On Nov. 11, when Palm Beach Dramaworks cuts the ribbon on the Don & Ann Brown Theatre -- the former Cuillo Centre for the Arts, the 12-year-old stage company’s new home -- it will be the culmination of three years of purchase negotiations and a $2 million renovation project. All for a performance space that producing artistic director Bill Hayes actively disliked in its former … [Read more...]
The 2011-12 season in opera: Even in tough times, companies innovate
South Florida’s opera companies are keeping things busy and innovative this coming season even as the economy continues to take its toll on audiences, box office – and even a whole series of matinees. Still, there’s enough intriguing opera ahead to interest fans and casual attendees, and for them to see some bright new talent take some big steps. Here’s what’s happening on … [Read more...]
Broadway Postcard No. 2: Timely reminders of the AIDS epidemic
The sun came out Monday in New York, a lovely crisp, cool day, but I spent most of it inside, thinking about AIDS. I spent the evening at one of the final previews of the revival of Larry Kramer’s impassioned, angry, autobiographical The Normal Heart, written in 1985, when the syndrome was a death sentence. Little factual was known about its cause or containment, let alone a … [Read more...]
‘Source Code’ almost a masterpiece, save for flawed ending
‘Tis the season for romantic science-fiction parables about attractive young men prohibited, through their stories’ elaborate conceits, from accessing the brunette beauties who are ready and willing to jump their bones. In Source Code, which opens wide Friday, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan are a lot like Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau, their … [Read more...]
‘Completely Hollywood’ gives its actors plenty of room for laughs
Twenty-three years ago, three irreverent wags devised a breakneck evening of comedy, The Compleat Wrks of Wlm Shkspr (Abridged), which mercilessly spoofed the timeless works of the Bard yet -- here’s the inspired part -- required almost no knowledge of his plays and characters. No wonder it became an international hit, spawning subsequent giggle fests about the Bible, American … [Read more...]
‘The Infidel’ takes on religion with some solid laughs
A debate is raging in this country over what it means to be Muslim. The ethnic comedy The Infidel will hardly resolve things, but it least it tosses some leavening humor at the question. Following its debut in the spring at the Tribeca Film Festival and its subsequent limited runs in New York and California, director Josh Appignanesi’s send-up of religious stereotypes opts … [Read more...]
‘Gin Game’ at Dramaworks like two hands of solitaire
Without the safety net of their subscriber bases, South Florida theaters often ease up on their missions in the summer with lighter fare. A case in point is Palm Beach Dramaworks, which just came off its most challenging season in its 10 years of existence, lowering its sights with the playing card-thin serio-comedy, The Gin Game. The play brought instant recognition to its … [Read more...]
Conductor Tebar impressive in PB Symphony evening
The young Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar has been working as Palm Beach Opera’s assistant conductor for the past four seasons, and now with the new title of conductor-in-residence at the Palm Beach Symphony, his local profile is likely to rise. Tuesday night at the Society of the Four Arts, an appreciative audience saw Tebar open the symphony’s new season, and while one would … [Read more...]