As year-end traditions go, the awarding of the “dubious achievement” Hapsters for theatrical highs and lows can be traced back to 1994. So take a stroll down this year’s memory lane with us and remember, the decision of the judges -- OK, me -- is final. Best Pulitzer Prognostication: Anyone can produce a play that has already won the Pulitzer Prize. Palm Beach Dramaworks does … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2011
Focus on past stands out in film’s 10 best of 2011
Leave it to someone’s doctoral thesis to explain why this year at the movies there are two films that look back on the early days of the art form (The Artist, Hugo) and so many others also focused on the past, from biographies of Marilyn Monroe (My Week with Marilyn), FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (J. Edgar) and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (The Iron Lady) to … [Read more...]
Despite loss and economic woes, 2011 was impressive year for local theater
It was a precarious year in theater in South Florida, with the sudden devastating demise of West Palm Beach’s Florida Stage, not quite offset by the expanded potential for Palm Beach Dramaworks in its new, larger space. Zoetic Stage debuted in Miami with its impressive repertory company of area actors, while announced, but not yet open, are Parade Productions in Boca Raton and … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 24-25
Film: American remakes of foreign films rarely improve on the original version, but that is exactly the feat that director David Fincher has pulled off with his take on Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There were reasons to worry about what the maker of Fight Club and Se7en would do to this dark, dense cold case mystery, but he has been extremely faithful to the … [Read more...]
Crowe’s bubbly ‘Zoo’ proves a charmer
What kind of small watering hole in a rural zoo in a family film has a one-sheet poster for The Third Man on its wall? The kind in a Cameron Crowe movie, that’s what. There are no cinephile characters in the film, no justification for the poster’s being there, no subtle connection between this pleasant commercial product and Carol Reed’s masterpiece. Nevertheless, I was … [Read more...]
South Florida-born filmmaker returns with ‘Seducing Charlie Barker’
Amy Glazer made her directorial debut as a teenager at Miami Beach Senior High School, where she directed another student named Mickey Rourke in his first play. Now a playwright, independent filmmaker and a professor of film, television, radio and theater at San Jose State University, she’s returned to South Florida this month to screen her new film, Seducing Charlie Barker, … [Read more...]
Inner child fills two exhibits at Boca Museum
Long yellow shoelaces make for a wonderful sun, there is a vice versa to shoes are made from animals and while I don’t know about the white elephant, the black bear in the room is not always ignored. I learned all of the above during a recent trip to the Boca Raton Museum of Art to check out two ongoing exhibits that are proving to be very popular. More than 90 highly … [Read more...]
Capalbo triumphs in second cast of PB Opera’s ‘Butterfly’
In all my years of going to hear Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, I have never heard a better interpretation than that of Canadian soprano Michele Capalbo, who sang the lead role of Cio-Cio San on Saturday at Palm Beach Opera. Capalbo led the company’s “B” cast; the “A” cast opened Palm Beach Opera’s 50th season the night before. Taking on such demanding lead roles means opera … [Read more...]
NADA’s collaborative style proves boon for new art, audiences
On the first day of the New Art Dealers Alliance art fair (NADA), which took place during the recent Miami Art Week, young artists and art professionals gathered alongside established dealers, collectors and curators in the expansive grand lobby of the Deauville Beach Resort. Young men with scruffy beards wearing blue jeans sat on couches and armchairs alongside polished art … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Forceful quartet, innovative choir, impressive pianist
Here are brief reviews from three recent concerts: Delray String Quartet (Dec. 11, Colony Hotel, Delray Beach): This foursome is on something of a roll as it enters its eighth season of concertizing. Next month it will give the world premiere of the String Quartet No. 5 by Kenneth Fuchs, and will contribute that work to an all-Fuchs disc for Naxos. It’s just released a … [Read more...]