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.
Lead actors go for broke in EPAC's 'Mice and Men'
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri The Endicott Performing Arts Center gave EPAC regular Dallas Elwood his directorial debut last night (Friday, April 1) with a production of John Steinbeck’s play Of Mice and Men (based on his novella). The three-act play, performed with one intermission and set in and around a Depression-era California ranch, [...]
Emerging Artists Award Recipients
Emerging Artists Award Recipients The Broome County Arts Council held the Broome High School Emerging Artists Competition Award Recognition & Ceremony on First Friday, April 1st to celebrate the artistic talents of the 65 students from 7 Broome County High Schools with 73 works of art on display. The [...]
'Trumbo' is compelling portrait of a complex man
Reviewed by George Basler In the late 1940s and 1950s, Dalton Trumbo went from being one of the highest paid and most respected screenwriters in Hollywood to being a social and political pariah. The reason was the Hollywood blacklist, which banned actors and writers with Communist, or even leftist, leanings [...]
TCO announces new season, expanded use of Opera Center
By Barb Van Atta Tri-Cities Opera’s transformational efforts, begun this season by General Director Susan S. Ashbaker, will continue and expand in the 2016-2017 season. For the 2015-2016 season, productions have been evenly divided between The Forum, 236 Washington St., Binghamton, and the Opera Center, 315 Clinton St., Binghamton. [...]
United Cultural Fund Grants Announced for 2016
By Barb Van Atta At a news conference today (March 16), the Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) awarded $232,815 in United Cultural Fund (UCF) grants to 22 local arts organizations, community non-profits and individual artists. UCF monies will help provide general operating support for seven major arts organizations in [...]
EPAC's 'Oklahoma!' pleases the ear, but the plot creaks
Reviewed by George Basler Oklahoma! has a well-deserved reputation for changing the course of the American musical, and it remains a popular show to this day. But, while the musical was revolutionary in its time, some critics have tagged it as corny and simplistic by today’s standards. The Endicott [...]
Still lifes bring spring to Brunelli gallery
Reviewed by Matthew Pitcher The Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts gallery in downtown Binghamton never disappoints. At the March 4 opening of Joseph Daily’s “Florals & Still Lifes,” I was blown away by the artist's style and composition. Gallery director John Brunelli certainly picked the perfect time to display these lively [...]
Cider Mill actors bring out the best in Durang comedy
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri Anyone even remotely familiar with the body of work by Russian playwright Anton Chekov (1860 - 1904) will recognize three of the four names in the title of the Cider Mill Playhouse’s latest show. “Vanya” and “Sonia” (from Uncle Vanya) and “Masha” (from The Seagull) [...]
BU's 'Dancing at Lughnasa' offers subtle pleasures
Reviewed by Patrick Hao Last October, fans mourned the death of Brian Friel, a playwright hailed as the “Irish Chekov.” To honor his memory, Binghamton University’s main stage opening show for this school semester is Dancing at Lughnasa, Friel’s personal examination of five Irish women dealing with the sadness [...]
Ti-Ahwaga's 'Noises Off' provides its share of laughs
Reviewed by George Basler "Nothing On,” one of the most hackneyed and labored farces in recent memory, is now on display in Owego. And the play’s ineptitude is matched by the cast’s own incompetence and buffoonery But don’t worry: That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Watching the aforementioned [...]
'For Colored Girls …' production to raise money for crime victims center
By George Basler Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, which premiered on Broadway in 1976, is considered a cultural milestone as one of the first works to be written from an African-American woman’s point of view. The play was also a big [...]
Bundy loan lets SUNY Broome display African art
By Matthew Pitcher In honor of Black History Month, the Gallery at SUNY Broome is presenting “ORIGINS: Traditions of African Art.” The Bundy Museum in Binghamton generously made items from its private collection available to the college. Library archivist Robin Valashinas, assisted by several students, selected approximately three dozen [...]
Opera up close and personal: Intimate TCO double bill charms
Reviewed by Sherri Strichman We stepped back in time last night (Feb. 18) as Tri-Cities Opera presented an evening of 1950s fun, charm and drama. The double bill of one-act operas, Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone and Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, left the audience more than satisfied. Right from [...]
KNOW Theatre's 'Mr. Green' is worth a visit
Reviewed by George Basler A slightly rundown New York City apartment is a strange place to find forgiveness and compassion, but that’s what happens in Visiting Mr. Green, which opened this weekend(Feb. 12-14) at the KNOW Theatre in downtown Binghamton. While the two-character play may be a bit glib and [...]
Even old chestnuts are fresh in the hands of the BPO and Maestro Novo
Reviewed by Lee Shepherd Listening to orchestra musicians play a work they genuinely love imparts a special freshness, enthusiasm and sense of discovery to those lucky enough to be in the audience. While Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, the New World Symphony, is programed so often that it runs the [...]
