STEPPENWOLF’S SEAGULL SOARS IN NEW TRANSLATION, NEW THEATRE
The almost half century old Steppenwolf Theatre opened its new 600 seat Ensemble Theater with a beautiful new translation of Anton Chekhov’s historic play, directed by the translator Yasen Peyankov....
View ArticleSINGING SAVES STONE’S CAMPY LUCIA AT THE MET
In 1964 the literary critic Susan Sontag published the definitive work “On Camp”’ in which she defined the genre as loving “the unnatural, the artificial, the exaggerated.” In art, Camp’s...
View ArticleRiccardo Muti is Saving Opera: Un Ballo in Maschera
The dean of opera critics has stated the problem best: “I have said that in today’s operatic world too much territory is ceded to the realm of the eye; that even within this realm too much attention...
View ArticleRAVINIA OFFERS A MAGNIFICENT DON GIOVANNI
When opera arrived in Chicago, Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni lagged behind in public approval. The Chicago Tribune reports that in 1867 “Don Giovanni has literally fought its way into public favor...
View ArticleHandel’s JEPHTHA: Being Right in One’s Own Eyes: The Music of the Baroque’s...
The most commonly used word to describe Georg Friedrich Handel’s 1752 oratorio Jephtha is “dark”. And the word has nothing to do with the fact that the composer was going blind as he was composing....
View ArticleA TALE OF TWO DIVAS: FLORIA AND FEDORA
On Friday January 12, the streaming service Stage Access broadcast the Vienna State Opera’s 2020 production of Tosca to commemorate the 123rd anniversary of the great opera. The next day ,the...
View ArticleThe Storm Theatre Company Offers Charming Boucicault
On November 6, 1883 , The Chicago Tribune reported that the “laughter and applause” at last evening’s performance of The Shaughraun at McVicker’s Theater, poved that author and star Mr. Dion Boucicault...
View ArticleSTARS BRIDGES AND CASTRONOVO POWER LYRIC’S CARMEN
An insignificant novel gave birth to Bizet’s great opera, Carmen, second only to Puccini’s La Boheme among the world’s most popular operas. The novelist Prosper Merimee’ introduces the famous heroine...
View ArticleIT’S MAHLER TIME !!
In 2016, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) invited 150 of the world’s leading conductors to vote for what they considered the greatest symphonies ever written. Beethoven and Brahms — not...
View ArticleDIRECTOR RE-WRITES FLYING DUTCHMAN
Director Terry McCabe has written brilliantly about the director’s historical obligation to a dramatic text: “I believe the director’s job is to tell the playwright’s story as clearly and as...
View ArticleFINE ARTS BUILDING IN AMERICAN THEATRE HISTORY
The City of Chicago proclaimed Friday, October 13, as “Fine Arts Building Day” in recognition of its 125th anniversary year. The Fine Arts Building also played a significant role in the history of the...
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