The tattoos dotting T Kira Madden’s arms may not symbolize everything you need to know about her, but they unlock a number of doors. They include likenesses of the Hawaiian islands, her ancestral homeland; the key to her father’s apartment in New York City; a top hat, tipped in reference to her passion for stage magic; and a hot air balloon, which she and her parents … [Read more...]
#MeToo and the young actress: Three FAU thespians view the road ahead
By Janis Fontaine The #MeToo movement that exploded onto the cultural scene in 2017 with allegations of sexual misconduct against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein – who was indicted this week on rape charges in New York – has upended the careers of major figures in entertainment, media and government, among other professions. Palm Beach ArtsPaper sat down in April with … [Read more...]
Erin Manning: In search of the Flagler spirit
Erin Manning took over as executive director of the Flagler Museum earlier this year from the retiring John Blades, coming to Henry Flagler’s 1902 Whitehall mansion from the Historical Society of Princeton in her home state of New Jersey, where she was executive director for nine years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern and North African studies from the … [Read more...]
Terry Teachout: Bringing ‘Satchmo’ to life, as playwright and director
Terry Teachout, 60, the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal, is also a biographer and opera librettist. Five years ago, he adapted his biography of jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong into a one-man play, Satchmo at the Waldorf. In May, he makes his professional directorial debut with the play at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach (it runs from May 13 to June 12). Hap … [Read more...]
Victor DeRenzi: At the end of the Verdi journey
Victor DeRenzi, artistic director of the Sarasota Opera. (Photo by Giovanni Lunardi) On Saturday night, the curtain at the Sarasota Opera House will open on a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aïda, marking the beginning of the 57th season at the house. And with a production later in the season of La Battaglia di Legnano, it will mark the culmination of a 28-year project … [Read more...]
Andrew Kato: In the driver’s seat at the Maltz
Back in the 1980s, a young, eager theater intern named Andrew Kato worked as a waiter at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Jupiter. Today, he runs the multi-million dollar regional theater on that site, having in November been named producing artistic director and chief executive of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. With that promotion comes a 10-year contract to oversee the … [Read more...]
ArtsPaper Interview: George Hamilton, coming full circle
George Hamilton, 76, star of stage, screen and impeccable tan, flies into South Florida this week to appear at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival this Friday evening (7:15 p.m., Nov. 13, at the Sunrise Civic Center) with writer-director Rosemary Rodriguez to introduce their new movie, Silver Skies, co-starring such familiar, if aged, faces as Valerie Perrine, … [Read more...]
Ford Fine Art’s Suzanne Snider: Bringing Central American modernism to Delray
Suzanne Snider has been running the hidden treasure that is Ford Fine Art gallery long enough to know its best years are still ahead. Delray Beach is not where one would expect to find the most significant collection of Central American modern masters and established artists in the country. But that’s exactly what the gallery houses, according to Snider, who used to be the … [Read more...]
A full actor’s life of work and love: A talk with Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons, 87, a former head of the Actors Studio, will be playing wily Mathilde Girard in Israel Horovitz’s My Old Lady at Palm Beach Dramaworks from Friday (Dec. 5) to Jan. 4. An Oscar winner for Bonnie and Clyde, a five-time Tony nominee including last season’s The Velocity of Autumn and a longtime regular on the television sitcom Roseanne, she spoke recently with Hap … [Read more...]
Natacha Koblova: Multilingual Society founder helps them speak in tongues
A year in business has not given Natacha Koblova all the answers she would like to have, although she did learn another language. The Russian-born 39-year-old polyglot (more on this later) has been in this business of teaching languages for many years. Now she faces the ups and downs of owning an infant language school/business that mixes traditional and unconventional … [Read more...]