On a recent Saturday evening, crowds at the Delray Beach parking structure that doubles as the Arts Garage were jumping and jiving to the New Age/neoclassical piano sounds of composer and artist Jace Vek. Vek, a two-time Emmy award winner and Pittsburgh native, was accompanied by soprano Kat Yarbrough and tenor Matthew Farmer, who does double duty himself as the programming … [Read more...]
Letter from Los Angeles 2: Freezing for ‘Dexter,’ growing gills for Long Beach
When I walked out the front door of my oceanfront condo in Long Beach and found that Showtime’s Dexter was being filmed there on the beach, I felt like I’d arrived. I got hooked on the series about the serial killer with the heart of gold in 2007 while I was visiting Finland and hatching my first escape plan from Florida. Normally adventurous and independent, I’d tried … [Read more...]
Letter from Los Angeles: A South Florida writer remakes her identity
I moved to Los Angeles a year-and-a-half ago with great hope: for new perspective and new love. After 40 years in South Florida, the new perspective has been great. And the love is still mine, even if the man isn’t. And hope: it springs eternal, right? Back home, I was a hard-working and hard-partying South Florida writer, performer, event producer and educator. Since I’ve … [Read more...]
PB Cultural Council seeks artist input; Bolge to lead Museum of Florida Art
The Palm Beach Cultural Council is holding a series of Artist Conversations beginning tonight and running over the next two weeks. The gatherings, which are scheduled for four cities, are designed to gather input from the artist community in order to guide the council. Rena Blades, the council’s chief executive officer, will lead the discussions. Conversations are set for: … [Read more...]
PB film and Boca arts fests OK partnership under one board
Two of the largest South Florida arts events – the Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) and the Festival of the Arts Boca – are forming a partnership to create one large comprehensive festival of the cultural arts incorporating film, music, dance, books and authors. The boards of the Schmidt Family Centre for the Arts and the Festival of the Arts Boca have signed a … [Read more...]
Dramaworks gets $2 million donation; PB Opera cancels all Monday shows
WEST PALM BEACH -- A retired Washington, D.C., power couple has donated $2 million to Palm Beach Dramaworks, the largest contribution in the history of the theater company. The donation by Donald and Ann Brown of Palm Beach Gardens will bring with it the renaming of the former Cuillo Theatre in West Palm Beach as the Donald and Ann Brown Theatre, the company said this morning. … [Read more...]
A critic remembers the day the world changed
Fittingly, when the Saudi terrorists were flying planes into the World Trade Center 10 years ago, I was at the movies. Yes, even at 8:46 a.m., the time the North Tower was hit, I was sitting in a theater with a pad in my hand, for I was at the Toronto International Film Festival that fateful day. I was watching a press screening of Mira Nair’s festive Monsoon Wedding, which … [Read more...]
Maltz opens ticket sales for ninth season; FCBT tours Cuba
Tickets for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s upcoming season are now on sale. The 2011-12 season, the theatre’s ninth, is titled The Best of Broadway, and opens with The 39 Steps (Nov. 1-13), a fast-paced thriller made famous in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film adaptation. Following this will be Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Nov. 29-Dec. 18), Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim … [Read more...]
Norton to close Sept.12-30 for reinstallations
The Norton Museum of Art will close from Sept. 12 to Sept. 30 while it reinstalls several of its galleries, museum officials said earlier this month. The goal for this project is to provide a more engaging experience for visitors, officials with the West Palm Beach museum said in a news release. Normal operating hours will resume Saturday, Oct. 1. Palm Beach County residents … [Read more...]
A first look at Dramaworks’ new home; Maltz seeks student actors
With no summer show this year, Palm Beach Dramaworks has been out of the media eye lately, so it invited the local theater press -- and a few politicos -- for a tour of the renovations of the Cuillo Centre in West Palm Beach, to demonstrate that it was on schedule to open Dramaworks’ new permanent home on Nov. 11 of this year. Yes, 11-11-11, for you numerology fans. According … [Read more...]