Canadian-born Mel Cooper came to the UK to study at Oxford and stayed, captivated by the culture and history of the welcoming and tolerant society of Britain.
He founded the magazine Opera Now. He was a consultant to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, a broadcaster on British Satellite Broadcasting and a member of the team that started Classic FM on which he broadcast shows like Classic America and Authentic Performance. After working with the Genesis Foundation on helping to fund arts projects, he continues to write, review and lecture on music and literature.
The almost-legendary Midsummer Night’s Dream production by Lyric Hammersmith and Filter Theatre has been revived again and is totally wonderful in alm...
A new production by English Touring Theatre, Theatre Clwyd and Nuffield Southampton Theatres simply proves once again that the Tennessee Williams’ pla...
I was ultimately quite pleased to have seen the new production of Romeo and Juliet at the RSC. However, I do have some serious quibbles. Romeo and Jul...
Thoroughly Modern Millie was a very successful film that got very mixed reviews. It succeeded mainly on the charms of Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moo...
The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, which was originally called The Beau Defeated, is a neglected play by a neglected playwright named Mary Pix. I like...
Because I will be travelling for a bit, I decided to see the new bio-musical Tina in one of its last previews. So technically I cannot review this sho...
This is the season of the year when I become increasingly reminded that going to some musical events can be just as dramatic as going to a good play a...
Instead of being about the corruption of power, or about the unconscious power of guilt, this new production of Macbeth by Polly Findlay at the RSC in...
The DUCHESS OF MALFI by John Webster is one of the most difficult plays of the Jacobean Era both to interpret and to direct. Uncut, it is a complex, m...
With the summer opera festivals coming soon, I was able to meet with Laura Canning, the Director of Artistic Administration for Garsington Opera, at a...
