Saturday was sunny, but chilly in New York, but fortunately I was spending almost six hours in a theater watching Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the hot ticket of the season. My trip began with a revival of Tom Stoppard's Travesties, another import from London. Both were in final previews, so I can't get too specific with my opinions yet, but both are challenging works, … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2018
Weekend arts picks: April 20-22
Film: With such a benign title as A Bag of Marbles, you might not suspect that the film attached to it is a danger-laced Holocaust tale of two young Jewish boys, sent off by themselves by their French parents – a barber and a violinist – to cross the country to relative freedom in Nice, eluding the occupying Nazis. With tough-love brutality, the boys’ father beats into them … [Read more...]
‘Merry Wives,’ done reality TV-style, delights at FAU
By Dale King Among the dusty, shopworn show biz mottos kicking around the darkened back rooms of theatrical venues is the phrase, “Always leave them laughing.” That’s undoubtedly how we’ll remember this year’s class of fine arts students from Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, who conclude their 2017-2018 season this weekend with a raucously … [Read more...]
Pianist sparkles at South Florida Symphony, ‘Fantastique’ doesn’t
With several chamber orchestras filling the symphonic gap in this part of the state, the South Florida Symphony offers a full-size group, which gives it the opportunity to present the largest works of the repertoire. And so it was on Sunday night at the Spanish River Worship Center in Boca Raton that a huge orchestra sat on the stage for a performance of the Symphonie … [Read more...]
Rather reports on state of nation, and it’s grim
By Myles Ludwig Veteran newsman Dan Rather took the stage at the Palm Beach Convention Center to a standing ovation at the Palm Beach Book Festival on April 14. He was being honored as the Festival’s book of the year awardee for his current What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, a collection of essays about what Rather believes it means to be an American. It was … [Read more...]
Anton happy to be one of ‘Jerry’s Girls’ at The Wick
The shows of Broadway composer-lyricist – Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles – have been some of the most popular productions at The Wick Theatre. So it was not surprising that the Boca Raton playhouse chose to end its season with the musical revue Jerry’s Girls – a celebration of Herman’s prolific output – and to import Lee Roy Reams to direct it. Reams, who … [Read more...]
Danish String Quartet’s Beethoven superb at Broward Center
By Robert Croan There’s no getting around it. Beethoven’s string quartets are tough stuff: monuments of Western music, worth the effort to unravel their joys and depths and mysteries, but really tough stuff. They’re tough on the ears, on the intellect and on the psyche. Throughout his life, the iconic and complex composer sketched his musical thoughts first in his 32 … [Read more...]
Pärt’s ‘Passio’ gets rigorous Seraphic Fire reading
As we move further past the high-water mark of minimalism, the stature of its major practitioners can be seen more clearly in our rearview. A performance Saturday night of the Passio, a 1982 setting of the Passion according to St. John by the eminent Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, now 82, brought something particular about Pärt’s work into high relief: He is the purest and … [Read more...]
‘Waitress’ proves a tasty entertainment at Broward Center
Diner waitress Jenna Hunterson is an artist. Her medium happens to be pies. Each day, in addition to the standard flavors, she bakes a specialty, like Deep Dish Blueberry Bacon Pie. And the joy her art brings to the customers almost lets her forget the miserable life she has with her abusive, redneck husband, Earl. Can her pies be the route to her freedom? … [Read more...]
‘Concerto DSCH’ a spectacular MCB season sendoff
Alexei Ratmansky is undoubtedly the leading choreographer in the ballet world today, clearly poised to become the next Balanchine. So what better place was there to see one of his most acclaimed creations than on the quicksilver and ebullient dancers of Miami City Ballet? The centerpiece of the closing program of Miami City Ballet’s season was the third work that Ratmansky … [Read more...]