I have heard many student orchestras in my time. The Lynn Philharmonia’s third program this past weekend, which began with Dvořák’s Othello overture and ended with Carl Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, surpassed all the others with disciplined playing that sounded very professional. Granted the enthusiasm of youth, with its high energy output, has much to do with what we heard, but … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2015
Lively, fast-moving ‘Newsies’ solid entertainment for all
There is irony in a major media conglomerate such as Walt Disney producing a musical like Newsies, which celebrates the triumph of a bunch of ragamuffin newsboys over a publishing empire. The message, of course, is that the story line doesn’t matter as long as it brings in a few bucks. Newsies, as you might recall, was a 1992 movie musical that flopped at the box office, but … [Read more...]
Vital ‘Viscera’ energizes MCB’s Program I
By Tara Mitton Catao A tepid launch of Miami City Ballet’s 30th anniversary season this last weekend suggests it might be time to rethink repertoire. On Program I, which was performed Saturday night at the Kravis Center, there were three works. Two selections reached way back in time; one was choreographed 64 years ago and the other 71 years ago. The third was a commissioned … [Read more...]
Raucous ‘The Night Before’ may be year’s funniest comedy
Jonathan Levine’s The Night Before runs only 99 minutes, but it feels considerably longer — so chockablock is this anarcho-buddy-stoner-road-Christmas-comedy with quips, gags, references, elaborate set pieces, and most of all ideas. It’s amazing how many of them work. Few comedies in recent memory measure up to middle hour of The Night Before in its hedonistic inspiration, its … [Read more...]
Ebersole promises ‘fun and frivolity’ in benefit concert for Maltz
When two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole (42nd Street, Grey Gardens) steps out on the Maltz Jupiter Theatre stage Saturday night, it should feel a little familiar to her. Told that the venue used to be the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, she perks up on the telephone. “Oh, well, that’s where I worked,” says Ebersole in a flat Midwestern voice that suggests her … [Read more...]
Smart reset, fine voices make for delightful ‘Barber’ at FGO
Since 1990, Florida Grand Opera has revived Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville about every five years, and for this 75th anniversary season, the company has brought the opera back again on the eve of the work’s bicentenary. This most popular of Rossini’s operas (to the unfortunate general neglect of his more important dramatic operas, such as Otello) remains a marvelous … [Read more...]
Joshua Bell, Fareed Zakaria to lead 10th Festival of the Arts Boca
By Steven J. Smith BOCA RATON — The 10th annual Festival of the Arts Boca promises a compelling line-up of international superstars, thinkers, authors and performers, according to festival chairman and co-executive producer Charlie Siemon, who unveiled the season Friday at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center. “The 10th Annual Festival of the Arts Boca will be our most … [Read more...]
Arresting, powerful ‘Light’ from Ballet Austin at Kravis
By Tara Mitton Catao With a weighty theme and a cumbersome title, Ballet Austin’s Saturday night performance of Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts was anything but that. In short, it was arresting. Artistic Director Stephen Mills’ evening-length work depicted a timeless universality molded by the purposeful choices Mills made … [Read more...]
Once a film flop, ‘Newsies’ reborn as Broadway sensation
When the 1992 Disney movie musical Newsies tanked at the box office, few expected the title to ever resurface in any form. But this real-life David vs. Goliath tale of exploited young newsboys who fought back against the rich, ruthless New York City publishers with the 1899 newspaper strike would not be silenced. “It was becoming the number-one requested title to Disney from … [Read more...]
ArtsPaper Interview: George Hamilton, coming full circle
George Hamilton, 76, star of stage, screen and impeccable tan, flies into South Florida this week to appear at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival this Friday evening (7:15 p.m., Nov. 13, at the Sunrise Civic Center) with writer-director Rosemary Rodriguez to introduce their new movie, Silver Skies, co-starring such familiar, if aged, faces as Valerie Perrine, … [Read more...]