Monday, October 26, 2009

Mondays are Dark

Tonight is the closing party for this year's South Florida Theatre Festival. Join the fun at Revolution Live in downtown Fort Lauderdale, from 7:30pm to 11:30pm. Free to SouthFloridaTheatre.com (Theatre League) members, it's $20 at the door for everyone else. And don't forget AisleSay on wrpb iRadio at 2pm.

A Masterful Alternative
The Palm Beach Daily News discusses an alternative to the party in Fort Lauderdale: the Master Playwright Series at Palm Beach DramaWorks. Monday and Tuesday start with an overview of Tennessee Williams. It's a lot more than a play reading.

Purple Reign
The Miami Herald has a story about The Color Purple, holding court at the Arsht Center, but only for a week. Don't miss it!

The Hubbub on the Bubblin'
It wasn't a simple matter to bring back Bubbling Brown Sugar, the 1976 Broadway hit, according to BroadwayWorld.com:
"Most of the material had been lost. The only piece of music still in existence was an incomplete piano conductor score." - Dan Kelley

Ground Up for Halloween
The Drama Queen tells us that Ground Up and Rising has a treat for Halloween; it's presenting The Pillowman at ArtSouth. A week later, the bring it up to Miami Beach.

She wasn't Babs.
BroadwayWorld.com reports that the Maltz Jupiter Theatre will be presenting Fanny Brice: The Real Funny Girl. But this isn't the fluff piece that made Streisand a star.

New Faces in the Neighborhood
I was all set to do a piece on all the new theatre companies opening in South Florida, only to discover that Conundrum Stages has just done exactly that.

We though the Post was "post-Hap"
Hap Erstein has a slew of articles up on the Palm Beach Post in the last week. Not sure what's going on with that. Did the Post suddenly realize how empty their paper has been? Did someone get sick (or fired?) Enquiring minds want to know. Besides the review of Love is Love, there's an outlook piece that mentions Two Jews and the DramaWorks playreadings and the South Florida Theatre Fetival closing party, a review of A Doll's House (his second- he also reviewed for the ArtsPaper), and an article summarizing his Post reviews of A Doll's House and Love is Love. It's a welcome change for the Post. We hope it sticks.

Oh, so NOW they have an Opinion
The Sun Sentinel's coverage of theatre has become virtually non-existent; lacking the interest to even send out a qualified theatre critic, their Stage section consists mostly of stale, out-of-date-stories. Who still wants to read a review from a show that closed over a month ago?



So it seems to the Theatre Scene that it takes no small amount of gall for Sun Sentinel columnist Stephen Goldstein to complain that the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is run like a 21st Century performing arts center instead of a 19th Century opera house.
...imagine my shock and disbelief when I saw people bringing food and drinks into its main theatre. I couldn't believe my eyes.
And it's not just concessions that annoy this proper Victorian:
I won't get into a dress code at The Broward Center. That would take a whole column by itself and would really be pushing it. Again, I couldn't believe how people went out in public, let alone to a night at the theatre.
Perhaps this old codger saw - GASP! - a lady's ankle! Horrors!
Of course, this column is about more than a glass of wine here, a hot dog there: It's really about the gradual loss of standards of conduct when people go into public places — and about organizations that don't have the backbone to enforce proper behavior.
Stevie, the proper conduct of a major metropolitan newspaper is to send out a qualified reviewer to critique all the big shows coming through, not to send some hopelessly ancient fogie to whine because everyone around him is having a great time. When you can get your own house in order, then we'll give a damn about your opinions on how local theatres run theirs. And in the meantime, please be quiet while I enjoy my fresh-baked cookie and glass of merlot in my orchestra seat for Legally Blonde. Why? Because they won't let me do that during the Opera or Ballet, that's why.

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