Ramón Tebar has worked with demanding sopranos, played as a soloist and chamber musician, and conducted orchestras in symphony, ballet and opera. But for the 30-year-old Spanish conductor, directing an orchestra as the accompaniment to a soundtrack is the hardest thing he's ever done. "The main reason is that, as a conductor, I don't have the freedom and flexibility that … [Read more...]
A monster and a plucky heroine: Compelling novels from indie houses
Most newspapers and magazines posted their lists of the best books of 2009 by the end of November. I was no exception (you can see mine at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts Website). The problem with these early lists, though useful for Christmas shopping, is they risk missing worthwhile books published late in the year, especially from small independent publishing … [Read more...]
Smart ‘Farragut North’ gets crisp production at GableStage
Anyone who has heard artistic director Joe Adler’s impassioned, rambling introductory remarks at GableStage knows he cannot repress his views on politics. So he understandably could not resist bringing Beau Willimon’s backroom, back-stabbing campaign morality play, Farragut North, to his audience. First seen off-Broadway in late 2008, just after the presidential election, the … [Read more...]
Sure, ‘Nine’ is stagy, and that’s one reason it’s so good
Prior to its Christmas Day expansion across the country, Rob Marshall’s screen version of the Broadway musical Nine -- itself an audacious adaptation of 8½, Federico Fellini’s 1963 statement of cinematic writer’s block -- had only opened in New York and Los Angeles, where it had already received a barrage of negative reviews. Well, do not believe those pans, which not only … [Read more...]
Art Basel ‘09 showcases innovation
From established artists to newbies, Art Basel is a place where one can see the innovators of contemporary art, and the annual Miami Beach version of this European art stalwart gets under way formally tonight. But the action associated with the festival started up at the beginning of the week, and on Wednesday afternoon, VIPs were lined up at the Miami Beach Convention Center … [Read more...]
James Judd, moving ahead and moving on
When James Judd takes the stage during the first week of December to lead the Boca Raton Symphonia and the Master Chorale of South Florida in three performances of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah in Boca, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it will mark his first appearances with local musicians since 2001. The former conductor of the Florida Philharmonic has been busy … [Read more...]
Durang’s ‘Torture’ loses satiric sting to silliness
Plantation’s Mosaic Theatre has excellent taste in playwrights, but it is much more erratic when it comes to selecting plays from their catalogues. The result is second-rate work from such first-rate writers as John Patrick Shanley (Dirty Story), Neil LaBute (Wrecks) and now Christopher Durang (Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them). Under that amusing tabloid … [Read more...]
Brice, greed and graphic novels: A trio of theater reviews
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre opens its subscription season with a world premiere musical biography of Ziegfeld Follies comedy star, Fanny Brice. Of course, there already is a perfectly good show about Brice, 1964’s Funny Girl, but it is rarely revived, in part because of its elaborate production numbers and in part because of the hard-to-top original leading performer, Barbra … [Read more...]
Film celebrates sitcom pioneer who created ‘The Goldbergs’
Aviva Kempner can pinpoint the moment she chose to make a film about radio and television pioneer Gertrude Berg, whose radio and television show The Goldbergs was a precursor of so many sitcoms, from I Love Lucy to Seinfeld. “I went to the Jewish Museum in New York, for an exhibit called Jews Entertaining America,” the 62-year-old documentary filmmaker recalls. “I walked in … [Read more...]
Frank tale of elder love stumbles on routine plot
Even as statistic after statistic shows that senior citizens fornicate just about as much as the rest of us, showing sex among elders remains taboo in American film and TV. If not found under the “educational” auspices of HBO’s Real Sex, senior citizen flesh is usually only depicted in sophomoric comedies for cheap laughs (recall the hospital scene in The Hangover or Andy … [Read more...]