Beau Higgins - Page 124

I was prepared to have difficulty sitting through ROCK OF AGES, the musical that opened at the Broward Center Tuesday night. Hard rock is not 'my thing,' and I had heard this show described as a celebration of 1980s rock music and also as being 'Mamma Mia' for dudes. Thank the theatrical gods, they got it right.

A show such as 'Beauty And The Beast' cannot be done with sets and costumes that seem to have been bought from the local party supply store. Nor can it employ performers who do not yet have their Equity cards. Going 'on the cheap' can be okay for some shows. Not for this one. Not for a stage adaptation of the only animated film ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (prior to animated films getting their own category, that is.)

Adding big time heat to an already exciting smash Broadway theatrical season, ROCK OF AGES, a funny, feel good- love story told through the hit songs of such iconic rockers as Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar and Whitesnake, will heighten the joy of the holiday season when Tony award Nominee Constantine Maroulis of 'American Idol fame,' recreates his original Broadway role as Drew, opening Tuesday, December 28 playing through Sunday, January 9, presented by Florida Theatrical Association at Broward Center for the Performing arts. Coming direct from Broadway, Maroulis, who Rolling Stone declared 'a perfect lead,' will reprise his acclaimed performance in the First National Tour of the five-time Tony Award nominated smash-hit musical.

DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Miami as part of the BROADWAY IN MIAMI 2010 2011 season, presented by the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Broadway Across America-Miami and presenting sponsor Bank of America. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on the stage of the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center from December 28, 2010 to January 2, 2011, with a special New Year's Eve performance on December 30 at 6:30 p.m.

Now celebrating its Fifth Anniversary Season, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in partnership with AEG presents a very special addition to the 2010-2011 COMEDY PLANET SERIES. On March 28, 2010 at 8 p.m. KATHY GRIFFIN will present a racy, raucous, rambunctious evening of stand-up comedy in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall.

'The Lunchbox Theatre Series got a makeover this season,' said Florida Rep Education Director, Rachael Endrizzi. 'Not only are we performing onstage in the Historic Arcade Theatre, but we have a new lunch partner, The Morgan House - and we've added a whole new component with an interactive workshop that will really enhance each child's theatre experience. We opened the Lunchbox Theatre Series in November to record breaking numbers, and we're very excited to bring Amelia Earhart to life for Southwest Florida audiences.'

SIGHT & SOUND A Conversation about the Power of Photography & Poetry Tied-in with two major festivals in Palm Beach County in January, this entertaining and thoughtful event will include international conservation and nature photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum, interviewed by Fatima NeJame, the executive director of the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, which will be hosting the 16th annual FOTOfusion, January 11-15.

More than 50 years ago one musical changed theatre forever. Now it's back on Broadway mesmerizing audiences once again. From the first note to the final breath, WEST SIDE STORY soars as the greatest love story of all time. Directed by its two-time Tony Award winning librettist Arthur Laurents, the show remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. The new Broadway cast album of WEST SIDE STORY recently won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway's finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as 'Something's Coming,' 'Tonight,' 'America,' 'I Feel Pretty' and 'Somewhere.'

Clint Holmes is more than a singer. His powerful voice and magnetic stage presence embrace the upbeat side of life. His first break came when Joan Rivers invited him to be her sidekick and announcer on the now defunct The Late Show. This was followed by a two-year stint on Entertainment Tonight for which he served as their musical feature and event correspondent, and later landed his own Emmy winning talk/variety show entitled, New York at Night. Among his various recordings are the Top Ten smash hit Playground In My Mind (My Name is Michael). A Las Vegas favorite, Clint Holmes was selected as 'Best Kept Secret' by Las Vegas Life Magazine, and 'Best Singer' (two years in a row), 'Best All-Around Las Vegas Performer' and 'Favorite Male Las Vegan' by the Review-Herald.

