When Mad Men presented an overweight Betty Draper Sunday night, I shivered with dread. How were they going to handle this situation?

In the past some dialogue alluded to the fact that she was a chubby child, who somehow morphed into a model. Sure that happens (I guess) but the...

While covering a Jimmy Webb program some months ago, my attention was turned back to Glen Campbell, a figure who has not been in my radar since childhood. I would listen to "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" in my parent's bedroom (kids did not have their own personal stereos yet)...

I just completed watching Lars von Trier's operatic (literally, as the score is mostly Wagner) planetary meditation for the second time and I find myself luxuriating in the wonders of the world of music and film. Since taking Zoloft (can I say that?) my perceptions of existence have altered somewhat...

Why is arts criticism important? In a perfect situation, criticism would serve at least three-fold. Worthy artists would receive recognition, audiences could be informed and, in many cases, the work of criticism can be entertaining in itself, offering opinions and expertise with compassion and even an edge, when they feel...

The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara at the Asia Society -- What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Melissa Chiu's diplomatic coup.

When considering Asian art, Pakistan (particularly of a Buddhist nature) might not...

I rarely review people I interview (and know personally), but with Mark Murphy, breaking the rules is the name of the game. I did not know what to expect of Mark last Sunday, but as the night progressed, I felt really sorry for the people who missed it. Luckily for...

I met Mark some years ago at one of his vocal seminars, which was comparable to a Trekkie meeting Captain Kirk at a convention. Or perhaps Yul Brenner's King in the R&H musical. He was the coolest singer I had ever heard, being that the first thing I stumbled upon...

Possibly known to the baby boomers as the prince of all assassins, Lee Harvey Oswald's unconfessed murder of JFK was an event of such universal impact, that it might have been our first real brush with death. I don't remember many teachers, but I will never forget my first grade...

Sold out and with a buzz in the air, New York City's The Town Hall produced and presented one of the season's most spectacular achievements with singer Kelli O'Hara.

A Broadway star and mainstay, she is one of the handful of performers who define the classic "Leading Lady", as...

Can't get out to the art house? Want an early peek at an "Independent Film Channel's feature? Having fully embraced the concept of streaming movies, I visited www.sundancenow.com and had my own personal sneak preview of a new psychological thriller -- The Ledge.

The Ledge held...

Theater for the New City is unique because of its existence in a city where real estate prices run rampant. The huge building, consisting of 30,000 square feet, contains 4 stages, office space and comfortable lounging areas. It is a nice alternative from the typical microscopic black box theatre spaces...

The film's title, Cracks, is problematical for several reasons. First on, it sounds like a grade B horror pic, which it is not. After viewing, I concluded that the title merely indicated "cracks" in the sanity of some of the film's characters -- but a crack is a slang term...

I did not go see Blue Valentine with the goal of writing a review. It was only after I did my traditional backtracking on Rotten Tomatoes (a site that provides an exhaustive cross section of the "important" and less well known movie reviewers that many readers across the...

The best way I can describe Dianne Reeves to those who haven't yet seen her is to cast her in the role of a shaman -- with her noble bearing, it's as if she might have been sent here to heal us. In layman's...

Has there ever been a more beautiful God-given instrument than Susan Boyle's voice? Probably not, and the way people respond, or have been manipulated to respond, is visceral and romantic - the underdog getting her reward. Almost everyone who is at all plugged in to the media though newspapers, TV;...

There are not many better ways to spend Thanksgiving Eve than dinner with Broadway luminary and Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. God was working overtime when She produced this man. The singer/actor is exactly what one would expect of a classic leading man...

I wonder if I would have loved Long Story Short as much as I did if I was not aware of some of the history re the man himself. While his show did not reference his personal life (it is but the history of empires rising and falling from the...

Sometimes I think it is much more fun to go to the circus as an adult, rather than a child. You can get your own program, treats and novelties without begging your harried parents. You can even sport a red sponge clown nose -- as my spouse and I did,...

Originally I learned of Evening Primrose's existence from a recording of "I Remember" as sung by jazz diva Diane Reeves. It should not have come as a surprise that the song was originally from as musical, as so many jazz standards do come by the way of theatre.

But Evening...

I first met Nina Kennedy way back when. We were young classical music students in Philly. She went on to finish her studies at Julliard (piano) while I gave up my beloved opera and went on to claw my way (many years later) singing for my supper (and not much...