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Mary Damiano’s Arts Scene

Film Festival News

Penelope Cruz in Volver, the opening night film of this year’s Fort Lauderdale international Film Festival

FLIFF Announces Opening Night Film
The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival has announced that the opening night film for its 21^st annual festival will be Pedro Almodovar’s new film, Volver, starring Penelope Cruz.  Volver is described as a cross between the great Joan Crawford weeper Mildred Pierce and the screwball comedy Arsenic and Old Lace.  The film will officially open the festival on October 20 at Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, followed by an opening night fiesta.  In other FLIFF news, the world’s longest film festival has decided to scale back a bit on their schedule.   Usually 37 days, FLIFF is reducing its schedule by 14 days.  According to FLIFF president and CEO Gregory von Hausch, the length of the festival in the past was designed to accommodate the South Florida sprawl, and included many mini-fests in different parts of South Florida.  But now, von Hausch believes that with Cinema Paradiso, the fest’s own art house, showing films year round, and with the many events FLIFF holds all year, including mini-fests and outdoor screenings in various cities in four counties, they have created a year-round film festival.   This year’s festival will run October 20 to November 12, and will include 125 films.  For more information on FLIFF and to buy tickets for opening night, call 954-525-3800 or visit fliff.com.

MGLFF Hosts Screening
The Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival’s August screening of Quinceanera will take place Thursday, August 17, 7:30 p.m. at the Regal South Beach on Lincoln Road.  The film is about a young girl preparing for her traditional 15^th birthday party when, in Latin cultures, a girl becomes a woman.  An unexpected turn of events causes her to go and live with her great uncle and her gay cousin, in a cottage owned by an affluent white gay couple.  Quinceanera won both the Jury Prize and the Audience Favorite Awards in the dramatic film competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.  Admission is $10 for members and $15 for non-members.  For more information, visit mglff.com.

Art Stuff

Starving Artist Sale
Do you have old artwork cluttering your closets?  Are your studio walls filled to capacity?  Would you like to be rid of that old artwork and make some money?  ArtsUnited’s Starving Artist Sale is just the thing.  The Starving Artist Sale is an opportunity for artists to sell artwork and for the public to buy original works of art.  Each artist rents a table and handles their own transactions.  All art must be prices at $100 or less.  Each artist handles their own transactions, although ArtsUnited will handle Visa and Mastercard transactions for a small fee.  The Starving Artist’s Sale will be held Saturday, September 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, 1717 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale.  Artist tables are $30 for ArtsUnited members, and $50 for non-members.  Membership in ArtsUnited is only $25, so if you’re not a member and want to participate in the Starving Artist Sale, you’d be further ahead to just become a member and get all of the benefits of ArtsUnited members. Admission to the public is free.  The deadline for artists to participate is September 15.    For more information, e-mail artsunited1@aol.com.

Bass Museum
The Bass Museum in downtown Miami Beach opens three big exhibits this weekend.  Made in Miami: Herve di Rosa’s Around the World/12^th Stage runs August 11-October 29 and highlights a recent body of work of paintings, drawings and sculptures that explores Miami’s visual and popular culture.  This is the first American museum exhibit of di Rosa, a renowned French artist.   Next, From Canvas to Textile: Mira Lehr for Odegard runs August 11 to October 8 and features a selection of Mira Lehr’s compositions reinterpreted through hand-knotted wool and silk textiles featuring Japanese motifs, geometric forms and a hand-dyed tropical palette.  Finally, Tapestries: The Great Twentieth Century Modernists runs August 11 to October 8 and features the work of Picasso, Matisse, Calder, Kandinsky.  The 20 hand-made works offers a fresh perspective on 20^th century modernism and its relationship to the tradition of weaving.  For information on these exhibits, visit bassmuseum.org.

Theatre Spotlight

Promethean Theatre
To kick off their third season, The Promethean Theatre is inviting everyone to go to Back to School.  This scholastically-themed fundraiser features hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, a silent auction and five new one-act plays by Carbonell-nominated playwright Juan C. Sanchez.  Although Promethean’s theatre is out west at Nova University, the Back to School fundraiser will be held at Cinema Paradiso in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Monday, August 28 at 7 p.m.  For more information, visit theprometheantheatre.org.

The Women’s Theatre Project
The best theatre comes from innovation and ingenuity, as do the best fundraisers.  Last month The Women’s Theatre Project, the Broward theatre company that produces plays by women playwrights with all female casts, held a terrific fundraiser—private dinner parties for 12 at the home of Meredith Lasher, president and executive producing director of the company.  Longtime Women’s Theatre Project supporters were invited to the intimate dinners, which featured a gourmet menu prepared by Lasher and her husband, classical musician Shannon.  The menu included gazpacho, porcini mushroom tarts, pasta, bruschetta and ice cream with fresh berries.  Guests also got a sneak preview of The Women’s Theatre Project new season, their most ambitious yet, and details about their new venue in Cooper City.  The season kicks off this weekend with the Florida premiere of Memory House.  In the play, a college entrance essay question, “What’s in your memory house?” sparks the relationship between a mother and her adopted daughter.   The play opens Friday, August 11 and runs through August 27 at the Cooper City Theatre, 12233 SW 55 St., Suite 807, just off Flamingo Rd. between Griffin and Stirling Rds.  Call 954-462-2334 for reservations or for more information, visit womenstheatreproject.com.

Sol Theatre
The Sol Theatre in Fort Lauderdale is currently in previews for Julie Johnson, which officially opens Friday, August 11 and runs through September 3.  Julie Johnson is about a mom and housewife who seeks fulfillment in her life.  She throws out her abusive husband, starts night school and allows her best friend Claire to move in. Soon, Julie confesses to Claire that her feelings for her go beyond friendship.  If Julie Johnson sounds familiar you, you might know the movie version, which starred Lily Taylor and Courtney Love and played to a big crowd a few years back at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.  The Sol Theatre is located at 1140 N. Flagler St., Fort Lauderdale.  For reservations and more information,
call 954-525-6555 or visit soltheatre.com.

RoughRiders Dance Team
The annual RoughRiders Dance Team variety show is always a lot of fun, and this year’s edition, Hanky Panky, should be no exception.  Hanky Panky features an homage to Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in which Miss Paige Turner has taken over the infamous brothel after the untimely demise of Miss Mona.  Expect lots of high energy dances and Broadway and cabaret numbers from the Roughiders, who will be joined by many of their friends, including Tiffany Arieagus, South Florida Lambda Chorale, Bacabuda Arts, Megan & Co. and the Julie Christies.  Hanky Panky will be presented at Broward Center for the Performing Arts Saturday, August 19 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, August 20 at 7 p.m.
Group discounts are available.  For more information and to purchase tickets,
call 954-462-0222 or visit browardcenter.org.

GableStage Theatre
The GableStage Theatre in Coral Gables closes their current season with a real coup, the Southeastern premiere of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh.  A smash hit last year on Broadway, The Pillowman centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state being interrogated for the content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders.    The Pillowman runs August 19 to September 17 at the GableStage Theatre at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables.  For more information and to purchase tickets, call 305-445-1119 or visit gablestage.org.