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.
'The Miracle Worker' gets a solid, if tame, production at Ti-Ahwaga
Reviewed by George Basler When The Miracle Worker opened on Broadway in 1959, it was a smash hit and made immediate stars of Patty Duke as the young Helen Keller and Anne Bancroft as her teacher, Anne Sullivan. More than 50 years later, the play remains an emotional tour [...]
Real men really DO wear tutus
Reviewed by Lee Shepherd Bravo to the “Bolshitzky Ballet” for its marvelous parody of classical ballet Tuesday evening (April 2) at Binghamton University's Anderson Center for the Arts. But looking beyond the tongue-in-cheek satire of classical ballet by the all-male cast dressed in tutus, tights and toe shoes, Les Ballets Trockadero [...]
Were the arts part of your holiday weekend (and week)?
How have you been a part of the arts and how have the arts been a part of you lately? Please share with BAMirror.
Were you art-full this past weekend?
Did you visit a gallery, attend a performance or catch a movie or bar band? Maybe you performed yourself. Please share how the arts filled your week and weekend.
EPAC’s ‘Sweet Charity’ has something for everyone
EDITOR’S NOTE: A regular attendee of Endicott Performing Arts Center shows shared with BAMirror the comments he posted on EPAC’s Facebook site following last week’s opening weekend of Sweet Charity. Performances conclude tomorrow (Sunday, March 24). Reviewed by Ed Arnold Another fine evening’s entertainment was provided by the cast and [...]
‘Last Five Years’ puts pair in a pop opera time warp
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years opened last night (March 22) in Binghamton, a production of Half Light Theatre, one of the more recent entries into the theater community here. The show is not exactly a musical and is not exactly a play, but [...]
New Binghamton Philharmonic director charts ambitious course
EDITOR’s NOTE: Last fall, BAMirror began an occasional series of chats with recently appointed leaders of local arts organizations. Today we talk with the new executive director of the Binghamton Philharmonic. By George Basler Heidi Kelley knows this is a tough time to be the executive director of a symphony orchestra. [...]
Mobility documentary is as endearing as it is informative
Reviewed by Lory Martinez Monteith McCollum’s visually affecting 2010 documentary, A Different Path, is a stunning combination of animated work and cinematography. The film, screened this past weekend at Binghamton University as a part of the Harpur Cinema series “Forces of Nature,” takes its audiences into the lives of several [...]
What did you do in the arts this weekend?
I attended all three performances of Union-Endicott High School's amazing production of Godspell. How were the arts a part of your week and weekend?
Cider Mill’s ‘Trying’ is a triumph
Reviewed by George Basler At first glance the plot of Trying seems to be the worst kind of theatrical cliché. One character in the two-character play is a cantankerous, demanding old man. The other is a bright, efficient young woman who goes to work for him. Of course, they’re [...]
United Cultural Fund grants total $228,000 for 2013
By Barb Van Atta Tomorrow (March 13), Broome County Arts Council Board Chairman Fred Xlander and Executive Director Sharon Ball will announce the awarding of more than $228,000 in United Cultural Fund (UCF) grants for 2013. Seven arts and cultural organizations will share in $210,428 in UCF general operating [...]
Comedy and commentary ring true in ‘Dead Man’s Cell Phone’
Reviewed by Lory Martinez Elizabeth Mozer’s Binghamton University directorial debut, Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl, follows a woman named Jean (Christina Catechis), who finds — what else? — the phone belonging to Gordon, a dead man, and begins to answer it. She meets his mistress (Jacobella Luongo); his mother, [...]
They Might Be Giants … of improv
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri OK, here’s the situation: Ten acting students, graduates of an eight-week improv class, gather to show the world what they’ve learned. On the barest of stages, and with only their wits, they need to think fast and act faster. Last Saturday (March 9), Tim Mollen was about to [...]
Celtic Woman concert makes a mockery of Irish music
Reviewed by Lee Shepherd Never underestimate the gullibility of the American concert-going public. A sell-out crowd attended the travesty of Irish music by Celtic Woman Tuesday night (March 5). at The Forum in Binghamton. The promoters should have billed the fare as Irish rock, as the show was far more about stage effects [...]
Sexual violence play at Know Theatre benefits crime victims
The issue of violence against women has been much in the news. Congress recently re-authorized the Violence Against Women Act. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is holding hearings on sexual abuse in the military. A rape and killing in India has prompted protest and self-examination in that country. So a production [...]
