Film: In 1981, composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director Harold Prince adapted a Depression-era play on the ironies of show business success, Merrily We Roll Along, and opened it on Broadway to such critical and popular indifference that it destroyed their much-acclaimed string of musical collaborations. Now, 35 years later, original cast member Lonny Price looks at the … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2016
Hungarian art exhibit at Boca chronicles a battered country
If artworks from other European nations could talk, they would say this about The Art of Hungary: “Tell me something I don’t know about.” For the past three months, the ongoing four-in-one exhibition at Boca Raton Museum of Art has done its best to define the artistic qualities of a country more closely associated with war than artistic creativity. Before we think of Harry … [Read more...]
‘Why Him?’: It’s shallow and gooey, but it will make you laugh
The public’s demand for Yuletide raunch must be insatiable. In a debauched holiday movie season that has already given us Bad Santa 2 and Office Christmas Party, the latest product to emerge from the filth-factory assembly line is Why Him?, a culture-clash comedy set during an eventful Christmas vacation, pitting an early-model, sweater-wearing dad against the gutter-mouthed, … [Read more...]
The Hapsters: A look at 2016’s theater low lights
We didn’t plan it this way, but this year’s Hapster Awards for (mostly dubious) achievement in South Florida theater has a running theme of companies closing their doors or curtailing operations. And you thought we only had the presidency of Donald Trump to depress us. WE’D BETTER BE REALLY PATIENT Sign posted over the water fountain at The Palm Beaches Theatre in … [Read more...]
Theater in 2016: The year’s 10 best
The best in theater for 2016 throughout South Florida yields a healthy mix of new work and classic scripts. Of course, any such list is by definition a subjective opinion, so your mileage may vary, but by any measure, it was a good year at the theater: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Kravis on Broadway) — The five-time Tony Award winner from the … [Read more...]
Film in 2016: The year’s 10 best
Whether it was because of the commotion over last year’s all-white Oscar nominations or simply a coincidence of the pipeline, this year’s top film crop has several entries with racial themes and likely African-American nominees in the performance categories. Here, in descending order of quality – as judged by my highly subjective opinion – are the best of 2016: … [Read more...]
KLR Trio soldiers on with charming Zwilich, fine Mendelssohn and Schubert
Celebrating 40 years of concertizing this season, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio arrived at the Kravis Center for two days of concerts Dec. 14 and 15. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, wearing all black, spoke eloquently of the group’s founding when they played the inaugural concert for President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Kalichstein also teaches at the Juilliard School of … [Read more...]
Organist Smith heals his audience at Arts Garage
At age 74, Hammond organist Dr. Lonnie Smith still looks like a kid in the candy store every time he gets behind his keyboard. On Saturday, the kid from Lackawanna, N.Y., fed off of the energy of a sold-out crowd at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. Those attending included some old friends from the 1990s, when the turban-topped keyboardist was part of the house band at … [Read more...]
Four Arts brings outstanding Neuberger collection to gallery
By Myles Ludwig The current exhibit served up in the Esther B. O’Keeffe Gallery at the Society of Four Arts is an amuse-bouche, an appetizing slice of a much bigger and very personal pie that is a custardy view of American painting as seen through the eyes of the prominent collector and Wall Street eminence, Roy R. Neuberger . In his long life (107 years), Neuberger … [Read more...]
Community theater: Delray’s ‘I Love You’ full of laughs for holiday
By Dale King I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the musical comedy that wraps up its three-week run at Delray Beach Playhouse this weekend, has brought some unusual trappings to the Lake Shore Road venue this time around – in addition to a bag full of laughs for the audience’s holiday entertainment. The four-person cast includes a married couple – actor/singers Jim … [Read more...]