| The best musical of the year is an opera. STONEWALL is the most effective dramatization of what happened at the Stonewall Inn 50 years ago--whatever happened at Stonewall--that I've seen. And it's an entirely unlikely success as opera does not seem to be the best medium for telling this particular story. Nonetheless, the piece is simply, clearly structured and beautifully written, performed and directed. I especially appreciated the ardent, plaintive tone that is sustained throughout without sacrificing humor and, of course, the necessary outrage. By now, the Stonewall uprising is nearly entirely mythic; paradoxically, and quite literally, really a true story. What's captured here, with great and tender feeling, is the transformational power of not just the stories we tell, but those we enact as well, especially when we enact them together. STONEWALL is a surprising and very moving achievement. |
