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.
Highlights delight at BU's art museum
Commentary by Chris Bahr It is hard to know where to begin when you are seeing an exhibition as comprehensive as “50 Years/50 Highlights,” the Binghamton University Art Museum’s 50th anniversary exhibition. The exhibit, which opened earlier this fall, is a very-well-done curatorial as well as being reminiscent of [...]
Were you art-full this weekend?
My Thanksgiving weekend (not spent locally) was full of food, family and home viewing of 2016 movies that I missed in both first and second run (Loving, A United Kingdom). But what about you? Did you attend (or perform in) a concert or play? Did you visit a museum? [...]
KNOW Festival is intriguing mix of music, art and theater
By George Basler Seamus Lucason had never been in Binghamton before last weekend. What drew him here was the opportunity to see one of his plays performed for the first time. The Irish playwright, whose works have been produced in both Ireland and America, made the five-hour drive from [...]
What did you do in the arts this past weekend?
We're entering the holiday entertainment season, and BAMirror reviewers are going to be as busy as elves, either writing about other people's performances or participating in their own concerts and shows. Therefore, it seems like the perfect time to revive our once-regular "what did you do" Monday query. In [...]
BU offers lively take on classic musical 'Wizard of Oz'
Reviewed by George Basler Tommy Iafrate said he wanted to take a non-traditional approach in his staging of The Wizard of Oz,which opened this past weekend (Nov. 10-11) at Binghamton University. And the university’s director of musical theater certainly did that. The Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow [...]
TCO's POW opera packs emotional wallop
Reviewed by Sherri Streichman Glory Denied, an opera in two tableaux by Tom Cipullo,tells the story of Major Jim Thompson, the longest-held American prisoner of the Vietnam War. Based on a book by Tom Philpott, it employs two singers as the younger and older Thompson and two singers as [...]
New book shines loving spotlight on Serling's legacy
Reviewed by George Basler Binghamton’s own Rod Serling is the subject of a new book by Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer. […]
Phelps concert to be dedicated to late board chairman Manker
Harold H. Manker, a 2016 Broome County Arts Council Heart of the Arts recipient (with his wife, Toby Jean), passed away Oct. 8 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His passing was reflective of his quiet demeanor. There were no calling hours; the burial Oct. 17 was private. [...]
TCO's 'Boheme' a vocal and visual success
Reviewed by Sherri Strichman Sunday afternoon (Oct. 15), Tri-Cities Opera treated its audience at The Forum to an excellent production of Puccini's La Boheme. If the object was to fill seats by having only one, well-done performance of a popular opera from the standard repertoire, the company succeeded. The [...]
BTOS to honor late founder
The Binghamton Theatre Organ Society will dedicate its 2017-2018 season to its founder and volunteer executive director, Paul F. Stapel, who passed away recently. Stapel, a native of Muskegon, Michigan, came to this community to serve as executive director of the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra (now the Binghamton Philharmonic) from [...]
The greatness of 'The Glass Menagerie' shines in Ti-Ahwaga production
Reviewed by George Basler The Glass Menagerie is a play bathed in melancholy and misconception. As one of the main characters tells the audience in the first scene, “I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.” But “the pleasant disguise” is left in pieces by the end [...]
Post-Vietnam drama mesmerizes at CRT
Reviewed by Lee Shepherd I sat glued to every moment of Ken Burns' masterful documentary The Vietnam War, then capped it off by attending opening night (Friday, Sept. 29) of Chenango River Theatre's powerful production of The Speed of Darkness. "Gripping" describes both documentary and play. They go glove-in-hand, [...]
Bourbon, Beef & Brews to Support BCAC
Bourbon, Beef & Brews Hundreds come out to Support BCAC September 28 at The Binghamton Club The Broome County Arts Council wishes to thank all of the at attendees, sponsors, distillers and musicians who made our first Bourbon, Beef and Brews fundraiser such a success. Northeastern Striping Corporation, UHS, F.E.Jones Construction and [...]
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Swings through Homer
Reviewed by Art Garrison They’ve issued 11 albums, performed at a Super Bowl halftime show and been together for 24 years … and on Saturday, Sept. 16, they were in Homer. The members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, resplendent in their 1940s garb, took the stage at the Center [...]
'The Nance' powerfully mixes low humor with pathos
Reviewed by George Basler The Nance, which opened this past weekend (Sept. 8-10) at KNOW Theatre in downtown Binghamton, is an extremely funny send-up of old-fashioned burlesque shows, filled with routines that were old when your grandfather was in knickers. The play is also a touchingly sad character study [...]
