When two-time Tony Award-winning writer-director Arthur Laurents died on Thursday, the theater and film world lost one of its great creative talents. And one of its most difficult. He died at his home in New York at 93, after a short illness. There will undoubtedly be an outpouring of praise for Laurents, particularly for his two most acclaimed musicals, West Side Story and … [Read more...]
Broadway Postcard No. 7: Boca team backs sharp ‘Born Yesterday’
This afternoon I got to see the handiwork of those three young chargers from Boca Raton -- Philip Morgaman (27 years old), Frankie J. Grande (28) and Brian Kapetanis (28) -- the lead producers of the new revival of Born Yesterday that opened last Sunday night to very favorable reviews. That was the opening I missed taking a three-hop flight to New York by way of Detroit. It … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: April 29-May 1
Art: The technique of egg tempera painting, perhaps most memorably wielded by artists such as Giotto, was eclipsed by oil painting in the 15th century. But egg tempera still draws creators, and the acknowledged modern master of this technique was the American artist Robert Vickrey, whose paintings of nuns, children, and long, dark shadows distinguished him as an artist whose … [Read more...]
The View From Home 24: New releases on DVD
Heartless (IFC) Release date: April 12 Standard list price: $17.99 A visionary director whose visions are all too infrequent, Britian’s Philip Ridley has made just three films in 21 years, making Robert Bresson look like a workaholic. His audience is tiny and seems unlikely to grow: His outstanding debut, The Reflecting Skin, has never been released on DVD in the United … [Read more...]
Pianist Weisman brings meaty program to Piano Lovers series
Assaff Weisman leads a busy life as a pianist, teacher at the Juilliard School, and chief of an international chamber ensemble whose debut disc arrives later this year. To put it another way, he’s a thorough, expert musician, the kind on whom the classical world depends to keep the art form relevant and fresh for audiences and students. What remains for him is to carve out a … [Read more...]
Broadway Postcard No. 1: Scratch the dim sum brunch
Whatever you’re doing today, you’re having a better day than I am, I assure you. Today was my travel day, heading to New York for my annual end-of-season Broadway show trip. For the past month, I have been combing through the listings, strategizing, negotiating with press agents, planning eight days of theatergoing. And because I was starting with a Sunday matinee (Sister … [Read more...]
Baritones win the day at PB Opera’s vocal finals
For the Grand Finals of the Palm Beach Opera’s annual vocal competition this year, technical accomplishment appeared to matter most to the panel of four judges. Baritone Joo Won Kang of Seoul, South Korea, won the top prize in the advanced division (for ages 24-30), and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel, of Hershey, Pa., won the top prize in the junior division (ages 18-23). Both … [Read more...]
The View from Home 23: New releases on DVD
The Father of My Children (IFC) Release date: March 29 Standard list price: $18.99 At just 28, French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love has shown an Orson Welles-like prodigiousness, already with a short and two features completed and one more in post-production. Given that she’s engaged to established French director Olivier Assayas, has acted in a number of art-house films and is … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: April 8-12
Art: The Norton Museum of Art has opened an exhibit of contemporary art featuring works by artists whose perception of the world around is refracted in unusual but precise ways. Altered States, which opened Saturday and runs through July 17, shows work by four artists – Jose Alvarez, Yayoi Kusama, Fred Tomaselli and Leo Villareal – who express this through painting, collages … [Read more...]
Tonight, Carbonells honor best in South Florida theater
Tonight, the South Florida theater community gets together for the 35th annual Carbonell Awards, the citations for excellence among area professional theaters that has been shrouded in controversy in recent years. Last year, as you may recall, the awards board of directors announced the program would be suspended to study and fix the perceived deficiencies in the system. … [Read more...]