Since its modest beginnings back in 1984 as a little thing called Books by the Bay, neither wind nor rain nor threat of hurricane has been enough to knock the Miami Book Fair International off its course to becoming one of the biggest and best (if not the biggest and…
Corvette cult congregates in the Keys SAT 11/6 A timeline of major religious events around the globe would include the crucifixion of Christ around A.D. 30, Mohammed’s return to Mecca in 628, the Protestant Reformation beginning in 1517, and for many, June 30, 1953: the day the first Corvette rolled…
Gear up for a wet hike SUN 11/7 Full of animal magnetism, the Big Cypress National Preserve becomes even more mesmeric with autumn’s cooler weather. During an A.D. Barnes Park Swamp Tromp at this time one year ago, eco tourists spotted deer, otters, snakes, alligators, turtles, and a variety of…
Religious Riddle SAT 11/6 The Bible says: “Judge not lest ye be judged.” But then there’s: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” Jeez,…
Ballet is back with a bang FRI 11/5 After nineteen seasons of bringing high culture to the Magic City, the directors of the Miami City Ballet know what the people want to see: passion, fluid beauty, and spectacle. With this season’s opening program, the dancers are ready to give you…
If South Florida theaters were planets, Miami’s Mad Cat would be off in a separate galaxy. The gritty, award-winning ensemble works out of a small performance space on lackluster Biscayne Boulevard, putting up shows that are unique to this region. They’re mostly about ordinary South Floridians with basic problems of…
Charles Busch’s 1984 camp classic Vampire Lesbians of Sodom began life as a cabaret act and famously went on to become one of off-Broadway’s longest-running hits. Though much of the play’s initial success had to do with the glamour and chutzpah of Busch himself — a nice Jewish boy with…
Just the Funny, like all companies of its type, is only as good as its performers, who must work with constantly shifting material. The actors, who perform at 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. every Saturday, provide constant amusement. Although the subject matter and jokes vary with each show, some of the…
Barrio Hollywood: The New Theatre’s latest world premiere has considerable potential: it’s not only a play about boxing, it’s also about Mexican-American culture, family loyalty and cross-cultural romance. To this add some imaginative staging by the New’s Rafael de Acha and evocative, colorful production design and all signs point to…
Nature. As an aesthetic theme, it just might be to the current artistic moment what the “body” was for much of the Nineties: a conflicted, embattled zone over which partisans squabble, draw lines in the sand, and constantly redefine the terms of the battle itself. One thing is clear. Nature…
De Ida y Vuelta: This show presents eleven artists of Cuban descent who traveled to and worked in Spain before settling in Miami. According to the curator, two themes differentiate the works: humor and the sheer diversity of themes. Yovani Bauta, Julio Antonio, and Arturo Rodriguez have in common their…
THU 4 Prepare to pay homage to the first Cuban ever to be nominated for a Tony Award. The University of Miami’s Casa Bacardi will host an exhibit featuring the Art Deco paintings of Cuban-born artist Randy Barcel. See his costume-design sketches for the Broadway hits Jesus Christ Superstar and…
Comedy tends to bubble up from deep anxiety or perhaps even worse. “The secret source of humor,” Mark Twain once remarked, “is not joy but sorrow.” Hence, Miklat, Joshua Ford’s 2002 comedy about… well, personal angst, moral confusion, poison gas attacks, and war in the Mideast. Despite — or perhaps…
Miami Light Project launched its sixteenth season Saturday night at the Gusman Center for the Arts downtown, with Laurie Anderson’s The End of the Moon. The season continues November 11 with Haiti’s Beethova Obas, and soars all over town with such diverse offerings as the local debut of Japan’s Rinko-Gun…
Amadeus: Peter Shaffer’s play about the life and death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a satisfying potboiler. John Felix is splendid as the villainous Antonio Salieri, a hard-working but mediocre composer who seethes in jealousy and despair when Mozart effortlessly proves his musical genius. Director Richard Jay Simon ably stages…
As our late-capitalist society grows in complexity and sophistication, so does the competition for our attention. One obvious symptom is today’s information overload — on TV, the written media, instruction manuals, corporate logos, and traffic signs. There is so much meaning to deal with: implicit, deferred, cryptic, or plain silly…
De Ida y Vuelta: This show presents eleven artists of Cuban descent who traveled to and worked in Spain before settling in Miami. According to the curator, two themes differentiate the works: humor and the sheer diversity of themes. Yovani Bauta, Julio Antonio, and Arturo Rodriguez have in common their…
It takes mighty big stones to name your horror movie Saw, knowing full well that that’s popular fan-slang for Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a movie worshiped by gorehounds worldwide. When you take that name for your own, you had damn well better deliver a memorable, worthy contender. First-time feature…
How does Mike Leigh do it? The years pass; film fashions come and go; Hollywood churns its commercial pap. Careers sparkle; others fizz; whom the gods would destroy, they first make famous. Meanwhile, over in England, Leigh makes his films, tracking the intricacies of the lower-class family with the patience…
Consult your doctor! Bring your seat belts! The 13 greatest shocks of all time! This is no public service announcement from the National Safety Board, but a warning to all who dare enter the realm of the Miami Beach Cinematheque this Halloween weekend for a trio of events. Those also…
Learning that the great drummer Tommy Lee has written an autobiography and is the subject of a reality television show set at the University of Nebraska instantly conjured up an old college football joke. A Nebraska senior, caught up in the emotion of standing before the gigantic statue of the…
A tour of Miami’s darkest crevices FRI 10/29 Local historian Dr. Paul George, whose birthday is on Halloween, will be shaking his booty all weekend long in a hell of a wicked way. Friday night he leads a flashlight walking tour of the City of Miami Cemetery. On Saturday afternoon,…
