By Michael Mills For years Broward County was the Rodney Dangerfield of the South Florida art world — little to no respect, especially compared with the hoitier-toitier art scenes of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. No more. Museums have been reinvigorated with new leadership, galleries have popped up in sometimes unlikely places, and art walks are thriving in a handful … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in opera
A searing contemporary opera about Auschwitz and the completion of an unprecedented 28-year effort to present all of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi are among the high points of the coming operatic season in southern Florida. While the Sarasota Opera’s end of its Verdi Cycle will draw international attention, operaphiles closer to home will be eager to see Palm Beach Opera’s … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in jazz
It’s a somewhat predictable 2015-2016 season in South Florida jazz. The biggest names, like the ageless, 89-year-old Tony Bennett, perform in our region often — and are realistically on the fringe of the genre. Jazz, especially at so-called jazz festivals, now seems to have expanded to include R&B, adult contemporary, pop, and any other style that includes horns (yet may lack … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in Palm Beach County art
Think of a bento box and you will get the picture of what art in Palm Beach County looks like this season: traditional with a few twists. Among them is an exhibition of provocative works by a performance artist who is also an activist, and another show dedicated to the little-known works of a reclusive Italian-American artist who died in Rome 11 years ago. Packing tape, golf … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in dance
By Tara Mitton Catao With new works to be seen and an emphasis on creativity, there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming season. The dance series presented at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and The Duncan Theatre as well as Miami City Ballet’s 2015/16 season are looking rich as they run the gamut from enormous, new production ballets to intimate, black-box … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in books
The best way to gauge the temperature of South Florida’s robust literary life is not so much through its mature and established festivals and seminars, but by some of the smaller, newer events and venues. Just last year, for example, the Palm Beach Book Festival’s inaugural celebration was more than successful enough to ensure a sophomore event, while in Miami, a … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in theater
The season, in geographic order, from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade, kicks off at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre with that Agatha Christie chestnut The Mousetrap, based on her Ten Little Indians, the serial murder mystery that had a record-breaking run in London’s West End (Oct. 25-Nov. 8). Then, with most of its audience back in the area, it rolls out a pair of mega-musicals, … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in pop
There are plenty of predictable megastars among South Florida’s 2015-2016 pop touring docket, so much so that most are purposely not listed here. Yet scratching the surface to reveal the remainder will pay dividends. Among the arena and ampitheater shows, smaller venues like the Culture Room and Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, the Fillmore and Knight Concert Hall in … [Read more...]
Arts season preview 2015-16: The fall in film
Fanboys have been circling Dec. 18 on their calendars for more than a year, salivating over the arrival date of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (a/k/a Episode VII). It will surely dominate the year-end box office, no matter how much it satisfies or disappoints moviegoers. So it is OK if, like us, you are more interested in festival fare and awards fodder like Carol, Joy, The … [Read more...]
Nu Deco Ensemble makes delightful, important debut
There has been nothing quite like it in Miami classical circles, to say nothing of South Florida as a whole, but it is a very good thing that it has now arrived. The Nu Deco Ensemble, a chamber group that bills itself as a “21st-century orchestra,” presented the first concert in its inaugural season Friday and Saturday night at the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood. … [Read more...]