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Artscope Magazine | November/December 2024

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Theatre

THEATER REVIEW: THE SEVEN FINGERS PRESENT PASSENGERS AT EMERSON CUTLER

// Artscope Online, Music, Theatre

by James Foritano

Once again, Arts Emerson has hosted “The Seven Fingers,” a perennial favorite from Canada, most recently for the United States premiere of “Passengers” at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The Seven Fingers troupe must be named for the acrobatic finesse with which they navigate the on-stage ropes, wires and poles which the contemporary circus movement summons for small stage presentations — small stage, that is, in comparison to the “death-defying” heights of the traditional ‘Big-Top” circus tents of my youth. I didn’t much miss the dizzying heights of those days, since these performers were able to demonstrate their breath-taking expertise at more accommodating distances — almost eye-level in some acts. Looking at the cover of “Passengers” program I see again but still don’t quite believe how Conor Wild uses the Chinese pole so deftly for his acrobatics — levitating and … [Read more...] about THEATER REVIEW: THE SEVEN FINGERS PRESENT PASSENGERS AT EMERSON CUTLER

PRESCIENTLY MODERN RHAPSODY CLOSES BOSTON BALLET SEASON

// Artscope Online, Theatre, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

“Rhapsody”, which opened on May 16 and continues through June 9, is Boston Ballet’s end-of-the-season farewell to its fans and supporters before they return from the summer break. Appropriately, there is a looking-back quality to the selections from classical ballet as well as a jazzily modern ring to the centerpiece: “ELA, Rhapsody in Blue.” Leonid Yakobson, a 20th-century Soviet choreographer, who starts off the program, shares both neo-classical and modern qualities with his audience. His first piece, “Pas de Quatre,” leads off with four dancers who exude grace and stature in a sure-footed threesome that dance the whole short piece without ever unlinking hands which over arch all their movements. The unshakable grace is supremely classical. One could imagine the Russian Czar and his family watching a ballet such as “Pas de Quatre” and leaving re-affirmed in their belief … [Read more...] about PRESCIENTLY MODERN RHAPSODY CLOSES BOSTON BALLET SEASON

REVIEW: ALVIN AILEY CELEBRATES 60TH SEASON AT THE BOCH CENTER WANG THEATRE

// Artscope Online, Featured, Theatre

by James Foritano

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated its 60th year as a leading American and world company during its annual Celebrity Series of Boston appearance from May 2 though 5 at the Boch Center Wang Theatre. This year, acclaimed choreographer Rennie Harris’ “Lazarus,” composed in 2018, was featured on Friday evening. “Lazarus” is based on the biblical story in the gospel of John of Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from a tomb where he had lain dead for four days. Fact or legend, this dramatic spectacle has been celebrated in Western culture by superstar painters such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt as well as countless icon paintings from the Eastern regions of the Roman empire. Harris is a choreographer raised in an inner-city community on the North Side of Philadelphia. His rise to his present status in the dance world is itself a miracle of an artistic talent blossoming in the … [Read more...] about REVIEW: ALVIN AILEY CELEBRATES 60TH SEASON AT THE BOCH CENTER WANG THEATRE

ENDICOTT REPERTORY DANCE ENSEMBLE’S ARMATIONS: ANTHROPOCENE AN IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE

// Artscope Online, Featured, Theatre, Visual Arts

by Flavia Cigliano

Every electrifying minute of the Endicott Repertory Dance Ensemble production of Armations: Anthropocene, presented in late April at Tia’s Black Box Theater at the Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts, was a sensory experience, professionally executed, and laden with layers of intellectual content. The production explored the Anthropocene epoch, the geological period characterized by the dominant influence of human activity on climate and the planet’s ecosystems. With dance, visual art, lighting and sound, the production addressed the interrelationship of humanity, the role of technology in our lives, and the future of the natural world. A tall order, no doubt about it, but successfully realized because every element was carefully thought through, resulting in a unified performance that showcased an outstanding corps of young dancers, all students at Endicott College. The … [Read more...] about ENDICOTT REPERTORY DANCE ENSEMBLE’S ARMATIONS: ANTHROPOCENE AN IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE

REVIEW: INDECENT AT THE HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE

// Artscope Online, Featured, Review, Theatre

by James Foritano

The original author of “Indecent,” now playing at the Huntington Avenue Theatre through May 25, was a poet living in a small village in Poland in the first decade of the last century. Sholem Asch was newly married, young and hopeful that he had the talent to express himself not only in a few volumes of respectable verse but on the wider stage of drama, thereby impressing a larger audience with the passions that stirred his soul. The birth then, of “Indecent” came not in English but in Yiddish. It was a drama titled “Got fun Nekome,” which translates to the melodramatic “God of Vengeance” starring a strong-minded Jewish father and brothel entrepreneur who was determined to marry his daughter to a learned and pious Jew in order to capture a higher social status than the one which bubbled so profitably, but, let’s face it, meanly, tucked away in the basement of his mansion. The … [Read more...] about REVIEW: INDECENT AT THE HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE

Nurse Bianca (Margaret Lattimore, r.) consoles Lucretia (Kelley O’Connor) who pines for her husband Collatinus in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of “The Rape of Lucretia” March 11-17 at Artists for Humanity EpiCenter.

BOSTON LYRIC OPERA’S ‘THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA’

// Artscope Online, Featured, Review, Theatre

by James Foritano

Excellence can seem such a simple achievement. Merely assemble practiced, solid parts such as singer/actors, music and libretto (on a timeless theme) and put them on a stage-in-the-round so all their virtues wrap the audience in easy accessibility — not to mention three electronic boards with the dialogue raised high so it’s readable from every angle — and continue, for the duration, to stay out of the way, for goodness sake, until the play is done! Actually, there is some meddling with this simple formula which is so professional that one barely notices, but feels, the enhancements it delivers, while watching Benjamin Britten’s new Boston Lyric Opera production of “The Rape of Lucretia.” Three toughs who also happen to be aristocrats occupy a steep flight of stairs at stage rear of the opening scene. Between battles with a Greek army threatening Rome, they are contemplating what … [Read more...] about BOSTON LYRIC OPERA’S ‘THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA’