Curtain Call

Slapdash Writing, Production Plague “Pick of the Vine”

This last year has been a terrible time for theatre, particularly small companies and troupes. While most have gone completely…

5 years ago

New Ken Burns Documentary Explores Hemingway’s Troubled Humanity

Ken Burns made his bones with uniquely styled long-form documentaries of epic sweep. The Civil War. Baseball. Jazz. His more…

5 years ago

<strong><em>Breathing Free</em></strong><strong>: An Operatic Take on the Black American Struggle</strong>

Say you’re White (like me) and MLK has been your hero as far back as you can remember. Say you’ve…

5 years ago

<strong><em>Estella Scrooge</em></strong><strong>: A Made-for-Hallmark Digital Musical “Christmas Carol” Update</strong>

There is a subsection of American culture who loves Hallmark Christmas movies. I mean, loves. The romance, the schmaltz, the…

5 years ago

A Perfect “Christmas Carol” for Our Time and All Time

I must confess — and ‘tis the season for this confession: I’ve never read A Christmas Carol. Not much of…

5 years ago

Shakespeare by the Sea Decides the Show Must Go On … Virtually

It took a worldwide pandemic to stop Shakespeare by the Sea from doing business as usual, which in its case,…

5 years ago

The 2020 Songbook UnGala: Long Beach Opera commissions new classical music to fundraise for 2021

A typical annual fundraising gala for Long Beach Opera goes something like this: there’s a big swanky party, with donors…

5 years ago

“Daisy” a Timely Document of the Advertising Shot Heard ‘Round the Political World

If you don’t know The Beatles, you cannot possibly understand the genesis of rock ‘n’ roll. But in both politics…

5 years ago

“Romeo & Juliet; Virtually”

Before there was internet, before television, before the telephone and telegraph, there was Romeo and Juliet, the oft-told tale of…

5 years ago

Long Beach Opera’s New Programming Keeps the Music Coming During COVID-19

By Greggory Moore, Curtain Call Columnist In the time of COVID-19, opera has been deemed inessential. Worse yet, given the…

5 years ago