VIEWPOINTS: When Performing Opera, Is Less More?

After attending Saturday night’s exhilarating account of Richard Strauss’s voluptuous “Salome” by the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera (led powerfully by young Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons) at Carnegie Hall, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Dissecting Immersive Theater

New York these days is agog with “immersive theater”. Experiences like Punchdrunk’s “Sleep No More” and Third Rail Project’s “Then She Fell” have captured New Yorkers’ imaginations, particularly the young, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Transcending Ice Dancing

I’ve always found ice dancing to be an interesting beast, albeit an interesting beast with an identity crisis.  It doesn’t quite have the famous bells and whistles of the other … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: 10 Years On, Revisiting “Wicked” and “Avenue Q”

Has it already been 10 years since that memorable David and Goliath showdown between the naughty but spirited “Avenue Q” and that behemoth of a musical “Wicked”? Indeed, it has. … Continue Reading →

REPORT CARD: January Experimental Performing Arts Festivals

January has become theater heaven for lovers of experimental theater in New York. This January (bleeding into February in some cases), there were no less than six substantive avant-garde performing … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in Opera

It was a bittersweet year for opera lovers.  After 70 years, New York City Opera shuttered, but not before bidding farewell in thrilling fashion with its triumphant “Anna Nicole” by Mark-Anthony … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in Play Revivals

2013 was a sensational year for play revivals, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. 2013 was also an unusually plentiful year for Shakespeare in New York; two of these productions are featured … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in New Plays

2013 proved that, these days, the best place to catch the most exciting new plays is Off-Broadway. Established playwrights such as Richard Greenberg, Amy Herzog, and Conor McPherson all unleashed … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in Musical Revivals

2013 was a year in which the American musical proved its presentational versatility. Indeed, I encountered stunning musical theater revivals in settings as diverse in opera houses, philharmonic concert halls, staged … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in New Musicals

2013 was great year for new musicals, not necessarily on Broadway (where musicals are most closely associated). Like new plays, productions of new musicals found a more nurturing home Off-Broadway. … Continue Reading →