Tommy Femia Is Ready for a Close-up in Bawdy Spoof “Norma Doesmen”
Tommy Femia as Norma & Bryan R. Caine as Joe - photo by Milton Perry
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
In Stephen Stahl’s play, with music, “Norma Doesmen,” mad eccentric, “me-me-me”-centric Norma Desmond, that is, Norma Doesmen lives again, demented and delusional as ever, in a campy, kinky, over-the-top spoof-even campier, even more over-the-top-of Billy Wilder’s classic film “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), starring Tommy Femia, giving face, for they had faces, and fabulous gown, thanks to Linda Bee Stockton; striking silent film poses; Read more
Speaker Quinn, Lt. Choi, Officials & Organizations Join Queens St. Pat’s for All Parade
parade - photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Source: www.newyorkqnews.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert, with Joseph R. Saporito
On March 7, many LGBT Irish and Irish-American people, officially unwelcome at several of New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parades, joined with friends and loved ones to march in the 11th annual, inclusive ‘St. Pat’s for All’ Parade, held in Sunnyside and Woodside, Queens. Read more
Gay & Lesbian D.C. Couples Apply for Licenses in Anticipation of Marriage Equality
(left to right) National Gay & Lesbian Task Force board member Hans Johnson and then-board member Jerry Clark with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Task Force Deputy Executive Director Darlene Nipper just after the mayor signed D.C.’s marriage equality bill in December 2009. photo courtesy of www.thetaskforce.org
Source: www.newyorkqnews.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Same sex marriage becomes legal in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital, on March 10 and, in anticipation, gay and lesbian couples began applying for marriage licenses on March 3, the day that the new Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act took effect, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In mid-December, 2009, the D.C. Council passed the amendment act, by a vote of 12 to 1, and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed it into law.
Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey released a statement saying, “This is a profoundly moving moment for many D.C. same-sex couples and their families. To finally be able to share and celebrate one’s love and commitment both publicly and legally is a lifelong dream for many. Until you have walked in the Read more
Chita Rivera, Still Going Strong, Reviews a Long Life of Song & Dance for Songbook Season Finale
Chita Rivera - photo by Laura Marie Duncan
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
The climax of the Lincoln Center American Songbook season, on March 6 at the Allen Room, was an evening with Chita Rivera, a love fest, really, between audience and theater legend. Music Director, percussionist and guitarist Michael Croiter, Associate Music Director and pianist Michael Patrick Walker, Dan Willis on reed instruments, trumpeter Jeremy Miloszewicz, violinist Antoine Silverman, and bassist Jim Donica assisted and sometimes provided backup vocals. Read more
Motown Midtown with Jackie Fornatale
Jackie Fornatale - photo by Alex Kaplan
Source: www.qonstage.com
by Sherri Rase
For “Get Ready,” five people, in concert black, file around the center aisle at Don’t Tell Mama, in the heart of New York City’s Restaurant Row. Each took his or her place on the stage, behind a microphone, guitar, bass, drums, or what may properly be termed an infant piano, as it’s such a small baby grand. The stage is set for the voice that comes from somewhere behind and in front of us at the same time-enter Jackie Fornatale. Read more
In Met “Attila,” ‘Scourge of God’ Wears Prada, & in Pit, Scourge of Bel Canto Reigns
Cast - photo by Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
This winter, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting its first-ever performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Attila” (1846), concerning the notorious fifth century conquering Hun. On a shoestring budget, the New York City Opera offered a serviceable “Attila” during several seasons from the early 1980s, starring Samuel Ramey, through the mid-1990s. The Met’s new “Attila,” on the other hand, is little short of a fiasco. Read more
Philadelphia Flower Show Offers Floral ‘Passport to the World’
globe & garden - photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert, with Greg Klosek
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s annual Philadelphia International Flower Show, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, has, over the past few years, saluted New Orleans jazz, Irish legends, and ‘Bella Italia.’ This year’s spectacle, from February 28 to March 7, strove to take on the world, or a sample of it, anyway, with “Passport to the World” as its theme. Read more
Wonder-Full Queen’s Company
Valerie Redd as Isabella, Maryam Benganga as Colonel Britton, Virginia Baeta as Don Felix and Abbi Hawk as Violante - photo by Bob Pileggi
Source: www.qonstage.com
by Sherri Rase
Susanne Centlivre’s play “The Wonder,” adapted for modern audiences by director Rebecca Patterson, has great bones. Classic beauties, like this play, have a universal appeal and Patterson brings it to a satiny sheen. Read more
Flanigan & Friends Field Fascinating Women in Their ‘Monodramas’
Lauren Flanigan - photo by Carol Rosegg
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
On March 2, as part of the Concerts & Conversations series at Elebash Recital Hall at the City University of New York Graduate Center, soprano Lauren Flanigan and friends-a company of remarkable women and one man, representing diverse artistic disciplines-offered an intriguing and intense evening, probing the “Solo: The Art of the Monodrama,” subtitled “Wives, Daughters, Queens & Whores-Medieval Voices,” with a focus on 20th and 21st century musical settings, which, unsurprisingly, proved a satisfyingly intellectual and emotional experience. Read more
Damrau & Brownlee Delight in Met “Barbiere”
Diana Damrau and Lawrence Brownlee - photos by Ken Howard
Source: www.qonstage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Gioachino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” returned to the Metropolitan Opera repertory on February 26, for three performances, under Maurizio Benini’s baton, in Bartlett Sher’s production, currently staged by Kathleen Smith Belcher, with several principals resuming their roles and several new to their assignments. Read more
FeedBurner RSS
