Category Archives: radio

Michelle Bradley is Lyric Opera’s AIDA, Chicago’s Favorite Opera

Not long after Aida premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve of 1871, Verdi’s opera was playing in Chicago, first in April 0f 1885 and then in December 0f 1886. The first Chicago Grand Opera Festival under the sponsorship of the Chicago Opera Festival Organization, J.H. Mapleson manager, was billed as “Music for the People! The […]

March 14, 2024 – 9:47 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, radio, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Michelle Bradley is Lyric Opera’s AIDA, Chicago’s Favorite Opera

THE COURT THEATRE’S THE MOUSETRAP: NEAR PERFECTION

In the late 1920s, mystery writer Ronald Knox published  “Ten Commandments for Writing Detective Fiction.” With her monumental play The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie violated the central commandment. (to reveal that commandment would be the ultimate spoiler.) Dame Christie’s flaunting of the detective mystery norms may account for the play’s record setting run. The mystery has […]

February 9, 2020 – 4:12 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in from Paul, History, Men and Women, Movies, Quotations, radio, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on THE COURT THEATRE’S THE MOUSETRAP: NEAR PERFECTION

ASSASSINATION THEATER: The Most Important and Exciting Theater You Will See

The first great work of theater, Oedipus Rex, is a whodunit. Ever since, solving mysteries seems part and parcel of what audiences expect of the theatrical experience. I was a high school student beginning a lifelong study of theater when the shots rang out in Dallas. Being sent home from school due to an assassination […]

August 18, 2015 – 12:09 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Current Events, from Paul, History, Media, Newspapers, Politics, radio, Television, Theater, Videos, World Affairs | Comments Off on ASSASSINATION THEATER: The Most Important and Exciting Theater You Will See

CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR: A Christmas Gift to Chicago

The Christmas season is a gift to performing artists. People want entertainment at Christmas and are willing to leave the comfort of their homes to find it. Dozens of different types of performances are scheduled, employing hundreds, if not thousands, of artists. Many performers depend upon Christmas to keep them going through the year. As […]

December 8, 2014 – 7:52 pm | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in from Paul, radio, Theater | Comments Off on CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR: A Christmas Gift to Chicago

Out Of the Abundance of the Heart, the Mouth Speaks

 Violating a social taboo has been a universal technique for generating laughter in a cohesive society. For example, in some tribal societies, the clown-shaman could make the group laugh by pretending to drink cow urine and enjoy the taste. This may be the Ur “shock” comedy. However, rather than universal, most comedy is social, that […]

April 13, 2007 – 8:21 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in radio, Television, The Gospel of the Kingdom | Comments (2)