Theater
Marina Abramović, Igor Levit Performing Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' at Park Avenue Armory in December 2015
'It's a Wonderful Life: The 1946 Radio Play' at Culinary Institute of America Next Month
Tony Palermo adapted the Christmastime movie classic into a one-act "radio play" format for five actors and a sound effects artist. REVIEW: Bulgarian Soprano Sonya Yoncheva Debuts Memorable Mimì in Middling 'La Bohème' at Metropolitan Opera
Recently, the Metropolitan Opera has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Be it pre-season labor disputes with the man Peter Gelb, opening night unrest care of Leon Klinghoffer and Rudy Guiliani or just a simple technical glitch during the broadcast at your local cinema, what's been lost as of late is a lot. Such controversies, however inflated, do obscure the institution's real mission statement. First and perhaps foremost, is the fact that the Met remains this country's most enduring repertory company. For every Klinghoffer or Iolanta premiere in 2014-15, there are as many, if not more, reheated Aidas and prefab Meistersingers. Come the holidays, highly touted new productions of Le Nozze di Figaro and The Merry Widow will run alongside evergreen faire like Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Hansel and Gretel. And, let's be honest, it is the latter, lighter of these programming options that the casual opera-goer is wont to experience there at Lincoln Center. In fact, Mr. Gelb is banking on it.
