Broome Arts Mirror – Local Theatre Reviews
The Broome Arts Mirror is a group of volunteers affiliated with the Broome County Arts Council who write previews and reviews about local performances and arts shows. For inquiries, including having someone review your local production, please contact us at bamirror@broomearts.org.
Binghamton Philharmonic to begin its season with classical concert and community outreach
By George Basler Heading into its 2023-24 season, the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra has the intertwined goals of performing great music and continuing to expand its audience beyond people who have traditionally attended its concerts. As part of this effort, the board hired Dr. Julia Grella O’Connell in May [...]
TCO opens season with Lloyd Webber tribute
By Barb Van Atta Why is Tri-Cities Opera celebrating Andrew Lloyd Webber this weekend instead of Verdi or Puccini? Aren’t opera aficionados always chiding folks for claiming they’ve been to an opera just because they saw Phantom? Well, as TCO’s John Rozzoni pointed out recently, Lloyd Webber’s music is [...]
Blues on the Bridge turns 21 Saturday
The hits just keep on coming for Downtown Binghamton. Last weekend (Sept. 8-9) was another successful LUMA festival. This weekend, Blues on the Bridge returns for its 21st year. The free event Saturday (Sept. 16), featuring rock, blues and even a little jazz, is centered around the South Washington [...]
Cider Mill Stage to present comedy with a heart
The Cider Mill Stage in Endicott will begin its 2023-24 season with a comedy that mixes laughs with some poignant moments. Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, opening Sept. 22 for a two-weekend run, is the work of Seattle-based playwright Katie Forgette. It had its world premiere in [...]
Shakespeare meets Broadway in EPAC’s ‘Kiss Me Kate’
By George Basler When it comes to the giants of American musical theater, Cole Porter is near the top of the list, and Kiss Me Kate is arguably his greatest show with a basket full of classic songs in service of a boisterous “battle of sexes” plot. The Endicott [...]
Provocative play starts KNOW’s 2023-2024 season
KNOW Theatre will open its 2023-2024 season with a provocative play that will force audience members to confront their preconceived notions about good and evil. Coyote on a Fence by Bruce Graham was first produced at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Set in a prison in the American [...]
Sharp CRT cast will keep you on the edge of your seat for ‘Wait Until Dark’
Reviewed by Lee Shepherd Here’s some advice if you plan to see Wait Until Dark at the Chenango River Theatre: Don’t sit in the front row (unless you like close proximity to a crime scene), check the warranty on your ticker and bring a second set of underwear. [...]
Phelps Mansion Museum seeks to boost profile with varied schedule of concerts and programs
By George Basler Jennifer Corby had a clear goal when she became executive director of the Phelps Mansion Museum a year ago: Raise the mansion’s profile and make it an arts hub for the community. “It’s absolutely under-utilized,” she said. “It had a very limited audience, and COVID [...]
Binghamton’s West Side to come alive with Porchfest’s ‘sound of music’
Porchfest, a free afternoon of live music performed from the residential porches, stoops and yards of the Abel Bennett Historic Tract, returns to Binghamton’s West Side from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 27). Binghamton Porchfest 2023 will feature 162 local and regional bands performing at 63 host [...]
Chenango River Theatre to present classic thriller
Bad things happen in the dark. That's the theme of the classic thriller Wait Until Dark, which opens Friday (Aug. 25) at the Chenango River Theatre in Greene. The play, written by Frederick Knott and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, focuses on the battle between a blind housewife and [...]
Binghamton Downtown Singers seek interim conductor for 2023-24 season
Position Overview: The Binghamton Downtown Singers, a dynamic and diverse community choir that has been performing and enriching the cultural fabric of our city for over 40 years, is seeking a skilled and enthusiastic Interim Conductor to lead the ensemble for the 2023-2024 season, with potential for a longer-term [...]
EPAC to host Shakespeare festival and performance
By George Basler The words of William Shakespeare will fill George W. Johnson Park in Endicott Aug. 17-20 when the Endicott Performing Arts Center hosts its annual Shakespeare in the Park program. The program has two components. The first is free performances of a one-hour, abridged version of A [...]
Talented CRT cast offers lively snapshot of ‘The Swinging Sixties’
By George Basler For young people, “Swinging London” of the 1960s probably seems as ancient as drawings from the caveman era. But, for those of a certain age, it brings back nostalgic memories when the British city was “groovy, baby” and one of the centers of pop culture world. [...]
Summer Savoyards present Gilbert and Sullivan’s supernatural comic operetta ‘Ruddigore’
By George Basler Ruddigore: The Witch’s Curse may not be as well-known as some other Gilbert and Sullivan comic operettas, but W.S. Gilbert, the lyricist of the duo, listed it among his three favorites, and he ought to know. The Summer Savoyards, who have staged a Gilbert and [...]
Philharmonic’s free park series starts this week
The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra’s free “Concerts in Every Corner” summer series will begin this week with four performances in Binghamton by the Empire Saxophone Quartet. On Thursday (July 20), quartet will play at 11:20 a.m. at Ross Park Zoo, 60 Morgan Road, with free zoo admission included for those [...]
