Nancy S. BishopTheaterChicago, IL “This Is Modern Art (based on true events)” is a provocative play intended for a “young adult” audience that raises philosophical and political questions that are generating heated discussions among critics and theatergoers of all ages. Steppenwolf Theatre’s new production, written by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval, tells the story ...
Joanna G. HarrisDanceSan Francisco, CA San Francisco Ballet’s Program 4 achieved a triumphant success with its production of Jerome Robbins’ “Dances at a Gathering” (1969). To the admirable playing of 18 pieces of Chopin’s music (mazurkas, waltzes, etudes, a scherzo and a nocturne, performed by pianist Roy Bogas, alternating through the run with Natal'ya Feygina), ...
Karen WeinsteinMusicLos Angeles, CA "The Barber of Seville" has been seen somewhere every year since its initial production almost 200 years ago. A light spirit and beautiful music that wafts through your mind long after you have left the theater make it easy to see why. You have heard of painless dentistry? "Barber," reportedly ...
DanceSan Francisco, CA There’s something of a puppeteer at play in “Manifesto,” Myles Thatcher’s impressive new work for San Francisco Ballet. Dancers emerge airily from the wings, as if suspended from invisible strings, gliding in and out in patterns symmetrical or not, their arms at odd angles. Further along, a pas de deux ...
David E. MorenoDanceCA, (pri·ma don·naˌprēmə ˈdänə/ “a very temperamental person with an inflated view of their own talent or importance.”) For forty years "Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo" (Trocks) hasn’t been taking classical ballet very seriously… and that’s the good news. The all male company “en pointe” does, however, continue to take ...
Karen WeinsteinTheaterLos Angeles, CA How often have you thought a second act was the meat of a play? Not very, I would guess. Arthur Miller's 1968 family saga, "The Price," is one of those rare instances where this is the case. The wealthy Franz family lost its fortune in the crash of 1929. ...
David E. MorenoDanceSan Francisco, CA From the minute Kyle Abraham hit the stage in “Pavement,” dribbling an imaginary basketball then taking that movement into fluid modern dance and back, his signature hip hop, streetwise trademark was in motion. It is that simple urban beat--something as pedestrian, rhythmic, and socially iconic as a bouncing basketball ...
Andrew OsborneEtcLos Angeles, CA 5:44 PM - Amy's currently predicting that Marion Cotillard will win the Red Carpet...and she also thinks Anna Kendrick's already out of the competition with her pretty dress...pretty boring. 6:15 PM - While we're waiting for the Red Carpet to really start jumping...congratulations to David Zellner for his Best Director nomination at the Independent ...
Toba SingerDanceCA, There are ballets that put all of a company’s bona fides to the test—stamina, virtuosity, ensemble quality, and of course, its ranking dancers’ stage personalities and technical skills. Among them are Harold Lander’s “Etudes,” Jerome Robbins’ “Fancy Free,” Twyla Tharp’s “In the Upper Room,” and John Cranko’s “Taming of the ...
Emily S. MendelArt & ArchitectureSan Francisco, CA Two new excellent exhibitions about 17th- to 19th-century Japanese art and culture grace San Francisco’s well-respected Asian Art Museum, the largest museum in the United States devoted exclusively to the arts of Asia. From 1615–1868, in Edo (now Tokyo), a city whose population reached one million by the beginning ...
