Also this issue: Strikes, Fights, Big City A turbulent New York theater season produced some notable work. -Toby Zinman Lullaby of Broadway This season’s musical theater scene has been a bit sleepy. -David Anthony Fox Alone Again, Naturally -Susan Hagen Artsbeat -Debra Auspitz Green Violin -Steve Cohen The Plotz Retrospective -A.D. Amorosi Bell Esteem -Kristina Weise Don DeLillo -Andrew Ervin

April 24-30, 2003

artpicks

Temple University Opera Theater

We have sung the praises of the Temple University opera program many times in these pages -- they are truly the most undervalued opera resource in town. One of the consistent strengths of their productions is their completeness. Temple can draw from not only their graduate opera resources, but also the university’s excellent music, drama and dance programs, resulting in big-scaled undertakings that are enlivened by energy, innovation and virtuosic execution.

Perhaps an even more significant contribution by Temple involves their choice of repertoire, which is often both brave and unusual. This weekend, a triple bill, presented as "Three Rooms With a View," will feature music by a trio of 20th-century masters, with nary a warhorse in sight. Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi does contain one very famous aria, "O Mio Babbino Caro," but Stravinsky’s Mavra is essentially a historical footnote, while Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück is almost unknown. Does this music deserve such obscurity? Only one sure way to find out: Head on up North Broad Street. You are sure to have fun on the journey.

Temple University Opera Theater, Fri., April 25, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., April 27, 3 p.m., $12.50-$20, Tomlinson Theater, 1301 W. Norris St., 215-204-1122.

—Peter Burwasser