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.
Wallenstein ‘off-the-charts good’ in Cider Mill’s fresh, funny ‘Buyer & Cellar’
Reviewed by George Basler The one-man show Buyer & Cellar is an off-beat little gem of a play that provides a satirical, very funny and occasionally poignant commentary on fame, wealth, self-absorption and celebrity hero worship. To make it work, the show needs a virtuoso performance by the actor [...]
KNOW Theatre to present Steve Martin’s absurdist comedy
By George Basler KNOW Theatre, known for presenting provocative and edgy dramas, is lightening up things with its next production, Meteor Shower, written by actor and standup comedian Steve Martin. The play is an adult comedy with “an absurd and off-beat” tone,” said Joshua Sedelmeyer, who is directing the [...]
TCO return to Forum marks debut of operatic collaboration
By George Basler Tri-Cities Opera will be breaking new ground when it presents Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella Sunday (April 10) at the Broome County Forum Theatre. The performance will be the first ever collaboration between TCO and the Syracuse Opera. “It’s a test. We hope we can share resources and [...]
EPAC seeks to blend theatrical and religious experiences with ‘JC Superstar’
By George Basler Pat Foti can remember the controversy that surrounded Jesus Christ Superstar when it first opened on Broadway five decades ago. Some religious groups attacked it as sacrilegious, and New York critics didn’t much like it either, calling it gaudy and vulgar. “My father hated it,” Foti [...]
BLAST’s one-man play riffs on the true cost of fame and fortune
By Katherine Karlson To borrow a retailing metaphor, BLAST will offer a “Blue Light Special” when the one-man show Buyer & Cellar debuts Thursday (April 7). The award-winning play by Jonathan Tolins stars local funnyman Josh Wallenstein as a struggling L.A. actor who lands an unlikely gig in a [...]
Binghamton choirs joining to perform challenging cantata
By George Basler Forsaken of Man has been described as “forceful,” “dramatic” and “the 20th century St. Matthew’s Passion,” referring to Bach’s sacred music masterpiece. Composed in 1939, the 65-minute cantata is the work of Leo Sowerby, a composer, organist and teacher who was called “the dean of American [...]
Christopher Bill Quartet highlights lively horn sounds from the movies and more
By Katherine Karlson It was three years in the making, but, on April 2, the Binghamton Philharmonic will finally host one of the city’s most popular and acclaimed musical sons as he showcases his trombone talent. Christopher Bill, the most subscribed-to brass musician on YouTube, has given some school [...]
Skilled BLAST cast rises above tonal issues in ‘Over the Pub’
Reviewed by George Basler Over the Pub is a strange little play indeed. Billed as “a warm and hilarious look at family, growing up and God,” it has long moments that defy this description. Instead, the play veers into the darker territory of a troubled family in real crisis. [...]
Irish comedy opens St. Patrick’s Day at Cider Mill Stage
By Nancy Oliveri If the community enjoyed the Irish "appetizer" of Parade Day earlier this month in Binghamton, they’ll love the "entrée" opening on St. Patrick’s Day (tomorrow, March 17) in Endicott. BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) will present Over the Pub by Buffalo playwright [...]
Cherish the Ladies to bring Irish joy to Binghamton this weekend
By George Basler Members of Cherish the Ladies have two goals in mind when they take the stage, according to their leader, Joanie Madden: Play traditional Irish music in a way that respects its history and give audience members a rousing good time. “We have a lot of laughs [...]
Congratulations to 2022 UCF grant recipients
Twenty-one local artists, arts organizations and community non-profits will share in the $261,059 awarded this month in 2022 United Cultural Funds (UCF). This is, said BCAC Executive Director Nancy Barno Reynolds in a press release, a “substantial increase from the number of awards granted in 2021.” Applicant statistics in [...]
STAR’s March offering is ‘Too True to Be Good’
By Nancy Oliveri George Bernard Shaw's Too True to be Good, which is receiving a reading this weekend by Southern Tier Actors Read (S.T.A.R.), was first published in 1932 but, according to director Chris Nickerson, has a lot of timely content nearly 90 years later, from airborne illness to [...]
Ti-Ahwaga Players make murder fun
Reviewed by George Basler Here’s a piece of advice: If you get invited to a dinner party at Boddy Manor, skip it. That’s the main message of the comedy/mystery Clue: On Stage, which opened this past weekend (March 4-6) at the Ti-Ahwaga Performing Arts Center in Owego and will [...]
BU dance program delights in dusk-to-dawn celebration of life
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson A dusty, deserted street in the Australian outback seems an unlikely venue for an exuberant celebration of youth and life, but Sunset Mirage is just that through a thoughtful dance mash-up by Binghamton University director David Wynen and assistant choreographer Neva Kenny. Their ensemble taps, [...]
Ti-Ahwaga Players’ ‘Clue’ to blend mirth and murder
By Katherine Karlson A dark and stormy night provides the ominous backdrop for six mysterious strangers who arrive at a spooky mansion where “a murder is announced.” Welcome to the controlled chaos of Clue, a zany one-act stage adaptation of the popular 1985 film that itself is based on [...]
