Cancel culture, the effort to hold prominent individuals accountable for perceived verbal slights or deeds, has become increasingly prevalent in contemporary life. So perhaps it was inevitable that the phenomenon would make the leap from the headlines to the stage, as it does in The Cancellation of Lauren Fein, premiering at Palm Beach Dramaworks beginning this Friday, Feb. … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2024
Jazz singer Monheit happy to be scatting in her 40s
For Long Island-born jazz vocalist Jane Monheit (www.janemonheitonline.com), music is — and practically always has been — a family affair. “I think it’s great when music and family can combine,” she says by phone from her home in Los Angeles in late December. “It’s always been great for me.” Born in Oakdale, N.Y., to musical parents who nurtured her love for vocalists, … [Read more...]
Green messiah: At Theatre Lab, Laufer’s ‘Rooted’ to explore mob mentality
Deborah Zoe Laufer gets a lot of ideas for her plays by listening to National Public Radio. That is certainly the case with Rooted, receiving its Florida premiere at FAU Theatre Lab, beginning this Saturday, Feb. 3. “I was listening to Radio Lab and there was a scientist, Monica Gagliano, on, talking about plant consciousness,” the idea that plants have innate … [Read more...]
Complexions Contemporary gets Duncan dance season off to sensational start
The Jan. 19 performance of Complexions Contemporary Ballet was directly fueled by the super-charged energy and astonishing technical prowess of its dancers, and it was a sensational opening for the 2024 Dance Series at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth Beach. This company is the flashy sports car of ballet. It’s all about sleek lines, high throttle adrenaline and blurring … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse presents a rousing ‘Oklahoma!’
By Dale King If you’ve never ridden in a surrey with a fringe on top; if you’ve never viewed a sunrise and declared, “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” or if you’ve never bought a picnic lunch at auction to share with the lovely young lady who filled it with luscious goodies, then you’ve never enjoyed the wonderful music, rousing dance numbers and varied plot lines of the … [Read more...]
Boca Museum of Art’s Lippman to step down in 2025
By Sandra Schulman Inca gold. Massive movie backdrops. Glass jaguar heads. These are some of the astonishing art works that have been shown under the stellar direction of Boca Raton Museum of Art’s Irv Lippman, who announced this week he will retire in 2025. He has built a powerful legacy, transforming the museum literally inside and out to become a world-class … [Read more...]
Boca Stage’s take on 1960s sex farce charms at Delray Playhouse
Moving further away from its original mission of producing edgy, offbeat theatrical fare, Boca Stage — now in residence at the Delray Beach Playhouse — serves up a popular commercial sex farce from the 1960s, Boeing, Boeing. If that title sounds familiar, perhaps you recall a 1965 movie version that starred Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, or a 2008 Broadway revival in which … [Read more...]
‘To Life 4’ doesn’t innovate, but does please Willow Theatre audience
Why is To Life 4 different from all other previous editions, asks director/writer/narrator Shari Upbin in a phrasing that brings to mind a Passover seder. The answer is that it isn’t at all different and that seems to please the show’s fans just fine. The revue celebrating Jewish songwriters and performers, currently playing at the Willow Theatre in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand … [Read more...]
Standout lead performance makes Carole King bio ‘Beautiful’
The beginning and ending of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical depict the legendary singer-songwriter at Carnegie Hall performing numbers from her multiple Grammy Award-winning album, Tapestry. If those scenes are the standout highlights of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s new production, that is because they show King at the peak of her writing talent, because the stunning … [Read more...]
Late musician’s drums try to save Lake Worth Beach artists’ studio
As legacies go, the late area drummer Michael Duncan’s is unique and profound. Duncan died from complications with the human papillomavirus (commonly called HPV) in 2020 at age 64 after having worked with local blues, rock and country music acts including The Hellhounds, Tucker Brothers, Night Train, and the Wild Bushmen. And he left behind a treasure trove of drum … [Read more...]