Miami City Ballet’s Your Perfect Golden Hour, presented at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on April 11 and 12, brought together four works from the company’s existing repertoire. The program paired Amy Hall Garner’s “Resplendent Fantasy,” José Limón’s “Chaconne” and “The Moor’s Pavane,” and Alonzo King’s “Following the Subtle Current Upstream,” a lineup that asked the company to shift rapidly between contemporaries. It was also my first time at The Parker, and it felt like an ideal room for ballet. So much dance in South Florida is experienced in spaces that emphasize scale and grandeur, at the cost of distance. The Parker offers something else. The stage never feels small, but the theater does feel intimate and personal. That closeness served this particular program well because Your Perfect Golden Hour was all about texture and tension.

Many of us recall watching John Waters’ groundbreaking 1988 hit film Hairspray at movie theaters, on TV, or in some other fashion. And everyone recognizes “Good Morning Baltimore,” the opening number that’s become part of America’s musical theater lexicon. But fewer people had seen the Broadway musical adaptation that went on to win eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2003. Shall I tell you now that there were Slow Burn Theatre Company patrons who’d attended the original Broadway show and/or various revivals and said Slow Burn’s was the best!!

Our local production and the takeaway message of five Tony Award-winning KIMBERLY AKIMBO (including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score) – whose National Touring Company opened Tuesday for a very short run at Broward Center – are perfectly aligned. Namely: Life’s short. Make the most of every day while you can.

Executive Director Bari Newport of “GableStage” presented a more than three hour, two intermission  production of playwright Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer For The French Republic” that, even with an outstanding 2025-26 season of Jewish-themed plays at GableStage ,stood out as the standout play of the season that one should not miss because of its gripping contemporary look at the consequences of contemporary anti-Semitism and its common ties with anti-Semitism 60 years earlier.

Who could predict when playwright Ted Malawer’s (co-writer of Emmy-nominated “Red, White & Royal Blue”) latest play was selected two years ago for Palm Beach Dramaworks’ new play reading festival run by Bruce Linser, the award-winning South Florida writer/actor/director would go on to direct the East Coast premiere (and only second staging) of EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL HAPPENS AT NIGHT at Island City Stage (ICS). The ideal LGBTQ-friendly venue. But I’m so glad he did! 

For better or for worse, 2026 is a hell of a time to find myself tasked with reviewing  The Crucible. 

To start with, I can easily say that I was thoroughly impressed by the precision, ambition, and artistry of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ take on the piece, which is something that I don’t want to lose sight of. 

From perfect weather to ideals of peace and justice, the mythical era of “Camelot” represents many of humanity’s highest and deepest aspirations. No wonder the perennially popular Lerner & Loewe musical (based on the legend of King Arthur in T.H. White’s 1958 novel, “The Once and Future King”) won four Tonys at its Broadway debut in 1960. The show followed book writer and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and music composer Frederick Loewe’s earlier smash hit, “My Fair Lady.” It also featured superstars Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, as Arthur and Guenevere, and Robert Goulet’s first Broadway role, as Lancelot.  

As a short disclaimer, I must say I am very familiar with PPTOPA as I was the drama teacher at a nearby high school. I have witnessed strong family ties, business professionals, government electees, former students and friends support and perform there. I have also witnessed the evolution of its growth. Starting in its humble roots using community performers and retired professionals at Walter C. Young Community Center, PPTOPA has grown into a professional force at the Susan B. Katz River of Grass Theatre. It took 30 years to make this notable transition, a challenge and growth that is duly noted. I applaud its determination and perseverance.