Broome Arts Mirror
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.
Happy Holidays: Busy season beginning for arts organizations
By George Basler The holiday season is filled with annual performances from local arts organizations. From pop and classical music to holiday-themed plays, the schedule is a full one designed to heighten your holiday spirit whatever your tastes. Over the next few weeks, Broome Arts Mirror will be [...]
BLAST cast serves up humor, warmth and poignant moments at Cider Mill Stage
By George Basler Over the River and Through the Woods has some elements that work against it. The Italian-American family at the center of the play comes dangerously close to caricature. The plot veers dangerously close to television sitcom land. But the play has strengths as well, mainly [...]
New plays take center stage at KNOW Theatre’s annual Playwright/Artist Festival
By Katherine Karlson Take a couple of jiggers of original artwork, mix in an equal amount of new playwriting and a splash of the unexpected, and you have yourself one exciting visual arts festival for the 19th year in a row, served up by KNOW Theatre in Binghamton. The [...]
High schools get ready for ‘musical season’
A great big "thank you!" as always to Rich Ives of the OA Music Boosters and Spare Productions for once again assembling a high school musical season poster.
South African choir to bring joyful noise to BU
By George Basler Shimmy Jiyane, choirmaster of the Soweto Gospel Choir, has a very clear vision about what he wants audience members to take away from the group’s performances. “I hope they take away a feeling of happiness and hope,” he said. “We want to lift people’s hearts and [...]
‘Over the River’ to serve up a feast of fun and family at Cider Mill Stage
By Katherine Karlson Although not specifically set at Thanksgiving, the upcoming play at Cider Mill Stage shines the spotlight on that holiday’s Big Three: food, faith and family. BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) will be serving up Over the River and Through the Woods as a [...]
EPAC’s ‘Streetcar’ commendable though flawed
By George Basler Any list of America’s greatest plays is bound to have Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire near the top. The 1947 play, which charts the mental deterioration of its main character, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and later became a prize-winning movie. The play also [...]
SRO’s ‘Bridges of Madison County’ is honest and thoughtful heartstring tugger
By George Basler The musical The Bridges of Madison County effectively pushes a lot of buttons in drawing an emotional response from its audiences. First, there’s a lush, melodic score by Jason Robert Brown. Second, there are two attractive and sympathetic lead characters. Third, there’s a heart-breaking love story [...]
BU successfully takes on popular Sondheim musical
By George Basler A lot of words can be used to describe Stephen Sondheim: outstanding, brilliant, even genius. But “easy” is not a word that comes to mind. Not only are his musicals often challenging for mainstream audiences, but they also require a high level of skill to [...]
Binghamton Philharmonic to serve up musical feast
By Katherine Karlson The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will serve up a pre-Thanksgiving feast for the ear and imagination on Nov. 12 when Maestro Daniel Hege conducts the orchestra and featured soloists in a program titled Green Places. In contrast to what’s happening outside — the natural world moving into [...]
Tragic memories chain characters to the past in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
By Katherine Karlson The weight of painful memories and their destructive impact on present lives comprises the dramatic core of A Streetcar Named Desire, which is the next stage offering of the EPAC Repertory Company at the Robert Eckert Theater in Endicott. Its four-day run begins Thursday (Nov. 10). [...]
Tenor Villecco promises an ‘Enchanted Evening’
By Nancy Oliveri Lovers of songs from musical theater can enjoy a night out with one of Broome County’s best-known tenors, Tony Villecco, this weekend at the Cider Mill Stage, 2 Nanticoke Ave., Endicott. The cabaret program “Some Enchanted Evening: An Evening of Broadway Songs” will be presented [...]
Take a transformative journey ‘Into the Woods’ with BU’s Theatre Department
By Katherine Karlson The premise in of most fairy tales is that, by overcoming a great obstacle, you will live happily ever after. It ain’t necessarily so, as you may discover on a journey Into the Woods at Binghamton University’s Watters Theatre starting Friday (Nov. 4). The Stephen [...]
‘Bridges of Madison County’ plucks heart strings in timeless tale
By Katherine Karlson Love and its loss is a tale that never grows old, no matter its time or place. Often tragic, it can also have an uplifting aspect, which SRO Productions III is bringing to the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage in the musical The Bridges of Madison County. [...]
Hazmat Modine to bring jazzy musical stew to BU
By George Basler Hazmat Modine’s music is difficult to put in a box. The group’s foundation is American roots music, but the eight current members also incorporate Caribbean, Gypsy Jazz, African and Central Asian influences into their performances. That’s the way the octet's leader, Wade Schuman, likes it. “Music [...]
