Over the years, some of the better Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival concerts have presented a good blend of discovery and tradition. And so it was with the second concert in the festival’s 21st season this past weekend. The festival musicians sounded well-rehearsed and crisply confident at the Crest Theatre on Sunday, and delivered a fine afternoon of masterworks and obscure … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2012
Weekend arts picks: July 13-15
Theater: As its name implies, Palm Beach Dramaworks usually sticks to plays of dramatic substance, but the company goes lighter in the summertime, usually with a musical. This season it is at least continuing its pre-occupation with classics by reviving The Fantasticks, that off-Broadway Energizer Bunny, which ran for 42 years originally, with its simple, allegorical tale of … [Read more...]
‘Cat in Paris’ looks good, but dialogue’s worth a hairball
In just over three minutes, the short film The Extinction of the Saber Tooth Housecat, which precedes the animated feature film A Cat in Paris in its theatrical run, marvels with the unfettered joy of filmmaking. There is no dialogue, just an animated feline frolicking through a pristine, real-life field, while a meteor hurtles through space. The quickening editing scheme is … [Read more...]
The View From Home 40: New DVD releases and notable screenings, July 10-31
Everything old is new again. In 2005, The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society commissioned a film adaptation of the sci-fi’s master’s classic The Call of Cthulu. Since the book was written in 1927, the filmmakers shot their picture contemporaneously as a silent film. Outside of the eccentric canon of Guy Maddin, this idea was almost unheard-of then, and even post-Artist, silent … [Read more...]
Chamber fest opens first week of 21st season in high spirits
The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival entered its third decade Friday night in West Palm Beach in the arms of a warm, supportive audience that gave all of its work lengthy applause, and laughed forcefully at the jokes its performers offered in oral program notes before each piece. A good time at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Persson Hall was certainly had by all, but … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 7-12
Theater: In its 22 years of existence, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival has already performed the Bard’s Twelfth Night twice, but it is going back to that well again, now that plans to tackle Christopher Fry’s The Lady’s Not For Burning have fallen through. Guest artist director Kevin Crawford was in the previous two production of the comedy about twins separated by a shipwreck, … [Read more...]
Chamber festival opens 21st year: A look at the recorded legacy
The 21st edition of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival opens Friday night at the Persson Recital Hall on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic University, and with its arrival we can say that the summer season in South Florida is truly in full swing. This year’s four programs feature some discoveries, including rare works by Alexandre Tansman (Septet for trumpet, viola and … [Read more...]
Juried show easy to like, not so easy to remember
The underappreciated local artist ought to thank the Boca Raton Museum of Art for the 61st time. That’s how many times the museum has opened its doors to emerging talent through its annual All-Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition, the state’s oldest such exhibit. The good news is there are plenty of artists in Florida. This year’s juror, Valerie Cassel Oliver, senior … [Read more...]