Josmar16

LATEST ARTICLES ( 425 )

• ‘Les Pêcheurs De Perles’ and ‘Tannhäuser’ (Part One) — Casting ‘Pearls’ Before...

  

  Better Late Than NeverMatthew Polenzani (Nadir), with the Met Opera Chorus in Les Pecheurs de PerlesWhy did it take so long for Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles t... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Amadeus’ (1984) — Too Many Notes and Quite a Few More!

  

  Tom Hulce as Mozart in the movie Amadeus (1984)A Comedy of DisproportionsBritish playwright, author, and screenwriter Sir Peter Shaffer (The Royal Hunt of the... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Yee Haw! A Met Opera Round-Up (Part Two): Losing One’s Head Over ‘Anna Bolena’...

  

  The Tawdry Ways of Operatic RoyaltySondra Radvanovsky as Anna Bolena (Photo: Ken Howard)Opera is such a fascinating subject! There’s no end to the plots and... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (1948) — Let Rabid, Sleeping Dogs Lie

  

  Humphrey Bogart (left) John Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)A vagrant in a battered hat, raggedy clothes and unshaven visage comes up to a tall lea... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Yee Haw! —A Met Opera Year-End Round Up with ‘The Barber of Seville’, ‘Die...

  

  Some Productions are Best Left UnheardAlmaviva (David Portillo), Figaro (Elliot Madore) Isabel Leonard (Rosina) in The Barber of Seville (Photo: Karen... Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• In the Merry Month of December: A Boring ‘Bohème,’ a Rousing ‘Rigoletto,’ and a...

  

  A Long Time Ago, in an Opera House Far, Far Away….Finale to Café Momus scene, Act II of La Boheme at the MetWelcome, opera fans, to the 2015-2016 Metropolitan... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• The Jazz Samba Project: What’s Old is New, and What’s New Gets Old Fast

  

  Of Concerts and SymposiumsThe Felix E. Grant “Wall of Fame” at the Strathmore, June 8, 2014What’s old is new. And what’s new gets old fast. Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2016 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• It’s ‘Jazz Samba’ Time! Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Landmark Bossa...

  

  Me Buddy Deppenschmidt at Strathmore, Education Room 309, June 8, 2014The following is a transcript of an interview I conducted with jazz drummer Buddy... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Madama Butterfly’ — North Carolina Opera Triumphs with Puccini’s Japanese...

  

  And Now, For Your Listening Pleasure…Cio-Cio-San (Talise Trevigne) Suzuki (Lindsey Ammann) in Act II of Madama Butterfly (Photo: Curtis Brown)Interestingly,... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) — Man Losing His Humanity

  

  “I am a HAL 9000 computer” from 2001: A Space OdysseyStanley Kubrick’s timeless visionary epic, originally billed (and titled) as a “journey beyond the stars,”... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Madama Butterfly’ — North Carolina Opera Triumphs with Puccini’s Japanese...

  

  Lunch and LearnSharpless reading Pinkerton’s letter to Cio-Cio-San, from Act II of Madama ButterflyI mentioned in my previous post, regarding Puccini and North... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘The Godfather, Part II’ (1974) — The Dark Dream Lives On: A Tale of Two Men

  

  Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II (Paramount Pictures)At three hours and twenty minutes, The Godfather, Part II is almost as long as David... Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Madama Butterfly’ — North Carolina Opera Triumphs with Puccini’s Japanese...

  

  Flower Duet from Act II of NCO’s production of Madama Butterfly (Photo: Curtis Brown)I Remember It Well…Okay, so it wasn’t the Metropolitan Opera’s critically... Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990) — Sensitive and Scarred in California

  

  Wynona Ryder embracing Johnny Depp as Edward ScissorhandsThis is the movie that firmly cemented heartthrob actor Johnny Depp’s teen-idol “creds,” and with good... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘The Godfather, Part I’ (1972) — The Dark of Side of the American Dream

  

  Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) speaks to Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto) in The Godfather, Part I“I believe in America,” an unseen voice exclaims. Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Welcome to Sherwood, My Lady’ — ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ (1938)

  

  Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles) in The Adventures of Robin HoodThough filmed in the “wilds” of the California hills — in a 2400 acre... Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Belle of the Masked Ball — ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ and the Met’s Continuing...

  

  Gustavo’s death scene, Act III, of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (Beth Bergman)Lost in TranslationWhen last we left the Metropolitan Opera radio season, which fo... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Lost Navigator: Michael Richards — A Story of Redemption Through Art

  

  Michael Richards Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian (Photo: Frank Stewart / The Studio Museum in Harlem)The clock-radio went off at 7:45 a.m. on the morning of... Read more

  Posted on 12 September 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Another Opening, Another Met Opera Show: Ringing in the New 2015-2016 Broadcast...

  

  So Many Choices, So Little Time…Aleksandrs Antonenko as Otello, the Moor of Venice (Photo: Met Opera)When one radio season ends, another begins. Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• New Met Productions of ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and ‘Pagliacci’ — Two Operas Joine...

  

  ‘Si può?’ — ‘If I may?’George Gagnidze as Tonio in the Prologue to Pagliacci (Photo: Met Opera)Returning to the topic at hand, verismo (or “realism,” in th... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2015 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA