By Ilana Jael Rothman It’s hard to imagine any fans of Agatha Christie being disappointed by The Hollow, a 1951 play by the iconic author that proves it stands the test of time in Florida Atlantic University’s Festival Repertory Theatre production. Described in the program’s director’s note as a “good old-fashioned murder mystery,” the piece succeeds unquestionably in … [Read more...]
Met Live announces upcoming cinema season
By Robert Croan The Met: Live in HD, our premier opera company’s streaming in movie theaters worldwide of live performances from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, closed its current season May 30 with El último sueño de Frida y Diego. The Spanish-language opera by Gabriela Lena Frank was a novelty for the Met, and timely, as the 53-year-old California-based … [Read more...]
Peabody violinist Li helps close chamber series splendidly
By Robert Croan Victor Santiago Asuncíon, himself a first-class pianist with a busy touring schedule, brings worthy and interesting guest collaborators to his splendid chamber music series in the Community Church at Lauderdale-By-the Sea. The fifth and last concert of his 2026 season, on May 23, featured Beijing-born Qing Li, principal second violin of the Baltimore Symphony … [Read more...]
Young violinist makes impressive showing in Lauderdale concert
By Robert Croan Featured guest soloist on Chamber Music at Lauderdale-by-the Sea’s April 11 concert was Sameer Agrawal, a 21-year-old violinist currently studying with Midori Goto at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. Performing at The Community Church with the series’ founder and artistic director Victor Santiago Asunción at the piano, the Chicago native lent a … [Read more...]
FAU Theatre Lab rebrands new-play festival, looks for national impact
By Ilana Jael Rothman It’s hard to think of a more appropriate opening image for Theatre Lab’s Second Annual Owl New Play Festival than a contemporary playwright hard at work on a new script. No, Joanna Castle Miller, the playwright in question, isn’t actually polishing up the pages of her new play Inferna with only a few minutes to curtain — but, doing double duty as … [Read more...]
Dramaworks’s ‘Crucible’ is timely once again
By Erik Kvarnberg Originally written during the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953) turns a mirror onto the masses with a story about the Salem Witch Trials. “Producing this play now is more timely than when it first premiered in the 1950s,” said William Hayes, who is directing the show for Palm Beach Dramaworks during its current run through … [Read more...]
Freshened-up ‘Turandot’ at FGO is largely successful
By Robert Croan In her first two seasons as general director of Florida Grand Opera, Maria Todaro has been particularly successful in enhancing the visual quality of her productions. Noteworthy were her opening Magic Flute in October 2024, a high-tech re-thinking by Jeffrey Marc Buchman of a standard classic; an updated Carmen staged by Todaro, once a successful … [Read more...]
A splendid ‘Creation’ at Symphony of the Americas
By Robert Croan An overture representing Chaos, as dissonant and murky as anything written by the 20th-century’s 12-tone composers, settling quietly into three C minor triads. Then, after a few words from a bass soloist representing the archangel Raphael, “there was light,” and the orchestra bursts into a magnificent C major fortissimo statement. And The Creation is on … [Read more...]
Cellist Hersh stunning in Fauré sonatas
By Robert Croan Chamber music concerts are too infrequent in this area, cello recitals even rarer, and a program showcasing the two sonatas for cello and piano by French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) is quite extraordinary. Just about everything in the March 7 concert of Chamber Music at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, at the Community Church on Bougainville Drive, was in … [Read more...]
Violinist Kim spectacular in Sibelius concerto with SFSO
By Robert Croan Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto (in D minor, Op. 47), completed in its final version in 1905, is the composer’s only concerto, and one of the most technically challenging by any composer for this instrument. In performance with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra under its music director, Sebrina Maria Alfonso [seen March 12 in The Parker], 30-year-old … [Read more...]