Ca-Caw! Ca-Caw!

Miami’s stage performance scene is studded with mainstream Broadway aspirants, edgy hip-hop-inspired companies, and award-winning thee-ay-tah types who sometimes take themselves too seriously. And then there are the Crystal Parrot Players, an intimate nonprofit troupe that treats performance as a labor of love. Founded by artistic director Sandra Riley and...

By Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik

August 21, 2008

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Miami’s stage performance scene is studded with mainstream Broadway aspirants, edgy hip-hop-inspired companies, and award-winning thee-ay-tah types who sometimes take themselves too seriously. And then there are the Crystal Parrot Players, an intimate nonprofit troupe that treats performance as a labor of love. Founded by artistic director Sandra Riley and Bahamian artist Alton Lowe, the group aims to improve cultural connections between Miami, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas through creative performances. See what we mean during this weekend’s premiere performances of Animal and Monster, two different solo dance-theater pieces developed, choreographed, and performed by Ana Mendez and Teresa Barcelo.

Mendez’s Animal finds her expressing tantrumlike emotions to an apparently inspiring inner soundtrack, all while plowing “through space under a flowing cassette-tape ribbon wig.” Barcelo’s Monster tells the story of Goy and Birl and what happens when they decide they like each other. Expect the unusual at the Riviera Theater. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults and are available at www.rivieratheatermiami.net.
Sat., Aug. 23, 2008

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