This summer, the City of Pompano Beach invites residents and visitors to experience four thought-provoking exhibitions that explore identity, transformation, creativity, history, and human connection. Opening across the City’s cultural venues, I Am My Ancestors at the Ali Cultural Arts Center, Shape, Break, Build and Carried Home at Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA), and In Connection at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center demonstrate the transformative power of art to inspire dialogue while offering new perspectives on the world around us.
Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before…, presented as part of the Kravis on Broadway series, arrives with all the trimmings one expects from a holiday spectacle. It is festive, colorful, family friendly, and polished in a quintessential one would expect from a world-renowned troupe like Cirque. Yet beneath the glitter, the show’s story is loosely sketched that, if you were to strip away every bauble related to Christmas, replace it with Alice in Wonderland or any other whimsical world, and very little would change. Whether this is a virtue or a missed opportunity depends entirely on what you want from your holiday outing.
When it comes to that all-American artform of “the musical,” you can’t go wrong by visiting or revisiting a blockbuster show from its heyday of the 1940s and 1950s. So when one happens to be playing in our area, run to see it because, no matter the subject, you’re guaranteed a highly entertaining and competently produced experience!
You might even be surprised – as I often am – at how many songs and ideas that have become an intrinsic part of our popular culture first appeared in a golden-age musical. The Pajama Game, based on Richard Bissel’s 1953 novel 7 ½Cents, debuted on Broadway in 1954, ran for 1,063 performances, and won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The popular creation of musical theater legends boasts a book by George Abbot and Richard Bissel, music & lyrics by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler, and dance by Bob Fosse in his choreography debut. Then, as if to prove the staying power of the show’s score, choreography, and message, The Pajama Game went on to win another Tony in 2006 for Best Revival of a Musical.
Although known largely for her comic roles, actress Jeni Hacker conveys anger, laughter and sadness as the quirky mother “Anne” in playwright Florian Zeller’s one act drama with comic overtones titled “The Mother”, running now through Sunday, Nov. 23 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.
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.
Twenty year old actress Dana Cimone was captivating as the lead character “Dorothy” in the 2025 national tour of “The Wiz”, an energetic show that featured joyous singing and dancing in the two act, two hour and 30 minute musical that is running now through Sunday, October 12 at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.
Playwright Peter Quilter’s one act comedy “Step By Step”, a tale about how three women honor their friend who died recently by climbing a mountain, is running now through August 10 at Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables.
Sometimes you just need to laugh. And laugh…and laugh. No matter how silly and, well, “corny” the humor. Even at puns, lots of puns – outrageously bawdy ones, at that. It was only a few years ago that SHUCKED: A New Musical Comedy created a gee-whiz stir on Broadway for being so unprecedentedly silly yet sweet, lewd but not offensive, and always absolutely hilarious! The musical received nine Tony nominations in 2023 and won an award for Best Actor.
Italy has been the focal point of the world over the last few weeks with the death of Pope ancis and the election of American Pope Leo.XIV. Although not planned with the Papacy in mind, audiences that wish to learn more about Italy will enjoy the Dance Now Program this weekend featuring the world premiere of ‘Terra Mia/My Land’, choreographed by Dance Now Miami co-founder Diego Salterini to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company.
Comedy, romance, and just a dash of drama—Living on Love has it all! A classic screwball comedy at its finest, the play (written by Joe DiPietro and based on the play Peccadillo by Garson Kanin) follows the hilarious hijinks of a famous power couple and the ghostwriters they’ve hired to pen their respective autobiographies. When acclaimed diva Raquel DeAngelis (Mallory Newbrough) discovers that her husband, the feisty and often self-centered Maestro Vito DeAngelis (Wayne LeGette) has fallen for the sweet young woman (Amber Lynn Benson) he’s hired to ghostwrite his (mostly fictional) autobiography, she retaliates by hiring her own handsome ghostwriter (Jim Tyminski) to tell the tale of her illustrious career as an opera star. Completing this talented, laugh-out-loud funny cast are butlers Bruce (Jack Stein) and Eric (Matt Schenk), who just might have some secrets of their own. Sparks—and snow globes—fly as unexpected romances bloom and unforgettable stories are told amidst the chaos.
