Eleven years ago, doctors told retired Wesleyan University professor Jeffrey Butler that he needed a pacemaker to ensure that his heart did not stop during hernia surgery. So he was outfitted with the device, which kept his heart going, “while doing nothing to prevent his slide into dementia, incontinence, near-muteness, misery and helplessness.” A year earlier, Butler had … [Read more...]
Sundays: A song for autumn
By Myles Ludwig There’s a certain sweetness to autumn. Can’t deny that. Yes, summer days have dwindled into September, leaving a soft sense of sadness and broken promises trailing in their wake. Over much too soon. We didn’t have enough fun. But, at the same time, that feeling of loss, that nostalgic mourning, seems to gin up a burst of renewal, of beginning again. And … [Read more...]
PB Chamber Fest makes a promising new beginning
When the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival got started back in July of 1992, its organizers were pleasantly surprised to see so many people in that first audience at the Duncan Theatre. Perhaps that will be the case when the festival looks back on its first fall series, which opened earlier this month at Lynn University and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Lake Worth. The … [Read more...]
‘Sound of Music’ gets Wick Theatre off to impressive start
When the Caldwell Theatre Company folded up two years ago, it seemed unlikely that the sound of music — or the sound of plays, for that matter — would ever ring out from its still-new playhouse in Boca Raton. When Marilynn A. Wick of Costume World announced that she was buying the theater for her costume museum and would — as an afterthought — begin producing shows for the … [Read more...]
New music, Baroque concerto best fits for Milanese ensemble
A small string orchestra is well-suited for music of the Baroque, and indeed, there have been a number of such groups, full of young, eager players, founded in the past decade or so. Such a one is I Musici Estensi, established in Milan in 2004, and it’s known not just for its Baroque performances, but music of many other eras. Saturday night, the group was joined at the Crest … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 24-26
Theater: Palm Beach Dramaworks ends its season with Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, a fictionalized tale of his mother and her four spinster sisters, who lead a repressed, impoverished life in the Irish village of Ballybeg. But when they are at their lowest, they manage to kick up their heels and give in to the spirit of the pagan harvest festival of Lughnasa, capturing a … [Read more...]
Pianist Rabinovich makes impressive South Florida debut
By Donald Waxman Last Saturday afternoon (April 27) at the Steinway Gallery in Boca Raton, the much-acclaimed young Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich performed for the first time in South Florida. The 28-year-old pianist, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, began studies in Israel at the famed Rubin Academy, “the Juilliard of Tel Aviv,” then went on to Curtis and Juilliard. Since … [Read more...]
‘Waiter’ offers good life lesson amid the hilarity
By Dale King It’s said that truth can be stranger than fiction. In the hands and mind of comedian Brad Zimmerman, truth is not only stranger, but is certainly a whole lot funnier, than fiction. Zimmerman, an ordinary-looking guy with a whip-crack wit, has been taking his production of My Son, the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy to various South Florida venues. It finally landed at … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: April 12-14
Music: One of the most interesting aspects of the current cultural Zeitgeist is its emphasis, particularly among the young, on marrying entertainment to social change. Thus cometh the first-ever Tortuga Festival hosted by the marine conservation group Rock the Ocean on Fort Lauderdale Beach this Saturday and Sunday. To focus attention on the plight of the world’s seas, … [Read more...]
PB Symphony’s Spanish evening ends season sensationally
The Palm Beach Symphony closed its 39th season in stunning fashion Tuesday night at the Kravis Center with a night of music inspired by Spain. The orchestra had 87 players, double its usual size, with a pianist, Tao Lin, and eight percussionists. The ensemble was led by its conductor, Ramon Tebar, a native son from Valencia, Spain, a city that can be justly proud of his recent … [Read more...]