By Robert Croan Classical recitals are all too scarce in Broward County. A recital of the caliber of Emanuel Ax’s all-Beethoven program, in Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater on March 22, would be rare anywhere, anytime. Professionally, the Polish-born pianist, 67 this year, is at the top of his field, and as the present concert demonstrated, he is in top form technically and … [Read more...]
PBO’s ‘Ariadne’; ‘A’ cast: Top-to-bottom vocal strength lifts Strauss confection
Wendy Bryn Harmer and Brian Jagde in Ariadne auf Naxos. The audience response Sunday afternoon to Palm Beach Opera’s final presentation of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos wasn’t the kind of enthusiastic ovation a more familiar opera from the Italian repertory would have won. But if they weren’t crazy about the opera itself, the troupe deserved all the warm approbation … [Read more...]
The year in review: The theater’s top 12
Several theater companies went out of business in 2015, while others moved to more comfortable digs, hoping their audiences would follow. Of those that stayed put, many pushed themselves by producing challenging works, particularly mega-musicals and powerful new dramas. There was too much quality happening to contain the year in 10 productions, so here instead (in my … [Read more...]
Maltz’s ‘Foreigner’ takes top play at 39th Carbonells
A feather-light comedy and a dark musical were named the year’s best productions at Monday night’s 39th annual Carbonell Awards for excellence in South Florida theater. The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s mounting of Larry Shue’s farce The Foreigner won in the play category and Miami’s Zoetic Stage prevailed among the musicals for Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins. … [Read more...]
‘Top Five’ leaves room amid chaotic comedy for wisdom
Chris Rock’s Top Five isn’t one of the best movies of the year, but it’s undoubtedly the coolest. It’s the movie I’d most want to hang out with, as a fly on the wall of its hyper-realistically detailed locations: under the unforgiving lights of a comedy club, in the nihilistic privacy of a luxury hotel, in the Cristal-popping velvet booths of a strip club — even in a jail … [Read more...]
Hap’s picks: Top 10 films of 2013
Now that we have seen the year-end crop of award-worthy movies, it is clear than 2013 was rich in quality films. Family dysfunction, struggles for survival and looks back at our history are among the themes in this highly subjective selection of the best. 1. Nebraska — Alexander Payne’s signature territory of pain-laced comedy about deeply flawed, but recognizable characters … [Read more...]
Sundays: Bandeau on the run
By Myles Ludwig There are lost opportunities in life, those moments when you wonder why you were oblivious to the possibilities. There are also lost friends, lost because of some difference of opinion that seems petty in retrospect or even a bond-busting betrayal that, seen through the telescope of time, seems no worse than the unruliness of trying to catch some sleep lying … [Read more...]
Verdi performances win top spots in PB Opera’s vocal contest
The annual Palm Beach Opera vocal competition Grand Finals concerts are notable each year for two things above all: The atmosphere of fun and interactivity in the audience, and the exceptional level of youthful talent that soon will be replenishing the stores of the opera houses of the world. Sunday’s concert, which was the 41st in the series that began in 1969, saw 13 young … [Read more...]