From left, Darrick Penny, Ann Marie Olson, Alexandria Lugo, Anthony Massarotto and Jason Plourde in Putting It Together at the Broward Stage Door Theatre. (Photo by George Wentzler) By Dale King Music is the medium that has carried most of the shows at the Broward Stage Door Theatre in Margate during the 2015-2016 season. And we’ve got the stats to prove it. Putting It … [Read more...]
Escher Quartet remarkable in Bartok, Beethoven at Four Arts
The Escher String Quartet came to the Society of the Four Arts on Sunday, and everything about its performance was spotless and perfect. So spotless and so perfect, that at times it became bloodless, even while the foursome was demonstrating an astonishing display of musical excellence that was a triumph of instrumental wizardry and interpretive subtlety. This was a bigger … [Read more...]
O, say are you soused: ‘Drinking in America’
American history books rarely mention alcoholism as a significant historical issue. From the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock to the presidency of Richard Nixon, liquor influenced and continues to influence American society and politics. Susan Cheever has excellent credentials, having written extensively about her own battle with alcoholism and that of her father, the writer John … [Read more...]
Theater reviews: ‘Lady Day,’ ‘Dames at Sea’
' With many a stage biography of a show business legend, there is the rise to stardom from humble roots and then the frequently inevitable descent in the second half of his or her life. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, an intermissionless biographical nightclub act of the great jazz singer-songwriter Billie Holiday – born Eleanora Fagan – is almost entirely descent. The … [Read more...]
Sometimes-shaky ‘Piaf’ at Delray Square ultimately persuades
By Dale King By all accounts, the personal life of famed French chanteuse Edith Piaf was pretty sad. So, it’s not unexpected that a biographical play about the “little sparrow” with the powerful voice that emanated from a 4-foot-8 frame would also be filled with moments of sorrow. Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman, partners of Florida Theater Productions Inc., have taken a … [Read more...]
2014-15 arts preview: The season in Palm Beach County art
Whether you are an artist or an admirer of beauty, you should thank the lucky stars (and planets) for aligning once again to bring Palm Beach County robust art by local and international artists. It is not the most exciting lineup ever, but as usual diversity is the big hero saving us from the villain: predictability. That there will be something for everyone is always good … [Read more...]
‘The Life’ makes a gritty return at Delray Square
By Dale King The sad and sorry lives of Times Square’s sordid population of hookers, drug- and crime-dealers during the 1980s are brought to the stage with excellent grittiness and striking realism in the musical/drama, The Life, now playing at the Delray Square Performing Arts Center. It’s quite the occasion for Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman of Florida Theater … [Read more...]
‘Sixth Extinction’ is an urgent, chilling warning
More than 60 million years ago a 6-mile-wide asteroid crashed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs. Four other mass extinctions in the past 450 million years destroyed countless other animal and plant species. In her profound new book, The Sixth Extinction, science writer Elizabeth Kolbert argues that Earth could be heading for another extinction that would kill off many … [Read more...]
Organizers happy about 2014 Boca Fest outcome
By Dale King Festival of the Arts Boca 2014 has been relegated to the history books. But organizers are happy with the memories. The festival’s website is filled with comments about the 10-day event that marked its eighth annual incarnation this year, taking place in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park Amphitheater and at the Cultural Arts Center. Perhaps the most striking website … [Read more...]
Composer Muhly offers ‘festive’ world premiere fanfare for PBSO on Monday
There are composers, and there are compositeurs, and there are Komponists, but few of them working today have anything like the buzz that surrounds young Nico Muhly. At just age 32, Muhly (whose Twitter page uses the Icelandic word for composer, tónlist), has the kind of monstrously busy, high-profile, engaged career that would be the envy of any artist, not just contemporary … [Read more...]