New plays by celebrated playwrights and longtime Florida Stage collaborators Carter W. Lewis and the legendary Israel Horovitz along with the award-winning Deborah Zoe Laufer and rising-star South Florida playwrights, Christopher Demos Brown and Andrew Rosendorf will all be featured at Florida Stage's fifth annual 1st Stage New Works Festival. It is now a three-day weekend festival, which includes staged readings of seven new American plays, kicking off with a reception on Thursday, February 3, 2011. 1st Stage workshop readings will be presented on Friday, Saturday and Sunday February 4, 5 and 6, along with a keynote address. Previous keynote speakers include John Guare, Israel Horovitz and Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman. 1st Stage Festival passes are available as well as individual tickets for individual events.

The new comedy acts as a precursor to the events of A Raisin in the Sun to tell an unforgettable new story about race and real estate in America. Act I opens in 1959, as a white couple sells their home to an African American family (the same home and same African American family as the subject matter for Loraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama), causing uproar in their middle-class Chicago neighborhood. Act II transports us to the same house in 2009, when the stakes are different, but the debate is strikingly familiar. Amid lightning-quick repartee, the characters scramble for control of the situation, revealing how possibly the language has changed, but the conversation has remained eerily the same.

Highlights Include Michael Bolton, Vic Damone, Michael Feinstein, Roberta Flack, Dudu Fisher, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine, Peking Acrobats, Don Rickles & Joan Rivers, Jake Shimabukuro, The Temptations & The Four Tops, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Forever Plaid, Tango Inferno, NETworks Presents Disney's Beauty & The Beast & The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein

Celebrate New Year's Eve with GableStage Special 9pm Performance Friday, December 31st then join Sharon Gless and the Cast for a Champagne Buffet in the Prado Room of the Biltmore Hotel

MIAMI CITY BALLET continues its 25th Anniversary Season in South Florida with Program II and the Company Premiere of Twyla Tharp's exhilarating Baker's Dozen. Program II also features George Balanchine's haunting La Sonnambula and buoyant Western Symphony. The Opus One Orchestra will play, under the baton of maestro Gary Sheldon, 42 to 56 musicians strong, supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge.

A season full of entertainment and cultural enrichment for the entire family will be presented by South Florida's award-winning theatre for young audiences. In its 2010-2011 season, Actors' Playhouse Musical Theatre for Young Audiences presents a unique line-up of shows related to classic children's literary works.

Written by A.R. Gurney, author of Love Letters, A Cocktail Hour and Florida Rep hits, The Middle Ages and Indian Blood, Sylvia follows Greg and Kate, two recent empty-nesters, through a mid-life crisis of sorts. After years of blissful suburban life, they move to Manhattan as Kate's career picks up and Greg's winds down. Things get interesting when Greg brings home a frisky young blonde named Sylvia. She quickly becomes the object of his misplaced affection, and a definite 'bone' of contention between Greg and his wife.

Take the classic Nutcracker that everyone knows and loves. Move it into the 21st Century. Infuse it with today's music and dance styles. What you end up with is 'The Not So Nutcracker,' a modern retelling of Clara, her wonderful Christmas Present, and the joys that lie ahead while visions of Sugarplums dance in her head.

Just in time for holiday vacation, 'CATS' the 'now and forever' show as it came to be known, the show that revolutionized musical theatre, is coming to Broward Center for the Performing Arts for 5 performances December 17 to 19, 2010. Tickets are available at the Broward Center Box Office Monday to Friday 10AM - 5 PM, Saturday and Sunday 12 Noon - 5pm and 1 ½ hours prior to show times; or online at www.broadwayacrossamerica.com; www.browardcenter.org; via phones 954-462-0222 or 800-982-2787. Groups of 15 or more are invited to call 954-626-7814 or 954-462-0222.

West Palm Beach's longest residing professional theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, continues its 11th anniversary season with the Southeast premiere of Mark St. Germain's play, 'Freud's Last Session' on Friday, December 17th (8PM) at their intimate downtown theatre (322 Banyan Boulevard). Special priced preview performances are slated for December 15th & 16th (8PM) and the production will play through February 6th.

'Broadway Bound,' Simon's semi-autobiographical play follows the fledgling careers of hopeful ‘professional comedy writers' Stanley and Eugene Jerome as they try to break into the world of show business while trying to cope with their parents' continuing marital strife. When their ‘comedy' material is finally broadcast on the radio for the first time, their family's reaction is anything but laudatory.