Editor’s note: To do our bit for the long shopping weekend, we’ve asked our friend Lou Ann Frala to go through the stacks of catalogs she gets at this time of year and find some things we might want to send to kin and kind. By Lou Ann Frala The first catalog I remember poring over was the Sears Wish Book. What a field day I would have had with Post-it Notes. My lists and … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2014
Nutcrackering: Ballet companies ready for holiday favorite
All over the country at this time of year, in prop rooms big and small, someone is dusting off the head of the Mouse King. It’s time, in other words, for The Nutcracker, a ballet from Imperial Russia that has been an indelible staple of American culture for decades, an unmistakable sign of the holiday season as familiar as Ebenezer Scrooge and round-the-clock Christmas carols. … [Read more...]
New ‘Phantom’ looks great, but it’s still soulless
After 11,159 performances on Broadway, and billions of dollars of ticket sales worldwide, it is probably time to halt the critical carping and accept that theatergoers love the kitsch-heavy, empty spectacle that is The Phantom of the Opera. The producer of the theatrical blockbuster, Cameron Mackintosh, has such faith in the drawing power of this beauty-and-the-beast tale that … [Read more...]
Late reviews: South Florida Symphony, Cameo Chamber Players
South Florida Symphony Orchestra (Nov. 15, Crest Theatre, Delray Beach) One of Sergei Prokofiev’s last works was his Sinfonia Concertante (Op. 125), a reworking of his earlier Cello Concerto and one of the most challenging such pieces in the repertoire. The American cellist Zuill Bailey, a repeat guest with the South Florida Symphony, returned to that ensemble’s … [Read more...]
Sometimes-shaky ‘Piaf’ at Delray Square ultimately persuades
By Dale King By all accounts, the personal life of famed French chanteuse Edith Piaf was pretty sad. So, it’s not unexpected that a biographical play about the “little sparrow” with the powerful voice that emanated from a 4-foot-8 frame would also be filled with moments of sorrow. Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman, partners of Florida Theater Productions Inc., have taken a … [Read more...]
MCB’s ‘R&J’ sumptuous to look at, but light on the heart
By Tara Mitton Catao Starting its Kravis Center season off last weekend with an ambitious full-length production of John Cranko’s highly regarded Romeo and Juliet, Miami City Ballet continues to present a variety of repertory that not only pleases audiences but also encourages the artistic development of its dancers. In addition to presenting three different casts as Romeo … [Read more...]
Russian State SO, with Feltsman, glitters in Mozart, Rachmaninov
I think it’s safe to say the Kravis Regional Arts Concert Series, now celebrating its 40th year, has more visiting orchestras than any other venue in the world. There are seven this season, starting with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday evening with two Russian pieces and a Mozart piano concerto. This 90-piece ensemble opened with Glinka’s overture to his … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Nov. 22-23
Dance: Sergei Prokofiev went through a great deal of trouble over Romeo and Juliet, and originally wrote it with a happy ending in which the star-cross’d lovers survive and dance off into the sunset. But the composer’s Soviet overlords didn’t think much of that idea, and forced him to reinstate Shakespeare’s original tragic outcome. Whatever the ending, he created a matchless … [Read more...]
At FGO, a triumph for a ‘Butterfly’ newcomer
It was a good Sunday afternoon for Vanessa Isiguen. The young soprano who made her debut in the role that day with Florida Grand Opera showed herself well up to the task of bringing to vivid vocal life the character of Cio-Cio-San, the doomed heroine of one of the world’s most popular and beloved operas, Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. A North Carolinian who made her … [Read more...]
Late review: Seraphic Fire, Sebastians glory in early Handel
Some of the most satisfying concerts of Seraphic Fire’s now-substantial history have included the music of George Frideric Handel. In addition to its regular holiday run-throughs of the Christmas portion of the Baroque composer’s Messiah, there have been revelatory readings of his oratorio Israel in Egypt, and five years ago, a lovely reading by a chamber spinoff of some of … [Read more...]