All stories by Roberta Silman on BroadwayStars

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Book Review: "His Only Son" " A Delightful Discovery from Turn-of-the-Century Spain by Roberta Silman

A splendid, absorbing read in which you feel as if you've been dropped onto the set of a Mozart opera.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:36AM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 29, 2016

Fuse Book Review: Thomas De Quincey " A Memorably "Guilty Thing" by Roberta Silman

Frances Wilson's biography of Thomas De Quincey is superb, written with enormous empathy and insight.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:18AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Book Review: Rabih Alameddine's "Angel of History" " Knocked Askew by Roberta Silman

This is a book about "survivor's guilt," and also about the terrible loneliness that comes of losing so many whom you love.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:04AM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 27, 2016

Fuse Music Commentary: The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute by Roberta Silman

If any of you are harboring a budding young musician either at home or school or in the extended family, investigate the possibility of he or she attending BUTI.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:18AM[SHARE]
Friday, August 5, 2016

Fuse Book Appreciation: The Fiction of Kent Haruf " Surviving Ordinary Life with Grace by Roberta Silman

Kent Haruf's novels remind us that even in the hardest lives, there is joy, often delicate and evanescent, but joy, nevertheless.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:04AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 27, 2016

Fuse Book Review: A. B. Yehoshua's "The Extra" " A Genius for Dissecting Family Matters by Roberta Silman

This canny writer is concerned with the kind of complicated family relationships that engaged his Jewish literary forebears.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:43AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Fuse Book Review: "The Last Painting of Sara De Vos" " On Art and Forgery by Roberta Silman

You may have read similar earlier works, but Dominic Smith's novel is in a class of its own.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:08AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 28, 2016

Fuse Book Review: Helen Dunmore's Terrific "Exposure" by Roberta Silman

There are resemblances to Virginia Woolf not only in the terrific prose but also in Helen Dunmore's awareness that much of family life lies in what is not said as much as in what is said.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:02AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Fuse Book Review: An Uneven "Bottomland" by Roberta Silman

Perhaps in the future Michelle Hoover will let her very real talent take her into the unknown, where narrative and myth merge.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 05:33PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 5, 2016

Fuse Book Review: "Living On Paper" " Letters From Iris Murdoch by Roberta Silman

Iris Murdoch proves a wonderful companion: funny, honest, insightful, and courageous.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 06:33PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 25, 2016

Fuse Concert Review: Mirror Visions " An Extraordinary Vocal Ensemble by Roberta Silman

I urge anyone interested in the voice and or just terrific music to try to attend one of Mirror Visions' concerts.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:37AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Fuse Book Review: "Winter" " A Luminous Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man by Roberta Silman

This novel about Thomas Hardy becomes not only the story of an odd triangle, but also a meditation on the nature of art.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 01:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 18, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "The Big Green Tent" " Lives Lived Without Trust, Memorably Conveyed by Roberta Silman

We root for all of the ordinary folk who survived -- and are still surviving even now -- one of the bleakest and saddest periods in Russia's history.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:49PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Fuse Book Review: Living With the Spenders " Surviving an Odd Childhood by Roberta Silman

One must be impressed by memoirist Matthew Spender, who refuses to descend into resentment or anything resembling self-pity despite a very strange childhood.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:09AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 29, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "Death by Water" " Imagination, Masterfully Redeemed by Roberta Silman

Death By Water plumbs the depths of the human condition in an entirely original way.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:50AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Fuse Book Review: Two From Andreï Makine " A Matter of Trust by Roberta Silman

Makine may be plagiarizing himself, which is a perfectly legitimate thing for a writer to do, but scenes of spring snow and railroad stations become clichés even in talented hands.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:38AM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 15, 2015

Fuse Book Review: The Resilient Wisdom of Tony Judt " For the Ages by Roberta Silman

Tony Judt is an American treasure, in time he may prove as great to our country as George Orwell and Albert Camus are to theirs.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 12:16PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 13, 2015

Fuse Book Review: Admiring Anne Enright's "The Green Road" by Roberta Silman

Anne Enright's prose, especially when she is firmly rooted in Ireland, sings; she has the ability to get the details both of setting and character, and a wonderful ear.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:46AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 11, 2015

Fuse Film Review: "Archie's Betty" " A Charming Documentary about Comic Book Americana by Roberta Silman

Here is a terrific documentary that will appeal to people who grew up in the mid-20th century and also their children and grandchildren.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:14AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Fuse Theater Review: "The How and the Why" " The Science of Being Human by Roberta Silman

It is worth your time watching Shakespeare & Company's two fine actresses come to an understanding that is cathartic and real.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 01:21PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 23, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "Girl of My Dreams" " A Vivid Look at Hollywood and History by Roberta Silman

Peter Davis knows Hollywood from the inside and has written a splendid novel about the great days of Tinsel Town with the kind of passion you rarely see anywhere these days.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:33AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "Academy Street" " Affirming Life in Fresh and Surprising Ways by Roberta Silman

This is a powerful, intensely felt short novel about the lives of ordinary people by a very young Irish writer.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 05:34PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 10, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "Erebus" " A Brilliant Hybrid That Bears Witness to Tragedy by Roberta Silman

Erebus is wonderful, original book that defies categorization.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:04AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 2, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "The Bridal Chair" " Surviving Genius by Roberta Silman

The Bridal Chair will not only answer many questions about this complicated, famous family; like Chagall's best work, it will also linger in the mind.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:01AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 9, 2015

Fuse Concert Review: The Innovative Organist Cameron Carpenter " Shaping Music in Surprising Ways by Roberta Silman

Kudos to the Celebrity Series for bringing this interesting and innovative young musician to Boston and kudos to Cameron Carpenter for such a fascinating few hours.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:24AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 23, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "A Brief Stop on the Road From Auschwitz" " Destined to Become a Classic by Roberta Silman

Göran Rosenberg has written a calm yet passionate account of events after Auschwitz, a memoir marked by great intelligence and equally great emotional intensity.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:56AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 13, 2015

Fuse Book Review: "Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli, A Strange Romance" " But an Amazing Marriage by Roberta Silman

Daisy Hay turns her sharp yet sympathetic eye on Mary Anne and Benjamin Disraeli, whose marriage seemed unlikely at the start but which grew into something not only strange but, even in mode…

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:44AM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 1, 2015

Fuse Theater Review: "Breath & Imagination" " Inspirational, Then and Now by Roberta Silman

Breath & Imagination is a realistic, moving, and very revealing take on what it means to be a black artist in America, both then and now.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 07:41PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 2, 2015

Fuse Book Review: The Remarkable Life of Storm Jameson " Attention Tenderly Paid by Roberta Silman

After reading this scholarly and accessible biography, I am convinced that Storm Jameson's life is a must for anyone fascinated by the history of women writers in the 20th century.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:48AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 24, 2014

Fuse Book Review: "Havel: A Life" " A Splendid Biography of a Seminal Artist/Statesman by Roberta Silman

What this magisterial biography does so well is give us an even-handed portrait of a remarkable, flawed man who is obsessed with a need to help the disenfranchised.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:07AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 17, 2014

Fuse Poetry Review: "Gabriel, A Poem" " A Terrible Beauty by Roberta Silman

Gabriel is a searing experience to read, filled with sadness but also humor and forbearance, and may give comfort to parents who are dealing with difficult children.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:10AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off