My weekend was Russian - how was yours? I reviewed the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre's production of Chekhov's "The Seagull" and the Kansas City Symphony's performance of Mozart and Rachmaninov with guest artsit Jeffrey Kahane.
PREVIEW for KCMetropolis.org: Spring 2012 Bands and Brass
I previewed the band and brass season for KCMetropolis.org. Read it here.
PREVIEW for Kansas City Star: Jazz for 2012
I previewed Kansas City's upcoming jazz season for The Kansas City Star's A&E Spring Preview. The Folly Jazz Series, Jammin' at the GEM series, Blue Room, and Johnson County Community College Jazz Winterlude, amongst others, were discussed.
HIGHLIGHTS from 2011
The old adage holds true: Never work with children or animals. Or try to compete with them.... Nothing Kansas City offered this past year - not the opening of the Kauffman Center, not the great programming at the Nelson-Atkins, not the most intimate show nor the biggest extravaganza of a production - could compare to the experience... Continue Reading →
REVIEW for KCStar: Mark O’Connor at the Folly Jazz Series
I reviewed violinist Mark O'Connor and his American String Celebration ensemble at the Folly Jazz Series for The Kansas City Star.
Je vous demande pardon, mon Croque Monsieur
It is difficult to believe that, despite the fact this blog is ostensibly about sandwiches and evokes the name of Proust, I was not aware of le croque-monsieur, the French version of grilled ham-and-cheese, or of its presence in volume II of Proust's masterwork In Search of Lost Time. To have stumbled across this oversite... Continue Reading →
REVIEW for KCMetropolis.org: “A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol”
I reviewed the Kansas City Young Audiences' concert performance of "A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol" for KCMetropolis.org. This version of Dickens' tale pulls inspiration from famous melodies from Gilbert & Sullivan's extensive output. Read it here.
Critiquing the critic, Part 1: Virgil T – yeah, you know me
As a music critic, it's essential to my development to study the cultural commentary of the past. Though in recent times critcs have become speciliasts in a genre (to even more recent times when budgets mandate that critics became specialists on whatever they're going to see that night...), it used to be that critics were... Continue Reading →
REVIEW for KCStar: Kansas City Ballet “The Nutcracker”
I reviewed Kansas City Ballet's "The Nutcracker" for the Kansas City Star. The company performed their 39th production of Tchaikovsky's timeless tale in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
REVIEW for KCMetropolis.org: All My Sons at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
I reviewed Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" performed by the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. Read my review here.
Proust Eats a Sandwich 