Editor’s note: This is the first of an occasional series of short notes on local dance by dance writer Tara Mitton Catao. By Tara Mitton Catao Saturday night, in support of the local dance scene, I went to the Duncan Theatre to see create.Dance.florida. Eight works were presented by 45 dance artists. Although there was a great variety in the caliber of the performers and the … [Read more...]
‘The How and the Why’: Powerful ideas, stronger emotions
The theater sells ideas, and television sells soap. At least that used to be the case. But TV seems to be enjoying a new golden age, as exemplified by playwright Sarah Treem’s chief writing credits for the small screen – HBO’s psychoanalysis series, In Treatment, and Netflix’s acclaimed look at politics, House of Cards. “I always wanted to be a playwright,” Treem said by … [Read more...]
New documentary is loving tribute to pioneering superstar
Fortunately for Lloyd and Susan Ecker, they both were big fans of Bette Midler. In 1973, he took her to see The Divine Miss M on their first date, which led not only to their 40-year marriage but to a cottage industry of bringing one of Midler’s idols — “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” Sophie Tucker — to the silver screen, the written page and, perhaps, the Broadway stage. … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Nov. 7-9
Art: One of the most important exhibits the Norton Museum of Art has ever mounted opened yesterday and continues through Feb. 15. Called Master Prints: Dürer to Matisse, the exhibit includes 40-plus works by some of the greatest masters of art, including Rembrandt, Canaletto, Picasso and Cezanne, in pieces spanning the 15th to the 20th centuries. The exhibit, which includes a … [Read more...]
New season is start of something big for Delray String Quartet
It’s been 11 years since the Delray String Quartet was formed and made its first appearance, but only four since its current lineup took shape. And this one feels like a keeper. “Like any quartet, you go through lots of personnel changes. Some of the quartets I know have none of the original members,” said Richard Fleischman, the group’s violist. “We went through so many … [Read more...]
‘Back of the Throat’: Inside a post-Patriot Act nightmare, at Outré
As at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the unanswerable question is: Does violent interrogation extract valuable information from terrorists or does it turn prisoners into terrorists? The issue is explored in Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat, the dramatic case of an Arab-American writer wannabe named Khaled, whose apartment is forceably entered by a pair of thugs who claim to … [Read more...]
Don’t talk; dig: The Panama Canal at 100, at the Flagler
What 8-year construction project involved only American laborers and linked two oceans through the narrow spine of Central America at a cost of $200 million? The answer is: none. Sorry. Trick question. If you were thinking the Panama Canal, you were half right. This costly engineering masterpiece took twice that amount of money and 10 years to complete. It required more than … [Read more...]
Art, on the edge, in staggering, brilliant ‘Birdman’
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman dares you to look away. And it does so by never cutting. At least, that’s the way it appears — like one long, continuous, two-hour tracking shot somehow encompassing several days in the narrative, if not weeks. Jaws will drop early and often, especially among cinephiles in the audience, but Birdman isn’t Russian Ark: This visual feat was … [Read more...]
Plaza Theatre closes, citing lack of funds
By Dale King The stage at The Plaza Theatre in Manalapan will be bare this season. No music or dialogue will be heard. The lights will remain dark and the seats empty. The owner of the cash-strapped, nearly three-year-old entertainment venue that replaced Florida Stage, which operated for 19 of its 24 years in the same storefront location at Plaza Del Mar, locked the place up … [Read more...]
Pianist Hersch dazzles in Arts Garage solo show
Pianists who play solo concerts, even ones who have made their names in jazz, realize that they're best-served to have some classical acumen because of the inherent recital expectations of an unaccompanied atmosphere. In that regard, New York City-based Fred Hersch arrived at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach well-armed Friday night. The Cincinnati native, who turns 59 on … [Read more...]