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.
The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts opened its 2025–2026 Broadway season on Tuesday, October 21, with The Wiz, a spirited revival of the beloved 1975 musical that reimagines The Wizard of Oz through a distinctly Black cultural lens. Anticipation filled the Dreyfoos Hall as theatergoers settled in for what promised to be a dazzling start to the season. With its mix of soul, funk, and gospel influences, The Wiz has long been celebrated for its exuberance and affirming message of courage and self-discovery. Yet, despite a strong start and a promising premise, opening night was hindered by significant technical difficulties that disrupted the performance’s rhythm and energy.
The natural order of popular theater tends to follow this formula: Find a best-selling book, turn it into a hit film, then get a top lyricist and composer to create the score for a smash Broadway musical. Yann Martel’s uniquely philosophical treatise/adventure story of a novel, Life of Pi, became a worldwide sensation in 2001 (with sales of over ten million). A successful, visually striking film, directed by Ang Lee, followed in 2012. But the three-Tony-winning theatrical version of LIFE OF PI, which opened on Broadway in 2023 to enthusiastic acclaim by critics and audiences alike, and whose National Tour is now playing at the Au-Rene Theater of Broward Center (only from October 21 – 26), is no musical.
Since performing the music of The Carpenters with her seven member “Top of the World” band in 2017, singer Debbie Taylor of Coral Springs has been so popular that she sold out each of her annual Aventura Arts and Cultural Center shows over the years and has toured across the United States as often as 40 weeks annually.
Taylor and “Top of the World” will again perform a tribute to the music of The Carpenters next Saturday October 25 at Aventura Center before another anticipated sold out concert.
Wrapping up its opening weekend at the Arsht Center in Miami, Miami City Ballet’s Peck: Miami in Motion offers an evening devoted entirely to the work of Justin Peck, one of the most visible choreographers exploring contemporary ballet. The program features three of his ballets: “Year of the Rabbit,” “Chutes and Ladders,” and “Heatscape.” These trace more than a decade of Peck’s creative output. An homage to the choreographer, the performance on opening night was both beautiful and forgettable; I was left thinking on certain moments, already losing trace of the awe that usually lingers after the final bow.
Would you kill for a hit? With my mom, South Florida Theater’s own wonderful Mindy Leaf
Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? That eternal question slinks across the boards in Deathtrap, Ira Levin’s devilishly clever thriller now playing at Empire Stage courtesy of exciting new theatre company on the block, Upstage Productions. Directed by DK Kondelik, this new staging takes the classic four-Tony nominated 1978 play—a wicked satire of ambition, authorship, and ego—and gives it fresh voltage, its twists snapping like trapdoors underfoot. What begins as a witty drawing-room mystery unfurls into a gleeful study of human deceit, Clue meets hall-of-mirrors fever dream.
At Wednesday’s matinee, Kimberly Wick’s (production supervisor/costumes/properties manager) upbeat words of welcome to The Wick Theatre & Museum Club’s 12th Season confirmed their highly successful formula of providing audiences with the best “Oldies but Goodies.” What better show to personify this mission than staging the world’s longest running musical! THE FANTASTICKS is an off-Broadway legend that ran for 42 successive years at the same theatre, since 1960, was awarded the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1991, then took off across the country (boasting some 250 new productions yearly), including a 2006-2017 off-Broadway revival. Based loosely on the 1894 play “Les Romanesques” by Edmond Rostand, the musical boasts a Book & Lyrics by Tom Jones and Music by Harvey Schmidt.
