Perry Tannenbaum - Page 9

Charlotte Symphony has kicked off its 2018-19 season with an all-Beethoven program highlighted by the FIFTH SYMPHONY and a guest turn by pianist Garrick Ohlsson, adding an extra performance to meet anticipated. They're also meeting great expectations

At times BECKET looms before us like a vast Shakespearean tapestry and at others like a bloated two-hander, but this CPCC Theatre production plays well at Halton Theater, which is really good news as Pease Auditorium bites the dust.

MATILDA may be losing some of its appeal as a children's story, especially when Children's Theatre of Charlotte makes it more realistic than the national tour that came to town just two years ago.

Symphony's OPENING NIGHT GALA, spotlighting violinist Joshua Bell, boded well for the 2018-19 season to come and the orchestra's celebration of Charlotte's 250th anniversary.

Your knees won't buckle when you enter Belk Theater to see LOVE NEVER DIES, Anthony Lloyd Webber's long-awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. There's no gleaming chandelier looming ominously over ticketholders in the front rows, nor will you see any nooks or gargoyles spanning the stage proscenium. Until the curtain rose, about the only aspect of the new Lloyd Webber melodrama that reminded me of its predecessor on opening night was the size of the crowd who had come to see it. A near sellout - not too shabby for a musical that has never played on Broadway.

Theatre Charlotte's PETER AND THE STARCATCHER was more enjoyable to me than either the Broadway or the touring versions - partly because I've finally discarded the expectation that the Peter Pan prequel would deliver on Neverland's enchantment.

Brand New Sheriff's production of ECLIPSED reaffirms that Danai Gurira is a force to be reckoned with as a playwright as well as a Marvel Universe action hero.

As Disney's megahit reaches its 21st Broadway birthday, we're not asking each other anymore if you've seen THE LION KING. Instead we're apt to ask how many times you've seen this unparalleled spectacle or, more nostalgically, 'Do you remember your first time?'

Laura Eason isn't misleading or overpromising with her title, SEX WITH STRANGERS, but it's a pleasant surprise to encounter as much brains as body heat

Cirque du Soleil has been on a bumpy road in recent years with such dubious spectacles as Delirium and Paramour, but they've regained their zany, surreal, and mesmerizing swagger - and how! - with CORTEO, a smashing epic triumph.

Some of the jests of THE BOOK OF MORMON are starting to show some wear, but the buffoonery, vulgarity, and bold tastelessness still satisfy, and the dance ensemble on this third Charlotte go-round - along with Casey Nicholaw's choreography seem more brilliant than ever.

Choreography isn't as eye-popping in CPCC Summer Theatre's NEWSIES as the Broadway version was, but the hero's role and all the colorful elders are performed on the same lofty level as the impressive set design.

Who is or isn't prejudiced or racist is part of the cargo in Branden Jacob-Jenkins' APPROPRIATE, but the playwright also dissects what makes families tick and malfunction.

It takes decades for tragic losses and separations to turn around to bliss in Steve Martin's BRIGHT STAR, but there's plenty of sparkling bluegrass music along that rocky mountain road.

Trotting out its third different opening scene, GREASE still doesn't have its artistic act together, but it still delivers mindless, guilty, and politically incorrect pleasures in abundance - with double scoops of sock hop nostalgia.

With THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART and BORDERS, Spoleto Festival USA took advantage of the funky and guerilla potentials of the Woolfe Street Playhouse, but the best theatre this year was THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK, which brought a little cabaret ambiance to storied Dock Street Theatre.

Hamstrung by a libretto that sidesteps Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' and 'Mountaintop' speeches, Douglas Tappin's I DREAM sustains audience enthusiasm with a powerhouse Opera Carolina cast.

Charlotte's Off-Broadway takes a homespun approach to Matt Lyle's BARBECUE APOCALYPSE that makes it seem more real than it did in 2015. So does the absence of a rational adult in the White House.

Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, the more you know about Shakespeare and Broadway musicals, the more SOMETHING ROTTEN will have you laughing out loud.

While the crises of THE MERMAID HOUR seem more overblown than they did two years ago at Actor's Theatre, director Laley Lippard and her design team have brought fresh beauty and transcendence to the non-binary protagonist's aspirations.