THE HANGOVER REPORT – Free Stratford HD streamings conclude with an exceptionally astute TAMING OF THE SHREW

Last night, I tuned into the very last of the free streamings offered by the Stratford Festival (which has had to unfortunately cancel its highly anticipated 2020 season) during the paralyzing ongoing … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: Manual Cinema kicks off its retrospective, and the Met and Royal Ballet stream classic productions of DER ROSENKAVALIER and THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, respectively

Last week, I streamed an eclectic bunch of performances. Here are my thoughts. THEATER First up was the streaming of the original 1957 broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s filmed-live-for-television version … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – ROMEO & JULIET three ways: As theater (Shakespeare), dance (MacMillan), and opera (Gounod)

Adaptations of iconic Shakespeare plays from into other genres of performing arts isn’t a new phenomenon. It is unusual, however, for these adaptations to attain the same classic status in their individual … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: Royal Opera’s superb FAUST, NT at Home ends sensationally with AMADEUS, and DTH does Nacho Duato proud

As a heat wave hits New York, I found myself more than happy to indulge – indoors in my air conditioned apartment – in online performing arts content. Here are my … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Irish Rep’s revival of THE WEIR transcends the Zoom treatment

Yesterday, I livestreamed Conor McPherson’s The Weir, courtesy of Off-Broadway’s Irish Repertory Theatre. Seeing the 1997 play for the first time was one of the eye-opening experiences of my formative theatergoing years, cementing my … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Mandatory Viewing: Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s COVID-19 first responders docudrama THE LINE exposes systemic socio-economic inequities

I recently had a chance to stream the Public Theater’s production of The Line, which was originally webcast live earlier this month. In the past, the writing duo behind the play – Jessica … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Paul Lightfoot and Sol León bid farewell to Nederlands Dans Theater in style with STANDBY & SHE REMEMBERS

Back in 2018, Paul Lightfoot made the decision to step down as artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater this year (Canadian Emily Molnar was chosen to take over the coveted role), … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: The Apple Family saga continues in Zoom, a deeper dive into the Alvin Ailey repertoire, and Met productions of LA TRAVIATA over the years

Here’s a roundup of my thoughts from the week past (write-ups on Shakespeare on the Radio’s timely Richard II and the final three episodes of Playwrights Horizons’ excellent Soundstage series can … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Audio immersion that approaches theatrical alchemy: Free Shakespeare on the Radio’s RICHARD II and Playwrights Horizons’ SOUNDSTAGE series

Four months into lockdown, I’m still convinced that nothing can quite replicate the experience of live theater. For me, at least, theater as we knew it invoked a personal, life-enhancing communion … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: Sparring LA BOHEMEs, a rare revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s LES BLANCS, and a pair of important full-length ballets

This past week, I continued my streaming of performing arts content. Here are my latest thoughts. OPERA Last week, I streamed a pair of relatively recent performances of one of … Continue Reading →