Category Archives: Music

PORCHLIGHT’S “ANYTHING GOES” IS A “DE-LOVELY” SURPRISE

When the musical comedy Anything Goes first played in Chicago in 1934 the nation and the city were caught in the country’s worst economic situation – The Great  Depression. The Great Depression was particularly severe in Chicago because of the city’s reliance on manufacturing, the hardest hit sector nationally. Only 50 percent of the Chicagoans […]

January 14, 2024 – 3:02 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Theater | Comments Off on PORCHLIGHT’S “ANYTHING GOES” IS A “DE-LOVELY” SURPRISE

The Met’s NABUCCO: Verdi’s Beautiful Prayer for those in Exile

On February 23 of last year, Naomi Wolf,  author, feminist and former advisor to Bill Clinton and Al Gore published a remarkable essay, “Have the Ancient Gods returned?” In it she quotes Jonathan Cahn’s book The Return of The Gods[i]           “Having accurately traced the lineage of pagan worship and pagan forces, Cahn makes the […]

January 11, 2024 – 1:11 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, Books, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Poetry, Quotations, Theater, Theology | Comments Off on The Met’s NABUCCO: Verdi’s Beautiful Prayer for those in Exile

MET OPERA’S FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS ENCHANTS WITH BEAUTY AND IMAGINATION

Composer Daniel Catan has been quoted as saying that he needed ” to write music that was seductive, glittering, and mesmerizing.” His opera Florencia en el Amazonas ia a welcome and enchanting addition to the world’s operatic contemporary repertoire, which has been dominated by nihilistic interpretations of classic operas. The libretto is by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, […]

December 14, 2023 – 1:51 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on MET OPERA’S FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS ENCHANTS WITH BEAUTY AND IMAGINATION

LYRIC’S DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT IS A DELIGHTFUL ROMP

Before discussing Gaetano Donizetti and the lovely new production of The Daughter of The Regiment now playing at the Lyric Opera, time must be taken to remember the most exciting production of the Donizetti opera ever to play in Chicago. Only sixty-four days following the surrender of General Lee to General Grant, thus ending the […]

November 17, 2023 – 2:48 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Current Events, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on LYRIC’S DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT IS A DELIGHTFUL ROMP

LYRIC OPERA OFFERS BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL JENUFA

Confession, repentance, and forgiveness are in woefully short supply in today’s world. So it comes as no small pleasure to find them the bedrocks upon which Leos Janacek built his amazing opera, now wowing audiences at the Lyric Opera The Moravian composer Leos Janacek (1854-1928) would be called a “late-bloomer” in today’s slang. He was […]

November 13, 2023 – 11:44 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Theology | Comments Off on LYRIC OPERA OFFERS BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL JENUFA