Matthew Shepard (1976-1998). If ever there were a time when a work of art coincides with current events, that time will be Friday, when sections of a new opera with an anti-bullying theme have their premiere as the air is still thick with the sorrow of the Orlando shootings. Not in My Town, an opera based on the 1998 torture and murder of gay Wyoming college student Matthew … [Read more...]
Remarkable performance lifts ‘Satchmo’ above artificialities
Barry Shabaka Henley in Satchmo at the Waldorf. (Photo by Alicia Donelan) Actors like one-man shows because they present opportunities for them to display their performance versatility and stamina. Producers like one-man shows because they, by definition, have low payrolls. If only there weren’t those darned reviewers, for whom one-man shows are the bane of their existence, … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Will Rogers Follies,’ ‘Diva Diaries,’ ‘South Pacific’
If I were programming the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, I would also be looking for vehicles for the dynamic Matt Loehr, who has earned Carbonell Awards for each of his three previous appearances there (Crazy for You, Hello, Dolly!, The Music Man). While he is too high-energy to be an ideal fit to play cowboy-humorist-philosopher Will Rogers, the laconic “poet lariat” of the nation, … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Hamlet,’ ‘George M!’
Celebrating its 25th anniversary season, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival reaches for its namesake playwright’s best known — and best — work, Hamlet. And though the company is still reeling from the loss of its most skilled actor, director and dramaturg, Kevin Crawford, the current production points to a future for the classical troupe beyond him. Kyle Schnack, a reliable … [Read more...]
Tonys will celebrate a record season in awards telecast
The stats are in for the Broadway season that ended May 24, and it was a record-breaker. The 2014-2015 season had the highest attendance and highest total box office ever, with ticket sales topping out at $1.365 billion. Of course, it helps that ticket prices are at their highest ever. Most major musicals top face-value tickets hovers around the $150 mark with Book of Mormon, … [Read more...]
Uneven ‘Aloha’ launches into familiar rom-com sky
In the romantic comedies of Cameron Crowe, and perhaps only in the romantic comedies of Cameron Crowe, the most beautiful people you’ve ever seen are also the most hopeless, loveless and clueless. They are wayward neurotics who nonetheless possess perfect bodies, ineffable charm and a writerly wit. His films are set in a world we recognize, but the glamorous screw-ups that … [Read more...]
Two views of beauty in Rubinstein, Plumb exhibits at Boca Museum
Fresh off its successful run at the Jewish Museum in New York City, the exhibit, Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power opened April 21 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, running through July 12 and organized by the Jewish Museum and curator Mason Klein. Although not on the shelves these days, the Helena Rubinstein cosmetic brand was legendary until 1988 when it was bought out by … [Read more...]
In 20th year, Palm Beach Film Festival gets permanent venue
Remember when the Palm Beach International Film Festival was born? Believe it or not, that was 20 years ago, and the eight-day celebration of movies from around the world that begins on March 26 will “dazzle and surprise our audiences like they’ve never seen before,” according to the festival’s president and CEO, Randi Emerman. Some 130 films -- features, shorts and … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Billy Elliot,’ ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Waist Watchers’
It is OK to be different and to follow your dreams. Sentiments like that seem banal in a contemporary urban context, but for a 10-year-old son of a Northern England coal miner who yearns to be a ballet dancer such aspirations are the stuff of involving drama. Or perhaps musical theater. They are, of course, the dilemma of Billy Elliot, the youngster first encountered in the … [Read more...]
Festival makes case for enduring power of poetry
By Tom Tracy Miles Coon is aware that some people’s attitude toward poetry is less than welcoming. Perhaps they have indelible memories of having to recite a bit of rhyme in front of their eighth-grade class, something about “gate” and “fate” that they could never quite memorize. Maybe they were confused and baffled by a first encounter with Walt Whitman, singing endlessly … [Read more...]