The staff at Chafin Musicenter; Sue and Jeff Chafin are second and third from left. (Photo by Bill Meredith) Much of the first half of the 60-year life span of Chafin Musicenter (www.chafinmusic.com) in Lake Worth was spent on the 900 block of Lake Avenue, just west of U.S. 1. But when owner Paul Chafin found a larger site — a defunct feed store on North Dixie Highway — in … [Read more...]
Lake Worth’s Bamboo Room revived once again
It’s only slightly more than 48 hours before the July 31 grand reopening of the Bamboo Room (www.facebook.com/TheBambooRoomLW) — the historic, if on-and-off, Lake Worth live music venue from 1999 to present-day — but general manager Ben Foster appears calm. At least on the surface. “They just hired me,” he says, “so it’s pressure-packed, but I’ve opened a lot of venues before. … [Read more...]
TED phenomenon comes to Delray Beach on Friday
In the spirit of the original TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading,” TEDx comes to Delray Beach this Friday, organized by local resident Becky Woodbridge, a flight attendant, speaker and coach. Originating in California 29 years ago, with two major TED events each year, the organization (originally focusing on Technology, Entertainment and Design) … [Read more...]
Pianist Simmons brings new savvy to the old business of classical music
When she took part in the Musical Awakenings educational outreach program for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Jade Simmons tended to take the students she saw by surprise. “It takes you into 20 schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with a mostly minority demographic,” said Simmons, who as an African-American female is a rarity in the world of classical … [Read more...]
Opera at Bard: ‘King’ plot preposterous, but Chabrier’s opera worth doing
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- “This is a royal mess,’’ sings one of the characters in Bard Summerscape’s performance of Emmanuel Chabrier’s comic opera Le Roi Malgré Lui (The King In Spite of Himself). This could well be a wry reflection on the quality of the singing or the production. It is not. Standards were very high. Rather, it goes to the root of why this opera is not … [Read more...]
Asner as FDR: From one liberal icon to another
He has played a slave ship captain in Roots, Pope John XXIII, adventurer Carl Fredericksen in Pixar’s Up and, of course, Lou Grant, the role that earned him five of his seven Emmy Awards. But for Ed Asner, 81, the opportunity to become Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a couple of hours each night was too good to resist. Around the Kansas City household where young Ed grew up, … [Read more...]
DeLillo’s ‘Omega’ not worth the trouble
So many unkind ways to begin a discussion of Don DeLillo’s new novel present themselves, I can hardly bring myself to choose. First and easiest: This should be called “Pointless Omega” (ba-bum!). Or how about: If you think $24 is a lot to spend for a 117-page novel, don’t worry, you’ll get your money’s worth -- because it reads like a thousand! But I suppose I should behave … [Read more...]
Three worth watching at Jewish film fest
Only a few of the 20th annual Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival’s entries were made available for advance reviews, but here are a few of them worth at least partial attention: * Hello, Goodbye (France, 99 min., Sat., Dec. 5, 7:20 pm, Cobb Dowtown) -- For many Israel is an idealized promised land, but director Graham Guit puckishly examines the details of that promise in his … [Read more...]