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Thinking Cap Theatre's The Rover

By: Michelle F. Solomon atca ffcc on .

rover boy and girl postcard front w granny quotexxxIn her book, A Room Of One's Own, Virginia Woolf credits 17th century writer Aphra Behn as the woman who earned all females the right to speak their minds. While Behn might not be as much of a household name as Woolf, her influence as England's first professional female playwright is without compare.

Behn's play, The Rover (written in 1677), with its Restoration period language (imagine plenty of 'tis, 'twill and 'twas) is the stuff of Royal Shakespeare productions, but Thinking Cap Theatre's artistic...

Rise Up Gallery - Opening to the Artistic Heart

By: Irene Sperber on .

HOPE1zzzzzHOPE by David McCauley - photo provided by David McCauley



The dictionary meaning of rise up is to surface, ascend, bubble up, intumesce. Rise Up Gallery is creating an excellent translation with the grand opening of their new Wynwood space on January 18, clearly countering the strict definition of their concern on paralysis as immobility or powerlessness.

This...

Cirque du Soleil Brings Totem To Miami

By: Michelle F. Solomon atca ffcc on .

HoopDancer2aaaaHoop DancerAny day, 65 trailers will careen down the Florida Turnpike headed for Miami's Sun Life Stadium. Yes, Cirque du Soleil is coming to town and it's quite a spectacle. It will be difficult to miss the Grand Chapiteau next to Sun Life Stadium. This is Cirque's version of a circus Big Top an 11,500 pound canvas that stands 66-feet high and seats 2,600 people.

For an almost four-week run, Cirque du Soleil will entertain audiences with one of its newest touring shows. Totem has only been out on the road for three years, young as far as shows go for the almost 30-year-old Canadian Circus of the Sun.

The evolutionary tale traces the journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its current status. Cirque's description of Totem says: "Somewhere between science and legend, Totem explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential."

The Best Movies of 2012

By: Ruben Rosario ffcc on .

There seems to be a growing notion among the nation's reviewers that the movie year coming to a close next week was redeemed by a solid fall season. But while you might recognize a couple of these notable late-in-the-game entries on the following list, their release hardly begins to compensate for one of the most miserable movie summers in recent memory. Documentarians brought their A-game in a top-drawer year for nonfiction cinema – a big thank you to directors like Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles) and Kevin Macdonald (Marley) – but grade-A popcorn entertainment was astonishingly in short supply. My colleague Michelle Solomon will undoubtedly thank Skyfall director Sam Mendes for bucking that trend. My inner comic book geek, on the other hand, will be forever grateful to Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) and Joss Whedon (Marvel's The...

Top 10 Movies of 2012

By: Michelle F. Solomon atca ffcc on .

ParaNorman1xxxParanorman: Elaine Stritch, Kodi Smit-McPheeA president, a spy, terrorists and aristocrats, a former beauty queen and a rich guy, a quadriplegic poet and a depressed housewife, a cartoon kid who sees dead people, and a master of suspense, all helped to create some magical alchemy for the best movies of 2012.

Here's a Top 10 list:

10. Paranorman – Two similar 3D stop...

The Satellite Fairs of Art Basel

By: Heike Dempster on .

american hero 2 - scope miami - photo by robert dempster american hero 2 - scope miami - photo by Robert Dempster Satellite fairs are a big part of the Art Basel Miami experience and have become part of what many call the Miami Art Week. When the art world descends upon Miami every December collectors, artists, gallerists, art enthusiasts and everyone curious crowd the Miami Beach Convention Center, the streets of Wynwood and the Design District as well as the various tents in Midtown and South Beach.

Art Basel 2012: It’s a Wrap

By: Irene Sperber on .


IMG 5329As Art Basel comes to a close, we applaud all the sleepless nights, the exhaustion, the erratic nutritional inhalation and Olympic-quality blisters...but mostly we are humbled to have all the world's stage at our feet; often wildly exciting innovation and concepts, and of course the occasional controversy. One thing is certain, there’s way too much input for one week to handle; our heads are swimming in images of contemporary ecstasy, whether you managed the storm of major art fairs or chose the opportunity to poke in corners of lesser knowns trotting out their best and deepest angst for all the world to behold, review and, hopefully, elevate to rock stardom.

We all had a custom fashioned...

Art Basel 2012: Drum Roll Please...

By: Irene Sperber on .

collins ParkCollins Park: Los Carpenteros bar parkAs Art Basel starts its engines, construction and last minute tweaking is going on in every corner of this fair land. I ventured out the week before on several occasions to see what I could see.

While many of South Florida’s denizens take imbibing to a fine art form, Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 had Cuban artist duo Los Carpenteros create a functional circular bar. Since art peering is thirsty work and our climate makes us prone to dehydration, art patrons need to keep all this in mind. The bar...

"Closer"

By: Heike Dempster on .

TypoeTypoeFor Art Basel 2012 Anthony Spinello offers his latest curatorial project “Closer” featuring 15 artists’ interpretations and investigations of closeness and relationships.

“Closer” at Spinello Projects is the continuation of a dialogue started in the previous projects, “Join” in April in Miami and “Perfect Lovers” at White Box in New York. The work in the group show addresses ideas surrounding the interactions between artists, lovers, strangers and relatives, whether in a single moment or throughout their entire lives. Each of...

Sound Bites from Miami Book Fair International 2012

By: Irene Sperber on .

