Film & Stage Reviews

Gory Wonderland: `Alice' Opera Mixes Blood, Satire: Alan Rich Unsuk Chin's ``Alice in Wonderland'' opera, captured on a new Unitel DVD with its irritations and delights intact, reveals the Korean composer's sharp view of a familiar tale.

Churchill's `Girls' Revisits Thatcherite England: John Simon It is a good thing for New York theater when two such important plays as Caryl Churchill's ``Top Girls'' and Samuel Beckett's ``Endgame'' open the same week. The former premiered in 1982, the latter in 1957. Both were sensations.

Wachowskis' Dizzying `Racer'; Kutcher Hits Jackpot: Rick Warner Ever wonder what it would be like to get stuck inside a video game for a couple of hours?

Singers Save Odd Verdi Melodrama in London: Warwick Thompson There are two ways to respond to Verdi's ``Simon Boccanegra'' at London's Royal Opera House. One is to balance the pros and cons and weigh up the good singing against the lackluster staging. Another is to revel in the absurdity of the plot and the hilariously creaky acting.

Drescher's Sexpot, Byrne's King Stir `Camelot': Jeremy Gerard Gabriel Byrne tentatively donned King Arthur's crown last night in the first of five performances of ``Camelot.'' Along with the Irish film and stage star, the cast at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall included Stacy Keach as Merlyn, Christopher Lloyd as dotty old Pellinore and TV's Fran Drescher playing Morgan le Fey as Mae West (no, it didn't work).

`Figaro' Tale of Rivalry, Lust Gets Lively Remix in Berkeley Mozart's ``The Marriage of Figaro'' and the Beaumarchais comedies on which it's based have been thrown into the blender, and what emerges in California is a clever and energetic retelling of the musical classic.

`Glory Days' Routed by Critics, Closes After One Performance Joining a short list of Broadway turkeys that never lived past opening night, ``Glory Days'' has shut down after just one performance.

`Iron Man' Boosts Fantasy Writer; Mambo Tribute: Hollywood Buzz The blockbuster opening of ``Iron Man'' was great news for author Brandon Mull, whose ``Fablehaven'' children's fantasy novels will be turned into movies by ``Iron Man'' producer Avi Arad.