By Dale King Judith Mitchell was hired as fundraising director for the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in 1989 when the 10.5-acre venture was simply an under-construction dream of local philanthropists intent on creating a major performance venue in downtown West Palm Beach. A bit more than 30 years later, inside the elegant showplace that now stands on … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2020
The View From Home: Finding classics on Netflix
In essence, the movie-criticism paradigm hasn’t changed much since the earliest days of the studio system: We critics publish our reviews the week a movie opens theatrically. What happens to us scribblers when the theaters shutter, and the model that has sustained this dwindling profession is disrupted? With the coronavirus prompting the swift closure of cinemas nationwide, … [Read more...]
Terrence McNally: Virus claims unique voice of the theater
For many people, the first face of the scourge known as COVID-19 will be Tom Hanks or perhaps Prince Charles, both of whom have gone public with the fact that they have tested positive for the pandemic virus. But the theater world, and his vast mainstream audience, is in mourning over the news that four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, 81, has died of … [Read more...]
Postmodern Jukebox warms up chilly Boca Fest finale
By Dale King The final evening of this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton on March 8 was damn cold, with a biting wind that made ambient temperatures in the 60s feel even frostier. Still, the not-too-comfortable folding chairs on the amphitheater lawn were nearly filled, thanks, in large part, to the appearance of Postmodern … [Read more...]
The blues haunts Zwilich’s fine new cello concerto
By Dennis D. Rooney Two world premieres opened the third program of the South Florida Symphony Orchestra’s 22nd season. Zuill Bailey was soloist in the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Ellen Taafe Zwilich, one of two premieres on the program, both dedicated to founding Music Director Sebrina María Alfonso. Zwilich (b. 1939), a native Floridian, is a distinguished … [Read more...]
Sensational Che Malambo electrifies at Duncan
How does one take advantage of that extra day that comes only once every four years? I would say experience something out of the ordinary and if you were at the Duncan Theatre’s third presentation of its dance series this Feb. 29, that is exactly what happened. Those of us who were there experienced an extraordinary show that both informed and thrilled us. It is clear why … [Read more...]
Interrupted ‘Chorus Line’ was one of Wick’s best
Due to “an abundance of caution,” either self-inflicted or by governmental fiat, virtually every stage company in South Florida has postponed or canceled its March show, citing the dangers of communal theatergoing in this time of coronavirus. Then there is The Wick Theatre, which threw caution to the wind and opened its scheduled production of A Chorus Line, at least … [Read more...]
Appreciation: Mart Crowley, whose ‘Boys in the Band’ was LGBT landmark
Mart Crowley had only one hit play in his entire career, but, oh, what a hit it was. In 1968, he wrote The Boys in the Band, the first commercially successful stage work about gay men, who get together one evening for a birthday party and lash out at each other with acid-dripped quips. It ran off-Broadway for more than 1,000 performances, had a national tour and was … [Read more...]
Coronavirus fears shut Four Arts, Book Festival; other venues staying open
The Society of the Four Arts will close until further notice Friday, cutting short its arts and education season, and the Palm Beach Book Festival scheduled for next week has been canceled. Both are casualties of the worldwide COVID-19, or coronavirus, pandemic. “Coronavirus conference canceled in New York because of coronavirus,” read the headline in New York’s tabloid … [Read more...]
‘This will be the place to be’: Boynton shows off Town Square progress
In its centennial year, transformation is well underway in downtown Boynton Beach after a grass-roots effort to save the old Boynton Beach High School from demolition and turn it into a destination and cultural arts center called Boynton Town Square succeeded in 2018. The project is a public/private partnership between the city of Boynton Beach and E2L Real Estate Solutions … [Read more...]