P Town Shows 

For those of you who happen to be traveling to the Gay Summer Mecca of Provincetown this month, you might want to consider taking either a night off from the bars or getting some entertainment in before hitting the bars (which is what I do).  They have been having shows all summer long and there are two that need some attention.  First is Dina Martina who will be at The Pilgrim House/Vixen until September 15^th and goes from Wednesdays through Saturdays and more information can be found at www.ptownvixen.com or www.dinamartina.com.  Second is The Wau Wau Sisters, which are at The Art House until September 1^st and can be found at www.capetix.com or www.wauwausisters.com

On Display

Cintas Exhibition 2007 

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in West Miami is currently working on their Cintas Exhibition 2007. The art museum has been awarding Fellowships since 1963 to fine art students of Cuban Descent.  This biennial exhibit features artwork of the Cuban Diaspora by Cintas grant recipients.  For more information about this go to www.frostartmuseum.org or call them at 305-348-2890.   

It Started in the Garage

The Antikulture Gallery in Miami is proud to announce their latest show entitled It Started in the Garage.  This exhibit features R. Grimes’ richly patterned silk-screens that were an inspiration from his roots in the local punk and skateboard scene that later form the visual vocabulary and creation of his art.  His work has been seen all over the country and as far as Australia using powerful iconography that has even been used in Juxtapoz magazine and even featured at last year’s Art Basel.  The Antikulture Gallery is located at 169 NW 36^th Street in Miami and can be found at www.myspace.com/antikulture or at 305-573-3133. 

Dawn Rosendahl at Stork’s 

 Orlando native Dawn Rosendahl has brought to us the images of her childhood imagination through very clever and interesting pieces that almost look like lost civilizations, ancient rituals, and the basic dance of dreams.  This show can be viewed at the Wilton Manors location of Stork’s Bakery and Café.  By combining human and animal forms she has created a metamorphosis to create Social Surrealism to question socially accepted beliefs about the human condition.  Storks Bakery and Café is located at 2505 NE 15^th Avenue in Wilton Manors and for more information about ArtsUnited, go to www.artsunitedonline.org or call them at 954-530-2723.   

Julio Green Is At Stonewall 

Local artist and staple of the art community of Fort Lauderdale, Julio Green is the current Artist of the Month for Stonewall Library and Archives.  Through the help of ArtsUnited The Stonewall Library is able to highlight one of its members with a solo art show for many months of the year.  Drop by the Library and see his work or check out who was there for the Opening on August 6^th! To view photos from the opening: Julio Green Opening at ArtsUnited / Stonewall Library

Pablo Cano’s Marionettes  

The Coral Springs Museum of Art is proud to host Cuban immigrant Pablo Cano.   Founded on Dada ideals, he uses his imagination and Surrealist traditions to create a statement using marionettes.  With spontaneity and childlike innocence, Pablo wants to break with tradition and painting techniques and return to the elemental basics of art:  to start from scratch and to allow the process of imagination unfold and begin anew each time.  He was actually on the last flight out of Cuba before the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and has been a resident of Miami’s Little Havana ever since and is even regarded by art patrons and critics as one of Florida’s premier contemporary fine artists.    Ever since childhood Pablo has been fascinated with puppets and marionettes, even making them out of household odds and ends and even today his work is out of found objects. For more information about the show go to http://www.csmart.org/currentpage.htm or call them at 954-340-5000.  

Norton Gets Big 

Currently, at The Norton Museum they have an exhibition entitled The Big Picture Show which proves that—size does matter!  They have taken photographs, and, thanks to technological advances in photography over the past 20 years, have made HUGE prints that are still crystal clear and wall-size.  This highlights 11 recently acquired works, some by world-renown German photographer Thomas Demand, Reiner Leist, Elger Esser, and Chuck Close.  This show runs through September 23^rd and more information can be found at www.norton.org or by phone at 561-832-5196.

Tamayo at MAM, Through September 16^th

Rufino Tamayo, a Mexican artist has his first posthumous show entitled A Modern Icon Reinterpreted in nearly 30 years.  This retrospective brings together approximately 100 of the best canvases made by Tamayo over a long a productive career that spanned seven decades.  The largest section profiles the most notable period of Tamayo’s career, the 1940’s and 1950’s where he discovered and developed a new form of abstract figuration that made him one of the most recognized and respected modern painters.  This seeks not only to present a careful collection of his work but also to offer a contemporary reinterpretation of this artist.  For more information about this show go to http://www.miamiartmuseum.org/exhibitions-current-tamayo.asp. 

