Monthly Archives: October 2015

EAST OF EDEN: Steppenwolf’s Triumphant “Story of Every Human Soul”

What makes the Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Terry Kinney’s direction of Frank Galati’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden superior in every way to the 1955 Elia Kazan directed Paul Osborn scripted film? Let me count the ways. First, Steppenwolf understands Steinbeck’s story. Despite his deserved fame as a stage and screen director, […]

Lyric Opera’s CINDERELLA: An Unexpected Joy!

Who, other than an eight year old girl and Gioachino Rossini, could have guessed that Cinderella could be so much fun! Certainly not me. The Lyric Opera’s production of the  Rossini classic, as produced by the Spanish team of Joan Font, director, Joan Guillen, sets and costumes, Albert Faura, light, and Xevi Dorca, choreography, arrived […]

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO: Opera Buffa, Heavy on the Buffa

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro may be the world’s most beloved opera. Singers love to sing it. Musicians love to play it. And, most importantly, audiences love to see it. Every city seeking a local opera culture will soon produce this great treasure of civilization. Early Chicago saw Colonel James Mapleson, the great English opera […]