Culture Vulture

08/01/2024

reviews the summer performance at .

There were not many stars in the night sky above the Frost Amphitheater, possibly because those that shined most brightly were onstage or in the orchestra. T

08/01/2024

05/24/2024

The Who's Tommy Musicalpened this spring at the Nederlander Theater in NYC in its first Broadway revival since the landmark 1993 production. Based on the rock opera concept album by The Who, the show follows the London-based Walker family – from the time Mr. and Mrs. Walker first meet in 1940 into their only son’s young adulthood. Check out what our reviewer thought of this new production of the rock musical.

“The Who’s Tommy” opened this spring at the Nederlander Theater in NYC in its first Broadway revival since the landmark 1993 production that propelled a y

09/15/2023

Wow. What a great start to the 23/24 theatrical season in the greater LA area. To get a ticket move fast. The run is over October 1.

“The Sound Inside” is set at Yale where Bella (Amy Brenneman) is a tenured professor. In her role as narrator, she makes sure we get the tenured part, and the Yale part, straight out. We get that tenured and Yale are both impressive and important.

Wow. What a great start to the 23/24 theatrical season in the greater LA area. To get a ticket move fast. The run is over October 1. “The Sound Inside” i

09/14/2023

Music historian Harold Pollack’s comprehensive biographies on American composers including Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Marc Blitzstein. This year he has published "Samuel Barber: His Life & Legacy." It is, indeed, among his best.

Pollack did research and analysis on Barber’s entire canon, from childhood songs he wrote to his most challenging opera.

Music historian Harold Pollack’s comprehensive biographies on American composers including Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Marc Blitzstein. This year he has pub

09/07/2023

Compagnie Marie Chouinard has been around since 1990, winning awards in Montreal and beyond. The 68-year-old French-Canadian choreographer was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007; Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 2006; the Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal; in 2003; the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards in Ottawa in 2000; a Bessie Award in

Compagnie Marie Chouinard has been around since 1990, winning awards in Montreal and beyond. The 68-year-old French-Canadian choreographer was appointed Officer

09/07/2023

All that I knew about Zydeco music came from the Mountain Stage radio programs I attended religiously, every Sunday afternoon, when I lived in Charleston, West Virginia. My son’s dulcimer teacher, Bob Webb, was one of the regulars. One of the Twister Sisters, Julia, when I bumped into her at a sale where we were eyeing the same certain tea kettle, insisted that I take it.

All that I knew about Zydeco music came from the Mountain Stage radio programs I attended religiously, every Sunday afternoon, when I lived in Charleston, West

09/06/2023

Where is music going, and where, for that matter, is history going ? Was the ground taken by the "Panzer " division of The New Vienna School ( Die Neue Wiener Schule ) which the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and his composer-disciples Anton Webern (1883-1945), and Alban Berg ( (1885-1935)

Where is music going, and where, for that matter, is history going ? Was the ground taken by the "Panzer " division of The New Vienna School ( Die Neue Wiener S

09/05/2023

If you are looking for a sweeping, over-the-top romantic movie, this is not for you. Likewise, if you are looking for a predictable, jovial rom-com, again, this film is not for you. But if you are open to a quiet, intelligent, pitch-perfect romantic drama, then run, do not walk to see “Past Lives” by new director, Celine Song.

If you are looking for a sweeping, over-the-top romantic movie, this is not for you. Likewise, if you are looking for a predictable, jovial rom-com, again, this

08/24/2023

Q: For the readers--how do you define the term "Sacred Intimate".

The goal of sacred intimacy is to facilitate self-knowledge through erotic pleasure. Sacred intimates approach sexuality with the understanding that it's related to spirituality. They help people identify, embrace, and practice desire as holy, to see sexual embodiment as an expression of the soul.

Q: For the readers--how do you define the term "Sacred Intimate". The goal of sacred intimacy is to facilitate self-knowledge through erotic pleasure. Sacred

08/18/2023

Circumstances conspired to allow me to trek to Malvern, PA, to see the People’s Light production of Sam Shepard’s True West, directed by Mei Ann Teo with an all-Asian cast and crew. I have a proprietary interest in Shepard, having written the first biography of the playwright and actor (mass-market paperback published in 1985, revised edition published in 1997).

Circumstances conspired to allow me to trek to Malvern, PA, to see the People’s Light production of Sam Shepard’s True West, directed by Mei Ann Teo with an

08/16/2023

Born in Cincinnati, Alice Corning earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Harvard University. In 1965, after living abroad for a year, she studied ceramics at the Spring Street Pottery Studio in New York, until moving to Mill Valley in 1974. Her quest to bring technique and geology into harmony, met with success this year.

Born in Cincinnati, Alice Corning earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Harvard University. In 1965, after living abroad for a year, she s