By Steven J. Smith Beating out nearly 100 applicants for the job, Rob Steele was recently chosen to take the reins at Old School Square — formerly the Delray Beach Center for the Arts — as its new president and CEO. Steele, 57, is originally from Flint, Mich. He earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from Adrian College and his master’s in business … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2015
‘100 + Degrees in the Shade’ heats up South Florida art scene
By Sandra Schulman Fall is here and that means the art and culture scene will be heating up as the temps cool down. Running prior, through and after Art Basel Miami Beach, 100+ Degrees in the Shade is a monster art show and a landmark survey of what’s going down and coming up in the art scene in South Florida. This expansive show will include works in all media including … [Read more...]
Seraphic Fire, Sebastians team for splendid Charpentier, Handel
This week, Seraphic Fire heads to the Northeast for concerts in Washington, New York and Philadelphia, joined by the period orchestra The Sebastians, and the choir no doubt wants to give the best impression it can. If Saturday night’s concert at Miami Shores Presbyterian Church represents the quality of its calling card, audiences there will be delighted. For sheer technical … [Read more...]
Maltz’s ‘Mousetrap’ looks good, but play’s a little thin
When I first saw Dame Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, in London in 1972, it was already a phenomenon that had run 20 years in the West End. And it had already warped into a campy tourist attraction played strictly for laughs. At the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, director Peter Amster (The 39 Steps) tries taking the material seriously, digging for the dark tale hidden beneath its … [Read more...]
‘Sex With Strangers’ a smart, well-acted story of libido and fame
Sex. Have I got your attention now? Under a new artistic administration headed by Keith Garsson, The Theatre at Arts Garage opens its new season with an attention-grabbing play called Sex with Strangers by Laura Eason, a staff writer for Netflix’s House of Cards. While the title is hardly misleading — the opening scene and several others end with the play’s two characters … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Nov. 6-8
Dance: Stephen Mills didn’t think he was the right person to tell a Holocaust survivor’s story in dance, but the Ballet Austin artistic director relented, and the result was a remarkable 45-minute depiction of the memories of survivor Naomi Warren called Light: The Holocaust and Humanity Project. The work also includes larger themes, including the Genesis myth, used here as a … [Read more...]
Cancer-buddy picture ‘Miss You Already’ drowns in its own sap
As fun as a barrel of carcinomatous monkeys, Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is destined to be dismissed by audiences like yours truly. Not because I’m a man and Miss You Already is a “women’s picture,” but because it so proudly flaunts its endless reservoir of hydrogenated sap and eye-rolling ludicrousness, the kind redeemed only by the sleight of hand of its capable … [Read more...]
Delray String Quartet, with new member, starts 12th season engagingly
The Delray String Quartet opened its 12th season this past weekend with a new member in the second violinist seat and a season of concerts full of unusual repertoire. The Uzbek violinist Valentin Mansurov, a familiar face to concertgoers in the area for several years now, has taken the chair occupied for years by Tomás Cotik, who in turn has joined Miami’s Amernet String … [Read more...]
Van Gogh, Degas at the Norton; student film contest; arts grants for the Kravis
It’s about to get crowded at The Norton Museum of Art. The exchange initiative that brought Monet’s Nymphéas to its walls last year is back with two French 19th-century masterpieces showing Thursday through April 17. A reciprocal loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh’s The Poplars at Saint-Rémy (Les peupliers sur la Colline) was painted in 1889 while the … [Read more...]
‘Killing Reagan’ often gripping, but marred by focus on trivia
Only months into his first term as president, Ronald Reagan barely survived an assassination attempt as he was leaving a hotel in Washington, D.C. The would-be assassin, John Hinckley, fired six “devastator” bullets designed to explode and spew hot shrapnel on impact. The first bullet hit Press Secretary James Brady in the head, crippling him for life. Other bullets wounded a … [Read more...]