Posts by Erie Culture Guru
Start Fiddling Around
Fiddler on the Roof A Theater Review “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” Though I never seen “Fiddler on the Roof” before its current incarnation at Meadville’s Academy Theatre, I was certainly aware of the hummable tunes this musical produced. Largely, in part because of WKHR, 91.5 Bainbridge, OH, a noncommercial…
Read MoreTotal Eclipse of My Heart
or, Here Comes the Moon (Sorry, Beatles!) Our Erie-Area Eclipse “Review” It was simply magical, wasn’t it? Erie weather did its best to hold out and provide us with a decent day to see the most recent solar eclipse since 2017. (But that one didn’t occur near Erie, so to me, it doesn’t count.) It…
Read MoreToo Much Monkey Business?
Inherit the Wind at the Erie Playhouse A Theater Review Relevant as it was when it was first debuted in 1955, “Inherit the Wind” offers up a battle between Man’s enlightened principles versus mob mores veiled in darkness. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, “Inherit,” currently at Erie Playhouse, relates the struggles of…
Read MoreMeadville’s “French” Connection
Downtown Mall Bistro A Restaurant Review A bistro in Meadville? Yep. My taste buds were intrigued, but my mind was puzzled. What exactly is a “bistro,” it asked? Too lazy and too pressed for deadline time to find a dictionary, I turned to Google. It describes a bistro as “a small informal restaurant or bar,…
Read MoreCry and the Family Stoned
Long Day’s Journey Into Night A Theater Review Leave it to the Performing Artists Collective Alliance to be the only Erie theater have the chutzpah to mount a landmark tragedy. Unlike some local theatrical venues that peddle Disney retreads or staged treacle for the Sunday brunch geriatric crowd, PACA offers a gut punch to the…
Read MoreThe Sounds of Silence
A “Guru” Reviewer Considers Life at Home, Alone An Essay Last Saturday morning, I found my father on the kitchen floor. He was conscious, but he couldn’t recall how or when he fell, but I have the horrible feeling he was there all night. For some reason, he almost always waits until I go to bed…
Read MoreNo Frog, It’s Good!
Bullfrog Bar A Restaurant Review The best thing about two restaurants sharing the same building? If you don’t like one, you patronize the other. I was initially was assigned to review Andy’s Ale House & Grill. It looked like a fun place to meet friends what with its pool tables and live bands as I…
Read MoreOdd-O Show
Schaefer’s Auto Art An Art Review With an art gallery that I was supposed to check out unexpectedly closed, I asked myself Now what? As I headed back to my car, I started googling Erie art galleries, hoping to find a nearby site to review”so the GURU wouldn’t be reviewing my employment status with ErieCulture.Guru. …
Read MoreThe Wizard of Oz at the Academy Theatre
I Don’t Think We’re in Meadville, Anymore, Toto A Dance Review If ever a book-to-movie treatment deserved a left-turn transformation into a dance recital, it has to be The Wizard of Oz. With its fantastical tale, imagery of far-off lands and colorful characters, you know it’s going to pop. Also, strip away dialogue and replace…
Read MoreEverything Will Be Okay & Space is Not Enough
Two for the Price of Free Admission a Dual Art Review at Allegheny College In his current show, Everything Will Be Okay, Ian F. Thomas confronts a singular topic: gun violence. His forthrightness offers an honest, aesthetic vision on a serious topic that Americans witness almost daily. My works are ruminations on this dark undercurrent…
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