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
Review
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA’S ‘THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA’
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’
REVIEW OF ‘ANSEL ADAMS: IN OUR TIME’ AT MFA BOSTON
Ansel Adams’s Manzanar photos “burn one’s eyes.” Twice in 1943, Ansel Adams ventured to the desert of east central California, to focus his lens, not on some magnificent landscape, but on the desolate Manzanar War Relocation Center to document the life of the Japanese interred there. The result was the 1944 publication of Born Free and Equal, a 112-book that presented a selection of his Manzanar photos with text by Adams. The MFA exhibition “Ansel Adams: In Our Time” thoughtfully and beautifully demonstrates Adams’ influence on the work of several 21st-century photographers. But the exhibition (which ended February 24) offers up only four small photos and a brief explanation about this little-known chapter in his life’s work. Adams’s Manzanar photos, which warrant further exploration, are strongly “of our time,” a time when once again “the other” is being demonized. On February … [Read more...] about REVIEW OF ‘ANSEL ADAMS: IN OUR TIME’ AT MFA BOSTON
CONCERT REVIEW: IDLES AT BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
On September 20, I found myself outside Brighton Music Hall for the first time in my six or so years of living in Boston, in line to see Idles, a punk band from Bristol, England that was in the midst of a tour for its sophomore album, Joy is an Act of Resistance. When a band releases a second album, there is a high level of anxiety that it will suffer by comparison to a successful debut album and the band will fade into obscurity (and join the ranks of other one-hit wonders). This is not the case for Idles; the new album has already received high ratings from critics that are claiming the album as a fresh take on the punk genre. The album delivers social commentary on the toxicity of the punk scene as well as the right wing’s take on immigrants. When the band started playing their set, its singer, Joe Talbot, slowly paced the stage staring down the crowd like a shark circling … [Read more...] about CONCERT REVIEW: IDLES AT BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
Running the Numbers: Tricot at Paradise Rock Club, June 9, 2018
A show at the Paradise Rock Club in Allston, Mass., on June 9 was a collection of math rock bands from the last two decades, some old, some new. The band I was there for was Tricot, an almost entirely female math rock band from Japan. This was the band's second United States tour and, knowing the gamble of planning and financing an international tour, this would probably be my only chance to see them live. While waiting in line the majority of people were here for the headlining band, CHON. The genre of math rock can easily be summed up by a unique tempo and switching time signatures, as well as stacking rhythm and lead parts as an extended fugue piece. It is hard to separate math rock bands’ timbres from one another. A pitfall that some bands fall into is that they will start to drift from the rhythm of the song and all the instruments will just start competing with each other instead … [Read more...] about Running the Numbers: Tricot at Paradise Rock Club, June 9, 2018
A Portable Block Party: Funky Dawgz Brass Band at the Middle East
On April 19, I saw Funky Dawgz Brass Band at the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Mass. I ended up at this specific show through multiple recommendations from friends who couldn't stop talking about the raw energy that the band blasts out of its trumpets, trombones, saxophones and tubas. My curiosity was piqued and I headed over to see and hear for myself. This a group that has spent years performing and touring around the country building its foundation on a certain tool in a musician's toolbox: call and response- one of the main pillars for early jazz, blues and gospel music. The idea of call and response creates a stronger connection between the performer and the audience. This was fully on display in the Funky Dawgz's performance as they assigned different roles to various sides of the venue, including choruses and dance moves, with band members like a nervous … [Read more...] about A Portable Block Party: Funky Dawgz Brass Band at the Middle East