MUSIC
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 & 18
7:30 PM

Bernstein:  MASS
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
David Geffen Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan

$35-$100
http://www.lincolncenter.org/mostly-mozart-festival/show/bernstein-mass

There are essentially two views of Leonard Bernstein's MASS, with little middle ground:  that it's a concededly flawed masterpiece that incorporates all of Bernstein's disparate characteristics, or an utter piece of shit.  I'm with the POS guys:  MASS's rock moves sound like something you'd hear in the lounge on a cruise ship; its street moves are like something you'd see on The Mod Squad; and its text is as insipid as you'd expect from the lyricist of Godspell(when you get to the couplet contributed by Paul Simon -- see if you can spot it -- you can just feel the intelligence level suddenly rise, if only for a minute).  Nevertheless, I'm willing to give this fully-staged version a shot; sure, staging might bring out everything that's worst about the piece -- but who knows, it might put the piece in a context in which it makes sense.  This show may (or may not) be annoying -- but it won't be boring.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  I'ma be boring, though, and send you to Boulud Sud -- whose pan-Mediterranean food isn't (boring, that is).