Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Jan 29

An Epic Act of Foley: “Lo-Fi Lowdown”

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Pictured: Tanya O’Debra Photo credit: Molly Peck

Pictured: Tanya O’Debra Photo credit: Molly Peck

Act One: Jazz Noir, by Bremner Duthie
Act Two: RADIO STAR, by Tanya O’Debra
Directed by Peter James Cook
Original Music by Andrew Mauriello

January 27th @ 7pm
Club Oberon
Cambridge, MA
Lo-Fi Lowdown Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge) Lo-Fi Lowdown was an homage to the Noir style and the art that it inspires. The first half of the performance was a jumping jazz concert lead by Bremner Duthie and his combo. The second half belonged to Tanya O’Debra and her one-woman radio play Radio Star. Together these two halves complied a fresh evening of cabaret and Foley fun. Continue reading →

Jan 26

No More Love on the Run*: Purcell’s THE INDIAN QUEEN

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Purcell Queen

presented by the Handel and Haydn Society
Harry Christophers, Artist Director
Aisslinn Nosky, Concert Master
John Finney, Chorusmaster

January 25 & 27, 2013
Jordan Hall & Sanders Theatre
Boston, MA
Handel and Haydn Facebook Page

There are some culture-lovers reluctant to attend an evening of opera. Some fear pomp and stuffiness; others fear boredom. These fears encumber the uninitiated with false bias against the excellence that only classical music can convey. H&H’s performance of The Indian Queen was entirely lacking in snobbery and the program notes were jam packed with enough historical trivia to entertain a fidgety toddler. The music of Purcell was warm and gentle. It wrapped around the audience like an electric Snuggie; a balm for the bitter winter chill.   Continue reading →

Jan 25

Concert/World Premiere: “The Cat and the Moon”

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Photo credit: Ellen Mandel; Kitty companions should be left at home.

Photo credit: Ellen Mandel; Kitty companions should be left at home.

Daniel Neer sings music by Ellen Mandel at the ”Pianos Plus Concert”

New songs to poems by Thomas Hardy, Seamus Heaney, WB Yeats, e.e. cummings, and others, including a World Premiere of Yeats’ sweet  “The Cat and the Moon.”

New Gallery Concerts
Thurs January 31 at 7 PM
The Community Music Center of Boston
34 Warren Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

Ellen Mandel Facebook Page
more information:  (617) 254-4133
http://www.newgalleryconcertseries.org/
Available on Amazon.com

Also on the program: Pianists, Sarah Bob, Marti Epstein, and John McDonald, performing music by Barish, Epstein, McDonald, and Woolf, and an exhibit of works by multi-media artist Chelsea Revelle. REVIEWS: Continue reading →

Jan 24

The Bad Plus premiere of “On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring”

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Photo: Cameron Wittig; not just handsome faces.

Photo: Cameron Wittig; The Bad Plus, not just handsome faces.

presented by World Music/CRASHarts

The Bad Plus
Performing the Boston premiere of On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring
Friday, February 15, 7:00 PM and at 9:30 PM

Institute of Contemporary Art
100 Northern Ave
Boston, 02210
General admission $35.00
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Page
The Bad Plus Facebook Page

Rule-breaking, genre-bending and thoroughly entertaining, the charismatic jazz trio returns with its daring take on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, accompanied by a mind-blowing video mix by lighting designer Cristina Guadalupe and film director Noah Hutton.

Jan 22

LO-FI LOWDOWN: A Double Bill of Epic Old-timey Proportions

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LO-FI LOWDOWN
COMES TO OBERON FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

Pictured: Tanya O’Debra Photo credit: Molly Peck

Pictured: Tanya O’Debra, her make-up is flawless. Photo credit: Molly Peck.

ACT ONE: JAZZ NOIR, BY BREMNER DUTHIE
ACT TWO: RADIO STAR, BY TANYA O’DEBRA
JANUARY 27TH @ 7PM
Lo-Fi Lowdown Facebook Page

 Cambridge, MA: The Boston premiere of Lo-Fi Lowdown, a double bill of epic old-timey proportions, comes to Oberon (2 Arrow Street Cambridge, MA) for one night only. This 1940’s themed cabaret/radio show plays on Sunday, January 27th at 7pm. Tickets ($18) are available at the door and online.

Act One: Jazz Noir, by Bremner Duthie
Bremner sings songs from the era of Film Noir. Songs from the dangerous night on the dark side of the street, like a burst of passion on a lazy afternoon, leaving violence in their wake.

Act Two: RADIO STAR, by Tanya O’Debra
Directed by Peter James Cook
Original Music by Andrew Mauriello
Boston native cum NYC comedienne Tanya O’Debra brings her award winning play, Radio Star, to Oberon for her first hometown show.

