ART & ENTERTAINMENT

Published March 16th, 2008

By Skip Sheffield

CULTURE WATCH

Gallery Camino Real Presents “Art Futures: New Art”

Marjorie Margolis, Boca Raton’s “Grand Dame of Art,” is presenting a very special opening Thursday, March 20 at her Gallery Camino Real, 608 Banyan Trail, Boca Raton. An opening reception is 6-8 p.m.The show is called “Art Futures: New Talent,” and it features 30 young and rising artists, curated by Rod Faulds. Ten percent of all sales for the show, which runs through April 27, will be donated to Florida Atlantic University Galleries at Schmidt College of Arts & Letters. “We decided to mount this exhibition for two reasons,” explained gallery co-owner Jo Mett. “One, to give back to the community that has been so supportive of the Gallery over the years, and because there are so many talented contemporary artists who don’t have a permanent home to showcase their art. We want to give them a chance to be seen.”Artists include Luisa Caldwell and Ellen Harvey, Brooklyn, New York, Boyce Cummings, New York City, Marcus Kenny, Savannah, Georgia, and Cedric Smith, Atlanta.
Gallery Camino Real was founded in 1971 by Midge Margolis, as her friends call her, on its namesake road in east Boca Raton. The gallery moved to Gallery Center 20 years ago. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and admission is free. Call 241-1606.

Giant John Clement Sculpture on Public Display in Delray Beach

Elaine Baker Gallery, also of Gallery Center. Is pleased to announce the installation of a monumental work by one of its artists, John Clement. The giant, spiral, squiggly, six-ton thing-a-ma-gig, called “Sea Room,” is being installed at Knowles Park at the busy intersection of S.W. 10th Street.  The work is a triptych 15-foot high and deep and 55 feet long. “We don’t mess around, said Delray Beach Public Art chairman Sharon Koskoff. “I could see it from three blocks away, approaching from the west. The work is best seen in the northbound lanes of US 1. It was made possible by a 50/50 matching grant from the Palm Beach County Art in Pubic Places. Call 276-9925 for more information.

FAU Judaica Sound Archives Grows

The Judaica Collection just keeps growing at FAU’s Wimberly Library.
The most recent acquisition is the Judaica Sound Archives, donated by the family of the late Dr. Harold Kahn of Toledo, Ohio. The 4,408-recording collection, amassed over the course of 60 years, is the single largest and best-preserved collection ever received by the JSA. “Harold’s passion for the music he collected was sharing it with his family and friends,” said his widow, Dorothy Kahn. Dr. Harold Kahn died in 2002 at age 85. Call Nathan Tinaoff at 297-2207 or Dr. Maxine Schackman at 297-3765 or visit www.fau.edu/jsa for information or to listen to the music.

Concert at Morikami

Japanese violinist Shunske Sato and pianist Tao Lin of Lynn Conservatory of Music perform ‘Four strings & 88 Keys” in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20 at Morikami theatre in Delray Beach. The program features the work of the 19th century Belgian composers. A Meet & Greet with champagne and hors d’oeuvres follows the concert. Tickets are $35 for Morikami members and $50 for non-members. Call 495-0233.

Classical Guitar at Boca Museum

Classical guitarist Howard Greenblatt performs in concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16 at Boca Raton Museum of Art. The concert is free with museum Admission. Call 392-2500.

Howard and the White Boys at Back Room

Chicago’s Howard and The White Boys play the blues at 9 p.m. Friday, March 21 at the Back Room, 7200 N. Dixie Highway, Boca Raton. Tickets are just $5. Call 988-8929.

Slide Guitarist George Thorogood in Pompano Beach

Feisty, funny George Thorogood and his Delaware Destroyers play in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, March 21 at Pompano Beach Amphitheater. Tickets are $29 and $39. Call (954) 946-2402.

“2-and-a-half Jews” at Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale

Off-Broadway hit “2-and-a-half Jews” is in an open-ended run at the Museum Theatre of the Museum of Art, one Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Len Lesser, “Uncle Leo” on “Seinfeld” and two-time Tony award nominee Bruce Adler are recreating their New York roles.

Festival Boca Finale Tonight

Tonight is the big concert finale for Festival of the Arts Boca, with Soprano Renee Fleming and the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Richard Bardo, stepping in at the last minute for ailing Teodor Currentzis. Tickets are $40-$100.  Call (866) 571-ARTS or visit www.festivaloftheartsboca.org.

Florida Stage
“Ward 57” Faces Consequences of the War in Iraq

Will the public be interested in a play about the plight of soldiers in Iraq and their families back home?

Florida Stage will find out soon enough. “Ward 57,” a new play by Jessica Goldberg, is in previews with an opening night Friday, March 21 and the Manalapan Theater.

Playwright Jessica Goldberg originally intended to write a screenplay for a movie about the plight of injured Iraq soldiers and their families. In the course of interviewing real veterans and their families, she realized there could be a play in the subject matter.
“I did most of the interviews at Fort Collins, Colorado,” she recounted by telephone. “I was trying to deal with my own mixed feelings about the war in Iraq. I realized others must have mixed emotions, and this was an opportunity to grapple with the problem, to put a human face on the people who are fighting the war.

“Ward 57” came to South Florida via Missoula, Montana.
“I was working on the play at a writer’s colony in Montana, and (producer) Lou Tyrrell saw it and liked the idea,” she explained. “He encouraged me to develop the play so he could present it at Florida Stage. I feel very honored.”

This is an election year, after all, and at the very least, “Ward 57” may cause potential voters to confront the thorny issues of our presence in the Middle East.

“We are all culpable as citizens,” Goldberg says. “People prefer to ignore the consequences of war. This is a way of confronting it.”

“Ward 57” runs through April 27. Tickets are $35 preview and $42 and 445 otherwise. Call (800) 514-3837.

“Deathtrap” by Boca Raton Theatre Guild

Boca Raton Theatre Guild presents the vintage thriller “Deathrap” Friday, March 21 through Sunday, April 6 in the Willow Theatre of Sugar Sand Park, 300 S. Military Trail, Boca Raton.
Michael Leeds directs this psychological mystery about as washed-up playwright (Peter Kowski) who receives a brilliant script from a former student (Sam Yazbeck), and plots to make it his own.