May 2017 – Repeat Performances

May 26, 2017

Opera Parallèle’s “Les Enfants Terribles”

A compelling descent. Last Friday, May 26, Opera Parallèle explored the complex relationship between a brother and sister for a sold-out crowd at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Philip Glass’ opera, Les Enfants Terribles, was one long downward spiral of symbolism and obsession based on the poetry of Jean Cocteau and impelled by three pianos pounding away at a minimalist score. Cocteau wrote his story of destructive love in the...

Categories: opera

May 19, 2017

The Oakland Symphony in “Guys and Dolls”

Slam dunk! The Oakland Symphony finished their season in style last Friday, May 19, at the Paramount Theater with a concert version of Guys and Dolls, a musical by Frank Loesser that premiered in 1950. Although unstaged and heavily cut, this was an opportunity to hear the music in all its sparkle and lushness, neither confined by the pit nor upstaged by costumes or clever dialogue. (And one must add that the choir did manage full costumes and the...

Categories: music

May 5, 2017

Alonzo King Lines Ballet: The language of dance

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Categories: dance

May 3, 2017

Peter Brook’s “Battlefield” at A.C.T.

In step with Destiny Peter Brook speaks warmly about traveling outside of Europe with a group of actors in the early 1970s. This group would eventually form the core of the International...

Categories: theater