By Dale King Ethel Waters died 35 years ago. But the spirit of this bold and opinionated woman, who rose from dire poverty to become one of the greatest and most outspoken African-American singers and actresses of the early to mid-20th century, is unquenchable. Public demand for a retelling of her life story and reprise of her best-known songs prompted the Delray Beach … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2013
Sparks source keeps ‘Safe Haven’ from flying
Intriguingly, Lasse Hallstrom’s Safe Haven opens as a horror film: A young, bloodstained woman runs panicked through a suburban street after dark, having either killed someone, nearly died herself, or both. She finds refuge in the home of a neighbor, her first step in fleeing the darkness behind her. The moment could have been cut and pasted from a Scream movie, but it’s just … [Read more...]
Sundays: A wound that may never heal
By Myles Ludwig The earthquake and tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands hard has a personal meaning for me. I have lived and traveled in the region and experienced typhoons, hurricanes and tsunamis, and I know how devastating those experiences can be for anyone who survives. For weeks later, imagined sounds of winds and waves disturbed my sleep. I have a particular interest … [Read more...]
Walter Gay at the Flagler: Empty rooms, inhabited
In a time calling for simplicity and scaling back, portraits of the complete opposite score well. Only hours into their first day at the Flagler Museum, freshly hanged paintings of European and American extravagant interiors already were having an impact. The first visitors found them gorgeous, informative; even inspirational. Impressions of Interiors: Gilded Age Paintings … [Read more...]
Outcasts and their dreams: ‘Raisin in the Sun’; ‘Side Show’
Two years ago, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park won the Pulitzer Prize for its reconsideration of the landmark drama, A Raisin in the Sun, and his heretical suggestion that perhaps race relations have not progressed as far as we think they have. Now comes Palm Beach Dramaworks to exhume the earlier breakthrough play by Lorraine Hansberry, with its more authentic bitterness and … [Read more...]
Philadelphia Orchestra, Watts bring freshness to the warhorses
There is a celebrated sign on the road to the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont that reads: Caution: Musicians at Play. That phrase suggests not just performers enjoying themselves in their craft, but also expert musicians who can do whatever they want with the material at hand and keep it fresh. That feeling of easeful mastery was all over the Kravis Center on Wednesday … [Read more...]
Hula show at Duncan: Good for you, but needs rethinking
First, get rid of any preconceived notions that you might have of Hawaiian dance and the hula. You won’t see any of that in this performance by Halau Hula Ka No’eau. You will see a more historic and anthropological hula, one that was highly influenced by the missionaries and American and European culture. The women are covered from neck to ankle in granny-like Victorian … [Read more...]
Weekend picks: Feb. 9-10
Theater: If, like me, you were floored by Maureen Anderman in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ A Delicate Balance, you will not need much coaxing to see her in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt: A Parable, John Patrick Shanley’s clash of wills between a suspicious nun and an affable priest (Jim Ballard) who she is convinced behaved inappropriately with a 12-year-old male student. And this … [Read more...]
Comment: Arts Garage successful, so of course, it’s threatened
Perhaps only a conspiracy theorist could come up with a scenario where a fledgling arts center revives and enhances a region's jazz, blues, Latin, hip-hop, musical education and theater scenes, only to literally be sold out. But this is South Florida. And the Arts Garage (http://artsgarage.org) ― the 18-month-old Delray Beach venue that's distinguished itself by presenting … [Read more...]
Schubert Ensemble makes long-overdue visit to Florida
Britain’s Schubert Ensemble came to the Flagler Museum for a night of music-making Tuesday; two familiar works and a couple of rarities made up their program. As winners of the coveted Royal Philharmonic prize, Best Chamber Group Award in 1998, and shortlisted in 2010, this led to high expectations. There’s no greater honor in British music. The Royal Philharmonic Society, … [Read more...]