Considered one of Chekhov’s best—if shortest—plays, The Cherry Orchard’s mix of comedy, tragedy and romance in in turn-of-the-century Russia is still relevant, given the hardships that continue to plague the country. Madame Ranevskaya leaves her no-good husband in Paris and returns to her homeland estate to tend to its beautiful orchard. She struggles with money, … Read more
The Jungle and Craig Wright aren’t the only theatrical team tackling 9/11 this month. The Illusion’s Northern Lights project, in fact, is an admirably ambitious affair, staging eleven plays that grapple with the meaning of that pivotal event of our time, all newly commissioned and selected from among eighty contenders. The works include Newsday columnist … Read more
If you want to catch a rising star, this is a good place to look. The venerable Second City comedy troupe, in business since 1959, is easily America’s most prolific source of comedy talent. Besides Belushi, Candy, Murray, Radner and the rest of the Saturday Night Live and SCTV crew you probably already know about, … Read more
Most would agree that finding humor in 9/11 seems nigh-impossible. But humor is too essential—to the human condition and to our need to cope with the enormity of the disaster—to discard entirely. That Craig Wright found a way both to be funny and to face the great darkness at the heart of 9/11 is remarkable; … Read more
Though Albert Kuvezin grew up in the tiny Soviet republic of Tuva and learned the astonishing polytonal singing technique, khoomei, that’s the hallmark of the country, he also found inspiration in underground American acts like Sonic Youth. (We can only imagine how hard it was to get a copy of EVOL in 1980s Communist-era Siberia.) … Read more
The live album everyone remembers, of course, is Stop Making Sense, thanks to the Jonathan Demme-directed movie and the iconic image of David Byrne in that gigantic suit. But as much as we like Sense, it’s hard to beat this double-disc set, finally out for the first time on CD and with a half-hour of … Read more
We’ve been admirers of John Hermanson’s brand of harmonic, smart guitar-pop since 2001, the year his band Alva Star released Alligators in the Lobby, and couldn’t be more pleased that he’s got not one but two lovely new CDs out. Alva Star’s Escalator is a breezy, uplifting set of tunes fronted by Hermanson’s pleasing tenor … Read more
The problem with far too much electronica is that it’s so darn electronic—mechanistic, repetitious and soulless. (That’s one of the things that drove us out of the dance clubs before we were thirtysomething with bad knees.) What we love about Mouse on Mars, and especially the German duo’s wonderful new album Radical Connector, is how … Read more
The problem with far too much electronica is that it’s so darn electronic—mechanistic, repetitious and soulless. (That’s one of the things that drove us out of the dance clubs before we were thirtysomething with bad knees.) What we love about Mouse on Mars, and especially the German duo’s wonderful new album Radical Connector, is how … Read more
He is, as the title of one of his U.K. albums stated it, the Jesus of Cool. He wrote the wedding-dance staple “I Knew the Bride,” as well as the classic howl against injustice “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” definitively recorded by his buddy Elvis Costello. So even though Lowe isn’t touring … Read more