Until recently at the Metropolitan Opera, my all-time favorite performance of Porgy and Bess was in 1971 at an outdoor theater on Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria. No doubt the setting had something to do with it: When the residents of Catfish Row headed by boat to Kittiwah Island, they did in fact get on …
Broadway Theater; January 6, 2020 (preview performance; opens February 20)—I’m curious whether a younger video-based generation (assuming they’re interested in West Side Story) will embrace this production. The often brilliant director Ivo Van Hove uses live and recorded video projections, as he often does, and mini-sets from which some of the video is broadcast, to …
Metropolitan Opera; January 2, 2020—The Met hasn’t always delivered on its new productions in recent seasons. This one, designed and directed by South Africa’s William Kentridge, is devastating and dazzling at the same time, much as Berg’s 12-tone score. Not for newcomers to opera, Wozzeck was stunningly moving, beautifully sung (Peter Mattei) and acted, and …
“Ask for Jane” is an important, beautifully made, moving re-telling of the true story of a group of women in the pre-Roe v. Wade 1960s who provided 11,000 illegal but safe abortions to University of Chicago women and others. Made on a shoestring budget by a clearly passionate cast and crew, the writing, acting, and …
Love Tanya Tucker’s new album “While I’m Livin’,” produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, with Carlile and bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth providing backup and writing many of the songs evoking Tucker’s story. Her vocals are as evocative as they were (in a different way) when I got to meet her and review “Would …
NEW YORK, NY; AUGUST 5, 2019—Let me say right off the bat (duh; that would pass for quality dialog here) the theatrical spectacle Bat Out of Hell was worth every penny (I paid under $50 a seat). I haven’t heard this much laughter at City Center since I saw Richard Pryor there in 1978. Listen, …
NEWPORT, RI; July 31, 2019—If there is one musician who embodies the spirit of the Newport Folk Festival today it is Brandi Carlile. Within a one hour span on the opening day of this 60th anniversary festival Friday she sat (really sang) in with Amy Ray on the Harbor stage, with Sheryl Crow on the …
BROOKLYN, NY; JULY 19, 2019—Len Chandler — folk singer, songwriter, actor, activist — walked on stage at the Newport Folk Festival late Saturday night July 20, 1969 with a piece of paper in hand. Chandler fumbled with the paper, trying to find a way to attach the lyrics on that sheet to the microphone stand. …
Ripped from the Headlines — NYC, 2019 by Ira Mayer One baby goat, just one baby goat Teenagers found him near the Bronx Zoo Had gadya, had gadya Then came a sheep in Coney Island Tied to a tree so it couldn’t eat the goat Had gadya, had gadya Then came a calf on the …
nightmayer 