By Dale King Summer may be a slack season for many students. But not for the actor wannabes in Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. They’ve spent weeks gearing up for perhaps their busiest time of the year – the annual two-play Summer Repertory Theater Festival. The first show, a high-energy production of Peter and the Starcatcher, opened in the … [Read more...]
A buzzy flora and fauna show at the Cultural Council
By Sandra Schulman In a bee-utiful show that would make flower master Georgia O’Keeffe proud, Beyond Blossoms: The Power of Pollinators is open through June 22, and features the work of 43 Palm Beach County-based artists at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach in Lake Worth Beach. Pollinators are, simply put, the birds – but mostly bees — that flock to the sexy … [Read more...]
Brilliant Fauré, Brahms performances at SFSO chamber opener
By Robert Croan The first-desk players of South Florida Symphony Orchestra are not an official ensemble, like, say, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center or the Beaux Arts Trio. They get together each summer for a series of three modest monthly concerts — each performed in two South Florida venues — which provide some of the best classical music to be heard in this … [Read more...]
Zukerman-Forsyth duo bring stellar Brahms Double to SOTA finale
By Robert Croan Johannes Brahms’s “Double” Concerto for Violin and Cello (in A minor, Op. 102), is a gnarly, dense work, not at all an easy romp for performers or listeners. Under the deft fingers of violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his cellist wife, Amanda Forsyth, however — as it was in the season’s final concert by Symphony of the Americas (heard May 5 in Broward … [Read more...]
Standout Mimì lifts otherwise adequate ‘Bohème’ at FGO
By Robert Croan Florida Grand Opera’s 2024 version of Puccini’s La Bohème (seen May 2 at the Broward Center) was the 13th production since 1947, which makes it the most frequently performed opera in the company’s history. According to recent surveys, La Bohème is in the top three most frequently performed operas nationwide, as well, and the work lends itself to varied … [Read more...]
Delray author’s backstage-music novel sincere, revealing, but overlong
By Sharon Geltner Lightning struck for Delray Beach resident Kelley McNeil when popular fantasy author Barbara Davis posted a positive review of McNeil’s debut novel, A Day Like This. The fledgling author’s book hit number one on its first day and was a best seller in the United Kingdom and in three days was No. 1 in the United States. It stayed in the Top 5 of an Amazon … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Symphony wraps season with sparkling Beethoven concerto, but uneven Ninth
By Márcio Bezerra Palm Beach Symphony ended its 50th anniversary season April 25 with an ambitious all-Beethoven program at the Kravis Center. Under the direction of Gerard Schwarz, the group started the evening with an early work, the Piano Concerto No. 2 (in B-flat major, Op. 19). This sunny concerto (actually the first the composer wrote, despite its misleading number) … [Read more...]
Pianist Geniushene’s ‘Op. 1’ program intriguing, to a point
By Márcio Bezerra The Society of the Four Arts hosted pianist Anna Geniushene on Wednesday in a program of firsts. The young artist, whose career has been growing silver she won the silver medal at the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition, presented a clever program that consisted of several Opus 1 by composers from the classical period to the twentieth century. To be … [Read more...]
Superstar soprano Meade makes for memorable ‘Norma’ at PB Opera
By Márcio Bezerra Few operas in the repertoire can claim the same legendary status as Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma. Be it because it can be considered as the masterwork of bel canto, or because all the great divas of the past have tackled the title role with memorable results, Norma sets the standard for what a great soprano should sound like. In general, bel canto operas are … [Read more...]
‘Gator Country’ brings us the real story of the Everglades
By Sharon Geltner Gator Country opens with an authentic Florida adventure. A 7-year-old Central Florida girl explores a swamp by herself. Rebecca Renner’s dad tells her: “When it starts getting dark, come back.” Family dinner could be alligator meat, breaded in cornmeal, fried in peanut oil. Orlando resident Renner writes: “I hadn’t quite grasped the majesty and … [Read more...]