Category Archives: History

THE MET’S “LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN”: WHERE THE PARTS ARE GREATER THAN THE WHOLE

  Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann, was possibly the most original and influential fiction writer of the German Romantic era. Known today primarily for his literary works, Hoffman was also a lawyer and composer. He changed his middle name to Amadeus due to his great […]

October 7, 2024 – 9:17 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on THE MET’S “LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN”: WHERE THE PARTS ARE GREATER THAN THE WHOLE

NOISES OFF: STEPPENWOLF TRIES FARCE

Throughout history audiences have enjoyed stories about putting on plays or making movies. The highlight of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is always the rude mechanicals’ presentation of “the most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” (The more lamentable, the better. Audiences especially love badly done attempts to make theater and […]

September 29, 2024 – 4:07 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on NOISES OFF: STEPPENWOLF TRIES FARCE

BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC SPARKLES IN LYRIC’S FIDELIO

Beethoven wrote only one opera – Fidelio. The Lyric Opera’s production of this singular work highlights the season’s debut of the famous Lyric chorus under the inspired direction of Michael Black, the thrilling playing of the Lyric orchestra led by the always meticulous Enrique Maszzola, and the uniformly dynamic singing of the principal vocalists. Beethoven […]

September 27, 2024 – 10:45 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Politics, Theater, World Affairs | Comments Off on BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC SPARKLES IN LYRIC’S FIDELIO

MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

For the past several years one couldn’t find a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto outside of a “new and improved interpretation”, usually set in a time and place closer to our own. The reasoning was that such a reinterpretation made it easier for the  “boobus Americani” to see how the themes of the work relate […]

September 15, 2024 – 11:59 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Music, Newspapers, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

ON THE 20TH CENTURY: ANOTHER HOMEGROWN CHICAGO MUSICAL SMASH

Unlike the fear of Y2K which heralded the new 21st century, the arrival the twentieth century was the occasion for enthusiasm, hope, and braggadocio. President William McKinley: “The century now drawing to a close has been most memorable in the world’s progress and history. The march of mankind in moral and intellectual advancement has been […]

June 3, 2024 – 10:40 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Movies, Music, Newspapers, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on ON THE 20TH CENTURY: ANOTHER HOMEGROWN CHICAGO MUSICAL SMASH