In 2015, when an ex-partner murdered Nathalie Warmerdam, her brother Joshua Hopkins, an acclaimed baritone, was in Ottawa at a rehearsal. “It was horrifying…. an emotionally very turbulent time and I felt helpless, powerless,” … » Read

As theaters and concert halls across the U.K. anticipate a possible reopening date of May 17 and a return to full capacity by June 21, new post-pandemic challenges face administrators who have grown accustomed to life online. Nowhere is this … » Read

In March of 2020, when theaters and concert halls shut down, performing arts groups, eager to stay in front of their patrons, began the steep climb up the learning curve to streaming their wares. By late spring, most were on board, or getting … » Read

As efforts to vaccinate the American public against Covid-19 gain momentum, performing arts leaders in Chicago are quietly discussing reopening their venues for audiences that have already been inoculated. Chris Jones, a critic for the Chicago … » Read

The Philadelphia Orchestra is welcoming back Brian Sanders’s JUNK, a company of aerialist dancers who wowed Philly O audiences several years ago with a performance of Romeo and Juliet . Their latest collaboration—the 13-movement … » Read

To boo or not to boo? That is the question vexing Joshua Kosman, music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle . Writing in a confessional mode, he recalls “the first and last time that I ever did such a thing [booing].” His … » Read

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly marries a transcendent musical score with an incredulous story that can raise the hackles of all but the most “unwoke” of contemporary listeners. Cio-Cio San’s death by her own hand upon learning … » Read

From July 15 through August 17, the Glimmerglass Festival will present a program of opera and music theater at a newly created outdoor stage on the vast Glimmerglass grounds in upstate New York. “While this move outdoors is primarily for … » Read

The Michigan Opera Theater (MOT), still riding high from Yuval Sharon’s  successful Ring adaptation last October, Twilight: Gods , staged in the Detroit Opera House parking garage, has plans for more outdoor stagings in the near future … » Read

Its “curtains up, light the lights” in Australia, where live theater is once again packing in audiences. Melbourne houses are currently hosting Come From Away and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , with Moulin Rouge! The Musical due … » Read