Turning the 1992 Whitney Houston-Kevin Costner flick The Bodyguard into a theatrical musical wasn’t a bad idea, but boy, it has been adapted to the stage very badly. Its success in London’s West End and then on tour in this country is surely due to the residual affection for that film, as well as for the Houston song trunk which forms the basis for this jukebox musical. … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2018
‘Aardvark’ too sluggish to make much of psychological premise
Why do screenwriters hate therapists so much? In most cases, accuracy and verisimilitude are important to a film’s pedigree, but that’s rarely the case when dealing with licensed mental health counselors. Psychologists in popular entertainment rarely resemble anything like their real-life counterparts — morally, legally, temperamentally. They’re either silent, judgmental … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival offers ‘Oscars’ of literary world
By Georgio Valentino Every spring, a hand-picked selection of the country’s most celebrated writers descend on the Palm Beaches for a boutique book festival of chart-topping proportions. Among the headliners of this fourth annual edition of the Palm Beach Book Festival are multiple award-winning authors Dan Rather and Kwame Alexander. The event is the brainchild of … [Read more...]
Strong premiere, solid Brahms stand out at ACO’s season closer
By Dennis D. Rooney The Atlantic Classical Orchestra concluded its 28th season and its second with Music Director David Amado on Wednesday with a program that balanced a new work with a standard symphony and a not entirely familiar 20th-century piano concerto. The world premiere of Facets of Motion, commissioned by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra and winner of the 2018 … [Read more...]
Patronizing format gets in the way of good Symphonia performance
By Dennis D. Rooney The Symphonia Boca Raton made its first appearance March 27 in Old School Square’s Crest Theatre, and the orchestra sounded far better there than my two previous encounters with it, both of which were amplified concerts at Mizner Park. There, they could not be fairly or accurately judged due to the distortion of the amplification. Although the Crest’s … [Read more...]
With quirky ‘Be Here Now,’ FAU Theatre Lab has a major play
What causes some of us to see joy in the world and others to see pure gloom? And if the difference between the two perspectives were caused by a brain tumor, would you accept a potentially fatal condition for a temporarily rosy outlook? That is the dilemma facing Bari, a former professor of nihilism and avowed cynic, in Deborah Zoe Laufer’s quirky and ultimately … [Read more...]
Electronic glitches mar Irerra Brothers’s Duncan recital
By Dennis D. Rooney The Irerra Brothers – John (violin) and Joseph (piano) – are alumni of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, from which they graduated in the class of 2016, both with DMA degrees. Their recital March 21 closed the 31st season of concerts at Duncan Theatre’s Stage West on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth. The program was nicely … [Read more...]
Buck and Boogz’s ‘woke’ dance at Rinker inspires, astonishes
The impact of the March for Our Lives was felt across this divided country and around the world. People of all ages took time March 22 to show their support, and I couldn’t have had a better introduction to the events than going to see Love Heals All Wounds, by Lil Buck and Jon Boogz at the Rinker Playhouse in West Palm Beach. In times of change, artists have often taken on … [Read more...]
Miami’s M Ensemble wins big at Carbonells
A low-budget African-American theater company in Miami was the big winner at the 42nd annual Carbonell Awards ceremony Monday night at the Broward Center. Although M Ensemble has been producing plays for 47 years, it had barely been recognized by the South Florida awards for theater excellence until that night. Its mounting of Kings of Harlem, about the struggles of a black … [Read more...]
Community theater: 30 years later, ‘Blackout’ still delivers the whodunit goods
By Dale King The stage production of Rick Harlowe’s mystery thriller, Blackoutis back where it all began three decades ago – at the Delray Beach Playhouse. Harlowe’s whodunit – which meanders into who-might-do-it-again territory – will conclude its three-week run Sunday at the theatrical center on the east shore of Lake Ida. The play actually made its world premiere in … [Read more...]