George Clooney in “Hail, Caesar!” Film: Ever since they burst onto the scene in 1984 with their idiosyncratic take on film noir, Blood Simple, a new film by Joel and Ethan Coen has been a much anticipated event. Certainly that is true for the incessantly promoted Hail, Caesar, opening this weekend at area theaters, and it does not disappoint. This snarky valentine to the days … [Read more...]
At the Arsht: Lauper’s score gives ‘Kinky Boots’ its stride
‘ Harvey Fierstein does a worthy job bolstering the story line of the 2005 movie Kinky Boots about a transvestite who saves a failing British shoe factory, but the reason to see this Tony Award-winning musical is the debut of pop composer Cyndi Lauper as a Broadway songwriter. The Broadway graveyard is riddled with the failed attempts by so many pop stars to pen a legitimate … [Read more...]
Community theater: Four standouts lift Stage Door’s ‘I Love You’
By Dale King If you could capture TV’s Love American Style, move it intact to a theatrical stage and add some upbeat music with snappy, imaginative lyrics, you’d be close to recreating the funky and offbeat relationship comedy, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Based on a book by prolific playwright Joe Di Pietro, with music by Jimmy Roberts and lyrics by Di Pietro, … [Read more...]
Looking back: Booming Art Basel full of energy, surprise
When the Art Basel Miami Beach week ended Dec. 8, more than 75,000 people had visited the show in the Miami Beach Convention Center, and many of those 75,000 had visited the five main fairs that have sprung up around it: Art Miami, Design Miami, NADA, Pulse and Untitled. There was plenty of star power, too. At Art Miami’s opening Dec. 3, a horde of no less than 13,500 VIP … [Read more...]
Touring show does Man in Black proud
By Dale King The song Ring of Fire marked a milestone in the life of legendary vocalist Johnny Cash. Recorded in March 1963, it rose to Number 1 and stayed there for seven weeks, the longest a Cash song would top the charts. Minnesota-based Troupe America Inc. has gathered a talented eight-person cast for a national tour of Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, the jukebox … [Read more...]
Dweezil’s tribute band does Frank proud
Zappa Plays Zappa, guitarist Dweezil Zappa's tribute band to his late father Frank Zappa, first appeared in South Florida on Dec. 10, 2006. That concert at Mizner Park Ampitheatre in Boca Raton featured a circus-like atmosphere, partly due to a band that grew to 10 pieces through guest alumni from Frank's touring units, namely vocalist/saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock, … [Read more...]