Category Archives: Books

LYRIC’S FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: SWAN SONG FOR TRADITION

Fiddler on the Roof, the world-famous musical adaptation of the stories of Sholom Aleichem, opens with the glorious song, “Tradition”, which proudly announces the subject of the musical story about to unfold. The dean of American theater critics Harold Clurman explains what is meant here by “tradition”: “This tradition, which might superficially be taken to […]

September 29, 2022 – 3:14 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Theology | Comments Off on LYRIC’S FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: SWAN SONG FOR TRADITION

RED-BLOODED ERNANI OPENS LYRIC SEASON

None of Verdi’s four previous operas did as much as Ernani for his reputation. Ernani (1844) owed its popularity to the coattails of Victor Hugo’s monumental Hernani (1830). Critics who complain of Ernani’s plot devices totally misunderstand what Victor Hugo was trying to do. The play Hernani was a full-scale assault on the reigning New-Classicism […]

September 22, 2022 – 11:10 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, Current Events, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on RED-BLOODED ERNANI OPENS LYRIC SEASON

RAVINIA OFFERS A MAGNIFICENT DON GIOVANNI

When opera arrived in Chicago, Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni lagged behind in public approval. The Chicago Tribune reports that in 1867 “Don Giovanni has literally fought its way into public favor here. When first produced it attracted only musicians who recognized its intrinsic worth. But year after year Don Giovanni audiences grow larger and larger. […]

August 14, 2022 – 6:04 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Current Events, from Paul, History, Magazines, Men and Women, Music, Newspapers, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on RAVINIA OFFERS A MAGNIFICENT DON GIOVANNI

SINGING SAVES STONE’S CAMPY LUCIA AT THE MET

  In 1964 the literary critic Susan Sontag published the definitive work “On Camp”’ in which she defined the genre as loving “the unnatural, the artificial, the exaggerated.” In art, Camp’s exaggeration proceeds from both passion and naiveté, both of which opera director Simon Stone employed in his production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the […]

May 22, 2022 – 3:46 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on SINGING SAVES STONE’S CAMPY LUCIA AT THE MET

STEPPENWOLF’S SEAGULL SOARS IN NEW TRANSLATION, NEW THEATRE

The almost half century old Steppenwolf Theatre opened its new 600 seat Ensemble Theater with a beautiful new translation of Anton Chekhov’s historic play, directed by the translator  Yasen Peyankov. The Seagull, directed by Konstantin Stanislavski for the new Moscow Art Theater, established the Russian theater as one of the finest in the world, and […]

May 7, 2022 – 9:26 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, Current Events, from Paul, History, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on STEPPENWOLF’S SEAGULL SOARS IN NEW TRANSLATION, NEW THEATRE