Arts & Culture

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Review: I'm Fine

April 21st, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

How many times has the question “How are you?” or “Are you OK” been asked and “I’m fine” been answered when clearly that is not the case? I think it is safe to say that a majority of… more »

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Review: Million Dollar Quartet

April 20th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

Musicalfare Theatre has done it again. Earlier this season they presented music of the great Duke Ellington in “Sophisticasted Ladies.” This time it is foot stompin’, hand clappin’, hip shakin’ 1950s… more »

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Review: Me And My Girl

April 10th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

April 5th was Opening Day of the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and I was witness to the birth of a play that day in the Festival Theatre. Not everyone can say that! Well, there were hundreds of us in the audience,… more »

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Review: The Trial of Trayvon Martin

April 7th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

The new play by Gary Earl Ross at Subversive Theatre, “The Trial of Trayvon Martin,” may be a fantasy, but the themes presented are very much of the real world and of the present time – race in America, domestic… more »

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I Can't Quit You

March 29th, 2017 by BuffaloVibe

Amid Buffalo’s resurgence, we often seek out the latest. Tired of our storied past, we grasp for the sparkle and pop of the localvore restaurant, the re-envisioned event locale, or that newly designed park. And we should… more »

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Review: Proof

March 24th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

I looked up the word proof in various dictionaries and found two uses that seem relevant to the play Proof by David Auburn, the current production by Buffalo Laboratory Theatre at Shea’s 710 Theatre. Proof, which… more »

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Party On!

March 22nd, 2017 by Lesa Quale Ferguson

Citybration and BuffaloVibe recently announced they will host a party so behemoth that it needs its own tower - the Seneca One Tower that is. This centerpiece of the Buffalo skyline has been vacant since 2013 but not for… more »

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Review: Cleopatra

March 18th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

There is Camp. There is High Camp. And then there are Jimmy Janowski et al in Charles Busch’s “Cleopatra,” Buffalo United Artists’ current production at Alleyway Theatre, which takes Camp to a whole new… more »

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Review: The Underpants

March 13th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

I saw London. I saw France. And everyone saw Frau Maske’s underpants. The great bloomers fell to her ankles as the German king passed by during a parade in 1910. Almost everyone in Dusseldorf bore witness to this early… more »

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Theater Review: The Seedbed at ICTC

March 12th, 2017 by Nathan Miller

The Seedbed, a tense four-hander at the Irish Classical Theatre by playwright Brian Delaney, is about as Irish as you can get in terms of writing style and turn of phrase, but the cast, with Greg Natale at the helm,… more »

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Review: The Motherf**ker with the Hat

March 11th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

In the next to the last scene of Road Less Traveled Theater’s production of “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” by Stephen Adly Guirgis, and expertly directed by Victoria Perez, the protagonist Jackie says, “Funny… more »

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Review: A View From The Bridge

March 4th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

The stage is backlit by a single blue light. The set is that of an ancient Greek amphitheater, a stone semicircle with two steps all around up to a series of tall, flat, rectangular walls with openings between. We hear the mournful… more »

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Review: Buffalo Quickies

February 24th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

A large enthusiastic audience attended opening night of Buffalo Quickies at the Alleyway Theater. This is the 26th year Alleyway has presented this series of short, one act plays, all of which are regional or world premieres.… more »

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A Dose of Reality - My Experience on the Stage

February 23rd, 2017 by Kris Kielich

"Kris, why don't you stick around and read anyways?" Those were the words my director spoke to me that led to me being cast in Aurora Players' production of Jon Robin Baitz' "Other Desert Cities," which as I'm writing this, officially… more »

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Strange Fruit

February 15th, 2017 by Ursie Bankhead

I remember my grandmother’s house on Grape Street in Buffalo’s Fruit Belt neighborhood. She and I chatted in the kitchen while the records played. Billie Holiday’s voice floated out from the other room and wafted… more »

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Valentine’s Day Buffalove

February 8th, 2017 by Lesa Quale Ferguson

At the Erie Basin Marina, while a spring storm ballyhooed across Lake Erie, my now husband, Dave, asked me to marry him. The meteorologists promised a tornado but the storm didn’t quite reach those proportions. After… more »

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Review: Sophisticated Ladies

February 2nd, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

If you love jazz, and even if you only like jazz, and maybe even if you’re not sure about jazz, you’ll have a terrific time at Musicalfare’s “Sophisticated Ladies.” You’ll be tapping your feet… more »

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Simply Cringe-Worthy

January 31st, 2017 by Eric Richardson

What do you get when you combine a passion, camaraderie, and a learned skill? A unique Buffalo-based press that’s made a name for itself, not only in the Rust Belt, but across the country! The Cringe-Worthy Poets Collective… more »

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Review: Mariela in the Desert

January 27th, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

The set for “Mariela in the Desert” is surrounded by a series of rectangular and square boxes set up like a very low fence. They’re almost colorless – a very light sandy beige. In this play with art as… more »

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Review: Amadeus

January 22nd, 2017 by Manya Fabiniak

Collaborations often provide an opportunity to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, with each member amplifying the gifts of the others. But when those involved possess the stellar talents of the Irish Classical… more »

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Review: Frankenstein

January 21st, 2017 by Ann Marie Cusella

When humans presume the role of God, monsters are created. But which is the monster – the creator or the created? How far can humans go in disrupting the natural order before destroying themselves and what they’re… more »

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Learning Buffalo

January 18th, 2017 by Marti Gorman

When I left Buffalo in 1974, I knew next to nothing about my hometown. I had never heard of Millionaire’s Row. I thought houses everywhere were upper/lowers with built in closets, stained glass windows and pantries off… more »

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Review: Christmas Is Comin' Uptown

December 9th, 2016 by Ann Marie Cusella

Paul Robeson Theatre’s production of “Christmas Is Comin’ Uptown,” currently at 710 Main Theatre, is a great choice for the company, whose mission since 1968 has been "to nurture and showcase the talents… more »

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A Romantic Staycation in Buffalo

December 7th, 2016 by Marti Gorman

Meet Scott and Al. They travel and blog on In a DC Minute. Their stay in Buffalo, sponsored by Visit Buffalo Niagara, produced not one but three blog posts, each one more enthusiatic than the last. In Part One, they wax poetic… more »

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Julie, "Pioneer Girl", and the Little Free Library

December 5th, 2016 by Lesa Quale Ferguson

Last Christmas as a gift to me, my husband built a magic portal for our front yard garden. He wouldn’t have called it that when he staked it into the ground this spring. Then, we called it a Little Free Library. The Little… more »

Review: I'm Fine

Review: Million Dollar Quartet

Review: Me And My Girl

Review: The Trial of Trayvon Martin

I Can't Quit You

Review: Proof

Party On!

Review: Cleopatra

Review: The Underpants

Theater Review: The Seedbed at ICTC

Review: The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Review: A View From The Bridge

Review: Buffalo Quickies

A Dose of Reality - My Experience on the Stage

Strange Fruit

Valentine’s Day Buffalove

Review: Sophisticated Ladies

Simply Cringe-Worthy

Review: Mariela in the Desert

Review: Amadeus

Review: Frankenstein

Learning Buffalo

Review: Christmas Is Comin' Uptown

A Romantic Staycation in Buffalo

Julie, "Pioneer Girl", and the Little Free Library

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