In the same way that the children’s book War Horse could never be harnessed onstage, Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time — the story of an autistic boy’s struggles and eventual triumph over the challenges of everyday life — would seem an unlikely choice for theatrical adaptation. The two plays are not haphazardly compared, for both were … [Read more...]
The View From Home 70: Great Truffaut and Sturges, strong Mitchum and Newman, iffy ‘Fantasticks’
The Story of Adèle H: This haunting biopic from 1975 easily ranks as one of Francois Truffaut’s best films of the ’70s, and Twilight Time’s uber-limited, 3,000-copy Blu-ray transfer is a treasure to behold ($29.95). A 20-year-old Isabelle Adjani became the youngest actress at the time to earn an Academy Award nomination for her role as the title character, the damaged daughter … [Read more...]
The ageless Everglades, old and new, at the Norton
No landscape carries the beauty and the beast within it better than the Florida Everglades. More than 200 images capturing its changing habitants and moods compose an ongoing exhibition titled Imaging Eden: Photographers Discover the Everglades. I know what you are thinking. Shouldn’t this read Imagining Eden? No. The photography exhibit organized by the Norton Museum has … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 2-3
Music: It’s been a remarkably un-rainy SunFest down on the waterfront in West Palm Beach, and as the five-day music extravaganza winds down this weekend, the word has been good about the quality of the musicmaking. Still to come tonight are breakout bands such as Hozier and Dreamers, with the Pixies, Fall Out Boy, and for the old boomers in the crowd, Boston. Check out the … [Read more...]
Postcard From Broadway No. 9: “Hand to God”
Hand to God, the wickedly irreverent new comedy by Robert Askins, will likely not win the Tony Award for best play (though I do think it will be nominated). But if there were a category for best advertising campaign, it would win “hands” down. You see, in most of the Playbills for other shows, Hand to God has an ad specifically commenting on that show. For instance, in the … [Read more...]
Pictures of Cuba: Before all is lost
It has begun. The sense of urgency in all things Cuba related. The pressure is on to taste the real cuisine, before the fast-food plague arrives, and to enjoy the beaches before a Private Property sign claims the water, the seashells, the sand… For photographers, the rush is to capture a land before it undergoes drastic changes and becomes like everywhere else: modern and … [Read more...]
Postcard From Broadway No. 8: ‘Wolf Hall’
I spent the day with King Henry VIII and his chief henchman Thomas Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s epic — as in very long — Wolf Hall. I’ll tell you a little about it, but first a shameless plug for a new CD of demo tapes by Broadway composer Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Little Me, City of Angels) called You Fascinate Me So. Coleman sings many of the numbers along … [Read more...]
Postcard From Broadway No. 5: “Fun Home,” “On the 20th Century”
Before the rains came Wednesday afternoon, the weather in New York was beautiful. And with a little time to kill in Chelsea before an interview with composer-lyricist-orchestrator Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County), I went up on the High Line, an elevated park/promenade that runs from 34th Street to Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District, along the far Westside. A … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Buried Child’ at Dramaworks; ‘Oklahoma!’ at the Wick; ‘Memphis’ at Kravis
Diving headlong once again into the murky pool of absurdist theater, Palm Beach Dramaworks — the home of “theater to think about” — offers up Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, which features few concrete ideas but many stark dramatic images calculated to elicit emotional reactions. With such plays as Fool for Love and True West, Shepard has demonstrated a fascination with the … [Read more...]
SunFest adapts, survives for changing times
SunFest is a little younger than Saturday Night Live, but bears similarities to the iconic TV series that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. Starting out small and grass-roots in 1983, the sprawling West Palm Beach event, set for April 29-May 3, now calls itself “Florida’s largest waterfront music and art festival.” And as is the case with SNL, some people prefer the … [Read more...]