Spanish Fly-on-the-Wall

French putz Xavier (Romain Duris) is depressed. The poor guy lives in Paris, has Amélie’s Audrey Tautou as a girlfriend, eats gourmet vegan dinners prepared for him by his free-spirited mother, and is being set up for a graduate degree in economics by a friend of his father’s. “I don’t…

Dance Fever

Like a contact improvisation piece that stretches over two decades, the Florida Dance Festival has morphed and sprung into new dimensions over its 25-year life span. With Sunday’s opening of Giovanni Luquini’s Slices, the festival kicks off its silver anniversary season — one that attests to its relevance and commitment…

Back in Black

The history of film in America is incomplete if it omits African Americans. Not playing servants or clowns. But actors in every role, directors, writers, and producers, for blacks had a cinema of their own that developed concurrently with the rise of Hollywood. “Close-Up in Black: African-American Film Posters,” a…

Spouting Dissent

Sunday June 15 She may look happy when she body-slams her tonnage onto a pool of water, but deep inside, Lolita, the hardest-working killer whale in Miami, is suffering. At least that’s what the growing throng of activists who line the entrance to the Miami Seaquarium believe. Ever since she…

Ahoy, Stiltsville

Saturday June 14 In a watery world off Key Biscayne, with its multimillion-dollar homes and condos, sits Stiltsville, one of the last vestiges of Miami untouched by the hand of “progress.” Yet, anyway. The seven remaining structures hovering above Biscayne Bay have survived hurricanes, but politics is another matter. Which…

Big Fun

Saturday June 14 Since 1989 El Redondel (The Circle) has thrilled thousands of children in Buenos Aires and around the world with its unique blend of comedy, dance, and outdoor theater. This year the Argentine troupe makes its debut at the International Hispanic Theater Festival with a performance for kids…

Gerry’s Jubilee

Friday June 13 Nightlife maven/fashion designer Gerry Kelly has good reason to make a spectacle out of his birthday. If criminal-turned-witness-protection-program-member Chris Paciello would have had his way, Kelly would have grandly celebrated his own birth for the last time in 1999. That fall Paciello ruminated on government wiretaps about…

It’s Crap!

Saturday June 14 The name says it all — sort of. The second annual C.R.A.P. Fest is not an ode to all things turd or a swipe at the performers. It’s just an acronym covering the sounds tonight at Tobacco Road: country, roots, alternative, and pop. Don’t be misled by…

This Week’s Day by Day Picks

Thursday June 12 Day chaos dies as koto sings harmonious release, tortured soul The ancient sounds of the Japanese koto take center stage tonight as the Toho Koto Society of Miami presents Yoshiko Carlton, a virtuoso master of the multistringed instrument. Carlton performs and teaches about the history of this…

Hey, Stop Cloning Around!

What does it take to succeed on Broadway these days? Nobody has the exact answer to that question, but many think they do. One long-standing strategy is to import London hits. Another is to stuff the show with movie stars. A third, and perhaps the most widely used ploy, is…

Framed Like Miami

One of the finer moments I have had looking at contemporary art was sitting on the floor between Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt in front of their House of Cards at the Miami Art Museum. The piece consists of a twelve-foot building made of giant playing cards, supported by wooden…

Rio Reels On

For the seventh year in a row, Miami gets to be the first to view the latest crop of homegrown films from Latin America’s biggest nation during the Brazilian Film Festival. Starting on June 4, a coupling of shorts and features will take over the Lincoln Theatre (541 Lincoln Rd.,…

Gay Frequency

Although radio man David Gilmore likes to refer to himself as the “purveyor of fascinating stories of the gay community,” his technical title for the past five years is that of executive producer for Outright Radio, an independent syndicated radio show that tells odd, wacky, and amazingly heartfelt stories of…

Imagine Nations

Just think: the country’s largest Hispanic theater festival existing in a state that cuts major funding for the arts in one fell swoop. Seven countries, four continents, and multiple languages converging on South Florida for two weeks despite orange-level terror alerts, heightened airport security, and indecipherable visa applications. Indeed it…

Motorcycle City

Thursday, June 5 Gimme Strength Surely over the years the venerable, High Renaissance-style Central Baptist Church (500 NE First Ave.) — which predates the City of Miami’s birth by two days in 1896 — has seen more than its share of powerful moments. But nothing like John Jacobs and the…

On the Farm

Saturday June 7 The Redland Farm and Garden Show is a perfect excuse to visit enticing Fruit and Spice Park (24801 SW 187th Ave., Homestead), home to historic structures and 32 acres of fertile farmland that produce more than 500 varieties of plants. The show will revolve around antique tractors,…

Baby Saving

Thursday, June 5 Postpartum anxiety never felt so good. Now new mommies and daddies can alleviate their nerves about keeping their little bundle alive while shopping for cute outfits, as Bloomingdale’s in the Falls (8778 SW 136th St.) and Aventura (19555 Biscayne Blvd.) offer emergency tips in their seminars Lifesaving…

Lift Off

Thursday, June 5 Getting Religion Author talks of Judaism Temple Israel (137 NE 19th St.) welcomes the Provocateur of Judaism for a talk tonight. Don’t get all freaked. We’re not referring to Ariel Sharon or Yasser Arafat but to cultural critic Douglas Rushkoff, whom a newspaper recently graced with that…

Bigger Britches

Thursday June 5 City Theatre’s Summer Shorts festival has definitely grown in prominence and size since its first outing in 1996, but this year’s bill proves it hasn’t gotten too successful to ignore homegrown talent. The annual event solicits, develops, and produces a diverse group of short (one-act) comedies, dramas,…

This Week’s Day by Day Picks

Thursday, June 5 Who says all top-quality cultural events evaporate come summer in Miami? The moment hurricane season rolls around, temperatures linger in the upper nineties, and the humidity starts to wreak havoc with our hair, we thank the Lord that there’s still something to look forward to: the Coral…

Jump for Joy

Saturday 5/31 Upon graduation from the Miami City Ballet School, 18-year-old Xavier Cave will jette off to join New York City’s famed Dance Theatre of Harlem. Seventeen-year-old Jeanette Delgado will become a bona fide member of our own Miami City Ballet. And Lindsey Barber, at the ripe old age of…

Everyman Exposed

Now 24/7 Men. A mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a body not nearly as good as he thinks, and forever focused on his ever-fascinating SELF. Enter, into the pool at Roney Palace, Playgirl’s Man of the Year — no “mystery” here, just a lot of body, an Appalachian…