Arnold Schoenberg brings his music to Hollywood
This opera’s Schoenberg is a creative player, but also a fighter; he cycles around and around before accepting Judaism, he hurtles forward into the future with his musical sensibilities, he falls in love and loses people and runs, but he eventually finds a home in himself.
No longer erased
Boy Erased is filled with passionate performances by the actors, beautifully shot, and genuinely thought-provoking. Without preaching about what is right or wrong, the movie exposes how horrifying conversion therapy can be and its toll on family and beliefs. Most of all, the film addresses how difficult but worthwhile it is to love, whether it concerns romance, family, or even oneself.
‘You never met a monster you couldn’t love’
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald picks up a few months after Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and company chasing after Grindelwald’s (Johnny Depp) and Credence’s (Ezra Miller) trails. The overall tone of this movie is much darker than the first, though there are still plenty scenes of humor and charm that gives audiences a breather from worrying about the impending doom by Grindelwald.
Ralph memes the Internet
Ralph and Vanellope do not have a perfect friendship, but that’s what made the movie even better.
Teen Flynn McGarry cooks smoked sauces, elegant emulsions, and fragrant foams for dinner
At the ripe age of 11 and a half, Flynn McGarry began to host a supper club called Eureka in his mother’s dining room. He enlisted his friends to staff his dinners, but after being invited to appear on the Today Show, star on the cover for New York Times, and cook with at pop-up restaurant events with the world’s most prestigious chefs, Flynn outgrew the walls of his home.
The Captain did it
Lucas Pope’s newest game masterfully takes advantage of a unique style to produce a mystery-adventure experience that is near-perfectly built and paced.
An American story of resilience and vulnerability, DACAmented
Anner waits until the audience is deeply acquainted with his sense of belonging in the United States, before giving us a scene set in Guatemala or a scene about his parent’s pasts. Some of the most impactful scenes are the ones showing what his mother went through to get to the United States; he rapidly switches between physicalizing her fear and pain and returning to his monologue retelling, escalating the tension and stress of the scene.
Pirates, Sir!
Before he could fly, he was Peter. Watch as a boy learns to how to never grow up.
Various beautiful voices, still one community
As noted by Director Mobley, the purpose of the Every Voice series is to recognize and shed positive light on diversity within the community. This year, the focus is on the LGBTQIA+ community, the Latinx community, as well as veterans and victims of wars. The music for every community presents a kaleidoscope of styles that highlights the past and the present of each group.
Bend and clap!
MTG’s ‘Legally Blonde’: The Musical is a fun-filled performance with a lively cast. It’s fun to watch the characters grow in meaningful ways while they navigate their way through the narrative’s racy situations.
When a lumberjack turns into a doctor in rural France...
As a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Gounod’s birth, the Odyssey Opera presents this opéra-comique while also preserving original text from Molière’s play. Sung in French paired with English subtitles, the opera features never-before heard recitatives by Erik Satie.
‘The Grinch’ is a heartwarming yet fresh take on a classic story
A green furry man attempts to exorcise his loneliness by picking on villagers. After he carries out his big plan, the man learns the spirit of Christmas.
Crime made glamorous
When Carlos forms a thieving alliance with Ramón Peralta, Luis Ortega directs our view to their bodies, their hedonism, and their temerity — exploring a homoerotic relationship in a homophobic world.
Colors, commentary, and confetti
Half live music, half film screening, with bouts of audience interaction and Q&A throughout, this was the most oddly formatted music event we’ve ever attended.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ meets ‘The Nutcracker’
Its ending makes you feel a little warm inside, and it even snows to give the Christmas effect, but there are better holiday feel-goods out there.
‘The Chalk Cycle’ is a 3-in-1 drama about parenthood
MTA’s performance of The Chalk Cycle was a driving, emotional spectacle. The triple-threat cast — which could sing, dance and play violin — put on a brilliant show.
A dish beyond imagination: Clover Food Lab’s Meatball Sandwich
Unlike the other items at Clover that celebrate plants in their natural form, the Impossible Meatball Sandwich turns the inconceivable to reality. The meatball is made using something called Impossible Meat, a vegan meat substitute.
Coffee cup yo-yo fencing
Fence with coffee cups as a scholar, barista, CEO, pirate, dog, or even a sentient coffee cup against your coffee-wielding adversaries in this absurd fighting platformer game.
Descending into madness
Following 1924 PI Edward Pierce, Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game makes a brave effort to bring the mystery-horror aesthetic of the tabletop system of the same name to the space of video games, but falls short on implementation.