The Fifth String Quartet of American composer Kenneth Fuchs, which had its world premiere Sunday afternoon at the Colony Hotel in Delray Beach, is an effective piece of dramatic music first and foremost, with a big-boned grandeur that shares sonic space with an intense and hearfelt elegy. Fuchs, a professor of composition at the University of Connecticut, grew up in Fort … [Read more...]
An even-handed account of the Civil War’s meteor
Although some people viewed John Brown as a madman, his daring 1859 raid on the U.S. military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., helped galvanize anti-slavery sentiment in the North. In Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, Tony Horwitz has written an engrossing account of Brown’s life and singular devotion to the abolition cause. With hindsight, … [Read more...]
Real-life mother-daughter team helps revive ‘Gamma Rays’ at Dramaworks
Arielle Hoffman always knew that she wanted to be an actress. After all, theater is the family business. The 17-year-old daughter of South Florida fixtures Laura Turnbull and Avi Hoffman grew up thinking the odd hours, feast-or-famine, histrionic life of stage performers was normal. “I didn’t know that this was unusual or weird,” she shrugs. “I just had no idea that people had … [Read more...]
The View From Home 34: New DVD releases, Jan. 10-31
As Brian De Palma and Stanley Donen understand all too well, there can come a time in every reverential filmmaker’s oeuvre when loving homage devolves into shameless mimicry. For these aforementioned filmmakers, features such as Dressed to Kill and Charade followed various Hitchcock blueprints so faithfully that the directors’ own voices risked being swallowed in a quicksand … [Read more...]
In short time, Arts Garage makes itself vital part of cultural scene
On a recent Saturday evening, crowds at the Delray Beach parking structure that doubles as the Arts Garage were jumping and jiving to the New Age/neoclassical piano sounds of composer and artist Jace Vek. Vek, a two-time Emmy award winner and Pittsburgh native, was accompanied by soprano Kat Yarbrough and tenor Matthew Farmer, who does double duty himself as the programming … [Read more...]
The Hapsters, 2011 edition: A look back at theater’s highs and lows
As year-end traditions go, the awarding of the “dubious achievement” Hapsters for theatrical highs and lows can be traced back to 1994. So take a stroll down this year’s memory lane with us and remember, the decision of the judges -- OK, me -- is final. Best Pulitzer Prognostication: Anyone can produce a play that has already won the Pulitzer Prize. Palm Beach Dramaworks does … [Read more...]
Focus on past stands out in film’s 10 best of 2011
Leave it to someone’s doctoral thesis to explain why this year at the movies there are two films that look back on the early days of the art form (The Artist, Hugo) and so many others also focused on the past, from biographies of Marilyn Monroe (My Week with Marilyn), FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (J. Edgar) and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (The Iron Lady) to … [Read more...]
Despite loss and economic woes, 2011 was impressive year for local theater
It was a precarious year in theater in South Florida, with the sudden devastating demise of West Palm Beach’s Florida Stage, not quite offset by the expanded potential for Palm Beach Dramaworks in its new, larger space. Zoetic Stage debuted in Miami with its impressive repertory company of area actors, while announced, but not yet open, are Parade Productions in Boca Raton and … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Forceful quartet, innovative choir, impressive pianist
Here are brief reviews from three recent concerts: Delray String Quartet (Dec. 11, Colony Hotel, Delray Beach): This foursome is on something of a roll as it enters its eighth season of concertizing. Next month it will give the world premiere of the String Quartet No. 5 by Kenneth Fuchs, and will contribute that work to an all-Fuchs disc for Naxos. It’s just released a … [Read more...]
MCB’s Program I electrifies at Kravis
Miami City Ballet opened its 26th season at the Kravis Center this weekend with a rousing performance of four diverse, contemporary works that ended with a standing ovation Friday night from a near-capacity crowd. The evening began with George Balanchine’s Square Dance. This high-energy, technically challenging ballet was perfectly danced: Jeanette Delgado was the … [Read more...]