Likely to be familiar from the movies is the tale of Pittsburgh steel mill welder Alexandra “Alex” Owens, wearer of the iconic one-shoulder sweaters in 1983’s Flashdance. Despite the box office underperformance of its kindred spirits — Footloose, Fame and Saturday Night Fever — here comes another music-based flick trying to make the transition to a stage show, and perhaps to … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2015
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 30-Feb. 1
Theater: The musicals of Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel) are usually over the top with bombast and power anthems, but with Bonnie & Clyde, he seems to have learned how to tailor his music to fit the situation and characters. Of course, the story revolves around a pair of lovestruck petty bank robbers who become folk heroes during the Depression, played … [Read more...]
Moore magnificent in harrowing ‘Still Alice’
Still Alice is like one of those apocalyptic disaster movies, but more painful to watch. Instead of gasping as extraterrestrial invaders decimate global landmarks in a hail of CGI, we watch in tear-stained horror as a human brain attacks itself, first targeting language, as words slip from the consciousness like fish through watery hands, then drilling into deeper areas … [Read more...]
Martha Graham Company outstanding at Duncan
By Tara Mitton Catao After performing last year at the Kravis Center, the Martha Graham Company returned to South Florida on Friday night to launch the popular modern dance series at the Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth. The company was very good when it performed in the large Dreyfoos Hall at the Kravis, but here in the smaller and more intimate … [Read more...]
Masterful Beethoven, Mozart from Aspen Trio at Flagler
Taking their name from the famous summer arts festival where they meet every year in Aspen, Colo., the Aspen String Trio is made up of David Perry, playing a 1711 Venetian Gobetti violin; Victoria Chiang, on a 1996 Paris viola specially made for her; and Michael Mermagen, with a 1774 Galliano cello — which was stolen from his car parked on 67th Street in New York City. The … [Read more...]
Lainie Kazan happy to be working, and teaching, too
Fifty years ago, a svelte, sultry Brooklynite named Lainie Kazan rose to national attention understudying Barbra Streisand in the Broadway musical, Funny Girl. Over time, she grew more zaftig, but she still is a singer to be reckoned with and she has made her mark in films as the archetypal Jewish mother. She will be recognized for the latter on Thursday at the Donald M. … [Read more...]
FGO’s Così: Strong singing, smart direction sell tricky story
For as many problems of interpretation that Mozart’s Così fan Tutte presents to its observers, there are at least as many options that this singular opera gives to its presenters. Given that its specific locale of Naples isn’t underlined in Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto, directors have felt free to reorient it everywhere else and every other time, and it rarely detracts from the … [Read more...]
Maltz’s flashy ‘Wiz’: If it only had a heart
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre has produced some eye-opening new versions of classic musicals in recent seasons, often fueled by directorial concepts that lets us see the material in a new light. Think of the Jupiter company’s Hello, Dolly!, Music Man or the recent Fiddler on the Roof. The company has been a major success, artistically and financially, which allows it to devote … [Read more...]
‘Shenandoah’ gets rare, satisfying staging at Delray Square
By Dale King The Delray Square Performing Arts Center has been no stranger to taking risks. It had no qualms about presenting The Life, a gritty, gutsy tale of life on the streets in Times Square circa the 1980s. Ditto for Piaf, the just-concluded story of the famed French chanteuse whose morality was questionable, and taste for booze and pills obvious. Now Shenandoah is … [Read more...]
Third Sunshine Music & Blues fest strong and satisfying
Husband-and-wife guitarists Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, co-leaders of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and founders of the Sunshine Music & Blues Festival, put together an impressive and varied lineup to precede their closing set during a Sunday stop at Mizner Park Ampitheatre in Boca Raton, and got relatively cool, clear weather to go with it. A capacity crowd, which slowly … [Read more...]