Zen Art at Artist’s Haven 

In & Out of Cologne 

There is a collection currently on display at The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami that is a narrative of the punk rock-ish art scene of Cologne, Germany in the 1980’s and early 90’s.  This exhibit reflects the maker’s Do It Yourself motifs and feature such artists as Albert Oehlen and Martin Kippenberger.  Make Your Own Life:  Artists In & Out of Cologne will be on display until July 29^th.  The Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 770 NE 125^th Street in North Miami and can be reached at either www.mocanomi.org or by phone at 305-893-6211.  

The Sky is Really Yellow 

The Sky is Really Yellow at The Art Center of South Florida.  This exhibition features artists who created visual illusions and explained personal realities that test the notions of perception and truth.  The Sky is Yellow runs through August 12, 2007 and is at the ACSF Gallery ( 800 Lincoln Road at Meridian , Miami Beach ).  A musical performance by local favorite Unheard Of and complimentary Grolsch beverages will be served at the event, which is free and open to the public.  For additional information please call (305) 674-8278 or visit the website at http://www.artcentersf.org/newinitialpage.htm

Local Theatre Gigs

Feed Me….Feed Me! 

Last week the Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes opened with Little Shop of Horrors, which features a geek, ditz, unrequited love, financial woes, and a very hungry plant.  It has been coined “Broadway meets Motown” and is a wildly funny, irreverent musical that will make you talk to your plants when you get home.  For more information go to www.mainstreetplayers.com or call them at 305-823-1545. 

Real Women Have Curves 

The Women’s Theatre Project is proud to produce Real Women Have Curves and tells the story of acceptance within a Latino family.  The play was produced in a HBO movie and won much acclaim and notoriety in the community.  The play will be at their Sixth Star Studios located at 505 NW 1^st Ave in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $25 and be purchased at 954-462-2334.

Helen’s Back 

The Mad Cat Theatre Company is hosting something interesting and new in it’s annual Summer romp of life this month with Everything Will Be Different:  A Brief History of Helen of Troy.  As the Mark Schultz play goes, Helen is a teenage girl who is grieving over the lost of her mother and through bringing fantasies to reality, brings her mom back and punishing the world with a sordid reality show.  The show runs through August 26^th, so go catch it now at Miami’s Light Box.  For tickets or more information, call 305-576-6377.    

A Marvelous Party 

The Florida Stage is proud to host A Marvelous Party:  The Noel Coward Celebration.  This witty and poignant retrospective features many of the showman’s music hall talents.  With Stefanie Morse and Jeffrey Rockwell you will swing and sing and saunter to more than 30 Coward’s songs such as Sail Away and Would You Like to Stick a Pin in My Balloon?  For those who did not know, Coward was among the early and mid-20^th century’s biggest superstar, a vaudeville entertainer, songwriter, playwright, author, and producer whose multiple careers have spanned stage, film, TV, and bookshelves.  This runs through August 19 and tickets more information is available at www.floridastage.org or by phone at 561-585-3433. 

Tom Foolery 

The Actors’ Playhouse is proud to host Tom Foolery which is a witty, wicked, and offbeat and thoroughly twisted songs by satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer and nothing is sacred in his review that features such favorites as:  Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, When You Are Old and Gray, The Masochism Tango, The Old Dope Peddler, and The Vatican Rag.  Why not come out and rediscover the man and songs that have delighted and skewered the world for over forty years!  The Actors Playhouse can be found at www.actorsplayhouse.org or at 280 Miracle Mile in Coral Galbes and by phone at 305-444-9293.  

South Park Meets Desperate Housewives 

The Great American Trailer Park Musical features a cast of saucy characters that spoof the lives and loves of Florida’s most “exclusive” trailer park community—Armadillo Acres.  With an appealing and sparkling score this musical runs the gamut from Country balladry to Pop, R&B, and Rock & Roll.  Some of the characters include:  Pippi who is a saucy stripper with a heart of gold, loony Duke, Norbert the toll booth collector, as well as Jeannie the agoraphobic.  The show begins on February 21^st and runs through February 24^th, and tickets are available online at http://www.browardcenter.org. 

W&G’s Karen in Young Frankenstien 

It is now announced that famed drunk Megan Mullally who played Karen Walker in the hit TV show Will & Grace has been slated for the Bernadette Peters role in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.  This will be at The Hilton Theatre at 42^nd at 7^th and previews being October 11^th.  Tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 212-307-4100.

Masked 

Masked, is a play written by an Israeli, Ilan Hatsor, and tells the story of three Palestinian brothers who are conflicted, question eachother’s loyalty, duty, and collaboration.  It was written in 1990—just a few years after the first involvement in the Middle East, yet feels really like it was written nowadays.  What is amazing is the fact that this play has been translated and performed in Iraq, Bosnia, and Morocco and has traveled to such places as Ireland and now comes to New York.  What is amazing is that the Jewish response to the subject is more of heartfelt sympathy for the Palestine struggle even if it is an Arab family.  Masked opened last week and can be found at the DR2 Theatre at 103 East 15^th Street in Manhattan and for tickets you can go to www.telecharge.com or call them at 212-239-6200. 

