PALM BEACH GARDENS – Mainstreet at Midtown, based at the Borland Center for the Performing Arts, has launched the county’s first festival of “swede” films and is now accepting entries. A “swede” is an intentionally awful remake of an established film, and since 2008, festivals of the parodistic shorts have taken place in Fresno, Calif., and Tampa Bay. SwedeFest Palm Beach will … [Read more...]
News briefs: Four Arts extends Koch’s Old West exhibit again
PALM BEACH – The Society for the Four Arts has extended its current exhibit, Recapturing the Real West: The Collections of William I. Koch, for a second time following an unprecedented response from the public. The Koch exhibit will remain open at the Society’s Esther O’Keeffe Gallery through May 13, officials said this week. More than 20,000 people have seen the exhibit … [Read more...]
Sunday Comment: Palm Beach film fest still figuring itself out at 17
As the 17th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival approaches, the countywide movie event seems now what it was when it started in 1996. It hovers perpetually on the verge of becoming worth our time and attention, but is has yet to get there. Sure, in the 16 previous festivals, there have been films worthy of this exalted showcase. Think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding … [Read more...]
April 2012 Arts Calendar
Editor’s note: This is the calendar from the print version of Palm Beach ArtsPaper, out today. Through an inadvertent error in the production process, the calendar in the print paper is an incomplete version of the March calendar. The correct April calendar is posted here.) Events are listed through May 4 and were current as of March 30. Please check with the presenting agency … [Read more...]
Will the iPad mean the end of the page turner?
Of all the jobs that computer-related technology has caused to disappear, one other may soon need to be added to the list: Page turner. Concertgoers are used to seeing a turner come on stage, trailing the pianist, then sit unobtrusively to his or her left, and rise to turn the pages of the music when the time comes. It’s a job that is small but vital for musical continuity, … [Read more...]
Now in 21st year, Broward Center targets educational efforts
A performance calendar, online ticketing and membership options are musts on the website of any performing art center, but not all have a tab marked “Education.” And of those, few play the educator role as aggressively as the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. A student discussing Charles Dickens in class will go on to watch A Christmas Carol live on stage and return to … [Read more...]
For 25 years, Duncan Theatre has been cutting-edge
If you lived in Palm Beach County 25 years ago, to get your culture fix you went to the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth or the “leaky teepee,” the familiar name for the West Palm Beach Auditorium, which earned that name from its pointy roof and less-than-watertight conditions. The leaky teepee lives on in lore and memory, but the county’s cutting-edge performing arts house, the … [Read more...]
Sunday Comment: Why we (Americans) can’t get enough of ‘Downton Abbey’
By Tom Tracy Last year, a parody film short appeared on YouTube offering a send-up of the hit TV period drama Downton Abbey, with mock scenes of the show, faux-interviews with the cast and writers, and a scene recalling the ironing of morning newspapers. The latter was a reference to a brief scene in the opening episode of Season One of Downton Abbey (apparently newspapers … [Read more...]
Letter From Los Angeles 3: How I learned to stop hurting myself and get the win-win
Among my friends is a woman who moved here from Boston. Twenty-five years later, she still makes a point of putting Long Beach in her prayers. Our route to lunch often takes us along Alamitos Bay, where snow-capped peaks of purple mountains are a backdrop for the recreational waterway and its iconic red swim buoys. Before anyone picks up a fish taco, my friend thanks God for … [Read more...]
PB Opera cancels vocal contest to boost Young Artists program; Muse Award winners named
Palm Beach Opera said last week it is expanding its Young Artist program to add more singers, three days of auditions in New York, and a staged production next season featuring the young musicians. In order to put the expansion into effect, the West Palm Beach-based opera company has canceled this year’s vocal competition, which had been scheduled for April. “We realized … [Read more...]