By Dale King Promises, Promises, the musical now playing at the Broward Stage Door Theatre, brings together assorted material from seemingly disparate sources. Still, the show holds together very well, particularly in the second act when the comedy kicks into overdrive and the players truly find their vocal and acting muses. The show, which completes its five-week run with a … [Read more...]
Community theater: ‘Over the River’ delights at Broward Stage Door
By Dale King Joe DiPietro’s play Over the River and Through the Woods is comfort food for the soul. It’s delightfully funny, but comes with a helping of drama and a garnish of pathos. The concoction shows how the elders in a closely knit Italian-American family in New Jersey deal with a “crisis.” And, of course, a crisis could be anything that doesn’t fit into their … [Read more...]
The winter season in film: Cooler months offer likely Oscar candidates
Sorry, fans of superheroes and special effects, the summer is over and Hollywood is ready to bring out its A-list (for “Adult”) fare. This is the season for films of substance, even if Tom Cruise is back with his fourth Mission: Impossible flick, director David Fincher is trying to remake a Swedish film noir into a domestic blockbuster and Martin Scorsese tries his hand at … [Read more...]
Concerts in brief: Rare Taneyev, lively Mahler
Editor’s note: Here are three brief reviews from local concerts over the past weeks. Amernet Quartet (Oct. 24, Josephine Leiser Center, Fort Lauderdale) The Russian composer Sergei Taneyev has been largely overlooked in the United States, but he had much to offer, and in the first concert of the Chameleon Musicians chamber music series, listeners had a rare chance to hear … [Read more...]
Conductor, guitarist happy to be touring with Sting
Pop music went through the beginnings of a seismic shift in late 1976, when the artist formerly known as Gordon Sumner decided to give up a teaching career in his hometown of Newcastle, England. The 25-year-old Brit was also a vocalist and bassist who'd taken on the stage name Sting, and he was preparing to move to London as Christmas approached. Playing a farewell Newcastle … [Read more...]
Artists to transform small hotel in annual Showtel exhibition
For the past eight years, a small hotel in West Palm Beach has been transformed for a short time into a home of art installations. It’s called Showtel, and it’s one of the most unusual local events in contemporary art. It begins tonight at Hotel Biba on Belvedere Road and lasts through Saturday night. This event, in which selected artists take over rooms in the hotel and turn … [Read more...]
Art fair to expand; FAU sets second Jewish fest
Art fair does booming business, will be 10 days long in 2011 The recession may be dragging on, but the 2010 American International Art Fair enjoyed 15 percent higher participation over 2009 and a significant improvement in sales, according to founders David and Lee Ann Lester. Based on the strength of this year’s fair, organizers plan to return to a 10-day length in 2011, … [Read more...]
Los Lobos delightfully reimagines Disney catalog
When I first learned that Los Lobos was about to put out an album of Disney songs, I was righteously indignant. Such a misguided project could only be a sellout, at best, and, at worst, a complete collapse of creative drive. What in the world could the trailblazing East L.A. Chicano rockers have in common with Cliff Edwards, as Jiminy-freaking-Cricket, crooning When You Wish … [Read more...]