By Dale King Deathtrap, the wryly comic mystery by author/playwright Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby, Stepford Wives), is at once easy and hard for a reviewer to critique. The 1978 production won a Tony for Best Play, and begat a 1982 movie about the selfsame playwriting duo from the stage production that longs to create a ragingly successful Broadway thriller, even if blood … [Read more...]
Associated Press writer debuts Florida-based mystery caper
By Sharon Geltner It was witnessing 13 executions at Florida State Prison that persuaded Tampa-based Associated Press reporter Tamara Lush to write romances and cozy mysteries in her free time. “At first I considered dark police procedurals, but I get a mental break from daily crime reporting by writing something happy,” she said. Writing as “Tara Lush,” she has launched … [Read more...]
PB Opera ready for outdoor festival, with Met-style casts
By Robert Croan “And then the pandemic punched us in the face.” That’s how it felt to David Walker, in his first season as Palm Beach Opera’s general director – a post he took over after Daniel Biaggi resigned in 2019. “It was going so well,” says Walker, 54. “Puccini’s 'Turandot' [the opening production in January 2020] was our highest-grossing show in 12 years. … [Read more...]
FGO offers short contemporary operas, special concerts for season
By Robert Croan “Even in this time of COVID and other calamities, our need for music and art is ever present,” says Susan T. Danis, Florida Grand Opera’s general director and CEO. “We are excited to be performing in intimate yet socially distanced spaces that are perfect for a unique storytelling experience." In the time of COVID-19, an opera set during the AIDS crisis … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse’s ‘Patsy Cline’ a memorable, tuneful two-hander
By Dale King Not all of us remember Patsy Cline, the country vocalist whose powerful voice, often measured in tearful tones, vocalized poignant stories in song. But we know her music, even 58 years after she died in a plane crash while returning to her home in Nashville the same year John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Her legacy of tunes is still golden, even in the 21st … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 19-20, 2020
Film: Playwright August Wilson began his chronicle of the African-American experience throughout the 20th century, one decade at a time, with 1984’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a fictional look at the so-called “Mother of the Blues” in a tension-filled recording session at a Chicago race label in 1927. Now director George C. Wolfe has brought the tale to the screen, with a pair … [Read more...]
Good performances highlight DBP’s ‘Lost in Yonkers’
By Dale King Performers, sets, lights and activity have returned to the long-empty stage of Delray Beach Playhouse. And while coronavirus continues to stymie lifestyles, the DBP staff has “taken this shutdown to work behind the scenes, planning, cleaning, installing state-of-the-art air purification systems and many other items to cope with the new normal,” said … [Read more...]
Spunky, sharp ‘Annie’ takes away our hard-knock life at Lake Worth Playhouse
By Dale King Not every stage show can be introduced with the phrase, “Ten months in the making.” But that’s how Lake Worth Playhouse Artistic Director Daniel Eilola launched Annie when it opened this past weekend at the Lake Avenue performance center. It’s the first live production at the venue that’s been shuttered and vacant since the global coronavirus epidemic struck … [Read more...]
Basel, schmasel: Reduced Miami art week carries on
By Sandra Schulman When the news came down in September that Art Basel Miami was canceled, in a domino effect all the other fairs followed suit except one: Design Miami. The usual bustling energy of Miami Beach has shut down with the pandemic, though one beach installation and some walking tours of public art have sprung up. Some of the art scene shifted over to the … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: Palm Beach art institutions forge ahead
By Sandra Schulman Palm Beach is counting on the arts and art lovers to rebound this season, with ambitious shows planned, and plenty of outdoor art viewing available. The Norton Museum plans to reopen this month, and the Boca Museum has been renovated and is offering several new exhibits. Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue emerges as a new gallery hotspot. Norton Museum of … [Read more...]