Rebecca Trionfo and Alexander Sargent in Renaissance Way. (Photo by Alex Srb) The spring concerts of the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton always begin with an introduction of the graduating class of dancers, who come to the mic, tell the audience who they are and where they’re from, and reveal their future plans, which are always very impressive. It’s a charming tradition … [Read more...]
Art Boca Raton unveils some gems amid the dross, overcrowding
Hummingbirds on Yellow, by Laura Tan. By Myles Ludwig Although there was more than sufficient visual jokery, snap, crackle, pop and cupcake conceptualism on display at Art Boca Raton to jolt even the most somnolent, there was just enough original work to capture my interest and provide a frisson of satisfaction. ArtBoca was abuzz at noon on Saturday when I arrived at the … [Read more...]
SoFla Symphony gets needed lift from Master Chorale in Beethoven 9
By Kevin Wilt Sunday afternoon, the South Florida Symphony stopped by the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to play a pair of symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven. This performance was third in their January tour, beginning in Key West, and ending with their debut at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. The first half of the concert … [Read more...]
Take Heed Theater Co. finds new home, seeks funding
Lake Worth’s Take Heed Theater Company, a nomadic and sporadic professional performance troupe, has found a permanent home. Now all the company needs is to raise enough money to turn the former storefront church on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach into a habitable playhouse. “For about twelve years, it was some sort of a church,” says artistic director Dave Hyland, an … [Read more...]
Raucous ‘The Night Before’ may be year’s funniest comedy
Jonathan Levine’s The Night Before runs only 99 minutes, but it feels considerably longer — so chockablock is this anarcho-buddy-stoner-road-Christmas-comedy with quips, gags, references, elaborate set pieces, and most of all ideas. It’s amazing how many of them work. Few comedies in recent memory measure up to middle hour of The Night Before in its hedonistic inspiration, its … [Read more...]
Brilliant ‘About Elly’ keeps viewers guessing
When considering Asghar Farhadi’s psychological thriller About Elly, a word pretzel from that (in)famous 21st-century philosopher Donald Rumsfeld comes to mind: “There are known knowns, unknown knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.” To follow along with this knotty and riveting study of humans in crisis is to rewire old paradigms when unknowns become known, to accept … [Read more...]
Director Jacquot explores love, with obstacles
French writer-director Benoît Jacquot’s work was little known outside his country until three years ago, when his Farewell, My Queen, a period-perfect look at Marie Antoinette and her reader servant, became an international hit. His follow-up is the contemporary Trois Coeurs (Three Hearts), which opened locally this past weekend, a melodramatic tale of a romantic triangle … [Read more...]
Intriguing new work and stellar Strauss at ACO
The Atlantic Classical Orchestra’s concert Tuesday in Palm Beach Gardens featured four works, one a world premiere, conducted by Stewart Robertson, who will retire after this season. Robertson opened this concert with a rarely heard Schubert overture, Die Freunde von Salamanka (D. 326), described in the beautifully prepared program as a singspiel, a German opera with spoken … [Read more...]
New musical, ‘Song of Solomon,’ to get one-night tryout at Wick
Monday evening, Boca Raton’s Wick Theatre takes its first plunge into the risky waters of new work, putting its usual menu of classic musicals on hold for a one-night concert of a show with aspirations of Broadway, Song of Solomon. If it goes well, look for it to return for a fully staged run this summer, prior to a move to New York. Yes, Solomon is Biblical King Solomon. … [Read more...]
Magnificent Bruckner was PB Symphony at its best
The Fourth Symphony of Anton Bruckner, subtitled Romantic, conveys the ecstatic, uncompromising intensity the composer strove to achieve in his lifetime, using a new way of developing the symphonic form. Palm Beach Symphony director Ramon Tebar led his 70-piece orchestra through a thrilling performance of this symphony Monday night at the DeSantis Family Chapel, transforming … [Read more...]