It’s amazing how much of our experience of the world is predicated on expectation. I can’t count the number of comedies I’ve been disappointed by because I’d heard how amazing they were, and how many events I’ve loved because I hadn’t been expecting much. Crescent City, the first production from The Industry, LA’s new opera company, suffers from this unfortunate effect of impossibly high expectations. It is, however, a pretty …more…
Arts America Blog
Crescent City’s music and performers impress; but does hyperopera live up to the hype?
May 25, 2012 by
American Youth Symphony’s triumphant kick off concert for The Elfman Project
May 8, 2012 by
I can’t imagine how many people skip out on American Youth Symphony concerts because of the name, thinking, “I don’t want to hear a bunch of kids.” Let’s get something straight: when the musicians in this orchestra come together to play, they sound better than most of our country’s professional orchestras. The upper limit on age is 27; the large majority of musicians are studying their instruments full time at …more…
Sylvia: A darkly effective musing on inner turmoil
April 19, 2012 by
Independently produced opera can be an unwieldy beast. Sometimes you come hoping for the cutting edge, and get something unstaged that sounds like a failed attempt at Sondheim on an out of tune piano. Sometimes representation of the action leaves far, far too much to the imagination to make showing up worthwhile. But sometimes — most often because the composer, director, and musicians have the talent and dedication to pull …more…
