Two weekends ago, the Miami City Ballet appeared for the first time in their now-abbreviated season at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts presenting just three performances of its second program, Winter Mix. The company’s offerings in Palm Beach have been dramatically clipped. Its previous seasons were composed of four different programs ranging from repertory shows … [Read more...]
Violinist Shoji, conductor Wong make Cleveland Orchestra concert a standout
By Márcio Bezerra The procession of great orchestras at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts Classical Concert Series continued Jan. 27 with the revered Cleveland Orchestra. Featuring two widely divergent works of the standard repertoire, the orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Kahchun Wong provided refined and, at times, spectacular moments to an … [Read more...]
‘Funny Girl’ at Kravis uneven, but offers star power from actress Shankman
Created in 1964, at the tail end of the musical theater’s so-called golden age, it took the Fanny Brice biographical show Funny Girl almost 60 years to be revived on Broadway. In large part, that is because it has been under the shadow of its original star, Barbra Streisand. Simply put, she is the textbook hard act to follow. But it was revived — and revised — three years … [Read more...]
Muti and Chicago revelatory at sold-out Kravis concert
By Márcio Bezerra The revered Chicago Symphony Orchestra returned to a packed Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for an enlightening Friday evening concert. The first sold-out classical performance in a long time, it featured the Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti, whose conducting was a veritable masterclass of technique and musicianship. The somewhat … [Read more...]
‘The Cher Show’: Sketchy narrative doesn’t hamper high entertainment value
Have you had enough of celebrity biographical musicals yet? Spurred on by the success of Jersey Boys, Broadway has served up show tributes to Carole King, Donna Summer, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and, this week at the Kravis Center, the national tour of The Cher Show, a flashy look at the up and down career of Cherilyn Sarkisian, a/k/a, well, you know who. Dividing her … [Read more...]
‘Forbidden Broadway’ an up-to-date, diverting spoof
A sure sign that Broadway is in post-COVID recovery mode is its willingness to make fun of itself. So the year-end arrival of the latest edition of Forbidden Broadway --- the 40-plus-year-old commercial theater spoofathon --- is both bracingly entertaining and a heartening indicator of health for The Great White Way. With a too-short three-day stay at the Kravis Center’s … [Read more...]
Curtis Symphony, soloist Chen in glorious form at Kravis
By Márcio Bezerra Among the benefits of the immigration waves of late 19th through early 20th centuries in this country was the building of classical music institutions that still benefit our society. Despite her younger age and lack of governmental support, America has some of the best orchestras, opera companies, and music schools in the world. Of those, none has a more … [Read more...]
Batiashvili, Mäkelä shine with Concertgebouw at Kravis, but program fell short
By Márcio Bezerra After the once-in-a lifetime appearance of the legendary Vienna Philharmonic last season, the Classical Concert Series at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts scored another point by securing the no less prestigious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam to open the current one. Led by the celebrity conductor Klaus Mäkelä, the ensemble has … [Read more...]
Kravis invites you to visit Space Station, courtesy of VR
Imagine yourself as an avatar of pulsating lights, sporting a virtual reality (VR) headset and joining an international crew of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). You can do just that at the 3-D immersive experience, Space Explorers: The Infinite, now at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts through September 2. The state-of-the-art, … [Read more...]
‘Kite Runner’ just as moving on stage as it was on film, in pages
Reportedly more than 30 million copies of Khaled Hosseini’s pre-9/11 Afghanistan-set novel of friendship, betrayal, death-defying risk and eventual redemption, The Kite Runner, have been sold worldwide and countless millions more saw the powerful 2007 movie adaptation. But even if you are already familiar with this tale that spans decades of evolving Middle Eastern history, you … [Read more...]