Legend has it that a Princess Alexandra of Bavaria once ingested – or believed she ingested – a grand piano made of glass. Intrigued by the notion, playwright Alix Sobler has turned it into a fairy tale for adults, The Glass Piano, now receiving its U.S. premiere at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab. There is much to like about the play and its production, even if, … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2020
Soloists enlighten Seraphic Fire’s secular Bach cantatas
By Robert Croan The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, gave rise to individual freedoms that we now take for granted, among them the revolutionary concepts of liberty, equality and brotherhood. The splendid South Florida vocal-instrumental ensemble Seraphic Fire, founded and directed by Patrick Dupré Quigley, is celebrating these ideals – no less timely … [Read more...]
Delray Playhouse takes loving look at Rodgers and Hammerstein
By Dale King Some Enchanted Evening is a celebration honoring one of the most noted and notable duos in the history of the American musical — Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Delray Beach Playhouse has dusted off the show conceived 37 years ago by Jeffrey Moss. The assortment of tunes from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s best shows – and a few of their duds – was first … [Read more...]
40,000 stories later, The Moth is going strong – and coming to Boca fest
By Christina Wood Stories fill the pages of books, play out on movie and TV screens, and keep us coming back to social media time and time again. But nothing communicates a story quite like the voice of a person standing right in front of you. Maybe that explains the popularity of The Moth, an acclaimed nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of … [Read more...]
Charming ‘Pirates’ runs aground on Broward Center acoustics
By Robert J. Croan The piquant and perceptive, witty and profound comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan rely for their effect as much on William S. Gilbert’s brilliant words as on the sparkling scores of Arthur Sullivan. Broward Center’s 2,658-seat Au-Rene Theater worked against clarity in the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ production of The Pirates of Penzance on … [Read more...]
‘José’: Gay in Guatemala, and learning to soldier on
An early candidate for the most joyous scene in a 2020 movie can be found midway through José, a prizewinning Guatemalan Bildungsroman. The title character (Enrique Salanic), who works a menial restaurant job in a noisy and overcrowded city, has managed to obtain the use of a motorcycle for a day. He picks up his boyfriend, Luis (Manolo Herrera) for a two-wheeled trip to … [Read more...]
Cerebral ‘Skylight’ rewarding at Dramaworks
With British playwright David Hare, we are rarely far removed from political debate. But with his justifiably acclaimed 1995 play Skylight, the political merges deftly with the personal, a head trip grafted onto an emotional tug-of-war, as two former lovers attempt to rekindle what they once had together from the ashes of an affair gone cold. Tom and Kyra are a study in … [Read more...]
Power and poetry from Lucinda Williams at Parker Playhouse
From the moment she stepped onto the stage at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, Lucinda Williams exemplified what sets her apart from most other singer/songwriters. Having recently turned 67, Williams neither seems to be as self-obsessed, nor take herself as seriously, as fellow guitar-playing lead vocalists. Her combination of blues, Americana, country … [Read more...]
‘Diego and Drew’: An amusing dinner party at Broward Center
In 1988, a small interactive stage show, Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding, a send-up of Italian nuptial rituals, opened in New York and grew into an international phenomenon. Building on the theater-as-party notion, two area theater pros, Matt May and Jennifer Sierra-Grobbelaar, have added a couple of topical twists to the formula – same-sex marriage and cross-cultural clashes – … [Read more...]
Kips Bay house showcases brilliant interior design
Decorator Show House – a staple in New York City since 1973, has returned to Palm Beach for its third iteration. This year’s plantation-style home, nicknamed “Bamboo Hill,” situated at 260 Palmetto Lane in the South End neighborhood of West Palm Beach, a block from the Intracoastal Waterway, is owned by renowned Swedish interior designer Lars Bolander. “The Kips Bay … [Read more...]