Interpol

Don’t you just hate it when a group or star who you just love gets famous and then either breaks up or in some of my favorites cases “goes on a spiritual journey” and then wants to change the world…there’s room enough for ONE Bono….  Well, Interpol has made it to the three-year mark, never changing, alienating, or pissing off their fans.  With their third album Our Love to Admire Interpol still remains dark-yet danceable and resembles post-punk icons like Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen.  Their two previous albums, Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics were just precursors to this album which has high expectations.  Tracks to look out for:  The Heinrich Maneuver, Pioneer to the Falls, Mammoth, and Pace Is The Trick.  So, if you like gloomy NYC dark dance music, this is the album for you to check out. 

30 Years w/o The King 

This week marks the 30^th Anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley and that has not stopped more than 600,000 visitors a year from visiting his last residence, the famed Graceland.  This week, known as Elvis Week, will run through August 19^th and, if you live in the Memphis area, be ready for the flood. 

Indian Classical Dance, August 25^th   

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is proud to host a dance performance by The Association of Performing Arts of India on Saturday, August 25^th at 7pm.  This Indian Classical Dance performance will be done by the world famous Shatki Dance Company of Los Angeles.  Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased online at www.browardcenter.org, at their Box Office at 201 SW 5^th Ave or by phone at 954-462-0222. 

Artistic Picnicware

Gone are the days of the paper plates for outdoor picnics.  The Student Interns at Savannah College of Art and Design have the solution to your dinnerware without killing your bank account.  They have designed graphic plates that have been flying off the shelves ever since they were introduced last year and with a reasonable price and good quality it’s only fitting that design students have something super stylish.  Sold for $6- $12 each on their www.shopscadonline.com you can picnic in style.  Be sure to check out the rest of their website for other works by students, faculty, staff, and alumni and a portion of each sale goes to the school. 

Quick Draw Las Olas, September 1^st 

On September 1^st¸ The Broward Art Guild will once again have their very successful Quick Draw competition!  The last one was in the Alibi parking lot through Hagan Park and featured many local artists painting whatever they wanted for a specific amount of time, then time for framing and clean up, then judged and auctioned off for charity!  Highly successful and be sure to check out the photo gallery here.  For times, entry process, procedures call 954-396-3213.

Rocker Turns Male Model 

In an interesting twist of careers, famed Brit Bad Boy rocker Pete Doherty, former ex-boyfriend of controversial supermodel Kate Moss, will be the new face of Italian designer Roberto Cavalli’s menswear line.  The campaign was shot in black-and-white in Ibiza; feature the Babyshambles’ lead singer as James Dean mixed with young Marlon Brando to create a brooding icon-esque image.  Wanna know the kicker…?  Kate is doing the women’s line! 

This is the final days for ArtServe’s ArtBravo intake for their next show.  Entry deadline is August 18^th and must be in by 5pm. The Grand Prize is a $1,000 Best In Show and exclusive prize packages for winners in each category.  All artists must submit photographs of their works for judging on CD.  To download Intake Forms go to www.artserve.org  or call 954-462-8190.  ArtServe is located at 1350 East Sunrise Boulevard in For Lauderdale. 

Goodbye Merv 

This week marked the passing of one of televisions greatest Moguls of our generation, the wonderfully talented and iconic Merv Griffin.  Did you know he got his start as a big band era radio crooner who sang for San Francisco and later worked as a television show host for more than 20 years. Then behind the scenes created such beloved shows as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune selling the rights to Coca Cola’s Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250M yet retained a share of the profits.  He was 82 when he passed of Prostate Cancer, and worked up until last week from the hospital.  He will be missed.   

Womanfest Line Up Announced 

Key West’s very own Womenfest has announced it’s featured performers for two nights.  Suzanne Westenhoefer will take the Tropic Cinema sate on September 7^th and has been noted as possibly the very first openly gay comedian in New York.  Her A Night at the Village can be seen on both LOGO and Bravo.  Also, back by popular demand, the dance sensation Lori Michaels will return and has been earning national recognition including performances at NYC’s Madison Square Garden and this year will headline the Womenfest Street Fair and will be dancing on Duval with a public performance at 7pm on Saturday, September 8^th to which she will take it to Aqua Night Club and will perform her popular Me and The Girls.  For tickets go to www.keystix.com. 

