Russian soprano Lyubov Petrova.By Greg StepanichWEST PALM BEACH -- There has been a good deal of debate about the ultimate strategy of the creators of the great humanist document that is Le Nozze di Figaro: Were da Ponte and Mozart trying to say pointed things about the aristocracy, explore the vagaries of love with a pre-feminist twist, or simply try to show their audiences a … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2009
ArtsBuzz: Lake Worth gallery features major American painter
Upward Lift (1985, 60-by-90-inch oil and acrylic on canvas),by Robert Goodnough. (Photo by Katie Deits)By Katie DeitsRobert Goodnough may not be a household name, but the American painter was working in New York when Abstract Expressionism and color-field painting exploded onto the scene.He was considered important enough in the art world back in January 1960 to make the cover … [Read more...]
Film review: ‘The Class,’ France’s Oscar nominee came up short, but is a class act
Francois Begaudeau in ‘The Class.’By Hap Erstein Just days after the Academy Awards, a film called The Class arrives, and this little Oscar-worthy gem is a class act. France’s foreign language film nominee, it is a perfect antidote to all those wildly inspiring Hollywood movies where a cares-too-much teacher breaks through to an unruly group of students, turning them into … [Read more...]
Theater preview: ‘Dangerous’ is McKeever’s walk on the dark side
David A. Rudd and Marta Reimanin Caldwell Theatre's production of ‘Dangerous.’By Hap Erstein If you think you know Davie playwright Michael McKeever from last season’s knockabout farce Suite Surrender, or even such older comedies as Open Season or 37 Postcards, think again.The diminutive, prolific advertising copywriter-turned-dramatist is in a distinctly darker mood … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 26-March 2
Michael McKenzie, Brett Fleisher and Wynn Harmon in Dangerous.Theater: Prolific South Florida playwright Michael McKeever has noticed that his work has grown darker over the years, but never more so than his latest, titled simply Dangerous, a “deconstruction” of the classic French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which has spawned several film versions.McKeever sets his version … [Read more...]
Movie review: ‘Two Lovers’ gets staggering performance from Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix and Vinessa Shaw in Two Lovers.By John ThomasonBizarre. Stoned. Catatonic. Disoriented. Fishy. Odd. Painful. Amy Winehouse-esque.Joaquin Phoenix’s recent appearance on David Letterman has been called all of these things and more in the thousands of Web hits since it went viral a couple of weeks ago. It’s all of those things, yes, but one word best describes … [Read more...]
Commentary: TV’s Maher gets off to shaky start in new season
Comedian Bill Maher.By John ThomasonThe seventh year of Real Time with Bill Maher (10 p.m. Fridays, HBO) began on a clunky note.The opening monologue Friday of the comedian/provocateur’s first show since November yielded only a couple of memorable quips, comic gold hidden among pyrite bombs like, “Sean Penn showed up in a rented huff,” to the Oscars because of the tight … [Read more...]
2009 Oscars: A ‘Slumdog’ triumph, but revamped telecast had mixed results
Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire.By Hap ErsteinCall it Slumdog Snowball.The sweet -- well, except for the terror scenes -- film about a lower-caste tea boy who triumphs on a Mumbai game show, rolled over the competition at Sunday night’s new-look Oscars ceremony. Slumdog Millionaire won eight of the 10 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, losing only for … [Read more...]
Theater review: ‘The Weir,’ Irish things that go bump in the night
Dennis Creaghan (left), Lena Kaminsky, Karl Hanover,Frank Converse, Declan Mooney in Palm BeachDramaworks' production of The Weir. (Photo by Shel Shanak)By Hap Erstein Put a handful of Irishmen in a bar and they will soon be drinking and swapping lyrical tall tales. It is a fact of life and of the theater, as evidenced by Conor McPherson’s simple, plotless, yet haunting … [Read more...]
Oscar predictions: Ledger, Cruz, Langella, Winslet, ‘Slumdog’
By Hap ErsteinProbably the most important thing to keep in mind when handicapping the Academy Awards tonight (8 p.m., ABC) is that quality -- in films, performances and other skills -- is usually a secondary consideration in the voting.Oscar victories have a lot more to do with rectifying past snubs, nominees’ personal comeback stories, voters’ opinions of the people up for the … [Read more...]