Birthdays and funerals are more than just places to pick up dates. You get front row seats to the witness the polar opposites of human emotion. That’s what fascinates choreographer Rosie Herrera. Fitting then that at her new piece, Pity Party, “is about grief and loss.” But that doesn’t mean…
Earlier today, Michael Miller posted his thoughts on the new Frank Gehry campus of the New World Center. And we agree, those damn blue and white speckled seats are ugly and look more appropriate for an airport gate seating area than a performance hall. Thing is, though, during a performance…
Since 1985, you’ve seen this abrasive magic/comedy duo everywhere — from Fear Factor to their successful Showtime and Emmy-nominated show Penn & Teller: Bullshit! to the pilot episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. And now you don’t need to turn on your television or buy a ticket to Sin City…
A novelist, journalist, and blogger walk into a bar. The novelist asks for Johnny Walker Blue, neat. The journalist asks for a beer, a Heineken from the tap. Just as the blogger is about to order, he thinks about it and instead slaps the bartender, insults the novelist, and spits…
Cultist classed it up Saturday night at the Arsht Center for the Florida Grand Opera’s second production of the 2011 season, Jacques Offenbach’s three-act opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. And since it was this correspondent’s first operatic excursion, we took full advantage of FGO’s pre-show lecture conducted by Justin Moss,…
Wow. We never thought we’d be saying this (we really, really didn’t), but here it is: We have a completely new-found respect for strippers.After having frequented several strip clubs in our day, we had never really thought about the athleticism involved in riding a pole. Our lack of observational prowess…
Whenever you hear, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”, it’s rarely followed by “I’m in the lumberyard you crazy, Capulet.” But we do things a little differently in Miami. So when Shakespeare in Miami’s production of Romeo and Juliet was booted from Peacock Park in the Grove the company had…
Written and directed by Jane Prowse, A Round-Heeled Woman is based on Jane Juska’s 2003 memoir A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance. Sharon Gless, whom you might recognize as the neurotic chain-smoking mom in hit TV show Burn Notice, turns in a candid performance as Jane,…
Say you’re one of those people who gets dragged, kicking if not screaming, to dance events who would rather lie down on a bed of nails listening to a Sarah Palin speech than sit through an evening of contemporary dancing. Kate Weare might change your mind.Check out her New York-based…
The Tales of Hoffmann, presented by the Florida Grand Opera and opening at the Arsht Center Saturday night, is a 19th century, three-act opera by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach. And, as it is with the best operas, the stirring tale involves forbidden love, ominous symbolism and, of course, tragic untimely…
What does a nun, a hyena, bartending aliens, and Ted Danson have in common? Whoopi Goldberg. Caryn Elaine Johnson — who revealed last Saturday night that her stage name is a result of the comedienne “having a lot of gas” — has had quite a career. It’s been 30 years…
Known as the “mob’s accountant,” Meyer Lansky was financier who worked with golden era gangsters like Charles “Lucky” Luciano and childhood friend “Bugsy” Siegel. Though often portrayed as a secondary character in Hollywood mob hits, Lansky might have been the most influential crime boss of the entire Twentieth Century, helping…
In A Round-Heeled Woman, Jane Juska is a 66-year old divorced schoolteacher who hasn’t had sex in 30-odd years and thinks it’s about time to get some nooky. So she puts out an ad in the New York Review of Books that gets straight to the point: “Before I turn…
Whether your comedy taste involves straight-up slapstick with a side of sledge-hammered watermelon à la Gallagher or dark, clever, awkwardness spiked by silliness like Andy Kaufman’s Foreign Man singing the Mighty Mouse theme, two community theaters in Coral Gables currently have performances sure to tickle (be it with a feather…
Have you always loved the play The Diary of Anne Frank but felt it was missing something — like a rubber chicken, whoopee cushion, or Hitler getting a pie in the face while Eva Braun slipped on a banana peel? Such was the thinking of performer Frannie Sheridan when she…
Miamian Annah Rondon used to manage a Christian church. Now she blogs full-time about sexperiments, the joy of eating ox tail, and duck boners. Maybe not the most intellectual or elegant topics, but definitely amusing and entertaining. Her blog, Red Means Go, is hypnotic with its simple stick figure cartoons…
Hundreds of thousands of people showed up on the National Mall last October for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. We’re pretty sure most the attendees didn’t really believe they could ignite reasonableness in D.C. They just came to party with The Daily Show crew. So last night, while…
Named one of Variety’s 2009 comics to watch, Wyatt Cenac has crept into the national consciousness thanks to his gig as a correspondent on The Daily Show, earning an Emmy for his contributions on the writing staff. Not content with resting on his Emmy winning laurels, Wyatt is in town…
Ballet isn’t all pointy objects and swan feathers, it’s also a visually fascinating, physically challenging art form. Now, thanks to Miami City Ballet, it’s also a nifty night on the town. MCB’s young professionals group, Upper Room, offers the sweet double deal of watching a unique performance and finishing off…
Nowadays, every TV viewer has an idea of what a dance audition looks like: a series of technical feats to a snippet of a pop tune in front of a cranky trio of judges, one of whom might burst into tears at any moment. But this weekend, young dancers are…
I am moving to New York City this week and I’m sad to go. From seats in the gloom of South Florida theaters, I’ve seen and heard extraordinary things. I’m forever grateful to those who enabled my constant attendance over the last four years — the directors, actors, set designers,…
A sleepwalker, cowboy, and a baker’s dozen walk into a saloon… Actually, they walk into the Ziff Ballet Opera House starting this Friday as the Miami City Ballet celebrates 25 years of dance with its second program of the 2011 season. The MCB Program II will feature three pieces –…
