Many years ago, when Atlantic Records was starting up in a New York apartment with the help of a loan from a dentist, Ruth Brown was signed to sing for the new label. Ruth Brown could sing the feathers off a bird, and she cut a number of excellent tracks,…
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…
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…
SAT 6/5 The excuses are wearing thin. With 1300 miles of hiking trails that make up the Florida National Scenic Trail, running from deep in the south of the state up through the Panhandle, and under perpetually sunny skies, there’s no reason not to lace up those hiking boots and…
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…
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…
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…
There are few sure things in theater, as in life, but a sex comedy from funnyman Steve Martin performed by a first-rate cast should be one of those. Sad to say, The Underpants, now in production at the Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables, is something of a disappointment. Martin’s adaptation…
As much as Miami has grown as an arts capital, there still is much to be done. The art explosion fostered by the migration of Art Basel has been terrific. Yet our city will not really advance unless we can sustain our art development, and this will not happen without…
i am the resurrection: Works by Daniel Arsham, Ian Cooper, Jay Heikes, and Rachel Howe circle cautiously around Goth culture and the spate of recent school shootings by teenagers. The works suggest the saturation of violence permeating contemporary life, and explore the twin afflictions of victimization and vengeance plaguing youth…
Those people who live in small towns, they’re not like you and me. So naive, so innocent. And adorably quirky. Why, they’ve got so many lovable quirks you just want to run up and hug ’em. Or, if you’re a filmmaker, perhaps you can make a movie about these simple…
Sitting through Raising Helen is an exercise in frustration, because somewhere inside this big heap of Hollywood nothing is a something (someone, actually) worth saving and savoring. Her name is Joan Cusack, always a supporting player but never a star, no matter her grace and warmth and charm even in…
Mention the name “Double R” to any semihip urbanite and they’ll know what you’re talking about: Ruff Ryders. The phenomenon was born in New York with Ruff Ryder Records, home label to hip-hop stars DMX, Eve, and LOX. But making music is just one facet of the organization. Ruff Ryders…
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…
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…
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…
FRI 5/28 Ed has got a problem. He is addicted to his meds, and doesn’t realize those little white pills have turned him from a mild-mannered schoolteacher into a raging megalomaniac with psychotic urges. Sounds like a nifty plot for an HBO special. But the film, Bigger Than Life (above),…
WED 6/2 “There will be topless women present during event,” alleges the caveat in Ticketmaster’s description for the upcoming Jani Lane and Kevin Dubrow concert at Solid Gold Gentleman’s Club (2355 NE 163rd St., North Miami Beach). No shit! It’s a cock rock show … at a titty bar. It’s…
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…
Theater in South Florida tends to appear in bursts, with a spray of shows often opening on the same weekend. In the scuffle, many shows tend to get overlooked. In some instances, that’s not so bad a consequence, but in the case of No Exit, now entering its final week…
Master Harold … and the boys: Athol Fugard’s modern classic has to do with the stormy relationship between a white teen and two black family workers in South Africa circa 1950. The fine GableStage production features assured, understated direction from Joseph Adler, which is well supported by some excellent, evocative…
All My Lies Are Wishes: Rubén Torres-Llorca is a conceptualist with superb craftsmanship. His photo series features blurred images, laid-over symbols, and tangential titles. They work like a personal domestic still-life sequence, though a bit cryptic. The show’s pièce de résistance is a spider-web installation, made of rope and filled…
