When it first came into my head to say farewell to the 2021-2022 season with a top ten list, I also intended this essay to be something of a farewell to both South Florida Theater Magazine and South Florida as a whole. Instead, after a grand two months of living in Maryland and working at the Olney Theatre Center, I also find myself instead announcing that, as of Halloween, I have returned full time to the area to continue keeping an eye on the theatre scene and do… well, something or other!
Since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a performer. It came quite naturally, as it does to those who truly have a passion for the arts. My parents recognized that, so they put me in all the classes they could! Dance classes, acting classes, singing classes, and the list goes on and on. As I grew older, my passion for the arts did not waiver. I was committed to being an actress, so I did the next best thing. I got a Bachelor’s Degree in Musical Theater! Then I was off to the races and started auditioning for EVERYTHING in my area, near and far. Then I asked myself the question that every actor faces, can I make a living out of this?
Michael Ursua, the multi-talented pianist, actor, theater director and performance craftsperson, among other titles, moved from his native Santa Ana, California, to South Florida when he was about 10 years old. Or, as he put it in a recent interview, “I went from Disneyland to Disney World.”
The Disney connection is particularly appropriate for the artisan of many talents. After learning to play piano at age 11, and sharpening his acting chops by doing community theater, he later signed on for three consecutive gigs on the Disney Magic cruise ship – as a main stage entertainer and a writer. Before disembarking the final year, “I put together a reboot of several character experiences.”
What includes a taste of Italy’s vibrant dance scene and a new, contemporary spin on the classic ballet The Nutcracker? That would be Dance NOW! Miami’s Program I, on Saturday, December 10, when this leading Florida ensemble world premieres their new piece Clara and share the stage with Compagnia Opus Ballet, direct from Florence for their U.S. debut. Taking place at the Miami Theater Center in Miami Shores, the evening will be an unusual – and racy – season performance.
Didi Romero’s enthusiasm is palpable even through the Zoom webcast. The moment she joins the call, she is all jokes, chronicling how she had mistakenly prepared for the interview the day prior, and reenacting her surprise and confusion when she saw an unopened zoom link staring back at her from her computer screen. You wouldn’t know that at the time of the interview, the 23-year-old actress had been in isolation because of an unfortunate positive covid test- her energy shone despite the sickness. Don’t let this short pause fool you- she’s had a jam-packed 2022, touring the country with the Aragon Tour of the hit pop musical SIX, a concert retelling of the lives of the six wives of King Henry VIII.
Miami, FL – October 29, 2022 – City Theatre (@citytheatremia) and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@arshtcenter) proudly present the Southeastern Premiere of Heidi Schreck’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, a buoyant and provocative examination by one woman of her civil rights and wrongs. A New York Times critic’s pick, a Tony Award nominee, and Pulitzer Prize finalist when it premiered in 2019, South Florida audiences will enjoy City Theatre’s production of the award-winning Broadway hit, WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME directed by Margaret M. Ledford and presented as part of the Arsht Center’s Theater Up Close series.
Before I offer you an introduction to the stellar season planned by New City Players, the Fort Lauderdale company I was invited to join in November of 2020: to say that the past two years haven’t been the easiest ones for the group may be a bit of an understatement. Aside from the pandemic’s far-reaching and long-lasting effects on the theatre industry as whole, an internal conflict during the summer of 2021 briefly threatened the company’s future, necessitating a concerted effort by company members to ensure their work could continue.
Acclaimed Miami-based dance pioneer, Karen Peterson, and her mixed-ability KPD Dancers are back in South Florida this week to highlight their Fourth Annual Forward Motion Dance Festival and Conference of Physically Integrated Dance (FM4).
The shows will feature the KPD ensemble and another troupe, Full Radius Dance. Both groups focus on the work of disabled and non-disabled performers, joining together on stage to craft unusual and entertaining pieces.
From award winning South Florida Actor/Writer/Director, Paul Louis, comes the film, “Army Men”.The dramatic short film is based on a true story about Louis’ childhood friendship, which ended in tragedy. “Army Men” tells the story of a middle aged Miami based artist who returns to the tough battlefield of his childhood neighborhood in Queens, NY, only to be haunted by the memories of his late best friend.
Louis says it’s a story of friendship, loss and regret, and hopes to bring awareness of mental illness, especially in children.
Thinking Cap Theatre is back in action at the eclectic Mad Arts Gallery with an equally eclectic exploration of The Importance Of Being Oscar. This play was written and first performed by Irish actor Micheál Mac Liammóir as a one-man show in 1960, with the title being an allusion to one of the best-known works of literary icon Oscar Wilde.
Here, though, the piece has been reimagined by the directorial vision of Nicole Stodard to become a three-actor endeavor. While it’s up to them all to help channel Oscar’s spirit, it’s Ronnie Larsen who’s mostly tasked with portraying the man himself, as well as a few other key figures. He is joined onstage by Bree-Anna Obst and Travon Pierre, each of who play multitudes of characters from Wilde’s life as well as those that appear in reenactments of his work.
