Music: George Frideric Handel premiered his oratorio Messiah in April of 1742 in Dublin, where it was put on for a hospital benefit. It was an Easter piece, but over the years it’s become an indelible part of Christmas in the English-speaking world. There are several places this weekend to get your Messiah fix, with performances tonight at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2016
‘La La Land’: A love letter to the movies, with a painful P.S.
In R.E.M.’s visionary music video for “Everybody Hurts,” a familiar traffic jam becomes an unfamiliar act of protest. Connected by their shared pain, commuters of all creeds and colors begin an exodus from their cars: first one, then a few, then everyone, until they just disappear. I can’t think of a more appropriate post-11/8 song. The opening of Damien Chazelle’s La La … [Read more...]
Arts buzz: Arts Garage cancels theater season; violin competitors named
The Arts Garage in Delray Beach said Monday it has canceled the remainder of its theater season. CEO Marjorie Waldo and Board President Chuck Halberg said in a joint statement that the venue’s losses from the first two shows had been substantial. “After an intensive five-week review of the varied programs we offer, it has become apparent that the losses we have suffered … [Read more...]
Young band, old covers: Mainstreet Dreamers choose well-trod path
Many towns have a Main Street; a thoroughfare that links its other tributaries to keep drivers from getting lost. But West Palm Beach-based pop/rock band Mainstreet Dreamers was not named for any such predictability. Geographically, West Palm Beach is just listed on the quartet’s Web pages as a central location. Bassist Morgan Beers lives further north in Jupiter; guitarist … [Read more...]
When art hangs 10: Custom surfboards at the Cultural Council
If masterpieces can come in the form of bronze and glass sculptures, what should we call handmade surfboards dressed in original photographs? Functional artworks, if you ask local photographer and surfer Tony Arruza. His inspirational images are the first thing to hit us upon entering the bright gallery space at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, where 15 custom … [Read more...]
PB Symphony’s ‘Egmont’ a revelation
A full house in the Four Arts auditorium on Monday night heard a very interesting program from the Palm Beach Symphony that had simply been promoted as “Egmont”: An uninspiring name associated with Beethoven’s masterful overture of the same name. The concert, however, proved to be most inspiring. This Egmont was more than an introductory overture to warm up the orchestra; … [Read more...]
Sol’s ‘Christmas Carol’ sharp retelling of familiar tale
By Dale King Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the author’s famous tale of a wretched skinflint who finds lifesaving redemption with help from some ghostly apparitions who mess with him on a fateful Christmas Eve in mid-19th century London, is back in Palm Beach County for a run at the Sol Theatre in Boca Raton. Director Christopher Mitchell has assembled a delightful … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 9-11
Film: If you are suffering from withdrawal pains waiting for the next screenplay from glib, hyper-articulate Aaron Sorkin, this weekend brings the next best thing. It’s Miss Sloane, a terrific, smart new film about inside Washington, as seen through the machinations of the city’s most wily, win-at-any-cost lobbyist, Elizabeth Sloane. Flame-haired firebrand Jessica Chastain … [Read more...]
Dancers, choreographer Wheeldon lift ‘American in Paris’
Few new Broadway musicals these days are strong on dance, perhaps because so many of the great director-choreographers have passed away or retired. That void makes the arrival of An American in Paris — based on the 1951 movie musical — all the more worthy of celebration. It ushers into the director’s chair the Royal Ballet’s Christopher Wheeldon, who demonstrates that he knows … [Read more...]
Hornist, conductor stand out at Mozarteum concert
The Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg came to the Kravis Center on Saturday night and made a lasting impression on the well-heeled audience of about 1,600 concertgoers who would not let them go until they heard an encore. And that encore was no ordinary sugar-sweet lollipop, but the great final movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. And they played it with a verve and … [Read more...]