This season, all eyes are on what used to be the Caldwell Theatre in Boca. You see, a determined woman named Marilynn Wick, founder and CEO of the wildly successful rental firm Costume World, bought the vacant playhouse of the belly-up Caldwell, chiefly to warehouse and display her vast stock of theatrical wardrobe. And since the building also happens to have an auditorium, … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in Broward art
By Colleen Dougher Broward kicks off its season with portraits of Andy Warhol and Elvis, skeletons to which people can relate, a shuttle to cool downtown Fort Lauderdale art venues and more. 1310 Gallery, Artspace Sailboat Bend Lofts, Fort Lauderdale Fiber Optics, curated by Lisa Rockford, is a group exhibition by artists who used unexpected materials in art that … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in dance
The South Florida dance season for 2013-14 looks a good deal like it has been since the demise of Palm Beach County’s own Ballet Florida: One major company, a host of excellent touring out-of-towners, and many smaller troupes. The difference in the past couple years has been that some of the smaller companies are creating a lot of original dances, so fans of this athletic art … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The fall season in film
It remains hard to believe that the industry that gave us all the superhero comic book dreck that filled multiplexes this summer is the same mill that can churn out so much anticipated award fodder in the fall. But get ready for the work of such admired directors as Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), David O. Russell (American Hustle) and the … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in books
Except perhaps for New York City, that capital of world literary culture, South Florida is blessed with an unexcelled literary calendar, starting more or less the moment you read this, and continuing deep into next spring. Three signature book events celebrate landmark anniversaries this season. Miami Book Fair, marking its 30th year, is among the oldest, while the Palm Beach … [Read more...]
‘Sound of Music’ gets Wick Theatre off to impressive start
When the Caldwell Theatre Company folded up two years ago, it seemed unlikely that the sound of music — or the sound of plays, for that matter — would ever ring out from its still-new playhouse in Boca Raton. When Marilynn A. Wick of Costume World announced that she was buying the theater for her costume museum and would — as an afterthought — begin producing shows for the … [Read more...]
Sundays: Living the illustrated life
By Myles Ludwig Amid gods and grotesque wonders I meandered in an alternate universe. The atmosphere vibrated like a plucked string on a cosmic harp playing the music of the spheres. Creatures escaped from a child’s nightmare — lurid monsters with no discernible reference, deformed horrors, superbeings with powers defying rational explanation — surrounded me. Weird tales … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 20-22
Dance: One of the innovations of the Miami-based Knight Foundation has been its Random Acts of Culture, many of which can be seen on YouTube. Don’t be surprised next week if you see something similar here from Ballet Palm Beach, Colleen Smith’s Palm Beach Gardens-based dance troupe. This coming Thursday, the company will do 10-minute “flash ballets” at the Cultural Council of … [Read more...]
Broward Stage Door’s ‘Moon Over Buffalo’ gives light farce an edge
By Dale King Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs kicks off the 2013-2014 season with a show that encourages yelling, running, door slamming, drinking, occasional sexual innuendos, mayhem and general chaos. The play, Moon over Buffalo, written by slapstick playwright Ken Ludwig, drew iconic comedienne Carol Burnett back to the Broadway stage when it debuted in 1995. … [Read more...]
The View From Home 52: A feminist masterpiece, a submarine noir and a bloated epic
The title of Satyajit Ray’s outstanding 1963 drama The Big City (Criterion, $34.99 Blu-ray, $23.48 DVD) is almost a misnomer. It contains few shots of metropolitan expanse but, rather, is comprised almost entirely of close-ups and medium shots of a single family in everyday peril — which in turn could be a microcosm for any number of families, in India or anywhere else, in the … [Read more...]