Cy Ashley Webb
Cy spent the ‘80’s as a bench scientist, the tech boom doing intellectual property law, and the first decade of the millennium, aspiring to be the world’s oldest grad student at Stanford where she is interested in political martyrdom. Presently, she enjoys writing for Stark Insider and the SF Examiner, hanging out at Palo Alto Children's Theatre, and participating in various political activities. Democracy is not a spectator sport! Cy is a SFBATCC member.
Lang Lang, Elvis, and the San Francisco Symphony
Any pianist - and any critic who thinks seriously about classical music – has to wrap his or her mind around the phenom that is Lang Lang. Is this guy the Elvis of classical music, as some insist?
All Things Greek: Review of A.C.T.’s ‘Elektra’
A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff remarks that Elektra “shows us what happens to a human being who cannot forget… Forgetting is, in fact, very healthy. If we lived with all the terrible things that happen to us, we’d never get through the week."
Dark in the Swedish Winter: Strindberg at the Cutting Ball
Rob Melrose astutely writes that in many ways, The Pelican is "the modern chamber version of Hamlet and Electra – a father murdered by the mother and her lover and the children needing to know where their loyalties lie and what revenge to take."
More than the History of R&B: ‘Memphis’ rocks San Jose
The musical energy in Memphisis everything that you'd expect from a score written by Bon Jovi keyboard player, David Byron, and with lyrics penned by Joe DiPietro.
San Francisco Symphony: Channelling Bach, Schiff brings out the best of us
Bach’s Prelude in C Major from Book I of the Well Tempered Clavier might be the classical equivalent of Stairway to Heaven.
Before the Bombs Fall: A conversation between Freud and C.S. Lewis at San Jose Rep
In 'Freud’s Last Session' at San Jose Repertory Theatre the issue becomes more palatable wrapped as it is in everything from Freud’s 'Moses and Monotheism' to stories about Joseph Pujol, the “fartiste.”
With ‘Osmosis’ Ives Quartet flouts convention
Performed by the IQ, these errors seemingly get magnified, as a delicious bit of silliness, to let the audience in on a joke that hasn’t survived the passage of time particularly well.
Not in an Election Year: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson
By the time Andrew Jackson opined “I’m so that guy,” one wished that Romney or Obama had Davaran’s kind of energy.
András Schiff: In Residency at San Francisco Symphony (Verdict: A Gem)
The two main foci of all three movements of this concerto were: (1) Schiff the soloist; and (2) Schiff and the symphony playing together. While two centers (soloist and orchestra) are the very definition of a concerto, last night the focus was on how gently Schiff the soloist seemed to make room for the orchestra to join him.
Review: ’33 Variations’ at TheatreWorks
Playwright Moisés Kaufman ('The Laramie Project') has penned a drama rich in historical detail, such as Beethoven’s notorious inability to keep household staff, his slovenly appearance, and his soup-stained manuscripts.
