The Bagel And The RatA Reviewer-at-Large Goes 15 Rounds with New York City and the WorldTheaterBurlesque Review (NYC): Revealed- June 20, 2008 One of the great things about being a writer is getting invited to all sorts of interesting events, including some that fall outside the categories you&39;re used to. Like, say, an evening of lovely women taking off their clothes. &34;Burlesque&34; originally meant a comedic, parodic style of variety show, of which striptease was only one element. ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=367 Music Review: Chuck Leavell, Live in Germany: Green Leaves & Blue Notes Tour 2007- June 17, 2008 A joyous noise erupts from this new two-CD release from keyboardist extraordinaire Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers). The set opens appropriately with a Professor Longhair chestnut and motors on through Stones covers, standards, Leavell originals, and a lot more. The pianist has stepped out in front before, notably with his ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=366 Theater Review (NYC): All Kinds of Shifty Villains: A Carnival Noir- June 16, 2008 With their new theater piece, writer Robert Attenweiler and director Rachel Klein set out to combine the noirish flavor and tropes of the gangster genre with the circusclown tradition. They&8217;ve succeeded: All Kinds of Shifty Villains is an oddball play, but an entertaining one. Fair warning: at the beginning, I hated the play. It ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=365 Concert Review: Strawbs and Judith Owen at BB Kings, NYC- June 12, 2008 Strawbs got their start way back in 1964, as the Strawberry Hill Boys bluegrass band. They had success in the UK during the 1960s, undergoing several lineup changes but always led by singer-guitarist and main songwriter Dave Cousins. (Early on they worked with both Rick Wakeman and Sandy Denny). In the 70s the band moved ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=364 Theater Review (NYC): Three on a Couch by Carl Djerassi- June 9, 2008 Scientist-playwright Carl Djerassi&8217;s fourth play premiered in 2003 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (under the title Ego) but has not received an American production until now. I&8217;m delighted to report that Redshift Productions&8217; new Off Broadway staging does absolute justice to this intelligent, witty, and very funny concoction of noir, psychodrama, and clowning. Djerassi is ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=362 Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Stone Coyotes, Bloom, Preston, Sugar Blue- June 2, 2008 Yes, I&8217;ve been out of touch for a while - a vacation in Europe and some life changes (good ones, but ones which make blogging seem rather unimportant). But the ol&8217; critical brain likes to keep getting its exercise. And the new music keeps pouring into my mailbox, and some of it&8217;s pretty ...http://jonsobel.com/?p=359 |