Recently, Sarah Gerard started a new job at Books Are Magic, a Brooklyn bookstore owned by novelist Emma Straub. That was about the same time Gerard began touring in support of her second book, an acclaimed collection of essays titled Sunshine State. Gerard’s first book, the novel Binary Star, was a success, too, with rapturous reviews in The New York Times, and elsewhere, … [Read more...]
FGO’s ‘Pasquale’ zany fun, but concept crowds out story
The finale of Don Pasquale, at Florida Grand Opera. (Photo by Lorne Grandison) Two of this area’s opera companies bookended the season with Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, with the Palm Beach Opera doing a 17th-century take on the early 19th-century setting in which this 1842 opera was initially set. The production of Don Pasquale now showing at Florida Grand Opera in … [Read more...]
First-ever Florida Jazz and Blues Jam packs Grammy prowess in headliners
Victor Wooten. It isn’t very often that a festival features a combined 13 Grammy Awards between four iconic headliners, and that’s what gives the First Annual Florida Jazz and Blues Jam on Saturday instant name recognition and potential staying power. Its opening act is only John Mayall, the 82-year-old British blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player whose Bluesbreakers … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 6-8
Pianist Shuree Enkhbold. Music: If you’ve ever heard the music of Sembiin Gonchigsumlaa, who lived from 1915 to 1991, you’re in exclusive company. But if you haven’t, tonight is your chance to hear music by Mongolia’s most eminent composer, played by a young Mongolian pianist studying with Roberta Rust at Lynn University. Munkshur Enkhbold, who prefers the name Shuree, is, … [Read more...]
At FGO, a triumph for a ‘Butterfly’ newcomer
It was a good Sunday afternoon for Vanessa Isiguen. The young soprano who made her debut in the role that day with Florida Grand Opera showed herself well up to the task of bringing to vivid vocal life the character of Cio-Cio-San, the doomed heroine of one of the world’s most popular and beloved operas, Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. A North Carolinian who made her … [Read more...]
Cultural Council’s SmARTBiz Summit draws eager arts advocates
About 200 culturally connected South Florida residents gathered Oct. 28 for the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County’s fourth annual SmARTBiz Summit. Representatives from distinguished arts organizations — including Katie Deits from the Lighthouse ArtCenter, Cynthia Palmieri from the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Andrew Kato from Maltz Jupiter Theatre and Joe Gillie from the … [Read more...]
Community theater: Sparkling ‘Dinner’ wraps FAU’s summer rep
By Dale King Despite its length — just over three hours, including two intermissions — The Man Who Came to Dinner is a rapid-fire comedy that demands constant attention from the audience. The three-act play was written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart in 1939, and reflects the screwball comedy genre popular at the time. “The dialogue style of their comic pieces was … [Read more...]
Marilynn Wick: South Florida’s costume mogul revives a theater
Marilynn Wick, president and chief executive officer of Costume World, the major national retailer and renter of theatrical costumes, has given herself a new challenge. Having bought the dormant Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton to house her 1.2 million costumes — many of them Broadway originals — and to place her Broadway Collection Museum in larger quarters, she also gained a … [Read more...]
South Florida-born filmmaker returns with ‘Seducing Charlie Barker’
Amy Glazer made her directorial debut as a teenager at Miami Beach Senior High School, where she directed another student named Mickey Rourke in his first play. Now a playwright, independent filmmaker and a professor of film, television, radio and theater at San Jose State University, she’s returned to South Florida this month to screen her new film, Seducing Charlie Barker, … [Read more...]
Florida Stage subscribers to get arts deals; Wright to headline poetry fest
Florida Stage subscribers to get special offers in mid-July Following the unexpected news earlier this month that Florida Stage was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and could not refund subscribers for their 2011-2012 season tickets, numerous cultural groups have united to help mitigate some of the loss. The Palm Beach County Cultural Council, along with 25 organizations, has … [Read more...]