When the Art Basel Miami Beach week ended Dec. 8, more than 75,000 people had visited the show in the Miami Beach Convention Center, and many of those 75,000 had visited the five main fairs that have sprung up around it: Art Miami, Design Miami, NADA, Pulse and Untitled. There was plenty of star power, too. At Art Miami’s opening Dec. 3, a horde of no less than 13,500 VIP … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2013
Sundays: What we hath wrought
By Myles Ludwig Everything falls apart. Guaranteed. Here we stand on the threshold of the Age of Entropy rather than what we hoped might look like a renewal of the Age of Good and Plenty. And the view ain’t pretty. Entropy abounds. Find its ugly Medusa head of snakes in the electronic looting of Target; the bureaucratic, who me? boondoggle that crashed the Obamacare Website: … [Read more...]
Hap’s picks: Top 10 stage shows of 2013
1. Lungs (The Theater at Arts Garage) — British playwright Duncan Macmillan specified no theatrical artifice — no set, no lighting effects, no distracting costumes — in this two-character dialogue and occasional rant about the advisability of bringing a baby into this world. That left Cliff Burgess and Betsy Graver alone onstage with only their acting skills and wits to keep us … [Read more...]
Hap’s picks: Top 10 films of 2013
Now that we have seen the year-end crop of award-worthy movies, it is clear than 2013 was rich in quality films. Family dysfunction, struggles for survival and looks back at our history are among the themes in this highly subjective selection of the best. 1. Nebraska — Alexander Payne’s signature territory of pain-laced comedy about deeply flawed, but recognizable characters … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 28-29
Art: No matter what its other attractions, the basic fact of the state of Florida is the water: Most of it is a sandbar in the sea, so it’s only fitting that so many artists of the state have turned or aqueous reality for inspiration. At the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County’s art gallery in its converted movie theater on Lake Street in Lake Worth, The Deep and the Shallow … [Read more...]
Stiller’s inventive ‘Mitty’ avoids the hard edges
In updating James Thurber’s six-page short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to modern times, director-star Ben Stiller plants his titular dreamer in a scenario all too familiar and scary for middle-aged members of the Fourth Estate. Stiller’s Mitty works for a print magazine that is transitioning to an online-only publication, a move that will result in massive layoffs. … [Read more...]
Sundays: What made, and didn’t make, the Cloud in 2013
By Myles Ludwig The annual list of best and worst seems lame. I prefer a listicle of the Liked, UnLiked, ReLiked, Archived, Deleted, Spammed and Trashed. It seems more appropriate. As the pope noted, who am I to judge? But if not me, then who? Liked Edward Snowden Pope Francis Claire Danes Don Jon and Barbara Sugarman Michelle Obama Justin Timberlake Kate … [Read more...]
A remarkable night with a young trio
Brilliance comes in threes, it appears. Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, in the second concert of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, three young men — Doori Na, violin; Joseph Lee, cello; and Sean Kennard, piano — thrilled the many concert attendees with their music-making. And indeed, their musicianship was remarkable. Coming together as individuals of astonishing skill … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 20-22
Music: It’s the last weekend before Christmas, and if you haven’t had enough of the usual seasonal ear-tide, here’s your chance for a little bit more semi-sacred Gemütlichkeit before it’s on to the homefront. Tonight, Seraphic Fire comes to St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton for its annual reading of Messiah, George Frideric Handel’s hit from 1742 that is as much a … [Read more...]
Violinist Perlman to open Festival of the Arts Boca
BOCA RATON -- Violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman will open the 8th Annual Festival of the Arts Boca in early March, festival officials said today. The legendary Israeli-born violinist is one of the best-known classical musicians in the world, and is an annual visitor to South Florida, giving three recitals this week in West Palm Beach and Miami. He also appeared twice previously … [Read more...]