Theater: Sharr White’s Six Years looks at the ups and downs of the second half of the 20th century, as seen through the struggles of Phil and Meredith Granger (Todd Allen Durkin and Margery Lowe), a married couple separated by World War II, who are challenged to re-establish a normal life when he returns from combat suffering from a trauma that is dismissively diagnosed as … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 29-Aug. 2
Theater: OK, you’ve procrastinated long enough. This is the final weekend for the world premiere production of Stuff at Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theatre. This cautionary tale of two eccentrically wasted lives, wealthy Harlem hermits Homer and Langley Collyer, is not only Davie playwright Michael McKeever’s best script in quite a while, but he gives a remarkably accomplished … [Read more...]
Kravis’ 2011-12 season features fare for low, high brows
You’ve heard of the three Bs -- Bach, Brahms and Beethoven? Well, the Kravis Center has announced that next season it will present the three Ls -- Larry the Cable Guy, Larry King and a tribute show called Elvis Lives. Uh, didn’t the Kravis used to be a center for the performing arts? The West Palm Beach complex will be celebrating its 20th anniversary season beginning this … [Read more...]
Central performance redeems shaky ‘Anita’
How’s this for a premise: When a terrorist attack separates a Down syndrome-suffering woman from her caring and infinitely patient mother for the first time in her life, she is forced to confront a harsh outside world, emotionally connecting with the derelicts she encounters and vice versa. Healthy and full of real-world nutrients, Anita is the kind of film that’s more good … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 15-21
Film: Fans of director Michael Winterbottom’s Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story are likely to get a kick out of the ad lib road comedy The Trip, for he has again enlisted the duo of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in a sly verbal romp. As in the earlier film, the two British actors play themselves, or at least a comic exaggeration of themselves, on assignment to find and review … [Read more...]
McKeever’s ‘Stuff,’ at Caldwell, brings empathy to hoarders’ tale
Prolific and eclectic. You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get with a Michael McKeever play. But if you don’t like one, don’t worry, there will be another along in six months. As it happens, the Davie-based playwright-performer is serving up a winner currently with his new dark comedy, Stuff, now receiving its world premiere at the Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton … [Read more...]
Film heroes, villains share high sense of style at Norton show
In an ideal world, bad guys are easily identifiable and, thus, avoidable. Their crimes are not carried out with a pen but with heavy swords or devastating superpowers. And right before they get their way, a hero sporting flashy colors saves the day. In that ideal world, evil and good share one thing: they are both stylish. This is the world the Norton Museum of Art has … [Read more...]
PB Shakespeare Festival returns to magic of ‘The Tempest’
Twenty years ago, in Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s second season, the company took its first crack at The Tempest, the tale of an exiled Milanese duke who seeks revenge on his enemies through sorcery. Playing young Prince Ferdinand back then was 20-year-old Kevin Crawford, in his first involvement with the play, “back when I could still get away with playing young … [Read more...]
Camaraderie keeps PB Chamber Music Festival going, 20 summers on
It all began at Chuck and Harold’s. On a long-ago day at the popular Palm Beach restaurant, bassoonist Michael Ellert noticed something right away about Michael Forte, a clarinetist and fellow New Yorker who had just moved to Florida, and with whom he was playing as part of a trio. “I looked at Michael and I said, ‘Man, you and I must have learned how to play out of tune the … [Read more...]
The View From Home 28: New releases and notable screenings, July 12-31
For years, I assumed I would simply never have the opportunity to see Skidoo, Otto Preminger’s critically and commercially maligned acid trip from 1968. The film was never even released on VHS and was therefore reduced to a distribution cycle as small as its perceived audience; you could see it at the occasional 35mm revival in New York or Los Angeles, or on a … [Read more...]