Alexandre Moutouzkine. (Photo by E. Appel) Sunday afternoon’s concert by The Symphonia Boca Raton had a loose and handmade feel to it, with decent performances by the group of some unusual repertoire, and a standout appearance by a guest soloist. Alexandre Moutouzkine, a Russian-born pianist, was the soloist for two works, the rarely heard Ballade (in F-sharp, Op. 19) of … [Read more...]
High-energy pieces do best for Lula Washington Dance Theatre
A scene from Global Village, choreographed by Lula Washington. (Photo by Eric McGinnis) By Tara Mitton Catao Could there have been a better way to start off the Lula Washington Dance Theatre’s show at the Rinker Theatre on Jan. 22 than with Michael Tomlin III tipping the brim of his hat to us and proceeding to dance to the music of Terence Blanchard? It wasn’t long before … [Read more...]
Rare cello works make for splendid Chameleon concert
By Robert Croan Cellist Iris van Eck is one of South Florida’s busiest and most productive classical musicians. Her activities include running the splendid Chameleon chamber music series, which she founded in 2003; playing in Symphony of the Americas, where she is principal cellist; teaching and much more. On Chameleon’s Jan. 24 concert, the Dutch-born artist had her own … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in books
The best way to gauge the temperature of South Florida’s robust literary life is not so much through its mature and established festivals and seminars, but by some of the smaller, newer events and venues. Just last year, for example, the Palm Beach Book Festival’s inaugural celebration was more than successful enough to ensure a sophomore event, while in Miami, a … [Read more...]
Nu Deco Ensemble makes delightful, important debut
There has been nothing quite like it in Miami classical circles, to say nothing of South Florida as a whole, but it is a very good thing that it has now arrived. The Nu Deco Ensemble, a chamber group that bills itself as a “21st-century orchestra,” presented the first concert in its inaugural season Friday and Saturday night at the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood. … [Read more...]
Three-nation youth orchestra to perform in Delray
A youth orchestra concert with roots in a rural Mexican library comes to Delray Beach’s Crest Theatre on Sept. 19. The concert, called “Harmony Without Borders,” will feature children from the Imagina Symphonic Orchestra in León, Mexico; 24 children from the Siman Orchestral Foundation in Miami; and 10 children from the Pequeñas Huellas cultural project in Turin, Italy. They … [Read more...]
MacGraw, O’Neal reunite for ‘Love Letters’ at Broward Center
If you are on the far side of 55 or have an extensive DVD collection of romantic kitsch, you probably know Oliver Barrett IV and Jenny Cavalleri, a/k/a Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, of Erich Segal’s runaway bestselling novel Love Story and the 1970 blockbuster movie it spawned. Well, the two film stars – now in their mid-70s – have reunited for a national tour of A.R. Gurney’s … [Read more...]
Schumer muffles talents for rom-com routine in ‘Trainwreck’
Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer have balls. After all, they should know that any movie that dares to title itself Trainwreck is begging for smug derision from lazy critics, the Shalits and Reeds and Traverses of the waning print dynasties and the bloated blogosphere, who can now summon their most tired rail-travel metaphors or come up with gems such as “the title says it all.” The … [Read more...]
For tribute bands, the music plays on — and on
The music biz adapts to setbacks in ways that aren’t unlike the tobacco industry, which reacted to a decrease in cigarette smoking by reformulating an interest in cigars and designing a range of new novelty smoking products, or Hollywood, which crippled modern screenwriting to embark upon remaking practically every existing film, TV show or cartoon. One current popular … [Read more...]
Message and manna duke it out in breathless ‘Tomorrowland’
Is Tomorrowland a movie, or a 130-minute advertisement for a theme park? Borrowing its title from the futuristic Disneyland/Magic Kingdom attraction of the same name, Brad Bird’s second live-action feature is certainly his most shameless. In this expensive monument to CGI plasticity, Bird’s vision — eccentric, referential, inspired — vies for your attention with blatant … [Read more...]