Aaron Kula and the Klezmer Chamber Orchestra. South Pacific, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s blockbuster musical of war and love in the islands, turned 67 earlier this year, and in some respects, you could argue it’s showing its age. It’s set in the Pacific Theater of World War II, for one, which every day fades from society’s living memory. For another, one of … [Read more...]
Tony predictions for 2016 (a whole lot of ‘Hamilton’)
A scene from Hamilton, with creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, as the first secretary of the Treasury. OK, this is the year to jump into the Tony Awards pool. The problem is you have to find people who do not know that Hamilton is likely to sweep the musical categories. Or you have to know which of the three featured actors in Hamilton will emerge triumphant. Even if you … [Read more...]
Strong choral work, fine soloists make Master Chorale’s Haydn one to remember
Horatio, Lord Nelson (1758-1805), by Lemuel Abbott. The Master Chorale of South Florida closed its current season with a remarkably energetic and gritty Haydn mass that said positive things about the chorus and augured good things for its future. Joined by a chamber orchestra from the Lynn Philharmonia in its concert May 1 at Lynn’s Wold Center for the Performing Arts, the … [Read more...]
Marilynn Wick buys Wick Theatre for $5 million
By Dale King BOCA RATON – Three springtimes ago, Marilynn Wick rescued the closed and bankrupt Caldwell Theatre from the auction block and turned it into a combination costume museum, restaurant and performance center. Wick’s main business, Costume World, acquired the property in March 2013 with an option to buy, a decision based on a belief — and a vow — to breathe new life … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 6: Newsmaker interviews, disarming ‘Bright Star’
With only one show on my schedule today, I could have relaxed, but this is New York City, where so many artists, writers and producers of shows on tour, heading to South Florida, reside. So I arranged to interview a couple of them today, to bank them stories for when the shows arrive at home. This afternoon, for instance, I met with Doug McGrath, screenwriter (Bullets Over … [Read more...]
The fierce beauty of irezumi, at the Morikami
Forget the butterfly, the thorny vine and the heart with initials. Imagine a colorful bird with a fish’s tail, a snake’s neck, and a turtle’s shell expanding from the neck all the way to the ankles. That’s what you can expect to see now at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World features photographs of full body … [Read more...]
Stellar cast shines in Broward Stage Door’s ‘Evita’
By Dale King Evita, the rock opera conceived by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice at the height of their musical collaboration, has been packaged, repackaged and committed to celluloid since it was released as a concept record album 40 years ago and hit the stage in London two years later. Director Michael Leeds and choreographer Kevin Black return to the … [Read more...]
Talented cast makes most of weak score in Wick’s ‘Curtains’
Angie Radosh in Curtains. (Photo by Amy Pasquantonio) There are multiple murders in the backstage mystery musical Curtains, yet it is one of the most light-hearted shows ever written by the long-running collaboration between composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. The team that gave us such milestone, dark-toned materials as Cabaret, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman … [Read more...]
Pop and Jazz Happenings, March 2016: Sisters ditch pop for country; Okeechobee Fest debuts
Modern country music has increasingly featured elements of pop, yet it’s still ironic that one of Palm Beach County’s rising authentic country groups came out of an act influenced by the Disney World, bubble gum sect of that genre. Yes, before sisters Alisa and Laura Whitacre formed White Acres (www.whiteacresmusic.com) in 2012, they were in full Britney Spears mode with … [Read more...]
Exceptional ‘Pasquale’ a triumph for Palm Beach Opera
Palm Beach Opera’s second mainstage production of the season, Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, showcased in deeply satisfying fashion the improvement in vocal casting this company has demonstrated in the past couple years. In a charming, smart production reset in the 17th century and borrowed from Glimmerglass Opera, Palm Beach Opera gave Donizetti’s 1843 comic romp … [Read more...]