With the COVID virus so pervasive in Palm Beach County, surviving the shutdown dictated by the pandemic is foremost on the minds of area theaters. But the next priority, artistic directors say, is putting an added emphasis on diversity – in their programming and casting. Most theaters think they have done a pretty good job at diversity, but agree there is still room … [Read more...]
Schwarz named director of Palm Beach Symphony; Spady Museum gets NEA grant
PALM BEACH — Gerard Schwarz, who led the Seattle Symphony to national prominence in his 26 years with the orchestra, has been named artistic and music director of the Palm Beach Symphony. Schwarz takes over from Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar, who has led the orchestra since 2009. This is the second South Florida appointment for Schwarz, who earlier this year was appointed to … [Read more...]
At FAU, a compelling look at a Nazi resister
Our history books depict the German people as mostly going along with the Third Reich, offering little pushback to the rise of the Nazi Party. But a group of students at the University of Munich, the so-called White Rose Society, offered resistance in the form of an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign. As you might assume, they were eventually crushed by Hitler’s … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 30-July 2
Theater: This weekend, the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairy tale mash-up, Into the Woods, joins a stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, in repertory at Boca Raton’s Florida Atlantic University for its 2017 Festival Rep, the 20th annual showcase of the drama department’s graduate student pool. Bruce Linser, a local Sondheim maven, directs the sophisticated … [Read more...]
Dietz’s new play focuses on six degrees of uncertainty
For more than 20 years, Lou Tyrrell has been producing the plays of Steven Dietz, first at Florida Stage (Lonely Planet, Private Eyes, Yankee Tavern) and now at his current company, Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab. Beginning Dec. 2, he brings to the region Dietz’s latest work, This Random World, described as a comic look at missed opportunities, a play that turns … [Read more...]