Mary Damiano Photo by David Vance

 Mary Damiano’s Arts Scene

An intimate moment from the new show at the Sol Theatre in Fort Lauderdale, The M.O. of M.I. (The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy) Photo: Steven Shires

Cool Off with Some Hot Theatre
It’s been sweltering so far this summer, so why not spend your time in a nice cool theatre?  There’s certainly plenty of stuff to see.  TomFoolery, a revue featuring the songs of satirist Tom Lehrer, runs through September 2 at Actor’s Playhouse in Coral Gables.  actorsplayhouse.org.  Also in Coral Gables, New Theatre continues its Shakespeare and Friends summer festival with Julius Caesar, which runs through August 5.  new-theatre.org.  GableStage Theatre located in the Biltmore Hotel will present Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore; it’s about the lengths a soldier will go to in order to avenge his cat.  It runs August 11 through September 9.  gablestage.org.  In Broward, the Stage Door 26^th Street Theatre in Wilton Manors has The Taffetas, a musical about a 1950’s group of singing sisters, through August 11.  The Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs has George M. Cohan Tonight, a revue that runs July 25 through September 2.  stagedoortheatre.com. The Promethean Theatre on the Nova campus in Davie is running their version of Cyrano through July 29.  In this adaptation, Cyrano is a plastic surgeon with a weight problem.  theprometheantheatre.com.  The Sol Theatre in Fort Lauderdale presents Aaron Brown’s The M.O of M.I. (The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy), a look at a gay male relationship through August 26. soltheatre.com.  Also in Fort Lauderdale, The Women’s Theatre Project presents Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez, about a Latina factory worker in search of a better life.  It runs August 10 through September 2. womenstheatreproject.com.  In Palm Beach County, the Florida Stage is running their Noel Coward revue, A Marvelous Party, through August 19.  floridastage.org.  And Palm Beach Dramaworks is spending their summer with the music of Stephen Sondheim with Side by Side by Sondheim, which runs through August 26.  palmbeachdramaworks.com.

Free Fridays at Miami Museums
Check out the collection and exhibits at the Wolfsonian Museum, where there’s free gallery admission on Fridays from 6-9 p.m., thanks to the Miami Herald. You can also take an exhibition tour at 6 p.m., and enjoy wine and light food at the Dynamo Museum Shop and Café.  The Wolfsonian collection contains artifacts primarily of North American and European origin, dating from 1885–1945. It comprises a variety of media: furniture; industrial-design objects; glass, ceramics, and metalwork; rare books; periodicals; ephemera; works on paper; paintings; textiles; and medals. The nations most comprehensively represented are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia/Soviet Union. The objects are interpreted to explore key issues in design history - the way design has both altered and been altered by cultural change, industrial innovation, and strategies of persuasion.  wolfsonian.org.  And take the kiddies to the Miami Children’s Museum, which offers free admission the third Friday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Visitors can explore all of the Museum’s 12 interactive exhibits, participate in drop-in art activities for kids and meet the museum’s mascot, MiChiMu.  miamichildrensmuseum.org.

Anna Collins, screenwriter

Would You See a Movie Written By This Woman?
MiamiARTzine.com’s own Anna Collins has made the quarter-finals of the 2007 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards.  The contest received 3,411 entries from screenwriters from all across the United States and 43 foreign countries, so making the top 25 percent is a very big deal.  The judges will announce the winners in mid-September, including the grand prize winner, who will get $10,000, so let’s all send out our cosmic good vibes to Anna.  And just in case you don’t already know what a terrific writer Anna is, check out her “Florida: Love It or Leave It” story in this week’s issue.

Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy in a scene from Becoming Jane

Red Hot Biopics
More than a dozen Oscars in the last 10 years have been won by actors and actresses playing real live people, from Queen Elizabeth I to Queen Elizabeth II with Ray Charles, June Carter Cash and Truman Capote thrown in for good measure, so is it any wonder that biopics are hot?  Perhaps the tendency toward Oscar gold is the reason that so many movies about real people are flooding theatres.  This summer has already seen La Vie En Rose, with Marian Cotillard’s tour de force performance, and now two more films about real people will open August 3.  I’m a sucker for a period film, so it was easy to get lost in Becoming Jane, the new film about pre-fame British author Jane Austen,  which stars Anne Hathaway.  The film focuses on a young Jane Austen, and her struggle between her desire to marry the man she loves, and the rich young gentleman who will save her from poverty.  The parallels to my fave film, Shakespeare in Love are undeniable, in that Jane’s real life finds its way into her novels, such as Pride and Prejudice.  Becoming Jane is not only gorgeous to look at with meticulous attention to period detail and terrific performances, but it’s decidedly more serious and thoughtful.  Becoming Jane is the perfect adult antidote to a summer filled with sequels and superheroes.  In the same vein but on the other end of the spectrum is El Cantante, a biopic about salsa singer Hector Lavoe and starring Miami’s own Marc Antony and Jennifer Lopez.  The film traces Lavoe’s (Marc Antony) meteoric career through the 1960s through the 1980s as well as his downward spiral into drug addiction.  The centerpiece of the film is his tumultuous relationship with his wife Puchi, played by Lopez, whose performance is one of the best things about the film.  Director Leon Ichaso uses every filmmaking gimmick to the film’s disadvantage---it’s filled with flashbacks, montages, jumpy cinematography, slow motion, and black and white photography, which make the total experience dizzying, and not in a good way.  At various times El Cantante looks like a documentary, a music video and a perfume commercial---about the only thing it doesn’t look like is a cohesive film.  It could also use a good editing job, and should be cut by 30 minutes.  The salsa music is great though, and it’s fun to watch Jen in all her mod 60s and 70s fashions.

Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Let’s Do the Time Warp Again
When I was in high school, I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show 57 times.  It was what my friends and I did on weekends, shop for bags or rice and rolls of toilet paper and go over to the Plitt Florida Theatre in Hollywood for the midnight show.  That theatre has since been razed---there’s some fast food places there now---but The Rocky Horror Picture Show lives on at Cinema Paradiso in Fort Lauderdale.  If you’re not familiar with the cult of Rocky Horror, live performers perform the movie in front of the screen, shadowing the actors onscreen.  The audience gets into the act by calling out responses to lines in the film and throwing certain props.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be held every other Friday at midnight, beginning August 3. Tickets are $8 general admission, $7 students and seniors, and $5 for FLIFF members. This not-to-be missed event is hosted by Cinema Paradiso’s theatre manager, Frank Connell.  When Cinema Paradiso hired Frank, it was unknown at the time that  Frank had a unique relationship to the Rocky Horror community. Frank, known as “Wolf”, began when he was 11 years old with the New Rochelle, New York cast in 1986. He has continued as a regular of various casts for over 20 years and has one of the few privately owned prints of the film.  FYI: If you go, don’t bring any food to throw during the movie.  It’s a lot of work for the FLIFF folks to clean up. fliff.com.

Optic Nerve XI
To paraphrase an old saying, good things come in short packages.  If that’s true, then check out the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Optic Nerve Film Festival where the films run from 50 seconds to 6 minutes in length. Now in its ninth year, Optic Nerve showcases many genres, abstract, narrative, film-noir and animation. After the screenings, one of the pieces will be chosen by MOCA's judges and purchased for the museum's collection with funds provided by Starbucks Coffee Company. General admission is $5 and the Optic Nerve screenings are free with museum admission. RSVP is required, and seating is limited and not guaranteed. Starbucks reception between the 7 and 9 p.m. screenings.  The Optic Nerve XI will be presented Thursday, July 26, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami. mocanomi.org.

Young dancers train at an Arts Ballet seminar Photo: JoeyGPhoto

Ballet: The Next Generation
Young dancers from around South Florida and around the world will perform on July 27 as Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida concludes their Summer Intensive Program. The July 27 concert will include excerpts from the classical ballet Raymonda, modern pieces, as well as a demonstration of pas de deux, flamenco and character classes. The Summer Intensive acts as an observation period for Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida’s professional division, which affords the graduating students an opportunity to perform in its productions.  The program allows a select group of aspiring dancers the opportunity to have a month of intense training lead by the greatest teachers and stars of the legendary Mariinsky Ballet, formerly the Kirov. Professional dancers also attend the Summer Intensive program offered by Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in conjunction with the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in order to continue their search of ballet tradition and excellence in training.  For this occasion, former principals and soloists of the Kirov Ballet, Alla Osipenko, Tatiana Terekhova, Yelena Sherstnieva and Yelena Zabalkanskaya, have gathered at the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida’s headquarters along with Russian Ballet Master Vladimir Issaev to train the most talented ballet students in the Russian Vaganova Method. The performance is open to the public, Friday July 27, at 7 pm at the North Miami Beach Theater, 17011 NE 19th Ave., North Miami Beach.  Tickets: $15.

Arts Camp for Kids
The Art and Culture Center of Hollywood will begin the final session of its two-week theater and art camp series for children ages 6 to 12 on Monday, July 30.  In the “Young Actor” class, from 9 a.m. to noon, students will participate in drama, improvisation, storytelling, music, movement, set design, and costume design. Those enrolled in the “Young Artist” class, from 1 to 4 p.m., will explore art through drawing, painting, mixed media, printmaking, clay and more. Activities for both camps will be based on the session’s theme. The classes are taught using the Sunshine State Standards, and parents can choose between half-day and full-day sessions, giving students the opportunity to create a variety of art projects and learn the fundamentals of movement and drama. These classes take place at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood’s Art School, located at 1626 Harrison Street. Each session will culminate with a sharing presentation for family and friends. Camp prices per child are $200 members/$225 non-members for half day or $300 members/$325 non-members for all day. To register or receive more information about these camps, please call 954-921-3274, ext. 232. The Art and Culture Center of Hollywood presents innovative, unique visual and performing arts programs. Its exhibitions, dance, music and theater offerings introduce fresh perspectives to the arts. Education programs for children and adults celebrate creativity and excellence.  For more information, visit artandculturecenter.org.

Pablo Londoner, Michael Aller and Barton G. at the grand opening of the new Moore Building in the Miami Design District Photo: Henry Perez

Moore Miami
If you’re tired of going to the same old places for parties and events, then you’re in luck. The historic Moore Building in the Miami Design District has gotten a facelift and has been turned into the newest and sure to be hottest venue in town.  The kick-off party on Thursday, July 19 included guests walking an only-in-Miami pink carpet to enter the building, which has retained its old-fashioned charm despite being upgraded to a state of the art party palace.  Guests, including artist Octavio Campos, World Erotic Art Museum founder Naomi Wilzig and Miami Brach tourism director and chief of protocol Michael Aller mingled and munched artfully yummy hors d’oeuvres by Barton G., and enjoyed a fab photo shoot with transsexual supermodel Amanda Lepore, who posed in a series of skimpy costumes that showcased all that her mama and her plastic surgeon gave her.  For more photos of the Moore grand opening, check out the photo gallery in the August 17 issue.