by Kevin McLaughlin
The Escher String Quartet, performing as a trio on Saturday, May 3, due to the injury of its second violinist, offered a beautiful plan “B”: a trio of trios by Schubert, Dohnányi, and Beethoven. Violinist Adam Barnett-Hart, violist Pierre Lapointe, and cellist Brook Speltz delivered engaging and refined performances in the intimate space at the Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster.
The group’s thinning and their positioning in front of the stage due to a lightbulb outage might have bothered a lesser ensemble, but the Escher players carried on with expansive lyricism and technical bravado throughout the evening. [Read more…]
The Ohio Light Opera made a smart move adding The Fantasticks to its repertory this season. The company that puts operetta first but always has room for a musical or two couldn’t have chosen a better classic for this strange summer back from the pandemic. This is a show that needs only a barebones setup, and OLO’s production (which ran from July 14–24, outdoors at Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster) was charmingly stripped down.