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.
“Palm Beach Dramaworks is one of South Florida’s most deserving cultural treasures and has won local and national acclaim for its inspired productions,” the Browns said in a statement. “With this new theater, Dramaworks will not only continue to present first-rate productions, but they will have an intimate, professional, first-rate facility to call home.”
Dramaworks artistic director William Hayes praised the Browns for their donation.
“Words are simply not adequate to express our gratitude to Don and Ann Brown for their generous support of Palm Beach Dramaworks, and for taking a leadership role and exemplifying the level of arts advocacy that is needed throughout our country,” Hayes said in a statement. “The Browns clearly recognize the vital role of the private sector in supporting those arts institutions that most enrich and enhance our lives.”
Donald Brown, a real estate attorney, co-founded the Washington law firm of Brown, Gildenhorn & Jacobs and the JGB Real Estate Companies. Ann Brown was commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1994 to 2001.
The opening night gala at the new Brown Theatre is set for Nov. 11.
Palm Beach Opera cancels all Monday productions
WEST PALM BEACH – Palm Beach Opera announced today that it is canceling all Monday afternoon performances for its 50th anniversary season, citing weak ticket sales.
That will mean there will be only three performances of its three productions: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Dec. 16-18), Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette (Feb. 24-26), and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (March 23-25). The company also is planning two gala concerts Jan. 20 and 22, celebrating its 50 years of operation, as well as the Grand Finals concert of the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition (April 29).
“Artistic quality is much more important than quantity, and this is a step in the right direction to adjust our productivity to what the market can bear in these times,” General Manager Daniel Biaggi said in a prepared statement.
All current Monday ticketholders are being moved to seats on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, he said. If suitable arrangements cannot be made, these patrons will receive a full refund, the company said.
The company normally presents four productions of each opera, with two casts rotating duties from Friday through Monday, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. Still to be decided is whether the second cast will be necessary, or the operas will be presented with just one cast.
Currently, sopranos Maria Luigia Borsi and Michele Capalbo are trading places as Cio-Cio San, and tenors James Valenti and Rafael Davila as Pinkerton in Butterfly; Nicole Cabell and Janai Brugger-Orman are cast as Juliet, and Arturo Chacon-Cruz and Bruno Rebeiro as Romeo; and Patrizia Ciofi and Valentina Farcas share the role of Lucia.
Finances have been difficult for arts organizations since the recession took hold in 2008, and opera companies have been no exception. Palm Beach Opera scaled back to three productions from four in 2009-10, and Miami-based Florida Grand Opera cut back to four from five during the same season.
But while FGO’s Robert Heuer says that his company might restore a fifth opera in the 2012-13 season, Palm Beach Opera is facing the reality that the company needs to be “fiscally responsible while not compromising the quality of our productions,” said Marc Solomon, chairman of the opera company’s board, in a prepared statement.
Attendance at the Monday matinees has fallen to about 45 percent of the nearly 2,200 seats in Kravis’ Dreyfoos Hall, down from 80 percent at its peak in 2007-08. Palm Beach Opera is the only opera company in the nation to offer Monday matinee performances not intended for school groups, the company said.
For more information, call 833-7888 or visit www.pbopera.org.
WPBI splitting into all-news, all-classical sister stations
FORT LAUDERDALE – Starting today, Classical South Florida has transformed its Palm Beach County operations into two separate stations.
WPBI 90.7 FM, formerly WXEL, will be a 24-hour classical station with National Public Radio news headlines during morning and evening rush hour. The second station, WPBI- HD2, will be at 101.9 FM, and feature a 24-hour local, national and international news format.
“We know that public radio fans are devoted and curious, and that they appreciate arts and cultural programming,” said Doug Evans, Classical South Florida president and general manager, in a news release. “By creating a brand-new, 24/7 public radio news service and an all‐classical music service, we’re giving listeners more choices and a greater variety of programming. We’re proud to make this additional contribution to the cultural fabric of our community.”
WPBI 90.7 FM will feature the C24 feed from American Public Media’s home base in St. Paul, Minn., which is shared by 280 stations across the country, said Classical South Florida marketing director Jason Hughes. The news side at 101.9 FM will feature the same programming long familiar on the former WXEL, including programs such as Car Talk, Fresh Air, People’s Pharmacy and South Florida Focus.
Hughes also said the station recently received approval to boost the strength of its signal to 250,000 watts, which gives it a larger reach.
Fort Lauderdale-based Classical South Florida is a nonprofit organization broadcasting in South Florida since 2007. In addition to its Palm Beach County broadcast, it serves Miami on WKCP 89.7.
WPBI is the former WXEL Radio, which was sold to American Public Media in 2009 for $4 million by its previous owners, Barry University. The Miami Shores-based Catholic college still owns WXEL-TV, which can be seen on Channel 42.
Old School Square sets Friday concert series
DELRAY BEACH – The Old School Square Cultural Arts Center announced it will be launching a new weekly series of Friday evening concerts beginning next month.
This series, called @The Pavilion, will run through Dec. 30, and feature family-friendly entertainment from South Florida bands playing various genres including blues, doo-wop, country, Latin, swing, reggae, R&B and classic rock.
Each event will also feature chair rentals, a cash bar, and food booths. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs, but no pets or outside food and drink will be allowed.
“With all the successful festivals and events that take place on our grounds each year, we know there has been a growing demand for even more entertainment on the outdoor stage,” said Joe Gillie, president and chief executive officer of Old School Square, in a news release.
The kickoff event, set for 7 p.m. Oct. 14, will include a performance by the young fiddler and singer Amber Leigh, whose music mixes elements of country, rock and Celtic traditions.
“We wanted to open this series with Amber Leigh, because she is so well-known in Delray and regionally,” said Brian Ridolfo, Old School Square’s technical director. “When she heard about the series, she jumped at the chance to headline our opening concert.”
The following performance will be Oct. 21, when Ever So Klever will hit the stage playing their brand of neo-swing/rockabilly. For a full line-up, visit www.oldschool.org/performances.asp. For more information contact Melissa Carter at 561-243-7922, ext. 322.
Seraphic Fire’s Brahms disc makes Billboard Top 10
MIAMI — Seraphic Fire, the Miami-based professional chamber choir, is enjoying strong success with its new disc of Brahms, which last week reached the Top 10 of the Billboard classical charts.
The critically acclaimed group’s recording of the so-called London version of the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms ranked No. 7 on the Classical Traditional charts, and No. 25 on the All Classical charts, as of Sept. 8.
The album was made in collaboration with Seraphic Fire’s own Professional Choral Institute (PCI), which trains up-and-coming young singers to be choral professionals. The institute is based at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Seraphic Fire’s last self-recorded release, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, also made a mark for itself on the iTunes chart last summer, nudging aside even Lady Gaga.
“I knew that there was an audience for professional choral music, despite Miami’s vacation atmosphere,” artistic director Patrick Dupre Quigley said in a news release. “Outstanding music marketed well can thrive in any market.”
Seraphic Fire’s season opens in October with music from the Renaissance, tied to the 400th anniversary of the death of the Spanish composer Tomas Luis de Victoria. This season, the group has added a regular series of concerts in Palm Beach County, at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton. – Compiled by Katherine Concepcion and Greg Stepanich