Category Archives: Dance

VA ARTS FESTIVAL’S ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: HAIL, FLORENT SCHMITT! HAIL, JOANN FALLETTA!

Florent Schmitt? The name would give even the most learned musicologist pause to retrieve the name from the dustbin of musical history. Enter JoAnn Falletta. Virginia’s beloved maestra is as devoted to recovering forgotten masterpieces as she is to the presentation of new works. So, it should come as no surprise that Florent Schmitt should […]

May 19, 2019 – 11:31 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on VA ARTS FESTIVAL’S ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: HAIL, FLORENT SCHMITT! HAIL, JOANN FALLETTA!

OPERA IN WILLIAMSBURG’S DIE ZAUBERFLOTE: MUSICAL MAGIC

Bernard Shaw considered Mozart’s ZAUBERFLOTE, The Magic Flute, to be “the first oratorio of the religion of humanity.” On the other hand, opera historian Gustav Kobbe considers the libretto to the Magic Flute “such a jumble of nonsense that it is as well to endeavor to extract some sense from it.”[i] Nothing perplexes viewers as […]

May 10, 2019 – 3:17 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on OPERA IN WILLIAMSBURG’S DIE ZAUBERFLOTE: MUSICAL MAGIC

THE MET’S LA FILLE DU REGIMENT: ALMOST PERFECT

With seven operas by the young upstart  Italian  composer opening within a year, the French composers of Paris had had enough. Speaking for his aggrieved colleagues, Hector Berlioz wrote, Mr. Donizetti seems to treat us like a conquered country; it is a veritable invasion n. One can no longer speak of the opera houses of […]

March 4, 2019 – 10:30 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Theater | Comments Off on THE MET’S LA FILLE DU REGIMENT: ALMOST PERFECT

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