The new National Ballet of Canada season has begun with the emotional gutpunch that is Manon. My intention was to review that production- the knockout leading performance from Jillian Vanstone and scene-stealing guest turn by American Ballet Theatre’s James Whiteside (whom I’d really like to see the National steal); the brutality of the choreography and […]
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“How angry am I? You don’t want to know. Nobody wants to know about that.” It almost makes you regret knocking. Or was it she who knocked on your door? From the first line, we find ourselves wondering how to deal with the Woman Upstairs. We could keep ignoring her; we’re used to doing so. […]
I’m always curious when people choose to adapt a work from another source. I wonder what they’ll choose to highlight from the original work, or what theme they’ll decide to expand upon. I love adaptations for this reason. But even after much thought and reflection, I’m still not sure why Andrew Barbato chose to adapt […]
You know how your parents tell you to get a real job – meaning, something like a doctor or a lawyer and not as a musician or artist? Lily Lambert forestalled all parental criticism by going for both. After successfully obtaining that law degree, the Irish-Welsh singer/songwriter headed for New York City to pursue her […]
I watch cartoons a lot. I mean, a lot a lot. In the past few years this love has been rewarded handsomely with a slew of great new content. But, it hasn’t always been that way… In the late 90s and early 2000s, there was a lot of creator-driven content coming out on various networks. […]
Seeing that I was in a festive upbeat mood, it being my birthday and all, I decided to forget how many figurative candles were on my cake and I took my somewhat conservative wife and theater-savvy teen daughter to see Avenue Q at Arlington Friends of the Drama (“AFD”) Theatre. We were treated to a […]
Perhaps one day I’ll review a comic book and become a mighty geyser of vitriolic verbage, but today is not that day. Maybe it stems from reading as many comics as I do and my tendency to see something good in every one. I end up using this forum as a way to recommend my […]
The history of Shakespeare Bash’d, up to and including their current production of Macbeth at the Monarch Tavern, reveals a pattern of wonderful comedy and middling tragedy. Some of this has to do with the Fringe Festival comedies being shorter and more fun, enlivened by the festival environment. But, mostly, I think it comes down […]