Carey Brianna Hart knew she wanted a career in the theatre at the tender age of three.
“I watched a lot of Shirley Temple movies when I was little and was a flower in a play in pre-school,” she laughed. “I got to sing a little song and everybody applauded. My mind was blown. I was hooked. That was it.”
The morning before I arrived at the Miracle Theatre to see “¡Fuácata!or A Latina’s Guide to Surviving the Universe,” the funky one-woman show by Stuart Meltzer and Elena Maria Garcia that will be running there until this September 12th, I happened to be feeling very out of place.
Even if you already know all there is to know about Florida history, you still have plenty of reason to check out Florida: Her Stories, a unique digital production that “explores the stories of women who made and are making Florida.”
(Note: Assuming that nobody needs a spoiler warning for a 400 year old play here…)
Fittingly enough for a show that is perhaps most famous for the dejected Duke Orsino’s request that his musicians play on in the name of love, Palm Beach Shakespeare’s production of Twelfth Night lavishly leans into love and music alike.
To most performers, receiving a coveted Actors’ Equity Association union card means one has truly arrived as a professional. It’s a rite of passage, a privilege and an honor, proving to the world you’ve earned your stripes and your rightful place in the pantheon of performers. However, actually making a living as a member of AEA, especially outside of New York City, all too often comes with some startling realities that turn the sweet accomplishment of owning that union card into onerous burdens it can strap onto an actor’s career.
Ask Elijah Word what drew him into the singing, dancing and acting sphere, and the tall, lanky, nearly 28-year-old performer with deep familial roots in Broward County and performance chops earned throughout South Florida may regale you with this story.
If you’ve ever seen Krystal Millie Valdes onstage in one of her many acclaimed South Florida star turns, you might be surprised to learn that she was once so intimidated by the cliquey kids in her middle school drama program that it took her until high school to work up the courage to try her hand at acting at all.
Playwright and actor Tom Dugan has truly perfected the art of the one-person show — having created five thus far — and will bring two of them to the Mizner Park Cultural Center in December: “Wiesenthal” and “Tell Him It’s Jackie.”
Danielle LaVia’s whole life in the theatre has prepared her for the unique and exciting opportunity she now embraces as founder and executive artistic director of the newly formed Charleston Playhouse in South Carolina.
An established stage, TV and film actress; writer, producer, director, voice-over artist and frequent frontwoman for television commercials, Miami Beach native Jill Melody is admittedly “driven” in her chosen pursuits.
