We've gone all verklempt.
What a treat! Woody Allen, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, will visit Miami Beach the first day of Hanukkah. To think, of all the cities in the world, Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band chose ours to kick off the Festival of Lights with a special, intimate show at the Fillmore Miami Beach this Tuesday.
The bespectacled, 75-year-old filmmaker is an incredibly gifted clarinetist, and he has performed regularly around Manhattan since the '60s. He even went on a European tour in 1996, as documented in the film Wild Man Blues. When he was a child, Allen Stewart Konigsberg admired jazz great Woody Herman, one of the finest clarinetists and big band leaders of the 20th Century. So as a tribute to his musical idol, Konigsberg adopted the stage name Woody Allen.
Though Allen has released only two music albums, The Bunk Project and Wild Man Blues, he has always remained active on the New York City jazz scene. He and the New Orleans Jazz Band regularly headline Monday nights at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. And for years, music snobs and film buffs have willfully dropped $125 at the door for an evening of Woody Allen jazz tunes.
When the Woodman rolls through Miami, though, fans won't have to forfeit a C-note. Tickets start as low as $35.