THE HANGOVER REPORT – Terence Blanchard’s powerful contemporary opera FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES returns to The Met

This week, the Metropolitan Opera’s acclaimed production of Fire Shut Up in My Bones — a powerful contemporary opera by award-winning jazz musician Terence Blanchard (music) and Kasi Lemmons (libretto) — returned … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In her impressive NY PHIL debut, Karina Canellakis conducts with incisiveness and ample feeling

This week at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, conductor Karina Canellakis made a notable debut leading the New York Philharmonic. Currently the chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In its glorious Music Hall, maestro Ryan Bancroft leads CINCINNATI SYMPHONY with sensitivity and cohesion

This past Easter weekend, I ventured out west to attend a performance by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on its home turf. Led by American conductor Ryan Bancroft in his debut … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A stellar cast ignites the Met’s cinematic new staging of Verdi’s LA FORZA DEL DESTINO

One of the Metropolitan Opera’s most anticipated offerings during the winter/spring months is its new production of Verdi’s eventful and unabashedly dramatic La Forza del Destino, which is currently concluding … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In her Carnegie Hall debut, frisky cabaret star MEOW MEOW conjures the Weimar Republic

Also this past weekend for one night only, I attended Meow Meow’s anticipated Carnegie Hall debut at the subterranean Zankel Hall. I’ve been following this frisky, subversive cabaret star’s career … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Led by Franz Welser-Möst, the venerated VIENNA PHILHARMONIC plays a triumphant rendition of Mahler’s Ninth

This past weekend, the mighty Vienna Philharmonic capped off three performances at Carnegie Hall with a performance of Mahler’s mammoth Ninth Symphony (the composer’s final completed symphony). Led by maestro … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Broadway legend ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS raises the roof with his impassioned summoning of “Haarlem Nocturne”

Few performers can ignite and command a room quiet like André De Shields can. Best known for his Tony-winning turn as Hermes in Hadestown, the Broadway star also played the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali brings instinctive energy to NY PHILHARMONIC performances

This past weekend, Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali concluded a two-week residency leading the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall. Although the second of his two programs that I attended … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Ginger Minj and her sidekick Gidget Galore team up for a breezy sister act in THE BROADS WAY

In between some heavy theater-going, I was able to tuck in (pun intended!) The Broads Way, a breezy cabaret show written and performed by RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Ginger Minj … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Matt Ray’s gargantuan score shines in BARK OF MILLIONS, the latest of Taylor Mac’s sprawling creations

Last night at the BAM Harvey Theater, I had the great pleasure of basking in the queer paradise that is Bark of Millions, the latest in Taylor Mac’s line of … Continue Reading →