The Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the Boston Opera House By James Foritano Is an old chestnut a weakness? The Nutcracker is an old chestnut a virtue. Having just come from a screening of the legendary Merce Cunningham’s spare, modern choreography at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston’s landmark“Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957” exhibition, I was distinctly aware of this weakness. True, the costumes are stunning, the moves of the highly trained dancers breathtaking, but come on isn’t this all, at best, superfluous; at worst, heresy in the canon of contemporary dance, a canon which embraces Spartan scenery and dance movements which at least appear spontaneous movements one could possibly witness in a sports stadium or even on a particularly lively street corner? Still, seated in the Boston Opera House’s elegant environs, I remembered not only Merce … [Read more...] about Boston Ballet
Theatre
Boston Lyric Opera’s “In The Penal Colony” at the Cyclorama
By James Foritano (On November 11-14, 2015, the Boston Lyric Opera Annex performed Philip Glass’ “In the Penal Colony” at the Cyclorama. Artscope’s James Foritano files this review of the show for the artscope zine.) Boston, Mass. - The most compelling aspect of “In the Penal Colony,” composer Philip Glass’ contemporary opera inspired by the eponymous short story by Franz Kafka, is the haunting consonance between the music, the spare dialogue, and the dance-like motions of the three actor/singers on stage. If you know Glass’ music, you know it’s about as repetitive and as nuanced as neurons firing. This narrow but intense range is mirrored in the spare dialogue and the acrobatic movements of three protagonists who enact ‘the victim,’ ‘the executioner’ and a ‘foreign visitor,’ who, he repeats often, is only there ‘out of courtesy.’ They … [Read more...] about Boston Lyric Opera’s “In The Penal Colony” at the Cyclorama
Boston Ballet presents Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler at the Boston Opera House
By James Foritano Boston, Mass. - The “Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler,” choreographed by the renowned John Neumeier and performed on Thursday, October 22, by the Boston Ballet on the stage of the Boston Opera House, brought the audience repeatedly to their feet with cheering, clapping and foreign-sounding cries of approval. I, on the other hand didn’t award my approval until what looked to me like an overcrowded stage gave way gradually, mercifully to fewer dancers with more space. My parsimony, approval wise, was probably more a matter of personal esthetics, than expert judgment. I’ve seen traffic cops respond to an impossible glut of traffic at rush hour with absolutely balletic virtuosity, urging on and calming heated horsepower with memorable command. But is it art, or traffic control? At least a million dancers, with helicoptering arms and … [Read more...] about Boston Ballet presents Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler at the Boston Opera House
Finding Fay Festival
FINDING FAY FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 10-15 By Brian Goslow Boston & Surrounding Locations- The Finding Fay Festival, which takes place September 10 through 15, celebrates the life and spirit of local artist and philanthropist Fay Chandler with a series of events, memorials and concerts. “Finding Fay at the BCA Fair” takes place on Saturday, September 12 from noon-4 p.m. at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., Boston. The fair brings arts, cultural and social service organizations loved by Fay together to celebrate with exhibits, performances, readings, displays and interactive activities for every age. Events include instrument playgrounds, performances by Actors Shakespeare, Underground Railway and Nora Theater, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Arts Academy, Conservatory Lab Charter School, and Handel and Haydn Society, painting and sculpture making, led by students from … [Read more...] about Finding Fay Festival
Shakespeare Actors’ Project presents Henry VI, Part 2 at the Suffolk U. Modern Theatre
By James Foritano Boston - While at first, it sounds like a title giving the audience only half a title to something complex that’s already begun, take heart — “Henry VI, Part 2,” presented by the Actor’s Shakespeare Project in the intimate venue of downtown Boston’s Modern Theatre, and, not least, with Shakespeare’s consummate sense of theater, attendees do experience a part of the torrid, literally break-neck action from the first. We enter as Henry VI and his new French bride, Margaret of Anjou, embrace passionately in the hope of all newly weds finding a partner to love and dream with. More of that later. The enabler of this dynastic union, the noble Suffolk, kneels to the king’s impetuous sword and is raised to a duke, thereby becoming known to those courtiers who love to hate him — which is nearly everyone, as Suf-Fuck. This moniker gives you some understanding of the … [Read more...] about Shakespeare Actors’ Project presents Henry VI, Part 2 at the Suffolk U. Modern Theatre
Actors’ Shakespeare Project presents God’s Ear
By Sarah Kinkade Somerville, MA - In today’s world, audiences expect to walk into a theater and see the traditional story arch; there are clear marks of an introduction, rising action, climax and conclusion. This is not the case with the new ASP production of God’s Ear; every expectation is torn down from beginning to end as it takes audiences through the thought process of life-changing tragedy. The main word that comes to mind while watching this thought-provoking production is surrealism. Instead of watching a series of events based on reality, the play takes on a dream-like quality as we enter the minds of the main characters: a father and mother, Ted (Gabriel Kuttner) and Mel (Tamara Hickey), who have suddenly lost their son. Through these viewpoints, along with the use of clichés and scraps of ordinary conversation, it becomes evident how meaningless words and everyday … [Read more...] about Actors’ Shakespeare Project presents God’s Ear