Friday, April 27, 2012
The ring has come full circle and what an amazing ride it has been. I'd be lying if I said I liked everything about the Metropolitan Opera's new Ring Cycle, the production, cast and particul…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:59PMWednesday, April 25, 2012
It would be difficult not to argue that the Metropolitan Opera's new Ring Cycle seems to be getting worse as it goes along. "Das Rheingold" led the cycle off with a bang, "Die Walküre" purr…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 03:32PMTuesday, April 24, 2012
I've always been of the opinion that a director can do what they like with a composer/writer's piece as long as the end result works (if it doesn't work however, then prepare for critical kn…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 01:19PMSaturday, April 21, 2012
Gotham Chamber Opera have managed without much fanfare to produce two of the most interesting and high quality operatic performances that I've been fortunate enough to see since I arrived in…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 09:17PMThe chance to see the Maly Theatre perform anything is not something I would ever pass up. The chance to see the Maly Theatre perform Chekhov is something I'd beg, steal or borrow a ticket t…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 08:59PMThursday, April 19, 2012
Hailing from the UK and having not been born when most of the events of this play take place, I entered "Magic/Bird", a new play by Eric Simonson, knowing next to nothing about what was to f…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:57PMTuesday, April 17, 2012
It took about three notes to realise the triumph of "Das Rheingold" wasn't going to sustain through "Die Walküre". Fabio Luisi kicked off the storm at such an absurd speed that the now regu…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 12:30PMSunday, April 15, 2012
All of a sudden: farce is massively trendy. I don't know how this happened, though to be honest I've never been quite sure why farce was so unfashionable to begin with. I'm certainly not com…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:24PMFriday, April 13, 2012
Having missed the first performance due to illness, all eyes and ears were on Natalie Dessay as she finally took to the stage in the Metropolitan Opera's latest revival of "La Traviata". Aft…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:02PMThursday, April 12, 2012
Robert Lepage's production of Wagner's Ring Cycle for the Metropolitan Opera has come a long way since he unveiled his "Machine" with "Das Rheingold" going on two years ago. It's now a widel…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 10:40PMI wasn't going to review "The Book of Mormon" again, this is now the third time I've seen it and one out and out rave from me was plenty whilst the first cast remained. That said, when I ven…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:37PMTuesday, April 10, 2012
You've got to have guts to take on the role of Lady Macbeth but I'm afraid that's all the praise I can offer Nadja Michael's flat, screechy, air raid siren of an attempt. In other regards th…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:23PMMonday, April 9, 2012
I wasn't really planning on returning to "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" but with family over from the UK it presented an ideal slice of Broadway. The cast has seen consid…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 06:35PMWednesday, April 4, 2012
This will be something of a post-mortem as the majority of the cast of "Seminar" departed last weekend. It was for that very reason that I suddenly panicked and slipped into one of their fin…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:03PMTuesday, April 3, 2012
Any production that takes a five Act play and boils it down to a riveting hour and fifty five minutes of mayhem has a lot going for it. Declan Donnellan's Cheek By Jowl production of "Tis Pi…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 11:54AMFriday, March 30, 2012
Rounding out the Metropolitan Opera's new productions for this season is Laurent Pelly's very grey "Manon". I was lucky enough to be in London when this production was actually new and I gav…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:27PMThursday, March 29, 2012
When "Ghost" launched in London I don't think all that many expected it would be quite as amazing as it turned out to be. Though not the greatest of musicals, the music decidedly middling, M…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 06:21PMWednesday, March 28, 2012
New York City Opera's withdrawal from the Lincoln Center has left a hole in the venue's calendar and various bits and pieces have turned up over the course of this season, none of which has …
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 05:36PMTuesday, March 27, 2012
Zipping straight back to New York from London my string of theatrical frothy fun continued with "L'elisir d'amore" at the Metropolitan Opera. They cast this revival to the nines, Juan Diego …
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 11:46AMSunday, March 25, 2012
It's been a UK trip of repeat visits and so to finish I slipped back to the Royal Ballet's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". It was brand new last year, and when I saw it then I came away …
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 10:09PMThursday, March 22, 2012
What I thought would be the one semi-serious theatrical outing of my little London jaunt (excluding "Klinghoffer", but that's in a class of its own), the National Theatre's product…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 05:58PMWednesday, March 21, 2012
Much like "Legally Blonde", "Matilda" is a musical I know and love and this will be more of a reiteration than a review. If you haven't seen it already, what on earth have you been doing?A f…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:57PMTuesday, March 20, 2012
This is my third outing to "Legally Blonde", the first was in New York, the second soon after the show opened in London. I've loved it from the very start and I'll be sad to see it leave Lon…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 11:11PMAs brave, ambitious theatre goes John Adam's "The Death of Klinghoffer" is really up there. Huge praise to the English National Opera just for putting it on and even more so for doing it pre…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 10:41PMMonday, March 19, 2012
I almost didn't bother heading back to the second cast of the Metropolitan Opera's new Michael Grandage production of "Don Giovanni". It was a dirge at its opening, a single unit set providi…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 05:34PMFriday, March 9, 2012
It's been an uneven season far but the Metropolitan Opera have really pulled it out of the bag with "Khovanshchina". A largely Russian cast under the baton of Kiril Petrenko make for an even…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 06:57PMSunday, March 4, 2012
Plonking an intimate three hander like "The Road to Mecca" in a large venue like the American Airlines Theatre looked like a bad idea. My word they've pulled a blinder. "Mecca" is a play tha…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 05:48PMThursday, March 1, 2012
There's a lot of denial in Edward Albee's "The Lady From Dubuque" including whether this existential rabbit hole goes anywhere. Reviving Broadway flops seems very in vogue of late (we've had…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 05:31PMSaturday, February 25, 2012
"Look Back in Anger" is about as seminal as British drama gets but somehow I've never actually seen the play live before. Back in the 50s (so well before my time) it brought about a wave of …
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 07:28PMWednesday, February 22, 2012
For visual spectacle the Metropolitan Opera's "Aida" is second to none. Its triumphal march ranks as one of the most eye popping creations imaginable. An opera consists of rather more than v…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 04:31PMSunday, February 12, 2012
The debacle that has been the New York City Opera (NYCO) over the last year is scarcely worth repeating, but for any who don't know, the very fact that this performance of "La Traviata" at t…
SOURCE: The Tyro Theatre Critic at 08:17PM 