WolfManny Diaz, Thomas Wolfe, MItchell Kaplan The 29th Miami Book Fair International came to a close on Sunday, November 18th, after a week of brain-stimulating information. Audiences were awake, alive and occasionally feisty in support and involvement with often controversial and usually riveting writers and subject matter. Going back to the drivel of television’s make-pretend world is going to be a stretch now that we have been reintroduced to the world of thoughtful and intelligent discourse. I was surprised to see that what appeared to be a third of hands go up in one jam-packed lecture hall when the author asked how many...

The Last Laugh – Glamorous Girls of Comedy at The Fort Lauderdale Comedy Club

By: Anna Collins on .

glamorous girls_of_comedyThe glamorous girls of comedySaturday, November 17th, marked the last night for the much loved, but short-lived, Fort Lauderdale Comedy Club. Lasting just over a year, the FLCC, which was located on Oakland Park Blvd., in Ft. Lauderdale, was operated by former Californian/New Yorker, Pete O’Neil and his partner, Tomi Maugeri. The club was a favorite amongst comics locally and nationally. It was a respite from the bigger, more politically structured comedy clubs, as comics could drop by, say hello and most likely be allowed to do a guest set...

Pop-Up Piano Miami 2012, the Key to Excitement

By: Irene Sperber on .

CAPTION - Arnaud Pages Piano xxx Arnaud Page's Piano Tulips pop up in the spring; pianos pop up in Miami during December’s Art Basel week (Dec 6-9th).   The second annual Pop-Up Piano Miami 2012 brings together many groups and talents working harmoniously to add an element of artful surprise and good deeds to the Basel experience.   Whether you merely stumble upon a Pop Up event or meticulously plot your perfectly balanced mixture of culture and frivolity, these occasions will pump up the volume on your week.

The Art of the Work Place

By: Anna Collins on .

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Recently I had the opportunity to visit a business that has abjured the typical “corporate” environment of stuffy suits and bland workspaces and instead has sought to create a stimulating, interesting and dare I say, fun atmosphere for its employees. The...

Robert Swedroe, Architect/Artist

By: Roberta Klein on .

While most of his peers are retired and traveling around the world the venerable Miami architect 468 Peach BlossomsRobert Swedroe has chosen a different path. Not only is he still practicing architecture but he is passionately immersed in creating an astounding number of dynamic, colorful collages.

Some of the impetus to immerse himself so fully into art in recent years was the result of the Great Recession on his architecture business. During decades of specializing in multi-residential architecture, his firm had been acclaimed by developers and end-users for product excellence. Swedroe’s innovative, efficient...

Sittin’ On Top of the Bay: The leap from MAM to PAMM

By: Irene Sperber on .

 

MAM constructionCurrent construction of the new Perez Art Museum Miami (photo by Daniel Azoulay Photography)Miami is the only major US city without a world class art museum.  However there is hope for picture perfect cultural status in the near future. We’re in the final countdown to a new Miami Art Museum; completion is set for late 2013. 

Pritzker Prize–winning Swiss Architectural firm Herzog and de Meuron are no strangers to re-fashioning our horizon. Miami has engaged them for other mind...

The Miami Book Fair International: Now Read This

By: Irene Sperber on .

2012 offical book fair poster xxx2012 offical book fair poster Apparently if one reads regularly, you’ll be neurologically better off than those who listen to audio or video renditions of the same information. Ergo...time to turn off those techno toys and hunker down with a good book.  As luck would have it, our high season parade of events is led by the always wonderful Miami Book Fair International, November 11th -18th.  Stacks of terrific reads will be introduced during this week of gifted wordsmiths of all stripes and dots.

The excitement continues to...

Tom Wahl

By: Roger Martin atca on .

WAHL 1Tom Wahl“No, none of my ancestors was hanged for sheep stealing,” Tom Wahl insisted, and of course he laughed.  Tom laughs a lot.  He has that happy facility of making other people think they are the world’s wittiest. 

We had been talking for 30 minutes, by phone, unfortunately, as he was deep in rehearsals for  “I Am My Own Wife”, Zoetic Stage’s present offering at the Arsht Center downtown.

I’ve known Tom for over 20 years; we worked together in, I believe...

Desperate Living

By: Ruben Rosario ffcc on .

NeighboringSounds1 xxxSebastiao Formiga and Irma BrownHere's the first thing you should know about Neighboring Sounds: It's not about the favelas. The handful of film imports from Brazil that have connected with a stateside audience outside the festival circuit tend to center on the struggles of the poor and downtrodden as they confront the harsh realities of their working-class surroundings. (Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands, alas, remains a distant memory.) It's safe to say that this recent arrival, which screens this weekend at the Bill Cosford Cinema and the Miami Beach Cinematheque, is not that...

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

By: Marla E. Schwartz on .

2.Vizcaya - view from the east image by Bill SumnerxxxVizcaya - view from the east - image by Bill SumnerMiami is the place to go if you want some fun in the sun and frolicking on the beach, but it’s also full of historical places that are worthy of your attention. There are a little more than a dozen of these notable historical landmarks in Miami, but the one treasure that stands out foremost in the minds of many visitors and residents alike is Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, located at 3251 South Miami Avenue in the north Coconut Grove area, is one of the most magnificent museums in the continental United States, as it contains an extremely important collection of artwork and historic artifacts unique among such collections. Additionally, the glorious exterior of the main house was constructed with local coquina limestone, yet has the timelessness of Florence, the gaiety of the Rococo and the glory of Rome combined in one grand design.