Monthly Archives: December 2018

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG: A PLAY FOR OUR TIME

Of all the types of drama, farce is the most politically incorrect. In fact, according to Aristotle, farce exists to evoke laughter and ridicule toward characters we deem to be  “not normal”. The farceur urges his audience to identify characters as worse than we are in all kinds of ways – socially, physically, morally, intellectually, […]

December 29, 2018 – 2:08 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, from Paul, History, Quotations, Theater, World Affairs | Comments Off on THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG: A PLAY FOR OUR TIME

ARENA STAGE’S ANYTHING GOES: CLASSIC MUSICAL FUN

In 1934 Anything Goes, the musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter opened in New York City. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.  Their object was maximum fun, and minimum attention to the news of the day. And they succeeded brilliantly. The Times critic wrote that the […]

December 27, 2018 – 3:25 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Politics, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on ARENA STAGE’S ANYTHING GOES: CLASSIC MUSICAL FUN

THE MET’S NEW LA TRAVIATA: A PINK CAMELLIA

In Alexander Dumas’La Dame aux Camellias /The Lady of the Camellia (1848) the heroine, a prostitute named Marguerite, signals her availability for business by displaying one of two camellias – the red camellia means she is unavailable, the white camellia means Marguerite will see gentlemen callers. A giant pink camellia dominates both the opening and closing of […]

December 17, 2018 – 1:15 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on THE MET’S NEW LA TRAVIATA: A PINK CAMELLIA

THE VIRGINIA SYMPHONY AND CHORUS’ MESSIAH RAISES THE ROOF

Maestra JoAnn Falletta led a rousingly spirited rendition of Handel’s magnificent oratorio The Messiah last evening. Keeping the spirit-filled symphony and chorus moving for over two hours, Ms. Falletta gave the orchestra’s string section an opportunity to shine, and shine they did. Their playing did not only sound wonderful, their playing was a lovely visual […]

December 16, 2018 – 7:34 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Art, Current Events, from Paul, History, Music, The Gospel of the Kingdom, Theology | Comments Off on THE VIRGINIA SYMPHONY AND CHORUS’ MESSIAH RAISES THE ROOF

The Significance of Handel’s Messiah

“George Frideric Handel was the first composer in Western history who never had to be rediscovered, mainly because by the time he died his oratorio MESSIAH had already attained the legendary status it has never lost. Up to Handel’s time music was written for the present and was largely expected to fade away after the […]

December 9, 2018 – 2:07 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in from Paul, History, Music, Quotations | Comments Off on The Significance of Handel’s Messiah