By Dale King The last time a famed Carlin family member walked a stage at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach was 2002. The performer was George Carlin, by that time a bearded, white-haired comic legend still packed with the pith, fire and vinegar that had driven him to skewer popular and unpopular causes throughout his 40-year career. He continued … [Read more...]
At Lafayette’s, rocker Henry Gross covers career, looks forward
Quick, name the youngest artist who performed on the main stage at Woodstock in 1969. No, it wasn’t Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, Sly Stone, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, or any of the members of the Grateful Dead, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, or The Band. It was an 18-year-old singer/guitarist named Henry Gross, who performed with doo-wop vocal ensemble Sha Na Na. … [Read more...]
Moore magnificent in harrowing ‘Still Alice’
Still Alice is like one of those apocalyptic disaster movies, but more painful to watch. Instead of gasping as extraterrestrial invaders decimate global landmarks in a hail of CGI, we watch in tear-stained horror as a human brain attacks itself, first targeting language, as words slip from the consciousness like fish through watery hands, then drilling into deeper areas … [Read more...]
Lou Tyrrell, still developing new works and new audiences
Three years into his new venture, Theatre at Arts Garage — picture a little brother of Florida Stage with fewer resources and a limited physical plant — artistic director Lou Tyrrell is facing the reality of less adventuresome theatergoers. “The audience for theater in general seems to be diminished, unless you are doing very familiar stuff,” he says. “Two of our pieces last … [Read more...]
For Palm Beach Film Festival, 19th time may be the charm
To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Reports of the death of the Palm Beach International Film Festival have been greatly exaggerated.” Dismissing the naysayers who will tell you that the 19-year-old celebration of movies from around the globe is on the verge of folding, longtime PBIFF president and chief executive officer Randi Emerman insists, “You have to be a believer. Because of … [Read more...]
Hoffman’s ‘Still Jewish’ offers backstory of a theatrical life
By Dale King At various times in Avi Hoffman’s life, being Jewish has been a blessing and a curse — a ticket to stardom and a one-way ticket to oblivion. It has made him the toast of Broadway, but has also made toast of his career. The actor whose livelihood has taken more up and downs than an unemployment office elevator reviews his life of triumphs and travails in Avi … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2012-13: Loss of theaters doesn’t slow promising season
The past season saw the second shoe drop in Palm Beach County. Boca Raton’s 37-year-old Caldwell Theatre Company closed its doors, soon after Florida Stage ended its operations, and area theatergoers are still reeling from both abrupt losses. Add Broward County’s now-defunct Promethean Theatre ― or rather subtract it ― and the theatrical landscape is substantially thinner as … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Aug. 25-26
Still in Olympics withdrawal? Googling “Sochi, Russia” to think idly about your coverage-watching plans for the winter of 2014? The folks at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre understand. Friday night, the center opened an exhibit of hot-off-the-presses pictures from the just-concluded games by Adam Stoltman, a center instructor and professional photographer who’s covered no … [Read more...]
Still getting around: Beach Boys fire up Hard Rock
HOLLYWOOD ― “It was a rough night,” Mike D’Amico sighed as he poked through the offstage drapes to deliver a couple of passes to waiting friends at Seminole Hard Rock. No chance to explain, only to say before returning to his dressing room that he hoped to make it home to Lake Worth “sometime in September.” But any reason is plausible, since D’Amico is adopted: He’s a member … [Read more...]
Peter Nero, still exploring the intersection of musical styles
Born in Brooklyn in 1934, pops pianist Peter Nero (né Bernard Nierow) began his formal musical education at the age of 7. At 14, he was accepted to New York City’s prestigious High School of Music and Art and won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music. A two-time Grammy award winner and 10-time nominee, Nero has released 68 albums over a career of 50 years. His early … [Read more...]