The last of this year’s fine crop of string quartets to play in Flagler Museum’s Music Series came from Poland. Introduced by the museum’s new executive director, Erin Manning, the Meccore String Quartet, established in 2007, has won numerous awards for their innovative approach. Each member currently receives scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and teach at the … [Read more...]
Creepy but intriguing: ‘Reborning’ opens Arts Garage’s black-box space
Go ahead, Google it. There really are reborning dolls, vinyl playthings that have been transformed to resemble human babies with as much realism as possible, often employed as substitutes for recently deceased children. Don’t feel bad if you were unaware of the real-world curiosity. Neither were the cast members of Reborning, a creepy little stage play by Zayd Dohrn opening at … [Read more...]
Funny, searing ‘Bad Jews’ features powerhouse lead performance
There are many ways to be a bad Jew. You could sneak a cookie during Passover. You could dishonor your grandfather by going on a skiing trip as he takes to his deathbed. Or you could propose to your shiksa girlfriend, with a gold charm that grandpa risked his life to retain during the Holocaust. In fact, a character in Joshua Harmon’s corrosive, and corrosively funny, play — … [Read more...]
Postcard from New York No. 6: ‘The Nance’
If Wednesday was a dessert day where all I had to do was watch two splashy musicals, Thursday I had to do actual work. I ran around the city doing four different interviews about shows coming to the Kravis Center next season. First it was downtown to talk to Hal Luftig, producer of the Evita revival that is on the Kravis on Broadway schedule next year, then back up to the … [Read more...]
Return To Forever, Dweezil Zappa make a Boca Saturday even hotter
Keyboardist Chick Corea occupies the rare air of a jazz superstar who can do whatever he wants. Some of his recent whims included a 2008 reunion tour by the popular fusion quartet version from among his various Return To Forever lineups from 1972-1977, and the recent Forever CD by three of that reunion’s principals (himself, original RTF bassist Stanley Clarke and longtime … [Read more...]
‘So My Grandmother Died,’ and so did the linear play
More than most other South Florida theater companies, Miami’s Mad Cat has been able to attract a young audience, pulling them away from pop culture and electronic media for a couple of hours. How? With plays like artistic director Paul Tei’s So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah, a messy grab bag of pop culture and Internet references with only tangential interest in a … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Two by Tracy Letts
In order to maximize the chances of being produced in these precarious economic times, most writers now limit themselves in their plays’ cast size and physical requirements. But every now and again comes an Angels in America or a Coast of Utopia, from playwrights who dare to think on a grand scale, resulting in works resulting in peak experiences for their audiences. Just … [Read more...]