In an unlikely pairing that is getting top reviews, actor Bill Murray, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and films like Ghostbusters and Lost in Translation, has joined forces with a classical music trio led by renowned German cellist Jan Vogler, his wife and violinist, Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Pérez in a mélange of songs, music and literary readings. They … [Read more...]
Festival of the Arts Boca offers Battle, Perlman, Tinti, Haass, ‘E.T.’ — and Bill Murray
With its starting dates moved up a couple weeks this season, the 12th annual Festival of the Arts Boca opens Feb. 23 with a renowned American operatic singer and closes March 4 with a classic Steven Spielberg movie accompanied by a live orchestra. Opening the festival at the Mizner Park Amphitheater will be soprano Kathleen Battle, a five-time Grammy Award winner who will … [Read more...]
Mendes, ‘Pink Panther’ close Boca Fest in engaging fashion
By Dale King Festival of the Arts Boca wrapped up its 11th annual celebration of artistic, cultural and musical endeavors Sunday with a concert by South American jazz performers Sérgio Mendes and Brazil 2017, completing the 10-day installment of lectures, song, instrumentalists, one film and an opera. The 76-year-old Brazilian keyboardist whose high-amped, bossa … [Read more...]
Despite noisy venue, amplification, Chang triumphs at Boca fest
By Dennis D. Rooney Presented as part of Festival of the Arts Boca, now in its 11th season, the March 10 concert featuring violinist Sarah Chang took place in an open-air structure at the north end of Mizner Park that was covered with a plastic tent. I have never found the experience of hearing classical music outdoors to be enjoyable. Its textures and sonorities require … [Read more...]
Historian Meacham optimistic Trump can be more presidential
By Dale King Citizens seem destined to continue protesting, arguing about and fretting over the status of the American presidency and the capacity of newly installed office holder Donald J. Trump to lead the nation. In the midst of this turmoil, an expert in presidential history, Jon Meacham, visited Boca Raton on Monday evening as part of Festival of the Arts Boca’s … [Read more...]
Semi-staged ‘Bohème’ comes off well at Boca Fest
Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème is one of the most popular operas in the world for a number of reasons, perhaps most importantly its abundance of mellifluous and beautiful Italian late-Romantic melody. But Puccini also was a man of the theater, and he knew how to craft a compelling theatrical package (after all, La Bohème has been staged regularly and frequently since February … [Read more...]
Branford Marsalis, Symphonia get Boca fest off to rousing start
By Dale King The Festival of the Arts Boca opened the musical portion of its 2017 program Friday night on a high note – actually, a number of high, low, harmonious and heraldic tones. The Symphonia Boca Raton, under the able leadership of conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos, paid tribute to maestro John Williams with a full-on production of tunes from the Harry Potter films … [Read more...]
For writers Greene and Egan, time is of the essence
Time weighs heavily on the mind of both theoretical physicist Brian Greene and Pulitzer-prize winning author Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad. Both writers are part of the Author & Ideas Program at this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca, which runs from March 2-12 in Mizner Park. For Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and Icarus at the Edge of … [Read more...]
Festival of the Arts Boca set to open 11th edition
The annual Festival of the Arts Boca, now in its 11th season, returns to Mizner Park from March 2-12, with musical performances and author discussions at the Mizner Park Amphitheater and the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center. “We are so excited to present the 2017 Festival of the Arts Boca season and we think the audience will be, too,” said Charlie Siemon, co-founder and … [Read more...]
‘New Yorker’ cartoon editor offers caption contest before Boca festival
After these many decades as an elegant magazine of literature, politics, and culture, The New Yorker harbors one vestige of its origin as a humor magazine. That, of course, is the New Yorker cartoon. Droll and wry rather than laugh-out-loud funny, The New Yorker cartoon is not for every taste. Once that taste is acquired, however, the cartoons lurk amid the gray columns of text … [Read more...]