After begrudgingly writing only the lyrics for his first two Broadway shows — West Side Story and Gypsy — the great Stephen Sondheim at last penned both words and music for 1962’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. A rare musical comedy that is actually funny, it ran 965 performances, a brief run by Phantom of the Opera standards, but it remains the longest run … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2022
Symphonia’s opener not very fiery, but Cárdenes offers excellent Mozart
By Dennis D. Rooney The Symphonia opened its new season at St. Andrew’s School’s Roberts Auditorium on Nov. 13 with a program that featured guest conductor Andrés Cárdenes, who was also the soloist in the program’s final selection, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (in A, K. 219), which has the nickname “Turkish” due to an A minor episode in the finale that emulates Janissary … [Read more...]
Literature provides connection in touching ‘Dorothy’s Dictionary’
Words and books are the cherished domain of Dorothy Ross, a former librarian now confined to a convalescent home with an unspecified but serious medical condition and failing eyesight. She is at the center of Dorothy’s Dictionary, a touching, charming, funny and sad new play by E.W. Lewis, now receiving its world premiere in a gently effective production at Florida Atlantic … [Read more...]
‘On Your Feet!’: Estefan jukebox musical not profound, but it is peppy
The creators of the musical biography of Gloria and Emilio Estefan knew what they had when they chose On Your Feet! as the show’s title, out of the many song hits she and her back-up band, the Miami Sound Machine, made famous. For the prime asset of this light-on-its-feet jukebox musical are the energetic dances that decorate the history of the Estefans’ personal and … [Read more...]
‘Well of Souls’ traverses shameful histories in telling tale of the banjo
Usually, the movie follows the book. But in the case of Kristina R. Gaddy's well-researched, comprehensive chronology Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (Norton), it follows a documentary on the same subject by 14 years. Bela Fleck & the Flecktones' namesake banjoist and bandleader covered similar territory in 2008 with Throw Down Your Heart. The Sascha … [Read more...]
Chang disappoints in uneven PB Symphony opener
By Dennis Rooney The Nov. 6 concert by the Palm Beach Symphony at the Kravis Center was the opening of the orchestra’s 49th season. Music director Gerard Schwarz was on the podium and violinist Sarah Chang was the soloist. The first work on the program was the afternoon’s best performance; an alert and sprightly account of Rounds for String Orchestra by David Diamond. … [Read more...]
Seraphic Fire’s 20th opens with splendid Monteverdi, Coleridge-Taylor
By Marcio Bezerra One of the crown jewels of South Florida’s performing arts scene, the choral ensemble Seraphic Fire is celebrating its 20th season with a series of seven concerts that promises to be a real treat to its faithful followers. The celebration started at the highest level this past weekend with multiple performances of selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s … [Read more...]
‘Dorothy’s Dictionary’: Premiere play at FAU explores power of literature, connection
Ellen Lewis is not really sure what started her writing Dorothy’s Dictionary, the two-character play that will have its world premiere at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab next week (Nov. 19), but she knows she wanted to create a script about “books and words and libraries and the power of stories. All that is kind of what I’m made of,” she says. What emerged … [Read more...]
‘The Thin Place,’ at Boca Stage, is more puzzling than creepy
Unlike horror movies, which want to scare the bejesus out of us, Lucas Hnath’s cerebral ghost story The Thin Place merely wants to creep us out and perhaps have us think about the possibility of an afterlife. Whether or not you are persuaded by this curiously structured play, which demands several leaps of faith by its audience and ultimately ends on theatrical gimmickry, … [Read more...]
Brahms, Tchaikovsky vary in effectiveness at Lynn Philharmonia
By Dennis Rooney Two staples of the classical repertoire were heard on the final weekend of October at Lynn Conservatory’s Wold Performing Arts Center auditorium, with the students of the Lynn Philharmonia under the direction of the conservatory’s director, Jon Robertson. Faculty member Lisa Leonard was soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 1 (in D minor, Op. 15) by … [Read more...]