Andrew Rosendorf, playwright of Cane, at Florida Stage.By Hap ErsteinAfter a successful summer debut at the Kravis Center, Florida Stage unveils its first subscription season in the Rinker Playhouse, including several world premieres. Meanwhile, there is a new Miami company with its own troupe of actors, the Caldwell continues to dig out of its money woes with a … [Read more...]
Theater review: Caldwell’s ‘Follies’ another gift to Sondheim fans
Melissa Minyard.By Hap ErsteinFor the third time in a year, the Caldwell Theatre has put the words and music of Stephen Sondheim onstage, emphasizing his intricate way with a song and his emotionally complex storytelling in its musical concert series.If the Boca Raton company’s current offering, 1971’s Follies, is not quite up to the delirious level of its … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct.1-3
Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz in Let Me In.Film: I am no fan of vampire movies, particularly the Twilight series, with its two-dimensional, catatonic acting. But two years ago, a subdued, suspenseful Swedish film, Let the Right One In, put a new twist on the undead genre with its tale of a 12-year-old boy who is befriended by a seemingly young vampire … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Aug. 13-18
Brad Paisley.Music: Brad Paisley got his start in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, and since then he’s gathered up every important award in country music. He’s on the road a lot, too, and on Saturday afternoon, he’s at the Cruzan for a stop on his H20 World Tour. The tour will feature a “water world plaza” meant to evoke summer and water … [Read more...]
Theater feature: New Miami theater troupe draws impressive talent
By Hap ErsteinVocabulary fans, the word for today is “zoetic.”It’s an adjective, meaning “pertaining to life,” so it is not a bad name for a new live stage company, unless you happen to worry that theatergoers in South Florida will not buy tickets for a troupe it cannot pronounce or spell, let alone know what it means.Still, welcome Zoetic Stage, the … [Read more...]
Theater feature: ‘Secret Order’ director has faith in it, but play needs more work
Nick Duckart and Gordon McConnell in Secret Order. By Hap ErsteinTom Bloom does not give up on a play easily.The New York actor-turned-director began helping to develop Bob Clyman’s Secret Order, a drama of ideas about a cure for cancer that runs into a buzzsaw of research politics, some 15 years ago. He not only directs the production that opened at the Caldwell … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 9-12
Noomi Rapace in The Girl Who Played With Fire.Film: Those who clamored about The Twilight Saga last week can now take in a far better, darker trilogy, now that they have that out of their system. It is the Swedish mystery novels by the late Stieg Larsson, whose introduction on film was the riveting The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, about a Goth computer … [Read more...]
Theater review: Caldwell’s ‘Into the Woods’ concert comes off splendidly
By Hap Erstein “I wish …”They are the first two and last two words of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods, an audacious and whimsical shuffle of lesson-laden Grimm’s fairy tales.It has long been my wish that a South Florida theater company would take up the challenge of presenting some of Sondheim’s innovative musicals, even though they require large … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 21-23
Starlight Blossom, by Elle Schorr, at the Ross Gallery of Art.Art: West Palm Beach’s newest art gallery debuts tonight as Guy Chaifetz transforms part of the building that houses The Edit Centre, his video editing and duplication service, into Ross Gallery of Art. Painting, sculptures and photographs will be featured by recognized artists such as … [Read more...]
Take our Sondheim trivia quiz — if you dare — and win ‘Into the Woods’ tickets
Stephen Sondheim.By Hap ErsteinIn honor of Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday and the opening of the Caldwell Theatre’s staged reading of his Into the Woods this Friday through Sunday, May 21-23, we fiendishly present our Ultimate Sondheim Trivia Test, geared to separate the obsessive fanatics from the casual fans.And the Caldwell has … [Read more...]