Interludes

THE STATE OF THE ARTS – February 6, 2015

• By drediman
• February 6, 2015
• No Comments

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the confident baton of Riccardo Muti, played Carnegie Hall last weekend and showed why they’re one of the best with their vital, luxurious playing. The somewhat unusual sea-inspired program included Mendelssohn’s Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt, Debussy’s La Mer, and Scriabin’s 3^rd Symphony.
• The National Theatre of Scotland’s soulful and terrifying stage adaptation of the Swedish vampiric tale Let the Right One In is currently wowing audiences at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. With this show, John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett have established themselves as one of the hottest and influential theater-makers in contemporary theater.
• The New York City Ballet continues to impress in its winter season. This past week, I caught a program entitled All Balanchine 1: Classic Combination, which included three iconic Balanchine works: the ethereal Serenade (music by Tchaikovsky), the modern and angular Agon (music by Stravinsky), and the majestic Symphony in C (music by Bizet). When seen together, these remarkable and vastly different works comprise a thrilling retrospective of Balanchine’s output. This time around, I particularly took to Agon, a piece that is a particularly good match for Teresa Reichlen’s cool and powerful presence.
• London-based Complicite’s family-friendly production of Lionboy just completed an all-too-brief run at the New Victory (I was lucky enough to catch the final performance). Much like Fiasco’s current extraordinary Into the Woods for Roundabout or Bedlam’s delightful, recently-closed adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Complicite’s Lionboy utilizes ensemble-driven, devised theater storytelling to truly exciting effect. It’s a lengthy, eventful show with lots of ideas stuffed into its sci-fi inspired plot, but the talented folks at Complicite were able to enthrall the young audience (and me) for every second of it.
• Encores! current offering at City Center is the Gershwins’ silly and ever-tuneful Lady, Be Good. Mark Brokaw’s staging is refreshingly un-fussy, and he coaxes some inspired performances from his cast, which includes Colin Donnell, Danny Gardner, Jeff Hiller, Erin Mackey, Patti Murin, Richard Poe, Douglas Sills, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Kirsten Wyatt, and Special Guest Tommy Tune (!).
• Classic Stage Company is currently staging a wonderful rare revival of Turgenev’s A Month in the Country. The starry and stylish revival (led by Peter Dinklage, Taylor Schilling, and Anthony Edwards – all in fine form) has been effectively streamlined from its original five hour running time to just over two hours. Although the play pre-dates Chekhov’s major stage works, it’s hard not to see the resemblance in style, themes, and characters between the two playwrights. Perhaps we’re not giving enough credit where credit is due?