Sixteen months ago, the Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables was primed, rehearsed and ready to present Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot. Artistic boss David Arisco had settled into the director’s chair. Dave Nagy was eager to direct the musical score. Lights, sound, sets, props, even fight choreography, were on track.
An excited Leah Marie Sessa – a singer/actress with acknowledged vocal excellence and talent capable of modulating from light comedy to heavy drama — was prepared to step forward as Lady Elaine of Astolat, an innocent maiden who falls deeply in love with Sir Lancelot.
The Theater Up Close series at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami will celebrate its tenth anniversary this fall, with five new productions mounted by two local theater companies — including one world premiere and two South Florida premieres.
Any celebration of our American Independence Day would be incomplete without an acknowledgement of the many brave men who have risked their lives to keep our country safe and free—and that’s exactly what The Andrews Sisters inspired South Florida harmony group The Victory Dolls is all about. Their repertoire of World War II era hits and vintage looks bring a little slice of history to life for a new generation,while bringing those who do remember that time a much appreciated portal to their past.
Just over a half-century since its 1967 inception, the 1,100-seat Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale is now in the final stages of an ambitious $30 million renovation project that began a little over two years ago. With the grand reopening, the venue will also change its name to simply, The Parker.
Our Fund Foundation has made it their mission to support an arts community that has been largely neglected in the past. However, The LGBTQ+ community has come a long way from where they first started, especially the South Florida Society of LGBTQ+ Arts because of organizations like Our Fund leading the way. Founded in 2010 by a board of committed advocates, Our Fund focuses on areas that need the most aid through community assessments – primarily in the areas of health and wellness, social justice, and cultural needs of LGBTQ+ Arts in Florida. They award over $1 million annually to non-profit companies that hold the same missions.
The comic sitcom “Laverne and Shirley” brought a lot of laughs to a lot of viewers during its eight-year run on ABC television.
One of its stars, Cindy Williams, who portrayed Shirley Feeney opposite Penny Marshall’s Laverne DeFazio, in the long-running show, has brought a spate of memories — along with lots of clips from L&S and other films in her prolific career – to create a delightful, nostalgic and very funny one-woman performance of “Me, Myself & Shirley,” playing through June 27 at Boca Raton’s Wick Theater.
Fantasy Theater Factory celebrated Father’s Day this year with a collection of twelve monologues, entitled Dear Dad, which premiered online on June 20th and will remain available for free streaming on their Facebook page throughout the next month.
For the second time in just one year, a musical by Lin Manuel Miranda has provided me with the sole motivation to sign up for an entire streaming service. Last July, it was Hamilton and Disney Plus; this time, it was In The Heights and HBOMax.
Few scripts have had more cultural influence than Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. First performed in 1879, the play incited much controversy when protagonist Nora challenged the period’s social norms by walking out on her husband and children after coming to the realization that her stifling marriage would never allow her to be her true self. And when she did, according to critic James Huneker, the door that she slammed behind her “reverberated across the roof of the world.”
Kelley Shanley, president and CEO of the Broward Center, made a remarkable admission of practicing what he called “unconscious bias” during a recent panel discussion at his venue, billed as “Arts For Action: Black Voices — Bridging the Gap.”
