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...]
Anderson and Roe make marvelous return to Palm Beach
I’m lucky enough to have heard three sets of piano duos in person in my lifetime: Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick in England; Arthur Whittemore and Jack Warren Lowe at a private concert given in honor of Alistair Cooke; and David Bradshaw and Cosmo Buono, who took Europe by storm in the 1980s with a little advice from yours truly. The young duo of Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg … [Read more...]
Reams, Charles make Wick’s ‘La Cage’ well worth return visit
Only an incurable optimist like Jerry Herman would write that “The best of times is now,” as he did in his enduring hit musical, La Cage aux Folles. He wrote it in 1983, in the midst of the Reagan administration, as the AIDS epidemic was on the increase. That’s how much of an optimist he is. The song appears in the first gay-themed musical to hit Broadway, a number that … [Read more...]
Standout singing, graphics make for intriguing ‘Dandelion Woman’
A two-person chamber opera by a South Florida-based composer had an impact beyond its intimate scale thanks to two powerhouse performances and a beautifully accomplished suite of computer projections. Fairy Tales: Songs of the Dandelion Woman, which had its premiere in early May at the SoBe Institute for the Arts in Miami Beach (and which I saw May 17), is the brainchild of … [Read more...]
In 17th year, ArtPalmBeach builds broader buzz
With 85 galleries and a full five days of exhibitions and events, this year’s 17th annual ArtPalmBeach is intended to make an even bigger mark on the South Florida cultural landscape than it has done in the past. Opening tonight at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, the festival also includes six satellite art fairs: ART al’FRESCO at the Boynton Beach … [Read more...]
Community theater: Fine actors make poignant case for ‘Daisy’
By Dale King Driving Miss Daisy is not a holiday play. Not even close. But this light comedy about a black chauffeur hired to transport an elderly Jewish widow who is no longer capable of operating her car safely is a beautiful show – written with the smoothness of a heartwarming holiday production. It doesn’t jump headlong into matters of race or religion, of whether public … [Read more...]
County artists make summer richer at Cultural Council show
Those of us who thought the summer was a dead time for exhibits and good only for surfing shows have at least one reason to revise this opinion: the County Contemporary All Media Juried Show. Unveiled by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County in June, this modest but inclusive exhibit features a total of 44 works by 36 Palm Beach County professional artists. One of them … [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...]
Pianist Han makes bravura impression at Symphonia
The Third Piano Concerto of Beethoven is an indelible masterpiece, but it’s not the first choice a pianist would make for bravura display. And yet the young South Korean pianist Yoonie Han, simply by turning up the heat here and there Sunday afternoon, gave the work a bit more of the fire it must have had when it was new. And that made the Boca Raton Symphonia concert for … [Read more...]
Homegrown Impressionists make for striking Four Arts show
Gone is the perfectly white snow. Instead, a tint of light green, pink, violet and blue break up the monotonous purity. Sloppy features, cutoff figures and messy sceneries replace the refined finish and safe realism. Impressionism entered the French scene in the 1870s and got everyone obsessed with light and color. Before it, you could say painting was like a controlled … [Read more...]