You can’t really call this Zoom-ified go-around of Strawdog’s seasonal staple “good” or “bad” either. It’s simply making the best of things, which only seems appropriate for a Hanukkah story.

Multiple listenings (cast recording, Paramount?) will be required to capture all of the Mahler/Schmuckler genius. Songs like the opening "32 Hour Bus Ride," "Pull It Off," "Hidden Value" and the tender "Tie Your Shoes" are but one person's favorites; each patron will certainly find his/her/their own.

This seldom-performed Tchaikovsky opera turns up the strongest overall principal cast in a Lyric production this season.

Assuming the worst—not even a single Gershwin mashup, remix, or reinvention—we at least have An American in Paris as an eminently graceful swan song that does something new with this old and vital music in its own way.

With discussions regarding racially-conscious casting finally reaching the world of opera, there is still a strange sensation watching a story unfold in which more than half of the characters are of Asian descent, but only one of the performers is.

The miracle of it all is that none of his work feels mercenary. Quite the contrary; he's a genuinely inventive chap whose deft touch for melody or turn-of-phrase can set these delicate classics spinning like a glass marble.

Milieu? Classy as hell. Characters? Sure, there are names in the program, but, dollars to donuts, all that matters is those sophisticated ladies and gents are gonna cut some sharp figures in sharper costumes right before barreling into a high-energy dance break.

Surprisingly richer than the Oreo balls: a masterful demonstration on what increasingly feels like a fading art – how to arrange and put across a simple tune.