Music: The Master Chorale of South Florida began life as the chorus for the Florida Philharmonic, providing massed vocal heft when it was time for the Beethoven Ninth Symphony or Belshazzar’s Feast. The orchestra dissolved 10 years ago, but the chorus has continued, and in that decade it’s had three different directors. Now it’s on its fourth, young Brett Karlin of Boca Raton, … [Read more...]
Community theater: An excellent ‘Last Romance’ at Delray Playhouse
By Dale King On the playbill, Joe DiPietro’s The Last Romance is described as a “comedy.” But the show, now being staged at the Delray Beach Playhouse, is not simply ha-ha funny. It is a deft combination of lamentations and laugher, a tribute to love in the golden years that’s neither a caricature nor an understatement. Three talented theater veterans, a young man back from … [Read more...]
Delray postpones decision on Arts Garage space until April
Delray Beach will take a couple more months to decide how to satisfy the needs of the Arts Garage and that of a personal-injury law firm that wants to expand. The City Commission voted Tuesday night to table discussion about what will happen to the building now occupied by the Arts Garage until April 16. In Solomon-like fashion, Mayor Tom Carney suggested dividing the … [Read more...]
Violinist brings strong personality to familiar concerto
It has only become a commonplace of Tchaikovsky criticism in recent years to emphasize his work’s continuity with Russian folk tradition, but as a performance Tuesday night showed, it’s always been right there in plain view. The Canadian violinist Lara St. John, in an exceptional performance with the South Florida Symphony at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach, dug deep into … [Read more...]
In short time, Arts Garage makes itself vital part of cultural scene
On a recent Saturday evening, crowds at the Delray Beach parking structure that doubles as the Arts Garage were jumping and jiving to the New Age/neoclassical piano sounds of composer and artist Jace Vek. Vek, a two-time Emmy award winner and Pittsburgh native, was accompanied by soprano Kat Yarbrough and tenor Matthew Farmer, who does double duty himself as the programming … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 2-5
Theater: Miami’s Mad Cat Theatre Company has figured out how to attract young people to sit for live shows, and it is not to offer them “well-made” plays like their grandparents craved. Instead, they have carved out their niche with non-linear absurdist fare like So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah, written and directed by Paul Tei, who founded the troupe. At its core, it is … [Read more...]
Photo artist Moore takes her cues from nature
Melinda Moore arrived at a monthly roundtable of photo artists in West Palm Beach and pulled from a shoulder bag four or five new travel-photo scenic prints she had quickly matted that afternoon. They were rich, gallery-quality black-and-whites of London street life, but no biggie: Moore — who comes across as everyone’s favorite aunt who has been around the world more times … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 17-19
Film: Can’t decide whether to go to the theater or to the movies this weekend? Do both, with the high-definition video of the recent concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, which was shamelessly promoted on last Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast. It stars Neil Patrick Harris as marriage-challenged Bobby, which should restart the discussion whether the character’s dilemma is … [Read more...]
Delray’s new Arts Garage a regular home for jazz
If you've parked your car in the Old School Square parking garage recently to go to one of Delray Beach's multiple clubs, theaters, galleries or restaurants, you were in close proximity of a major new downtown arts venue whether you knew it or not. The Arts Garage (www.delraybeacharts.org) was opened in the spring by the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and the … [Read more...]
Tchaikovsky quartet ends Delray SQ season in winning style
On the verge of an eighth season that will include a new recording and a world premiere, the Delray String Quartet sounded confident, polished and vibrant as it finished up its seventh season Sunday afternoon in Miami. Closing its fifth and final series of programs at St. Stephen’s Espicopal Church in Coconut Grove, where the competition from the Taste of the Grove festival … [Read more...]