Stravinsky’s timeless masterpiece, Rites of Spring, opens softly as if it were just waking. It’s a short-lived calm, soon consumed with a whirling swirl of complexity, beauty and power. That intricacy and duality may be reasons why choreographer Molissa Fenley chose it as the musical framework supporting her groundbreaking composition, State of Darkness, choreographed in …
State of Darkness All About Discovering the Light Read More »
The Totally Fake Latino News with Culture Clash may be wrapping up its virtual run with the La Jolla Playhouse soon so this would be a good time to drop in and catch some top rate comedy from a point of view that’s been much too neglected. Practicing their very own brand of social commentary …
Visionaries see an obstacle and innovate around it. Two of them in the theater world, Igor Golyak and Wang Chong, show how it’s done. Both are directors who found a way to make remarkably successful live theater virtually. Golyak’s Natasha Banina vs the State became a New York Times critic pick over the summer and …
The silver lining encircling the world’s current health emergency may be whisper thin, but it does exist and reveals itself in the most unlikely ways. One of them is the Battery Dance Festival (BDF) 2020. It’s a New York thing and because it’s so unusual and so specific to location, you’ve likely never heard of …
Battery Dance Festival 2020 – Where the Whole World Dances Read More »
Disney may have hit the motherlode when it bought the film rights to Hamilton for $75 million, but both theater lovers and film buffs are reaping big entertainment rewards from the move. Originally intending to release the film version of the worldwide Broadway smash in movie houses next year, the Covid pandemic caused Disney’s strategists …
In theater, there aren’t many things as enthralling as the unmistakable sound of reality. It startles to you to alertness and makes your ears perk up as if you’ve just heard an air raid siren. It’s the writing of course that ignites this response, which then leaves it to actors to blow life into words …
Dropping into an art museum and having your mind explode in wonder won’t be happening for several more weeks yet if predictions hold. Fortunately, we have an old girl of 150 to thank for taking the splendor and brilliance of a world class art institution and sliding it onto the digital highway. What New …
Spellbinding, thrilling, surprising and even incredible might all describe a first visit to Teatro Zinzanni. Equal parts circus and cabaret, a TZ experience can easily be considered a sustained three-hour spectacle tied together with a full course meal. With an ace comedic showman acting as master of ceremony, you’d think tossing a sterling diva of …
Lee Colston’s wonderfully unexpectant play, The First Deep Breath, celebrates two things; acceptance and truth. We see very little of either until the end of this meaty story that challenges us to think about how high a regard we hold for these two liberating ideals. The family we’re introduced to is the total opposite of …
The First Deep Breath Tallies the Cost of Secrets Read More »
Showing up to the circus early is a little like doing the same thing at a big, elaborate wedding. You get to see what a place looks like before its overcome with pomp and spectacle. With Teatro Zinzanni, the elaborate single ring circus in permanent residence on top of the Cambria hotel high above the …