earlier in this decade, Miranda saw a life of drama … Continue reading
Nominees — Helen and Morris Zoren World Theater Award 2018-2019
Two awards are issued a year. At the beginning of each year, the Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Award is bestowed to productions and performers appearing between New Brunswick, N.J. and Wilmington, … Continue reading
Nixon in China — Princeton Festival at McCarter Theatre (Matthews)
The Princeton Festival production of “Nixon in China” exhilarates because it succeed on both artistic and intellectual levels. Alice Goodman’s libretto is unafraid to delve into complexities of history, diplomacy, … Continue reading
Romeo and Juliet — Wilma Theater
Forget the bold but unnecessary opening that has a stomping group of chanters pulsating through a mostly alphabetized litany of key words and themes from “Romeo and Juliet,” punctuating every … Continue reading
The Niceties — McCarter Theatre
Oooh, those asterisks. They sneak in everywhere these days. Heck, they’re practically de rigueur. The first asterisk I disliked was the one I felt minimized Roger Maris’s slugging achievement because … Continue reading
2018 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — The Recipients
Excellence, bred from assurance, has become a constant in Philadelphia theater. Gone, in particular, is the self-consciousness that plagued the early years when Philadelphia morphed from a touring town to … Continue reading
