It’s been 11 years since the Delray String Quartet was formed and made its first appearance, but only four since its current lineup took shape. And this one feels like a keeper. “Like any quartet, you go through lots of personnel changes. Some of the quartets I know have none of the original members,” said Richard Fleischman, the group’s violist. “We went through so many … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2014
‘Back of the Throat’: Inside a post-Patriot Act nightmare, at Outré
As at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the unanswerable question is: Does violent interrogation extract valuable information from terrorists or does it turn prisoners into terrorists? The issue is explored in Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat, the dramatic case of an Arab-American writer wannabe named Khaled, whose apartment is forceably entered by a pair of thugs who claim to … [Read more...]
Don’t talk; dig: The Panama Canal at 100, at the Flagler
What 8-year construction project involved only American laborers and linked two oceans through the narrow spine of Central America at a cost of $200 million? The answer is: none. Sorry. Trick question. If you were thinking the Panama Canal, you were half right. This costly engineering masterpiece took twice that amount of money and 10 years to complete. It required more than … [Read more...]
News briefs: An opera startup, a new director, an education grant
Bartók for Halloween: New opera company mounts ‘Bluebeard’ If you’re not really in the mood for zombies on Halloween, a new arts group in West Palm Beach has something else you might be interested in: An operatic masterpiece. Opera Fusion, a startup founded by soprano Birgit Fioravante and bass Dean Peterson, will present Béla Bartók’s one-act Bluebeard’s Castle at the Lake … [Read more...]
‘Carrie’ packs a punch at Slow Burn
With a mission to produce underappreciated, short-lived shows, it was probably inevitable that Slow Burn Theatre Co. would get around to Carrie, the Musical. After all, it infamously lasted a mere five performances on Broadway in 1988 and became a symbol of commercial failure when it was used in the title of a compendium of theatrical flops. That would normally be the death … [Read more...]
Art, on the edge, in staggering, brilliant ‘Birdman’
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman dares you to look away. And it does so by never cutting. At least, that’s the way it appears — like one long, continuous, two-hour tracking shot somehow encompassing several days in the narrative, if not weeks. Jaws will drop early and often, especially among cinephiles in the audience, but Birdman isn’t Russian Ark: This visual feat was … [Read more...]
Seraphic Fire presents fine feast of contemporary American music
It’s heartening to hear the evidence of the continued good work being done in new American art music composition, much of it by composers just barely out of their studies, presented on Reincarnations, a recording released earlier this month by Seraphic Fire. The Miami-based concert choir opened its 13th season of concerts with selections from that disc, plus two other works, … [Read more...]
How Alzheimer’s robbed victim, healthy spouse of their lives
Harvey Gralnick was a 56-year-old esteemed doctor at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland when his wife and colleagues began noticing changes in his behavior -- forgetting things, getting lost, lashing out. A medical examination found nothing wrong, but two years later a physician suggested that Gralnick might be suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s. “I had never … [Read more...]
Community theater: Delray Playhouse’s ‘Wait Until Dark’ provides good suspense
By Dale King Delray Beach Playhouse draws deeply from the well of suspense for its opening production of the 2014-2015 season, Frederick Knott’s thriller, Wait Until Dark. The play that saves the best spine tingles for last will conclude its three-weekend run Sunday. The drama kicks off the 68th season for the playhouse located on the shores of Lake Ida. Wait Until Dark … [Read more...]
Plaza Theatre closes, citing lack of funds
By Dale King The stage at The Plaza Theatre in Manalapan will be bare this season. No music or dialogue will be heard. The lights will remain dark and the seats empty. The owner of the cash-strapped, nearly three-year-old entertainment venue that replaced Florida Stage, which operated for 19 of its 24 years in the same storefront location at Plaza Del Mar, locked the place up … [Read more...]