Nick Thurston and Geoffrey Wigdor in White Irish Drinkers.Film: Writer-director John Gray (credited with creating TV’s Ghost Whisperer) grew up in Brooklyn and his latest feature film, White Irish Drinkers, feels like it has autobiographical elements in its coming-of-age tale of a young, sensitive artist trying hard not to sucked into the world of crime of his … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: From Afghanistan war to Victorian sex
Eric Mendenhall and Elizabeth Birkenmeier inThe Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider.By Hap ErsteinWhether or not the pen is truly mightier than the sword, playwright Carter W. Lewis is out to prove in his enigmatically titled The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider that slam poetry can trump a mercenary private army.If that sounds like an unlikely match-up, then you are grasping the … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 6-8
Morris Robinson as the Commendatorein Florida Grand Opera’s Don Giovanni.Music: This weekend, Florida Grand Opera is running more like a repertory company than its normal mode of one show at one time. Its productions of David DiChiera’s Cyrano and Mozart’s Don Giovanni are running tomorrow and Sunday afternoon, respectively, at the Ziff Ballet Opera House in … [Read more...]
Broadway Postcard No. 5: ‘Mormon’ is best musical of the season
Andrew Randells and Josh Gad encounter a Ugandan, in The Book of Mormon.By Hap ErsteinTrey Parker and Matt Stone have been freaking out television’s Standards and Practices folks (a/k/a censors) for almost 15 years with their purposely profane animated series South Park, so it should come as no surprise that their first Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, … [Read more...]
Theater preview: Tonight, Carbonells honor best in South Florida theater
By Hap ErsteinTonight, the South Florida theater community gets together for the 35th annual Carbonell Awards, the citations for excellence among area professional theaters that has been shrouded in controversy in recent years.Last year, as you may recall, the awards board of directors announced the program would be suspended to study and fix the perceived … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Romance and its aftermath, on three stages
J. Fred Shiffman and Kate Eastwood Norris in Ghost-Writer.By Hap ErsteinA former musician turned playwright, Michael Hollinger is clearly fascinated with the music of words.Such an interest was evident in his earlier play, Opus, about the search for harmony among the members of a string quartet. A similar verbal playfulness is present in his latest work, … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 25-27
Sabina Cvilak, David Adam Moore, Matteo Peirone, Norman Shankle and Jurgita Adamonytein Cosi fan Tutte.Music: Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote three operas with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Palm Beach Opera has presented the first two – Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni – over the past two seasons. Tonight, the company presents the last of the Mozart/Da Ponte … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 11-13
Film: It is a complaint have heard so often I can anticipate it returning every Oscar season: “Where can I go to see the short subjects, both animated and live action, that are nominated for an Academy Award?” The answer used to be a big shrug, but now you can head to Emerging Cinemas. This week, at the funky art cinema called Mos’Art in Lake Park, you can see … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 24-26
Colin Firth in The King’s Speech. Film: With meticulous attention to period details and an engrossing history-based story that humanizes the struggle of a British king like no movie before it, The King’s Speech is great, albeit old-fashioned, filmmaking. Colin Firth stars as Bertie, a/k/a Prince Albert (Colin Firth), who unexpectedly becomes King George VI … [Read more...]
Theater reviews: Bracing ‘ Freud,’ endearing ‘Goldie’
Dennis Creaghan and Chris Oden in Freud’s Last Session.(Photo by Alicia Donelan)By Hap ErsteinWith Freud’s Last Session, playwright Mark St. Germain follows a simple formula for success -- put two compelling characters with differing viewpoints onstage, then stay out of their way and let them speak.In this case, the characters are two towering thinkers of the … [Read more...]