For a storyteller, a place like Monrovia is the closest they’ll find to a blank page in the sprawling American landscape. The town, in south-central Indiana, boasted a population of 1,063 from the last Census, and its “History” page on Wikipedia is five, mostly short, sentences. One is about a post office, extant since 1834. Another reads “The town is the subject of the … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2018
Ryan’s ‘Tar Beach,’ at FAU, is compelling but feels unfinished
As even 14-year-old Reenie – the narrator of Tammy Ryan’s memory play, Tar Beach, now on at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab – senses, the summer of 1977 is a significant time, particularly for her coming-of-age in her hometown of Ozone Park, Queens. Amid a sweltering heat wave, serial killer Son of Sam lurks about, terrorizing teenage girls. Just as … [Read more...]
Boca Museum’s ‘Imagining Florida’ shows state’s hold on artistic imagination
By Christina Wood Imagine a tropical sunset. Imagine a bridge reaching toward the horizon. Imagine a Seminole hunter aiming an arrow at his prey, an idle sailor sitting by the dock or a woman trimming the plants in her garden – underwater. If you do, you will be imagining Florida as some of the artists in a new exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art have been doing … [Read more...]
Struthers, young star help drive near-flawless ‘Annie’ at The Wick
Optimism. It is a quality in short supply across the land these days, but if it is something you crave, take a cue from a spunky carrot-topped orphan who inspires optimism in a Depression-era Hooverville of homeless souls as well as in FDR and his presidential cabinet. I’m referring, of course, to the musical Annie, currently receiving a near-perfect … [Read more...]
‘Eternity’s Gate’ takes us to intersection of Van Gogh’s genius, madness
I didn’t think we needed another movie about Vincent Van Gogh, an artist whose life and work have been bewitching auteurs for decades. He’s already received a splashy Hollywood melodrama (Vincente Minnelli’s Lust for Life), its shambolic, de-dramatized opposite (Maurice Pialat’s Van Gogh), and Robert Altman’s meditation on Van Gogh’s relationship with his brother (Vincent & … [Read more...]
Playwright Kessler tackles family conflict in world-premiere ‘House on Fire’
Although Lyle Kessler has been writing plays for the past 35 years, he is still best known for his early unconventional family play, Orphans, which has been produced around the world and was made into a 1987 feature film that starred Albert Finney. But Kessler has a new play that he feels can eclipse Orphans, another offbeat family drama called House on Fire, developed … [Read more...]
Such a night: Big Medizen does right by The Band in Boca show
Boynton Beach-based singer/songwriter Jerry Leeman has presented his live, abridged interpretation of The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese’s iconic 1978 documentary about the farewell concert by The Band, several times at different South Florida venues since 2002. The latest installment — with Leeman playing four different roles amid an ensemble of area all-stars — … [Read more...]
Stellar cast, good puppetry bring intriguing angle to Maltz’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Twenty-four years ago, the Disney organization made its first foray onto Broadway with a stage version of its Oscar-winning animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Reviews were lackluster, often noting how literally the material was transferred to the theater, not unlike a theme park attraction. Still, the show became an extraordinary commercial success, running for more than … [Read more...]