The staff at Chafin Musicenter; Sue and Jeff Chafin are second and third from left. (Photo by Bill Meredith) Much of the first half of the 60-year life span of Chafin Musicenter (www.chafinmusic.com) in Lake Worth was spent on the 900 block of Lake Avenue, just west of U.S. 1. But when owner Paul Chafin found a larger site — a defunct feed store on North Dixie Highway — in … [Read more...]
FAU students bring the bawdy to ‘Country Wife’
By Dale King Oh, you rascally Restorationists. You aristocratic, anti-Puritan tricksters of late 17th-century England. You sure know how to show a lady a good time — sexually, that is — even if it’s at the expense of their unsuspecting, seemingly dimwitted husbands. That’s essentially the plot of William Wycherley’s 1675 play, The Country Wife, now being presented by … [Read more...]
Delray String Quartet, with new member, starts 12th season engagingly
The Delray String Quartet opened its 12th season this past weekend with a new member in the second violinist seat and a season of concerts full of unusual repertoire. The Uzbek violinist Valentin Mansurov, a familiar face to concertgoers in the area for several years now, has taken the chair occupied for years by Tomás Cotik, who in turn has joined Miami’s Amernet String … [Read more...]
Lake Worth’s Bamboo Room revived once again
It’s only slightly more than 48 hours before the July 31 grand reopening of the Bamboo Room (www.facebook.com/TheBambooRoomLW) — the historic, if on-and-off, Lake Worth live music venue from 1999 to present-day — but general manager Ben Foster appears calm. At least on the surface. “They just hired me,” he says, “so it’s pressure-packed, but I’ve opened a lot of venues before. … [Read more...]
Miami Summer Music Festival bounces back from no-show with high spirits, strong Mahler
The opening concert of the second-ever season of the Miami Summer Music Festival opened in good news-bad news fashion, with the worst intelligence coming at the very start: No Deborah Voigt. The celebrated soprano, who was to open the season Saturday night at Barry University’s Shepard Broad Performing Arts Center, begged off, citing stomach flu and promising to appear for … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart Festival launches 22nd season splendidly
It is a maxim of South Florida life that when it begins to rain, all residents are commanded to forget everything they ever knew about driving in it. And so Saturday afternoon as I made my way south to Gusman Hall at the University of Miami, a rainstorm in Broward County caused me to spend an hour making my way down a bumper-to-bumper interstate as hapless auto pilots around … [Read more...]
SunFest adapts, survives for changing times
SunFest is a little younger than Saturday Night Live, but bears similarities to the iconic TV series that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. Starting out small and grass-roots in 1983, the sprawling West Palm Beach event, set for April 29-May 3, now calls itself “Florida’s largest waterfront music and art festival.” And as is the case with SNL, some people prefer the … [Read more...]
Boca’s arts festival bets on Bernstein to start, Beethoven for the closer
By Dale King Not all that ago, the Festival of the Arts Boca ended its weekly run with a gala performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, led by violinist Itzhak Perlman. This year, for the ninth version of the performing arts-and-literature gathering that commandeers the west end of Mizner Park, Beethoven’s Ninth will again bring the festival — at least the musical events — … [Read more...]
Community theater: FAU delivers riveting ‘Holy Ghosts’
By Dale King Student dramatists at Florida Atlantic University are always finding plays that feature such bizarre themes and characters that they’re unlikely to end up on the stages of mainstream theatrical venues. So it is with Holy Ghosts, a production centering on mankind’s struggle to balance the need for religious tolerance with our strong inclination to reject faiths … [Read more...]
PBO’s ‘La Bohème,’ Cast 2: Subtle approach makes ‘Bohème’ memorable
I heard the second cast of Palm Beach Opera’s very fine production of Puccini’s La Bohème on Saturday. The Kravis Center was packed to capacity for this, the first opera of the season. It was good to hear from the government last week that the arts in America now account for 4.3% of our gross domestic product. Palm Beach County’s lively arts programming surely contributes … [Read more...]