Film: There have been plenty of fact-based boxing movies and most get trapped on the ropes with sports clichés. But David O. Russell’s The Fighter is as much about “Irish” Micky Ward’s wildly dysfunctional family as it is about the fight game. Mark Wahlberg plays Ward well enough and it certainly isn’t his fault that he is outclassed by the brilliant Christian Bale as his … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2010
Theater feature: What-if meeting of minds inspired ‘Freud’ playwright
Chris Oden as C.S. Lewis and Dennis Creaghanas Sigmund Freud, in Freud’s Last Session at Palm Beach Dramaworks. (Photo by Alicia Donelan)By Hap ErsteinA meeting between Sigmund Freud -- the father of psychoanalysis and a staunch atheist -- and C.S. Lewis, a convert to Christianity and author of the series of religious allegories, The Chronicles of … [Read more...]
What-if meeting of minds inspired ‘Freud’ playwright
A meeting between Sigmund Freud -- the father of psychoanalysis and a staunch atheist -- and C.S. Lewis, a convert to Christianity and author of the series of religious allegories, The Chronicles of Narnia. There is no evidence that such a match-up ever took place, but it is the basis of Mark St. Germain’s what-if drama, Freud’s Last Session, opening Friday at West Palm … [Read more...]
Art review: Storrs’s work embraces chill of the modern
Modern Madonna (1918), by John Storrs.By Gretel SarmientoTo ask an audience to explore unseen works by a popular or a controversial artist is piece of cake. Asking them to come see rare works by a less shocking artist, unknown by most, takes guts.But that’s precisely what the Norton Museum is doing with John Storrs: Machine-Age Modernist, a show consisting mainly … [Read more...]
Storrs’ work embraces the chill of the modern
To ask an audience to explore unseen works by a popular or a controversial artist is piece of cake. Asking them to come see rare works by a less shocking artist, unknown by most, takes guts. But that’s precisely what the Norton Museum is doing with John Storrs: Machine-Age Modernist, a show consisting mainly of metal and stone sculptures by the Chicago native who happened to … [Read more...]
Opera review: Splendid second cast shines in PB Opera’s ‘Nabucco’
Adam Diegel and Laura Vlasak Nolen in Nabucco.(Photo by Palm Beach Opera) By Rex HearnThe “A” cast may have sung Nabucco on Friday night for Palm Beach Opera, but on Saturday night I heard the alpha cast.The company alternates its principals in two casts for each of its full productions and the Saturday lineup featured five incredible voices, “B” cast or … [Read more...]
Splendid second cast shines in PB Opera’s ‘Nabucco’
The “A” cast may have sung Nabucco on Friday night for Palm Beach Opera, but on Saturday night I heard the alpha cast. The company alternates its principals in two casts for each of its full productions and the Saturday lineup featured five incredible voices, “B” cast or no. Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, began the Romantic period in operatic composition. It nearly … [Read more...]
Music review: Supporting characters shine brighter in PB Opera’s ‘Nabucco’
Mark Rucker as Nabucco.By Greg StepanichIt takes a lot of big singing to fill up all the space in the static tableaux of Verdi’s Nabucco.And on Friday night at the Palm Beach Opera, most of that sonic filling was provided by two singers other than the principals: a sonorous bass as Zaccaria and a thrilling tenor as Ismaele.For its first production in 25 years of … [Read more...]
Supporting characters shine brighter in PB Opera’s ‘Nabucco’
It takes a lot of big singing to fill up all the space in the static tableaux of Verdi’s Nabucco. And on Friday night at the Palm Beach Opera, most of that sonic filling was provided by two singers other than the principals: a sonorous bass as Zaccaria and a thrilling tenor as Ismaele. For its first production in 25 years of Verdi’s breakthrough 1842 Biblical drama, Palm … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 10-12
Dmitri Belosselskiy as Zaccaria in Palm Beach Opera’s Nabucco.Music: The Palm Beach Opera opens its 49th season tonight with Nabucco, the opera that made Giuseppe Verdi’s career back in 1842. It’s the first mounting of this opera by the company in 25 years, and they’ve secured a host of singers with experience at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. … [Read more...]