Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

‘Dogfight,’ a well staged musical, hasn’t dogs or planes

  By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Well, they aren’t Stephen Sondheim—-yet.  But they could be—-in time. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the lyrics AND composed the music for Dogfight have just brought their rip-roaring, award-winning musical to L.A.  Lucky L.A.! Adapted by Peter Duchan from a 1991 play by Bob Comfort, the musical premiered […]

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Cynthia Citron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Ariana Grande’s all-star Manchester benefit is a moving expression of resilience

Success had a clear shape at One Love Manchester, the all-star benefit concert that Ariana Grande presented Sunday evening in that British city. Held less than two weeks after a suicide bombing killed 22 people as Grande finished a May 22 performance at the Manchester Arena, Sunday’s event needed to show that a huge crowd

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Pianist Wosner brings Schubert sonatas to life

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A recital devoted to three of Schubert’s last sonatas (D 845, 850 and 890) was too good to miss, so we cancelled our subscription tickets to the symphonic concert that happened to fall on the same date and bought tickets for that evening instead.  Sometimes life or fate or the

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Cantor Cabaret rich in song and variety

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Cheri Weiss, Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Beth El,  organized a delightful evening, Cantor Caberet, featuring five cantors and Beth El’s twelve-voice choir, the Shirenu Chorus, which Weiss directs.  Presented May 25 in the Garfield Auditorium at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, the program included individual solos, the

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Alex Gardega’s ‘Pissing Pug’ statue lifts leg on ‘Fearless Girl’

New York City sculptor Alex Gardega has erected a statue of a dog lifting its leg on the famous “Fearless Girl” statue across from Wall Street’s iconic “Charging Bull” in an act of protest. Mr. Gardega’s “Pissing Pug” went up Monday next to the “Fearless Girl” bronze statue, which defiantly stares down Arturo Di Modica’s

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

A-list pop stars join Ariana Grande’s Manchester benefit concert

Ariana Grande left Manchester quickly after the deadly bombing that followed her concert there a week ago, and now she’s returning in similar haste for a show this Sunday to benefit victims and their families. The “One Love Manchester” show will feature Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan and Pharrell Williams in

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

‘Pls help me’: Frantic parents search for missing kids after Manchester blast

Desperate parents and friends used social media to search for loved ones on Tuesday after a blast killed at least 22 people at a British concert by US singer Ariana Grande, with images of happy-looking teenagers posted next to pleas for help. “Everyone pls share this, my little sister Emma was at the Ari concert

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

At least 19 dead, 50 injured after explosion at Ariana Grande concert in England

At least 19 people were killed and 50 injured Monday night in an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that police are treating as a possible terrorist attack. The explosion happened near an entrance to the 21,000-seat arena just minutes after Grande’s concert ended and the singer left the stage, witnesses said.

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Police: Chris Cornell found dead in Detroit with ‘band around his neck’

DETROIT — Chris Cornell, whose band Soundgarden was one of the architects of grunge music, was found dead at midnight in his MGM Grand hotel room in Detroit. Police told the Associated Press the 52-year-old musician’s death was being investigated as a possible suicide. A spokesman for the Detroit Police Department told the Free Press

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Gospel choir and synagogue record double firsts

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — It was a double first Saturday night at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.  It was the first time that the Conservative Jewish congregation had ever hosted a gospel choir. And, it was the first time that the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir San Diego had ever performed in a synagogue

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Gospel choir to perform May 13 at Tifereth Israel

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — What’s that you say? A gospel choir will be performing at a Conservative Jewish synagogue? Yes, it’s true: immediately following Havdalah at 8:16 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, the 80-member, multiracial Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Choir San Diego (MLKCC) will perform in the sanctuary of Tifereth Israel

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David Ogul, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar