Florida Stage subscribers to get special offers in mid-July Following the unexpected news earlier this month that Florida Stage was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and could not refund subscribers for their 2011-2012 season tickets, numerous cultural groups have united to help mitigate some of the loss. The Palm Beach County Cultural Council, along with 25 organizations, has … [Read more...]
Florida Stage’s demise dims local arts scene’s light
You’ll always remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about JFK’s assassination. The attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11. Or Florida Stage declaring bankruptcy, closing its doors and ceasing operations forever. OK, that third one is not as momentous as the other two, but it came as almost as big a surprise. At least I was caught flat-footed by the news, … [Read more...]
Florida Stage files bankruptcy, shuts its doors
Next week, Florida Stage was supposed to launch its 25th anniversary season, beginning with the return of the musical biography Ella and continuing with a slate of world and regional premieres. But the operative words are “was supposed to,” for the West Palm Beach company devoted exclusively to new work filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and ceased operations with the … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 3-7
Art: Two photographers – Alan Winslow and Morrigan McCarthy – traveled 11,000 miles by bicycle across the United States beginning in 2008 to gather opinions about the environment, get to know their fellow Americans, and, of course, take pictures of them. They put together a show of this work (Project Tandem) that’s now touring the country, and through June 18, their … [Read more...]
Florida Stage tackles the art of raising ‘Cane’
Two years ago, Palm Beach County was under dire drought conditions, with a water supply estimated to last only 21 days. It was a desperate situation, but how do you create a play about it without it seeming like a, pardon the expression, dry discourse? That is the challenge that Florida Stage has taken on with Cane, the opening play of its 24th season, a world premiere that is … [Read more...]
New Miami theater troupe draws impressive talent
Vocabulary fans, the word for today is “zoetic.” It’s an adjective, meaning “pertaining to life,” so it is not a bad name for a new live stage company, unless you happen to worry that theatergoers in South Florida will not buy tickets for a troupe it cannot pronounce or spell, let alone know what it means. Still, welcome Zoetic Stage, the brainchild of producing artistic … [Read more...]
Stage Door’s ‘Chaperone’ delivers the daffy goods
Broward Stage Door Theatre has a tendency to overreach with its musicals, biting off a beloved, not-quite elaborate show and not quite delivering on the pleasures we once enjoyed with it. Now, however, it is presenting a modest little show, the intermission-less The Drowsy Chaperone, a multiple Tony Award winner from 2006 that is bound to be new to most of its audience, and … [Read more...]
Teen violinist Hoopes commanding at Stage West
Young violin virtuosos aren't exactly a dime a dozen, but there seem to be quite a few more around these days interested in making names for themselves. A case in point is Chad Hoopes, an earnest 15-year-old from suburban Cleveland who opened the new season of chamber music concerts at the Duncan Theatre's Stage West, on the Lake Worth campus of what next month will be called … [Read more...]
Florida Stage move to Rinker raises artistic questions
I remember arriving in West Palm Beach in early 1994 to become the theater writer for The Palm Beach Post and being given a personal tour of the Kravis Center. I was told all the pertinent facts about Dreyfoos Hall, how it had the same stage dimensions as the Metropolitan Opera House (for some indiscernible reason) and soon realized that it was programmed like most other major … [Read more...]
Florida Stage moving to Kravis, MCB gets its orchestra back
Florida Stage moving to Kravis Center next summer Florida Stage is making a long-anticipated move to West Palm Beach. Beginning in July 2010, Florida’s largest professional theater company dedicated exclusively to new and emerging plays will take up residence in the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Playhouse at the Kravis Center, the company said Monday night. Officials with both … [Read more...]