Pompano Player’s matinee production of Steel Magnolias on Saturday, November 8, was poignant and witty, with plenty of southern charm. Before researching Robert Harling’s play, several thoughts came to mind. Does this script stand the test of time? The answer is a resounding yes. Steel Magnolias premiered on Broadway in 1987. The original movie, with its amazing cast, hit theaters in 1989 and received three Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. The story reappeared on the big screen again in 2012 with an African American cast featuring Queen Latifah and Alfre Woodward. What gives this heart-wrenching drama its unique durability? Maybe its unique name, Steel Magnolias, contributes to its attraction. The contradiction of terms doesn’t match until you look at it from the perspective of these strong women: women as delicate and fragile as magnolias and as tough as steel at the same time. This cast took both aspects to heart, showing their own unique strengths, with grit and vulnerability.
On Halloween night, a perfectly spooky occasion for a family of delightful misfits, South Florida Theater caught the opening performance of The Addams Family at the Kravis Center. It was a truncated run, but the enthusiasm of the audience, with the charisma of the cast, made the evening worthwhile. The show, directed by Antoinette DiPietropolo, and featuring Rodrigo Aragón as Gomez and Renee Kathleen Koher as Morticia, found its stride in moments of humor and physical play but faltered in its true resonance, at no fault of the director or actors.
When the producing artistic director of one of the premiere new play destinations in the country can’t get a new play he’d read years back out of his head – we can be assured it’s going to be a winner! I’m speaking, of course, of none other than Matt Stabile, the dynamic creative force behind Theatre Lab, the professional theatre company of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). And his latest new play production, which survived a Covid-era delay to arrive at just the right time for the right actors, designers and crew … not to mention coinciding with the year’s theme of exploration and seeing the world through another’s eyes. Stabile proudly presents THE CITY IN THE CITY IN THE CITY by Matthew Capodicasa as the opener of their 2025/26 MainStage Series (and the Lab’s 18th world premiere!).
After sold-out performances and encore shows at the Lake Worth Playhouse this summer, acclaimed playwright, director, and actress Rashida Costa brings her powerful stage drama At All Cost to Fort Lauderdale for a special Veterans Day weekend engagement. The performance marks the official launch of the play’s regional tour and will be held at the Victory Black Box Theatre at the YMCA of South Florida on Tuesday November 11th, 2025.
Adult contemporary singer Melissa Manchester, known for her popular hit songs “Come in From The Rain”, “Don’t Cry Out Loud”, “Midnight Blue” ,“Through The Eyes Of Love” and “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” from the 1970s and ‘80s, will star in concert titled “50 Threads: An Artist’s Journey” in benefit for the Florida not for profit organization Genvas on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Lauderhill Performing Arts Center in Lauderhill.
Miami Music Project is proud to announce its participation in the 2025 Give Miami Day, one of the nation’s largest annual giving campaigns. Building on strong community support and measurable student success, the organization has set a $100,000 goal to sustain and expand its life-changing music education programs, ensuring Miami’s youth have pathways for development.
“We believe that the key to a better Miami is giving our children the tools they need to thrive and succeed in life,” said President and CEO of Miami Music Project, Anna Klimala. “Give Miami Day invites the entire community to do the same by investing in local nonprofits that open pathways to opportunities for children throughout Miami-Dade. Join us!”
When he was a young man living in Germany, singer Kerst J. Lehmann thought his career would be as a pro soccer player rather than in music. However, when Lehmann moved to America, he became a lot more interested in becoming the next Michael Buble rather than the next Lionel Messi.
Actresses Emily Van Vliet Perea, Kimberly Dorren Burns and Laura Turnbull all shine as the lead characters (Percy, Shelby and Hannah respectfully) in the two act musical “The Spitfire Grill” by composers Fred Alley and James Valcq, running now until November 2 at Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables.
First I must extend my deepest gratitude and admiration to Florida AtlanticUniversity Department of Theatre and Dance and its generous donors (including presenting sponsors Florida-Israel Institute, Palm Beach County Federations and Executive Producer Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters) for having the vision and, given today’s fearful, repressive climate, dare I say chutzpah to promote Israeli artists. And for their support of artistic excellence and international exchange via a two-week Boca Raton residency program between world-class Jerusalem Ballet and their own dance students (who are also scheduled to spend two weeks training and collaborating with the company in Jerusalem next summer).
Actor Mark H. Dold reinvented himself as 19 different people in the one-act comedy “Harry Clarke” at Gablestage that is mostly funny, but with dramatic overtones. Playwright David Cale’s one man play challenges the audience to ponder whether “Harry Clarke” is a hero, villain, a mythical character or whether a man originally named Phillip Brugglestein from the Midwestern United States is now the born and bred wealthy Harry Clarke from London, England.
