Monthly Archives: November 2018

THE LONDON PALLADIUM KING AND I: NOT GOOD

The King and I gets  its power from the fact that, at its core, the story is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale. The Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of the musical made that crystal clear when it cast a nice guy where the beast should have been. The tension and suspense […]

VA SYMPHONY HAS THEM DANCING IN THE STREETS

   On an October evening, fifty-two years, ago a seventeen year old boy wandered into UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville to hear his first pop concert,  performed by a group called Matha and The Vandellas. Ever since that night, Motown has been my pop music of choice, with some space reserved  for the eternal Bob […]

NORFOLK LITTLE THEATRE’S THE FOREIGNER: “BLASNY, BLASNY”

In the midst of perplexity, doubt, fear, anger, and uncertainty, laughter may be the fragrance that freshens the air.[i] Terry Lindvall,  Virginia Wesleyan University The air in and around Norfolk’s Little Theatre on Claremont Avenue  is definitely fresh courtesy of a satisfying production of Larry Shue’s 1983 farce, The Foreigner, featuring the fine acting of […]

VIRGINIA OPERA’S DON GIOVANNI: FABULOUS FUN

After surveying the centuries of Don Juan incarnations, David Bentley Hart concludes that the character is simply now “beyond our ken”[i] While that may be true in the world of philosophy, in the nuts and bolts world of theater “ken”, or understanding, is what is demanded by performers and audience alike. So rather than pick […]