The season is upon us, and this is not a nod to the torrent of plastic snow and holiday jingles that will soon appear wherever we go: the mall, the gas station, the corner coffee shop hawking its pricey pumpkin lattes. In many ways, the visual arts season is a haven from the commercial flurry of the fall and winter months. Whether intimate or expansive, organized from afar or … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in Palm Beach art
The coming art season looks to be as exciting as ever, with artists enthusiastically staging exhibitions through cooperative galleries, street fairs and public spaces, while local museums and galleries gear up to launch a wide variety of fascinating shows and international art fairs prepare to import art from around the globe. Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach: The … [Read more...]
Ten years on, play revisits a death in Laramie
“Change, but no progress." That is how the tireless advocate for federal and state anti-hate crime legislation Judy Shepard describes the past 10 years since her gay son Matthew was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming. That killing and its aftermath were captured by Moises Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project in the much-produced 2001 docudrama The Laramie Project. … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in pop music
The Allman Brothers Band, Steve Miller, Roger Daltrey, Miley Cyrus, Leonard Cohen, and Lady Gaga. Those are some of the pop acts that will grace South Florida before the new year. Only one problem: All are playing in Broward County or way down in Miami. By comparison, the musical calendar in Palm Beach County is dotted with entertainers who can still remember when their … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The fall season in film
It used to be that superheroes and special effects went on vacation in the fall, but the studios seem more intent this season on making money than making art. It is hard not to notice, for instance, the barrage of vampire and assorted undead movies (Zombieland, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, The Twilight Saga: New Moon) coming our way. True, the Oscars have … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in theater
Despite the still rocky economy, the region’s professional theaters appear to remain bullish on programming, with few signs of caution or budget-pinching in the season ahead. All eyes remain on Caldwell Theatre Company, which is coming off of a critically acclaimed summer under new artistic director Clive Cholerton, who continues to shake the cobwebs off the Boca Raton … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in dance
Yes, Virginia, there will be a Nutcracker at the Kravis Center. But Santa is bringing it by sleigh -- from Russia. With Ballet Florida out of commission and Miami City Ballet staging it only in Broward and Miami, the door is open for the Moscow Classical Ballet (Dec.24-26, Kravis Center, West Palm Beach). Of the dizzying list of ballet companies with titles like Moscow this … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 2-6
Art: Opening Saturday at the Norton Museum of Art is New York, New York: The 20th Century, an exhibition from the West Palm Beach museum’s collection of New York scenes, depicted in paintings, photographs, sculptures and works on paper. Among those artists represented are painters Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper and Reginald Marsh, and photographers Bernice Abbott, Diane Arbus and … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in books
Readers rejoice! The show will go on, sputtering economy notwithstanding. The book show, that is. All five major South Florida literary festivals – Miami Book Fair International, the Key West Literary Seminar, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, the Boca Festival of the Arts, and Broward’s Lit/Live! – are scheduled to take place over the next five months in more or less their … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in jazz
As is often the case, the South Florida jazz season for 2009-2010 involves more quality than quantity. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the coming season even includes a few pleasant surprises. Like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of New Orleans' leading jazz horn units, playing at one of South Florida's top rock clubs. The veteran band makes a stop on its My Feet Can't … [Read more...]