WEST PALM BEACH — Major performers and ensembles in the classical music world have been scheduled for the coming Regional Arts season at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, in the expectation that vaccinated audiences can return to the West Palm Beach venue. The season, announced April 6, will feature a dozen programs, and include appearances by the much-beloved … [Read more...]
Solve the greatest art mystery of recent times: Who stole the Gardner paintings?
One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century is the 1990 theft of Rembrandts, Vermeers, Manets and other old master paintings, valued at $500 million, from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. But from now through May 16, the Kravis Center invites you to crack the case by interrogating characters who represent the actual suspects, in an outdoor, socially … [Read more...]
Kravis books 2021-22 Broadway season, certain it will be back
Dark for nearly a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center has announced firm dates for its seven-show 2021-22 Broadway series, beginning this November. The schedule includes two previously announced shows that had to be postponed when the performing arts center shut last March, Come From Away (now booked for Nov. 16-21) and Summer: The … [Read more...]
New Kravis CEO excited about getting ‘dream job’
A viral pandemic and an economic downturn have made for a tight job market, yet Terrence W. Dwyer, former chief executive officer of Southern California’s Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, has landed a plum position during these challenging times. Last week he was named the new CEO of West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center, taking over for the retiring Judy Mitchell, who has … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: Classical shows shrink, but concerts still plentiful
South Florida’s classical music community is surely one of the nation’s most vibrant, with at least seven regularly appearing orchestras playing from Key West to Fort Pierce, two opera companies, three chamber music series, a nationally known concert choir, and a season that in the winter months sees many of the touring stars of the Northeast come down to shake off the … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: COVID stifles dance, but live shows set for 2021
By Dale King Performance stages throughout South Florida that would normally host all sorts of dance programs this time of year are silent, dark and vacant. Producers have dismissed dancers, sent staff home and barred patrons from entry as COVID-19 has rudely slammed the door on art forms of all genres. While most dance companies have replaced live shows with online … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: Theaters mostly in hiding for season
Although Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared the state’s playhouses safe to reopen, the area’s theater companies are less than comfortable with the notion of getting up and running again. Most have canceled their 2020-2021 seasons, some in favor of a presence online with streaming options. A few have pushed their openings to next year with a shortened season of offerings. And … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: Female stars dot 2021 jazz landscape
Jazz takes a measured approach to the 2020-2021 South Florida concert season, eschewing the current, COVID-19-ravaged year in favor of optimism starting in early 2021. Which makes for an abbreviated schedule, yet one filled with younger, international distaff performers. Those include Japanese pianist Yoko Miwa, Canadian trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg, and East … [Read more...]
Area’s theaters exploring the question: What now?
Optimism tempered by uncertainty is the mood of area theater companies, which project several possible scenarios for re-opening their playhouses and getting back to producing shows, based on what the government will allow. While champing at the bit to be up and running, to have subscribers and single-ticket buyers return, their plans to restart vary over time, with options that … [Read more...]
Kravis Center’s only CEO to retire after 30 years at top
By Dale King Judith Mitchell was hired as fundraising director for the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in 1989 when the 10.5-acre venture was simply an under-construction dream of local philanthropists intent on creating a major performance venue in downtown West Palm Beach. A bit more than 30 years later, inside the elegant showplace that now stands on … [Read more...]