If ever a ballerina was born to perform the role of Giselle, it is Diana Vishneva of American Ballet Theatre. Making her first act entrance with feather-light jumps and the buoyant optimism of a naive peasant girl, Vishneva’s Giselle goes beyond many of the trite tropes of the role. Giselle is supposed to be girlish and flirtatious, and while Vishneva was both Friday at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, she took the character development to another level. Read More

Note: Adele's concert has been canceled due to illness. In person, Adele Adkins is a zany, outgoing redhead with the wit and comedic timing of a young Lucille Ball. The brassy Brit — who performs as simply Adele — already made her stateside TV debut on “Ugly Betty,” a role she thoroughly enjoyed. “But I sounded like Dick Van Dyke doing it — even though I’m English, I was putting on this fake English accent,” she says. “So it’s not something I want to pursue, acting. I just want to be a singer, and I don’t think you can be good at lots of things. Read More

Late travel writer Bruce Chatwin had been there before him, as described in the adventurous 1977 book “In Patagonia.” But that didn’t stop Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys from making his own exploratory sojourn to Brazil and Argentina. From it, he and filmmaker Dylan Goch made a surreal documentary called “Separado!” and it’s an art-house hit in Britain. Read More

Now that the television shows “Glee,” “American Idol” and the new hit “The Sing-Off” have gone nuclear, attention on real-life singing groups has never been higher.Enter the Whiffenpoofs. Yale University’s famed a cappella group (not to be confused with another Yale choral group, the Baker’s Dozen, which was involved in an infamous 2007 assault case in San Francisco) — hits The City this week in a rare performance at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre.Four words: Gleek your heart out. Read More