Polynesian Show, August 18^th 

On Saturday, August 18^th The Gallery at Beach Place will present Tama Leao’s Polynesian Show.  Come out and experience the culture and beauty of the Polynesian Islands with Hula Dancers, Drummers, Fire Knife Dancers, as well as a host of other things that will take your breath away.  This is a dazzling show not to be missed!   This all takes place at 17 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd and for more information you can go to www.galleryatbeachplace.com  or call 954-760-9570.  The show starts at 8pm so don’t be late!

CGCC Summer Concert Series, Through Aug 30^th 

For more information about this series and directions, got to www.communityartsprogram.org or call them at 305-448-7421 X33. 

Hennessy Artistry 

Hennessy, one of the world’s leaders of liquors in the world is proud to sponsor a Global Party of unheard of proportions.  They are having a worldwide concert tour that will feature global music as well as cocktails.  There are dates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, D.C., Las Vegas, and then they hit Miami.  For more information go to www.hennessyartistry.com. 

Fairchild Goes Bananas! July 21^st through September 8^th 

Beginning on July 21^st, The Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens is going Bananas!  This summer’s exhibition is entitled No End to the Banana and will explore the diversity and conservation of bananas for those who use them and various ways they are used.  For more information go to www.fairchildgarden.org or call them at 305-667-1651 X3301 or 3362. 

The Opposite Sex

On Wednesday, August 15^th, author Sam Grant will be at the Coral Gables Books & Books singing copies and answering question about his latest book The Opposite Sex:  A Graphic Novel.  This book is about a science student who accidentally creates himself in a female form.  The signing begins at 8pm and is located at 265 Aragon Avenue in Coral Gables.  For more information go to ww.booksandbooks.com  or call them at 305-442-4408. 

6th Annual Miami International Wine Fair, September 8^th through 10^th 

Beginning September 8^th guests of the 6th Annual Miami International Wine Fair will have the opportunity to taste 1,000 different wines from all over the world including Argentina, Spain, Italy, California, France and Portugal.  This is the largest wine expo in Florida showcasing more than 400 wineries from 18 countries and 20 local restaurants will also be offering samples of their menu. This will be at The Miami Beach Convention Center which is located at 1901 Convention Center Drive in Miami and for more information go to www.miamiwinefair.com or call 305 777 2255. 

Galanga Wine Festival 

Wilton Manor’s very own Galanga Restaurant is celebrating their Five wonderful years by offering 50% off bottles of your favorite wines.  This will take place on each and every Monday until further notice so get in there and get yourself a bottle!  Galanga is located at 2389 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors.  Call 954-202-0000 for reservations and directions. 

Tori Amos, Wednesday, November 21^st

On Wednesday, November 21^st, famed singer and influencer of lives Tori Amos will take the Kravis Center’s Dreyfoos Hall stage at 8pm.  Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations and online at www.ticketmaster.com.  For more information about the concert go to www.fantasma.com, www.kravis.org, or www.toriamos.com.  If you get the chance, ask Daisy Deadpetals how she got her name!

The Neville Brothers 

The infamous group of the 80’s who gave us great hits such as Lady in Red will take the stage at Hard Rock Live on October 11^th.  They will be singing other favorites as well as tracks off their latest album Walkin’ in The Shadow of Life—which is in stores now! Tickets are now on sale at the Box Office or at www.hardrocklive.com  

Live, Sept 25^th 

Tickets are now on sale for the September 25^th appearance of famed rockers Live who will take the Mizner Park Amphitheater stage along with Collective Soul.  For tickets and more information go to www.ticketmaster.com or www.fantasma.com.  

Henry Rollins, September 25^th 

Ok, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a Slamming Heavy Metal Rocker fan by any means.  I will give them credit as a genre of music that plays an important role somewhere in society.  With that being said, one of my earliest crushes is coming to town, famed scream rocker now talk show host Henry Rollins will be at The Theatre on September 25^th in West Palm Beach.  This performance is called Provoked:  An Evening of quintessentially American Opinionated Editorializing Storytelling.  Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or call 561-833-7305 for more information. 

Twelve Girls Band, October 16^th 

On October 16^th, the Asian sensation sweeping the world, Twelve Girl Band, will take center stage at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts.  Recently named International Artist of the Year, they have crafted a unique niche in world music playing such songs as:  Coldplay, Enya, Dve Rbrubeck, as well as others on classic Chinese instruments!  For tickets and further information, go to www.browardcenter.org or call their Box Office at 954-462-0222. 

Clay Aiken, August 18^th 

On August 18^th American Idol runner up and amazing showman Clay Aiken will take the stage at The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts at 8pm.  He will take the stage with a full Orchestra and will perform hits from his debut album Measure of a Man—which went Number One on Billboard’s 200 Chart and then Triple Platinum as well as This is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water that won the 2003 Billboard Music Award for Best Single.  For tickets, which go on sale Saturday, April 14th go to www.kravis.org.