Jan 21

“Once” from Theater Communications Group

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"Once" by Enda Walsh

“Once” by Enda Walsh

Once by Enda Walsh
Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

Theater Communications Group (TCG)
January 2012
$13.95
520 Eighth Ave, 24th Floor
New York, New York 10018
www.tcg.org

This volume includes the book and lyrics but not the score. It includes a brief foreword by writer Enda Walsh about the workshop process in a church basement in Cambridge, MA.

The story revolves around an Irish man, “Guy,” who has almost given up on life, love and music. He is given new perspective by a passionate and sweet Czech woman, “Girl,” a single mother and music enthusiast. Together these unrequited lovers set on a course for life affirming change and success while renewing their faith in the power of creation and love. Continue reading →

Jan 21

Good, Right, True: “Legend of Sleepy Hollow: An American Pantomime”

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Imaginary Beasts 2013

Imaginary Beasts 2013; no horses were used in this production. They gave full consent.

presented by Imaginary Beasts: Winter Panto 2013
Part of the Emerging Theatre Company program

Conceived and written by Matthew Woods and the Ensemble

Directed by Matthew Woods
Choreography by Joey Pelletier and Kiki Samko

January 11 – February 2, 2013
Plaza Black Box Theatre
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Imaginary Beasts Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) The pantomime (panto) began its troubled youth as British entertainment based on the Elizabethan masque. It touched on classical subjects, included music and often borrowed from the Commedia dell’Arte style. These days, if one travels to jolly olde England during the Christmas and New Year’s season, one is confronted with vaudeville debauchery, bedazzled drag queens, slapstick and heaps of audience participation. It’s amazing that the US hasn’t already adopted the Panto and claimed it as our own invention. Enter Legend of Sleepy Hollow: An American Pantomime.

The form has been simplified and adapted for the small stage by Imaginary Beasts and contains the same wacky charm as its British cousin and more of the brash sassiness expected from the fringe theatre scene. We’re treated to country line dancing, Rocky references, and an extra hairy Fairy Godfather (Mikey DiLoreto) who speaks in rhyme and verse but not to a multimedia spectacular. The charm is in the ensemble’s work and it is served with campy flair. Continue reading →

Jan 15

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Feb. 9, 8PM

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Ladysmith Black MambazoPhoto: Luis Leal

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Photo: Luis Leal

presented by World Music/CRASHarts

From South Africa

Saturday, February 9, 8:00 PM ONLY
Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St
Cambridge, 02138
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Facebook Page

With the power of gospel and the precision of Broadway, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the undisputed king of mbube, South African a cappella singing. The group came together in the early 1960s and continues to thrill audiences around the world with its strong, proud melodies, harmonized in layers of call and response.

Jan 13

A Percussive Prayer: “SoLe Sanctuary”

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Savion GloverPhoto: Lois Greenfield

Photo credit: Lois Greenfield, Marshall Davis Jr. unfortunately not pictured.

presented by Celebrity Series of Boston and World Music/CRASHarts

Featuring Savion Glover and Marshall Davis Jr.: The Last HooFeRz Standing
Directed and Choreographed by Spirits Known

Saturday, January 12, 8pm ONLY (alas!)
Ran 2 hours without an intermission
The Boston Opera House
539 Washington Street, Boston.
Celebrity Series of Boston and World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Pages

Savion Glover’s SoLe Sanctuary is an homage to the great performers that have inspired his career. It is also a devotional to God; a spiritual testament to his journey as a dancer and artist. Starting from the opening moments when Glover is meditating over candles, the program wavers between personal statement and percussive prayer. It is a deeply intimate perspective of Glover’s experience as a dancer, man and child of the divine.  Continue reading →

Jan 06

Breathtaking Chutzpah: PIPPIN

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Photo: Michael Lutch; a tender balancing act.

Photo: Michael Lutch; a tender balancing act.

book Roger O. Hirson
music and lyrics Stephen Schwartz
directed by Diane Paulus
circus creation Gypsy Snider of Les 7 Doigts de la Main
choreography by Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse

presented by American Repertory Theatre
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
December 5, 2012 to January 20, 2013
ART Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge) This Cirque du Soleil meets Fosse production of “Pippin” tells the tale of the Everyman, a youthful personification of any adult tentatively beginning the journey toward self-knowledge. Our young hero seeks the meaning of life in all the wrong places: violence, sex, politics, and other follies of inexperience. What the audience soon realizes is that Pippin, son of Charlemagne (the Emperor who not only made Christianity famous but mandatory), for all his proclamations, isn’t special. He is on the same journey that all young adults travel in their search for self – plus or minus some fantastical hardships and an orgy or two. What our hero discovers on this epic ego-trip is that, after he finds and secures a lasting relationship with meaning, he doesn’t know what to do with it. Continue reading →