By Dale King If thoughts of Detroit are rattling around in your mind, it probably means you’re pondering one of two things --- cars or music. And if you’re hankering for some of the best rhythm and blues tunes on the planet, your destination should be the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, where the jukebox musical, Ain’t Too Proud --- the … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2023
Distinct personalities come to the fore in Jerusalem Quartet’s strong CMSPB closer
By Ava Figliuzzi The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach closed its 10th annual season April 21 with the lauded Jerusalem Quartet. The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse was filled out nicely for the Friday evening program of Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 4 in E minor (Op. 44, No. 2) and Tchaikovsky’s First String Quartet (in D, Op. 11). Since their 1996 debut, the … [Read more...]
At the Cornell, ‘World of Water’ conveys urgent environmental message
With Jane Lawton Baldridge’s paintings of storm surges, Kasha McKee’s conceptual photographs of flamingos splashing in the West Palm Beach fountain and Suzanne Barton’s “arctic ice angel” — all surrounded by water sounds created by Fort Lauderdale-based multidisciplinary artist, David Rosenthal — The World of Water exhibition at the Cornell Art Museum has opened with a … [Read more...]
For Florida political junkies, Crowley is the last word
For everyone who’s attained any level of celebrity, there’s almost always an Achilles heel — and it usually involves, overtly or covertly, that person taking themselves too seriously. Brian Crowley, author of his online Crowley Political Report (crowleypoliticalreport.com) and political analyst on the weekly Sunday morning To the Point program on WPTV, certainly doesn’t … [Read more...]
Preservationist: Palm Beaches offers much for Art Deco enthusiasts to see
By Sharon Geltner When a 35-year art preservationist from Delray Beach met with the curator of the Schmidt Boca Raton Historical Museum to plan Palm Beach County tours for global art and architecture enthusiasts, she was surprised to learn of significant architectural treasures at nearby Lynn University. “For years, I’ve said there is no Art Deco in Boca Raton, it’s … [Read more...]
Lake Worth Playhouse season ends with smart, energetic ‘Newsies’
By Dale King Newsies takes a high-energy, somersault-flipping, song-filled dip into a generally factual, historic event — a work stoppage involving newspaper delivery boys, called “newsies” — at the end of the 19th century. The show, a thought-provoking, entertaining and entrancing tale about industrious street kids with a genuine interest in righting wrongs — … [Read more...]
At FAU, ‘Refuge’ mines familiar migrant-tale territory, with skill, compassion and puppets
By Sharon Geltner Refuge, a new play running this month at FAU Theatre Lab, is reminiscent of Gregory Nava’s 1983 film El Norte, maybe because when it comes to immigration, little has changed. Refuge is about a girl who gets separated from her group of Mexican, Honduran and perhaps other Latin American immigrants, attempting the harrowing trek across the Texan desert. … [Read more...]
Despite Nike’s fouls, Affleck’s ‘Air’ is a winner
As someone who doesn’t play or follow competitive sports, I’m far from the target audience of Air. On its face, I couldn’t care less about a period piece on the deliberations of the C Suite of Nike Inc. and its struggle to capture a bit more market share from its rivals, Adidas and Converse, in the glass-towered oligopoly of athletic footwear. And yet by the end of Ben … [Read more...]
‘Designing Broadway’ an intriguing look at theater’s starring sets
To create theater, it is said, all you really need is “two planks and a passion.” While that is true, it negates the creative art of scenic design. That three-dimensional, architectural, historical and occasionally fanciful journey is explored in a gorgeous coffee-table book, Designing Broadway, subtitled How Derek McLane and Other Acclaimed Set Designers Create the Visual … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s Verdi Requiem deeply satisfying
By Robert Croan You don’t have to be Christian, or even religious, to appreciate Giuseppe Verdi’s magnificent Requiem. The composer himself was essentially agnostic – something more significant when the work was composed in 1874, than it would be today. The effect of this great masterpiece for double choirs, four soloists and large orchestra, commemorating the death of … [Read more...]