On the Road--Motown, Mo’ Better Now I hadn’t been to Detroit in fifteen years. I have cousins in one of its suburbs and a friend in Ann Arbor. Its Black Pride Festival, Hotter Than July!, is held the last weekend of that month. So last year I figured why not visit for a long weekend getaway from New Orleans’ summer heat’n’humidity. I’m happy I did. The previous time I was … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards
Champion Terence Blanchard
Google “Movies about boxers” and dozens of titles come up. Google “Operas about boxers” and one title appears. Google “Movies about gay boxers” and there are still a half-dozen titles. Google “Operas about gay boxers” and the same title that popped up before reappears. That opera is Champion by New Orleans native and multiple Grammy Award winner Terence Blanchard which New … [Read more...] about Champion Terence Blanchard
Trodding the Boards
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra through May 19 I had missed the first Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) Holiday Spectacular featuring the 610 Stompers in 2015 and resolved to see last year’s edition which turned out to be fabulous. Could they top themselves this year? Indeed they did. Whereas last year’s Spectacular had a “round the world” theme and included a diverse … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards
Trodding the Boards
The Year in Review When I reviewed 2016, the Anthony Bean Community Theater had discovered it needed more funds than expected to renovate its new location on Paris Avenue. After years without a permanent home, Southern Rep had just commenced an arduous journey to turn the long-vacant former St. Rose de Lima Church on Bayou Road into the Bayou Treme Center. Both situations … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards
Trodding the Boards
An American in Paris at the Saenger Theatre, Jan. 30–Feb. 4 [I had seen An American in Paris on Broadway in March 2016; that production comes to the Saenger later this month. Below is my review, slightly edited, that ran in April of that year.] With its classic story and gorgeous Gershwin songs, it’s hard not to like the stage version of An American in Paris. But with … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards
Trodding the Boards
Peter and the Starcatcher at Slidell Little Theater through Feb. 4 When I saw Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway in 2012, I found the first act, set amid dreary workhouses and the dank holds of ships, overly dark and, worse, a gobful of exposition slowed it to a tedious crawl as we met a Lord, his daughter, her nanny, some nasty sea captains and their henchmen, a preening … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards
Trodding the Boards
Always . . . Patsy Cline at The WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen, Feb. 23–Mar. 25 [This production returns for weekend performances with Margaret Belton and Caroline Fourmy reprising their roles. Here are excerpts from my review which originally ran in March 2015.] In the past five years, the WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen has put on an impressive number of entertaining … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards