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.
Singers’ Collective concert features Vaughan Williams Mass
On Saturday (Feb. 24), the Southern Tier Singers’ Collective, will present “Arches in Sound,” a choral concert highlighted by Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor. This soaring work for double choir will take full advantage of the impressive acoustics of St. Patrick’s Church in Binghamton. Also on the [...]
S.T.A.R. to immerse Phelps Mansion in Shakespeare
By George Basler Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare’s classic play of “star crossed lovers,” has entranced audiences for centuries. Over the next few weeks, however, their courtship won’t take place on the streets of Verona, but in the rooms and hallways of the Phelps Mansion Museum in downtown Binghamton. [...]
BU guest director guides student actors to their Chekhov debuts
By George Basler Bringing Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters “fully alive” for modern audiences is the goal that Will Pomerantz has set for himself as he directs a production of the classic play at Binghamton University. The drama opens Feb. 22 in BU's Watters Theater. Pomerantz has cut some minor [...]
KNOW Theatre actors shine in thorny play about relationships
Reviewed by George Basler The play Becky Shaw opened this past weekend(Feb. 9-11) five days before Valentine’s Day at KNOW Theatre in downtown Binghamton. While this is probably coincidental, it’s fitting, because the play focuses on the dating scene and the sometimes tumultuous relationships between men and women. Don’t expect [...]
Ti-Ahwaga’s ‘Cabaret’ is stunning production of a classic musical
Reviewed by George Basler The events in Cabaret occurred 90 years ago. The musical premiered nearly six decades ago in 1966. But it’s in no way a museum piece. Instead, its theme of a malevolent political party coming to power by exploiting hatred of “the other” remains disturbingly relevant. [...]
Binghamton Community Orchestra to perform inventive work by major Finnish composer
By George Basler When Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara passed away in 2016, Forbes magazine called him “a giant of beauty,” who wrote mesmerizingly beautiful music.” While he’s less well-known in the United States, he’s considered the best-known Finnish composer after Jean Sibelius, said Evan Meccarello, music director of [...]
TCO’s ‘Fantasticks’ offers new twist but classic sentiment
By George Basler The musical The Fantasticks is a classic example of an underdog that became a champion. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1960 to mixed reviews and virtually no advance sale. A quick closing seemed certain. But word of mouth saved the show. Audiences were entranced by the [...]
Castalia String Quartet to perform at the Phelps
At 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will present a performance by the Castalia String Quartet at the Phelps Mansion Museum in downtown Binghamton. The concert is part of the orchestra's 2023-2024 Garufi Law P.C. Phelps Mansion Museum Series. The quartet, featuring violinists Uli Speth [...]
KNOW Theatre to present black comedy about a blind date
KNOW Theatre is starting 2024 with Becky Shaw, a black comedy about a blind date that goes alarmingly off the rails. The play by Gina Gionfriddo premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2008 to positive reviews. An Off-Broadway run in New York followed, [...]
Bulgarian orchestra bringing Beethoven to BU
The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, led by principal conductor Nayden Todorov, will perform three works by Beethoven at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Anderson Center for the Performing Arts' Osterhout Concert Theater at Binghamton University. In 1945 the Sofia Philharmonic became the national orchestra of Bulgaria and [...]
SRO offers lively message of acceptance with strong, engaging ‘The Prom’
Reviewed by George Basler The Prom is a musical that strives to be both flamboyantly humorous and emotionally heartfelt. That’s also the case with SRO Productions III’s lively and entertaining production, which opened this past weekend (Jan. 26-28) for a two-weekend run at the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage in [...]
BLAST’s ‘The Outsider’ wins the vote with solid laughs
Reviewed by George Basler BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) is pulling off a minor miracle with its latest production, The Outsider, which opened Jan. 26 for a two-weekend run at the Cider Mill Stage in Endicott: It’s making politics funny. Imagine a political comedy that pokes [...]
Come to the ‘Cabaret:’ Ti-Ahwaga presents classic, but timely, musical
By George Basler When the musical Cabaret opened on Broadway in 1966, it broke with the conventions of the time. Moving past its lively music and dances, it featured a dark story about a society descending into the madness of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The abrupt mood change [...]
Binghamton Philharmonic to perform profound and beautiful Mozart masterpiece
By George Basler The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will tackle one of the masterworks of Western music this Sunday (Jan. 28) when it presents Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor at the Broome County Center for the Performing Arts (The Forum). “Any orchestral performance is a shared act of musical [...]
BLAST to play politics for laughs in upcoming production at Cider Mill Stage
The headlines are depressing, our political system seems broken and polarization is rampant. So maybe it’s time to laugh. Maybe humor is in order to chase away the election year blues. BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) is working to supply this humor by presenting The Outsider, [...]
