By Dale King The big tent that covers the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton is back in place. The newly painted stage doors are prepared to open shortly to ignite nearly a dozen evenings of dancing, music and speeches by famed lecturers and authors. Food booths vending hot dogs, beer, soda and other audience snacks are ready to go. The 16th Annual Festival of the … [Read more...]
New Kravis CEO: Let’s program for the community
Cue the arrival of the new Kravis Center chief executive officer. Take two. When the longtime head of the West Palm Beach performing arts center, Judith Mitchell, announced that she was retiring, it triggered a nationwide search for her successor. Eventually, Terrence Dwyer, a veteran southern California arts manager, was selected, but he lasted a mere five months during … [Read more...]
Former ’60 Minutes’ producer pulls back the curtain behind that ticking clock
Over the course of his long career – 25 years as producer at 60 Minutes and another 15 years as senior producer of ABC’s Primetime Live and 20/20 – Ira Rosen has won a long list of accolades, including multiple Peabody and duPont awards, 24 Emmys and six Investigative Reporters and Editors awards -- more than Washington Post editor Bob Woodward. But for Rosen, the most … [Read more...]
COVID shelves more shows: ‘Sweet Charity,’ ‘Last Night in Inwood’
Two more theater troupes have postponed or canceled shows as the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus continues its spread across the country. “Due to the recent surge of Omicron,” the Maltz Jupiter Theatre has announced further changes to its grand reopening season. The COVID-19 variant has delayed the completion of the $36 million building renovation, causing the … [Read more...]
COVID cancellations: Detroit and Cleveland orchestras, GableStage
Cancellations and rescheduling from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to alter South Florida’s art season. Two major American symphonic ensembles that had planned appearances at the Kravis Center have canceled their concerts. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which was to have played the Kravis on Jan. 15 and 17, called off their concerts last week, citing COVID. Cellist … [Read more...]
COVID postpones ‘Summer,’ ‘Gypsy’ as omicron takes its toll
COVID-19 is playing havoc with local theater schedules. Breakthrough omicron cases have been reported within the company of the touring show Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which was scheduled to play the Kravis Center this week as part of its Broadway series. The show has now been rescheduled for May 20-26, with tickets for the new performance dates to be mailed out … [Read more...]
Omicron cancels ‘RomaDrama’ convention, Theatre Lab play festival
A convention featuring stars and writers from romance dramas featured on channels such as Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix has been canceled because of the spread of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. The second RomaDrama Live! convention, which debuted last year in Nashville, had been scheduled for Jan. 7-9 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm … [Read more...]
Armory Art Center hosts COVID Memorial Quilt
On display at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach through Dec. 6 is the exclusive South Florida exhibit of the COVID-19 Memorial Quilt, with 19 panels commemorating people from all over the world as well as two Florida-related panels. Each panel is made up of an 8-inch-by-8-inch piece of fabric (symbolizing infinity, or a sign of life) cut into squares that will be … [Read more...]
New sculpture on Boca’s ex-IBM campus a symbol of art and science
Jutting up from the green grass with the blue sky and Marcel Breuer’s iconic IBM building as backdrop, Virginia artist Hubert Phipps’s monumental stainless steel sculpture, Rocket, brings a touch of majesty to the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC). The 30-foot sculpture is part of an Art in Public Places initiative facilitated by Irvin Lippman, executive director of the … [Read more...]
PBAU merges two divisions, creates new College of the Arts
Palm Beach Atlantic University has merged its School of Music and Fine Arts and School of Communication and Media to form a new College of the Arts. The college is headed by Jason Lester, a professional opera singer who formerly was dean of the School of Music and Fine Arts, and in recent months was acting dean for the School of Communication and Media. The Communication … [Read more...]