‘Morning’ has broken ‘Morning’ has broken

Pretty, petite and forgettable where her predecessor was striking and irresistible, Susan Strasberg doesn’t convince as the headstrong, mercurial aspiring actress who takes Broadway by storm.

On the wings of Eagels On the wings of Eagels

It’s the legendary Jeanne Eagels in the spotlight, which is exactly the right term. From our first glimpse of her fabulous face, she seems almost lit from within.

Even her agony was a kind of joy Even her agony was a kind of joy

I’ve heard admirers for years describe this as their favorite Bette Davis performance, and it’s easy to see why; she brings her entire range to the role, and you can’t take your eyes off her.

“consider the lowly libretto…”

Classical Beatnik Anne Midgette, obviously still reeling from the experience of The Letter in Santa Fe, addresses a problem we’ve been seeing more and more of in opera: even those who supposedly love the art form, and who are involved in putting it on, are increasingly laboring under the delusion that it is inherently over-the-top,…

stop, or my maugham will shoot

La Cieca is not at her happiest dishing a librettist; I mean their dreary overshadowed inkstained lives are already punishment enough, right? But still, it gets under your doyenne’s skin more than a bit to hear Terry Teachout‘s blogging self-aggrandizement at the expense of one of the greats of English literature. Teachout is, as well…