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Archive for Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts

S’WONDERFUL at Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts

SWonderful01

Photo by Caught in the Moment

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Papers

As you take your seat in the Carpenter Center, the first thing you notice is the curtain has been raised.

The bare stage is dark and there is no scenery — only a grand piano, plus empty chairs and music stands silhouetted against a royal blue backlight. Then the musicians take their places, with musical director Bret Simmons seated at the piano; and suddenly, the theater is filled with the haunting rhythm of “Rhapsody in Blue.” Read more…

Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA

It would seem that producing a musical featuring the melodies of George Gershwin with the lyrics of his elder brother, Ira, would be simplicity itself, as their work has been acknowledged as among the greatest collaborations in musical theater history. The work has been recognized universally as remarkable for its breadth of style and sophisticated musicality. It was said that the music had “one foot in Tin Pan Alley and the other in Carnegie Hall.”  Read more…

Now running through April 20.

“Mad Women” and “Catch 23: Broken Negative,” Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts

 

Mad Women by John Fleck and Catch 23: Broken Negatives by Karen Finley

 

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

It all happened twenty-two years ago, but people are still buzzing about the notorious case of the “NEA 4.” To be more precise: Due to pressure in 1990 from Jesse Helms, Dana Rohrabacher, and the religious-right, grants already given to Karen Finley, John Fleck, Holly Hughes, and Tim Miller by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) were revoked. The alleged reason was “indecent content.” Read more…