Broome Arts Mirror
Strong cast highlights STAP fundraiser of ‘The Normal Heart’
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson Larry Kramer’s drama, The Normal Heart, tracks both the personal and political dramas of the emerging AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s. Based on Kramer’s own experiences as a founder of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center, the play is an [...]
Vienna Boys Choir delights Forum audience
Reviewed by Tony Villecco When I was 11 years old and a boy soprano, my teacher, Harold Mason, a tenor with Tri-Cities Opera, wanted me to join the Vienna Boys Choir. My mom did not want her little boy going away that far, and this dream was never realized. [...]
TCO’s ‘Tosca’ is full palette of operatic color
Reviewed by Sherri Strichman A large and appreciative audience was at The Forum Sunday afternoon (Oct. 20) when Tri-Cities Opera opened its 2019-2020 season with a single performance of Puccini’s Tosca. When the lights dimmed, the well-known Scarpia motif rang out, the curtain went up, and off we went. [...]
BU’s ‘The Wolves’ gives realistic portrayal of youthful angst
Reviewed by George Basler In writing The Wolves, Sarah DeLappe said she “wanted to see a portrait of teenage girls as human beings -- as complicated, nuanced, very idiosyncratic people who aren’t just girlfriends or sex objects or manic pixie dream girls, but who are athletes and daughters and [...]
Talented cast highlights Ti-Ahwaga’s engaging ‘Bright Star’
Reviewed by George Basler Filled with catchy up-tempo songs and heartfelt ballads, Bright Star is a musical that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve. That emotion is on full display in a splendid production that opened this past weekend (Oct. 4-6) at the Ti-Ahwaga Performing Arts Center in [...]
Masterful performances highlight ‘The Sea Horse’ at CRT
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson Chenango River Theatre finishes up its 2019 season with a soul-searing yet satisfying two-person drama that speaks to the redemptive power of love and trust, Edward J. Moore's The Sea Horse. At first glance, the play, directed by Bill Lelbach, appears to be a maritime [...]
BPO, Beethoven shine in season opener
Reviewed by Tony Villecco The Binghamton Philharmonic launched its more-than-year-long Beethoven Project Saturday (Sept. 28) to a very welcoming audience at The Forum, 236 Washington St., Binghamton. Skillfully navigated by its musical director, Daniel Hege, this fine orchestra offered crisp and vigorous playing of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, op.21 [...]
‘Mockingbird’ earns standing ovation at EPAC
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri “Miss Jean Louise. Stand up. You’re father’s passing.” This is one of the most powerful and memorable lines from Christopher Sergel’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and it never fails to elicit an emotional response. It happened again at [...]
KNOW’s ‘La Mancha’ features top-notch acting
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson KNOW Theatre launched its new season last weekend (Sept. 13-15) with a rare musical, Man of La Mancha, which was groundbreaking when it debuted in 1965. With a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, it continues to make [...]
S.T.A.R.’s ‘Mastergate’ is timely, hilarious
Reviewed by Nancy Oliveri If you are a news junkie who plans your vacation or sick days around the next televised congressional hearing, or sets your DVR to keep abreast of the political news of the day, Larry Gelbart’s Mastergate, A Play on Words is for you. Gelbart, you’ll [...]
Find stellar performances at ‘End of the Rainbow’
Reviewed by Tony Villecco As the fabulous Bette Davis said, "Fasten your seat belts; it’s going to be a bumpy night." And it was Saturday (Sept. 7) -- and also spectacular, as Peter Quilter’s love letter to Judy Garland, End of the Rainbow, opened at the Cider Mill Stage [...]
CRT’s ‘The Immigrant’ is heartwarming if, at time, predictable
Reviewed by George Basler The Immigrant, now playing at the Chenango River Theatre in Greene, was written more than 30 years ago, but it’s hard not to think about the current controversy over refugees as the play unfolds. First produced in 1985, Mark Harelik’s play, which runs through Sept. [...]
SPARE’s original take on Holmes/Watson falls short despite actors’ efforts
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson SPARE Production’s latest offering, Haslop & Holmes: Art of the Steal, which opened Friday night (Aug. 16) in Owego, purports to “take its cues from film noir” as well as to “introduce the next generation of Holmes and Watson.” Instead, C. Alexander Park's original play [...]
SPARE’s energetic, likable ‘Anything Goes’ rises above dated plot
Reviewed by George Basler The classic musical Anything Goes is a production that shows its age in ways that are both good and bad. On the good side is a spectacular score by the great Cole Porter that is filled with nuggets from the golden age of the Great [...]
Strong singing abounds in Savoyards’ colorful ‘Yeomen’
Reviewed by Katherine Karlson This year’s annual offering from the Summer Savoyards is the darkest of all the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, but The Yeomen of the Guard is no less the enjoyable musical farce for all its grim emotional underpinnings. Stage Director William Clark Snyder and Music Director [...]
