Ilana Walder-Biesanz
Ilana is an Associate Product Manager at Yahoo! and a freelance theater and opera critic. She holds a B.S. in Engineering from Olin College and an M.Phil. in European Literature from the University of Cambridge. She currently reviews for Stark Insider, Bachtrack, and San Francisco Classical Voice.
Literary Lives in Letters at Aurora Theatre
'Dear Master' made me want to pick up another George Sand novel. I think I’ll go do just that.
A Grand Finale for the Merolini
San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program is one of the most prestigious training programs in the world for young singers. Its participants can already boast...
Star Trek meets Mozart at Festival Opera
Comic operas are rarely hilarious. A good Fledermaus or Barber of Seville might get you chuckling on occasion, but it won’t have you holding...
A smashing send-off for David Gockley
After ten years as the general director of San Francisco Opera, David Gockley is retiring. To chronicle his contributions to American opera would take...
Carmen without the romance at San Francisco Opera
Sex and violence dominate Calixto Bieito's Carmen, which paints a gritty, unidealized picture of poverty and abuse.
Cinderella‘s magic survives a rewrite
Watching a made-for-television Cinderella by Rogers and Hammerstein is an important part of growing up in a musical theater-loving family. I’ve wasted evenings debating...
A mostly happy Most Happy Fella at 42nd Street Moon
Mention Frank Loesser to a musical theater fan, and you’re sure to hear about Guys and Dolls. The Most Happy Fella is unlikely to...
‘The Lion’, a roaringly good new musical
“What makes a lion a lion?”
Alone onstage with seven guitars, Benjamin Scheuer sings, “My father has an old guitar, and he plays me folk...
A swinging Belleville rendezvous at San Francisco Opera Lab
In 2004, Finding Nemo won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. It beat out a very different finalist: the bizarre French-Québécois film The...