The BEMF does Poppea
"Opera fans have often puzzled over the fact that Poppea does not appear to have a character the audience wants to root for, since everyone has seriously objectionable traits."

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 27, 2009

The Huntington plunders Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
"Ladies and gentlemen," a cheerful female voice informs the Huntington Theatre audience, "the Caribbean Light Opera Society is proud to present Pirates! (Or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder'd)." The governor, she continues, wants to assure us that there is almost no danger of a pirate attack during the performance.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 27, 2009

Dancing in a new direction

Notes from 'Ballets Russes 2009'
The 100th birthday of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes prompted the expected centennial tributes in Boston: a "Diaghilev's Ballets Russes 1909–1929: Twenty Years That Changed the World of Art" symposium and exhibition at Harvard University in April, and a "Ballets Russes 2009" festival this month.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | January 14, 2010

Play by play: May 29, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 27, 2009

Play by Play: May 22, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 19, 2009

Setting the Wang on fire

Boston Ballet's 'Ballets Russes'
Burning down the house” is a metaphor, but at the Wang Theatre last weekend, the Boston Fire Department was on hand to ensure that it remained one.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 20, 2009

Heaven and Hell

Angels & Demons has it all
Tom Hanks is back as Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, but the filmmakers have ditched the long hair and allowed Hanks to look like an early-fiftysomething (which he is) instead of The Da Vinci Code 's 40ish hipster wanna-be.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 15, 2009

Boston Theater Marathon XI

Schedule of plays
BOSTON THEATER MARATHON XI, SCHEDULE OF PLAYS, SUNDAY MAY 17

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 14, 2009

Play by Play, May 15, 2009

Plays for A to Z
Theater in town

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 12, 2009

Dark night of the soul

Boris Eifman's Eugene Onegin
St. Petersburg's Eifman Ballet presents Eugene Onegin at the Cutler Majestic Theatre this weekend.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 08, 2009

Review: Star Trek

Going boldly and well
The original Star Trek , after all, didn't even complete its five-year mission. Four spinoff TV series, 10 theatrical releases, and millions of dollars of merchandise later, the Enterprise goes back into space with the original cast, if not the original actors. Live long and prosper indeed.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 11, 2009

Play by Play, May 8, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Theater around town

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 07, 2009

Golden years

Alvin Ailey at the Opera House
The last thing I had in mind when I went to the Opera House Tuesday was raining on Alvin Ailey's parade — particularly since the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which he founded in 1959, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year while making its 41st annual Celebrity Series appearance in Boston.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | May 06, 2009