Parents who trip over toys scattered on the floor and scream at their children to put them away might not realize that those little doodads could inspire their tykes later in their lives as artists. In the hands of a child, Barbie may seem to be nothing more than a…
Thursday 6/17 You’ve seen the more than 140 dazzling images of hulking machinery and technological wonders that make up the exhibition “Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design, 1927-1936.” Now you’re left wondering how in the world anyone puts a major display like that together. How to decide what goes in…
FRI 6/18 Asked how long it took to build a theater for Miami Dade College’s drama program, Prometeo, actress/artistic director Teresa Maria Rojas unabashedly replies, “Thirty-three years!” On the telephone, Rojas’s eloquent and effusive Spanish is suddenly cut short by the dry pronouncement in English that Prometeo’s permanent home was…
SUN 6/20 Dads and dogs are typically two peas in a pod. They’re both known to urinate wherever they please, sniff the occasional butt, and frequently end up in the doghouse. So why not honor the strong ties that bind them this Father’s Day at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel…
NOW 24/7 Sue the city. Yes, that’s exactly what you should do if you already were a preadolescent or a teenager when the City of Miami Beach began work on the North Shore Park & Youth Center 10 long years ago. Bureaucrats and their harebrained scheme, er, “vision,” prevented you…
NOW 24/7 For the homeless, shelter is found in cardboard boxes and abandoned buildings. Meals are scraped from late-night rummaging through restaurant Dumpsters. The summer heat feels twice as hot and the hunger pangs are the only constant company. According to the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, there are more than 4000…
Back in 1999, the first time members of the South Beach Gay Men’s Chorus let their voices loose in our midst, the tenors, baritones, and basses were seen on Lincoln Road wearing red Santa hats, handing out lyric sheets, and exhorting passersby to sing along with a multilingual version of…
Thursday 6/10 Displacement, alienation, and the inevitable depression that arise from the state of being stateless are common afflictions among many new South Floridians. Two Cuban artists, Erman and Danny Ramirez, will explore their feelings of being strangers in a strange land in the show “Surviving Memories,” opening tonight from…
SAT 6/12 As artistic director of Miami’s Teatro Avante and the International Hispanic Theatre Festival, Mario Ernesto Sanchez is finding out that in a post-9/11 world, running such a festival requires some psychic abilities. Who would have guessed Spain’s government would abruptly change hands, thereby affecting a Spanish theater group’s…
THU 6/10 Who is the most dangerous man in the world? In his new book, Rogue State: America at War with the World, author/journalist T.D. Allman bestows that dubious distinction on President George W. Bush, not on Osama bin Laden as most folks would think. A distinguished foreign correspondent who…
SUN 6/13 Everyone knows the tale of the goose that laid the golden egg. As a conduit to wealth, at least in that legend, geese seem to get plenty of respect. Running far behind are ducks. In real life, they’re the dopey birds that float on water but can barely…
Thursday 6/3 In her show Reno: Rebel Without a Pause, Manhattan’s edgy performer, Reno, takes on the global political situation and skewers it with her unique brand of feminist-lesbian outrage. Whatever you do, don’t call this New York broad hysterical. Part comedian, part monologist, Reno has been known for saying…
THU 6/3 The recent re-emergence of mauled illusionist Roy Horn underscored one of the reasons that magic has regained some of its former glory with blasé audiences: A performance might still turn deadly. Real danger is almost absent from the litigious entertainment world except in the strange, old-fashioned corners of…
WED 6/9 Making the foolhardy move of vacationing in Colombia may not be a bad idea if you have Steven Dudley as your guide. Or maybe it is since it’s unlikely the welcome wagon is ready to greet him again. Before gracing our town with his hard-nosed presence, the former…
NOW 24/7 Last year’s hurricane season was devastating. Of course, no major storm even threatened our little metropolis, and nary a gale sent worry-warts scampering for bottled water. The only dangerous weather was the hot air blown by City of Miami Police Chief John Timoney and Mayor Manny(!) talking up…
It’s an unforgettable black-and-white image. A silver eagle juts from the side of a skyscraper who-knows-how-many feet up. Bathed in sunlight, a short-haired woman perched atop the bird, hands on a large-format camera, stares imperiously into the distance. Taken in 1932 by Oscar Graubner, the photo is of a photographer…
Thursday 5/27 Since February literary types have been reading, discussing, and analyzing Edwidge Danticat’s novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, as part of the One Book, One Community reading initiative. The three-month process, run by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College, comes to an end tonight as…
SAT 5/29 If you had a dog, you’d name him Nick and you’d love him, and you’d hug him, and you’d squeeze him. But draconian rules mandate you can’t have a bird or a turtle, let alone a little furry 4-legged friend, where you live. This weekend, though, you can…
NOW 24/7 The violence was appalling. The coverup was scandalous. The acquittal by an all-white jury in Tampa of four white Miami-Dade County police officers charged with murdering black insurance agent Arthur Lee McDuffie was simply outrageous. For long-time Miamians, McDuffie’s name is synonymous with racist cops and brutality. It…
Run-D.M.C.’s pristine Adidas, Biz Markie’s big diamond-encrusted nameplate, Flava Flav’s bigger watch, giant gold rope chains, enormous boom boxes, Futura 2000, Doug E. Fresh and his Get Fresh Crew, MCs, DJs, B-boys, and graffiti. What does it all bring to mind? The beginnings of hip-hop in the late 1970s and…
Thursday 5/20 Last time we checked, NBC news guy/Meet the Press host Tim Russert was not Beaver Cleaver. But by the sound of his new book, Big Russ and Me, which he’s been plugging on every show except Ricki Lake, Maury Povich, and TRL, it sure as heck seems as…
SAT 5/22 You’re no cynic, but you must admit you loathe the song “What a Wonderful World.” And why not? It’s only human to be sick of the Louis Armstrong version of the tune, which has been featured incessantly in movies, commercials, and on easy listening jazz stations. In fact…
