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.
CRT’s ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ delivers early Halloween treat
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which opened Friday (Oct. 7) at the Chenango River Theatre is an ideal if creepy treat to savor as CRT's season closes ahead of Halloween. The play by Jeffrey Hatcher is adapted from the famous novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, [...]
Ti-Ahwaga Players proudly display their campiness with ‘Rocky Horror Show’
By George Basler The Collins English Dictionary defines “camp” as U.S. slang for “banality, mediocrity, artifice, ostentation, etc. so extreme as to amuse or have a perversely sophisticated appeal.” And that’s pretty much what’s on display in The Rocky Horror Show, which opened Sept. 30 and will run weekends [...]
Rising jazz star — and BU grad — to play the Anderson Center
By George Basler Camille Thurman is a rising star in the jazz world as both a tenor saxophonist and singer. She has shared stages with jazz and R&B aristocracy ranging from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to Patti LaBelle and Alicia Keys. But Binghamton University will always [...]
Chenango River closes its season with classic thriller
By George Basler In staging the next production at the Chenango River Theatre, Director Zach Curtis jokingly told Lighting Director Grant E. Mergas, “I want every scene to be as dark as humanly possible until people can’t see." The muted lighting is designed to reflect the somber and [...]
Ti-Ahwaga Players plan over-the-top entertainment with ‘Rocky Horror Show’
By George Basler Ti-Ahwaga Community Players Inc. was looking for something a little bit different to open its 2022-23 season. And The Rocky Horror Show fit the bill, said Ryan Canavan, who is directing the production, which opens Friday (Sept. 30) at the Owego playhouse. The rock musical, which [...]
‘Pocket Opera Project’ highlights local stories with TCO debuts
By Katherine Karlson The magic of an engaging true story combined with the power of music: That’s the feature recipe on the menu Oct. 1 at the Tri-Cities Opera Center in Binghamton when the Pocket Opera Project (POP) showcases a groundbreaking collaboration between young storytellers and local composers. [...]
KNOW drama provides nuanced look at grief and loss
Reviewed by George Basler Grief and loss are among the most dominant human emotions, and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole explores both with a clear-eyed sharpness that is free of bathos and theatrical sentimentality. This first-rate play opened this past weekend (Sept. 16-18) and will run the [...]
Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra launches new season with musical road trip across America
By Katherine Karlson This Saturday (Sept. 24), the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will take its audience on a musical exploration of the nation. For the orchestra's 2022-23 season opener at the Broome County Forum Theatre, Maestro Daniel Hege has mapped out an “American Journey” that includes the urban energy [...]
Check in for a night of big laughs at ‘Murder at the Howard Johnson’s’
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson BLAST’s season starter gives new meaning and plenty of laughs to the theatrical trope of “bedroom farce.” Murder at the Howard Johnson’s opened last night (Sept. 16) at the Cider Mill Stage in Endicott. The broad comedy by Sam Bobrick and Ron Clark takes place [...]
Summer’s last hurrah: Blues on the Bridge returns
Downtown Binghamton once again will be filled with the sounds of rock, blues, country and even a little jazz when Blues on the Bridge returns on Saturday (Sept. 17). The free event began as an opportunity to give talented local bands a larger stage and a bigger audience than [...]
Funky jazz group coming to BU
By George Basler Put on your high-heeled sneakers: Funky jazz is coming Binghamton University’s Anderson Center courtesy of Ghost-Note, a jazz fusion group that embraces an eclectic mix of musical influences in its performances. “The band is pushing funk music into the future, building on the uplifting, pioneering foundations [...]
BLAST season opener to blend homicide and humor at Cider Mill Stage
By George Basler BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) has one goal in mind in staging the play Murder at the Howard Johnson’s: Making people laugh. No deep thinking is required. No big message is present. The show is meant to be a lightweight comedy: Nothing more; [...]
‘Rabbit Hole’ delves deep into grief and comes out the other side
By Katherine Karlson KNOW Theatre has been a staple of the Binghamton theater scene for three decades, and it launches its milestone new season with a play by David Lindsay-Abaire that premiered on Broadway in 2006 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007: Rabbit Hole. Artistic Director Tim Gleason [...]
‘Art’ at CRT explores trials and triumphs of friendship
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson Audience members at the Chenango River Theatre in Greene will have to remind themselves to stop laughing at the rapid-fire language and wit in tArt to absorb the thought-provoking ideas the one-act play presents. A spare set contains all the action, both dramatic and funny, [...]
Annual Porchfest to strike a chord on Binghamton’s West Side
By George Basler Binghamton Porchfest began back in 2015 with 50 bands on 20 porches, four "porta potties" and no official permit from the City of Binghamton. Since then, it’s grown into “a significant Binghamton event” that draws crowds to the West Side each year for a free afternoon [...]
