Mary Damiano Photo by David Vance

Mary Damiano’s Arts Scene

I tend to get philosophical around the end of one year and the beginning of another.  I think it’s my way of trying to make sense of nonsensical things.  For example, a year ago, I rang in 2007 on the roof of a condo building in South Beach two blocks from ocean. As I watched the panorama of fireworks, I thought nothing could be more perfect, being on top of the world at the beginning of a new year.  This year is going to be the best ever.  Then, 2007 proceeded to—how shall I put it—suck.  Within days, I was stuck with a flu I couldn’t shake, that lasted all through spring.  Summer sucked for me and my family as well, filled with accidents and doctors and hospitals and death.  Things didn’t really begin to get back on track until November, and nothing was really back to normal until the end of the year.  No doubt about it, 2007 sucked.  With that in mind, I started thinking that maybe it was a mistake to ring in 2007 on top of the world because metaphorically, there was no place to go but down.  That why this year I took pains to usher in 2008 in a more grounded way—if you begin at the bottom, there’s no place to go but up.  My mission during the last week of 2007 was to relax—a week off from work, a few shows at night, lots of staying home and having me time and me and hubby time during the day.  We attended a terrific holiday party Friday night on a boat that sailed the intracoastal.  It was fun and relaxing and allowed us to see Miami in a whole new way.  We rang in the New Year with friends at their place on the Venetian Causeway, sitting outside, watching the fireworks from downtown Miami fill the sky with color.  I think it worked, because 2008 is already looking up.

The Gazillionaire from the Gazillionaire’s Late Night Lounge, running through February 16 at Spiegeltent in Collins Park Photo: Joan Marcus

Sultry Circus
The first thing you have to know about Absinthe, the Spiegelworld show in the Spiegeltent in Collins Park: you have to experience it to completely understand it.  Part sultry circus, part naughty burlesque, Absinthe is the hottest show in town, and with good reason.  Intimacy is the key word here, because while the Spiegeltent seats about 330 people, everything is arranged so that the performers are over the heads and sometimes in the laps of the audience.  There’s some nudity, some feats of strength, lots of erotic acrobatic action, and it’s all done with a wink to the audience.  And trust me, you’ll never look at balloons or leather club chairs the same way again.  While Absinthe runs through February, a new show is being added to the Spiegelworld roster.  The Gazillionaire’s Late Night Lounge features the ersatz MC of Absinthe, the Gazillionaire, and his sidekick Penny, along with a collection of unusual—and many local—acts.  The show begins Friday, January 11 at midnight and runs weekends February 16.  spiegelworld.com.

Tovah Feldshuh as Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five

Theatre Openings
Not many actresses can go from playing the quintessential Jew to the quintessential WASP, but Tovah Feldshuh has.  After originating the role of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony, she’s taken on another strong woman in a solo show, actress Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five.  I saw this show a few years ago with Kate Mulgrew as Hepburn, so it will be interesting to see Feldshuh transform herself into Hepburn.  Tea at Five chronicles Hepburn over more than 40 years of her life and career, from the late 1930s to the early 1980s.   The show runs January 9-15 at Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale.  browardcenter.org.  City Theatre will hold an evening of staged readings of short plays being considered for this year’s edition of Summer Shorts. City Theatre’s artistic director Stuart Meltzer will lead the reading, in which local actors will present seven new works, including Memphis Calling by Colin Mitchell, To Achieve Weightlessness While Still of the Earth-bound Status by Emily Hawe, Word Count by Mary Custode, Floating by Eric Lane, The Loneliest Girl in the World by Kim Merrill, Bulgarian Rhapsody by Rich Orloff and Moby-Dude or The Three Minute Whale by David Ives. Last season, more than 60 percent of the plays that ultimately comprised the Summer Shorts two-program festival of brief works emerged through the reading process.  The reading takes place at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. and it’s free.  citytheatre.com.

Perfect Pitch
It would be a holiday for me without seeing the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus perform their annual holiday show, and what made it even more fun this year was that I was sitting with a friend who never been in the audience before to watch the chorus perform.  It was great stealing glances at my friend’s face watching the entire chorus, taking in how good they are.  Of course, my favorite moment of the evening was when James Perkowski sang “O Holy Night.”  James is a terrific singer, and does an incredibly beautiful job with that song.  As he builds to that one glorious note, I’m always afraid he’s going to strain something, but he pulls it off every time.  Get your seats now for the chorus’s 6^th Annual Florida Choral Festival on February 9.  The evening show was already sold out last month, but a 2 p.m. matinee has been added.  fortlauderdalegaymenschorus.org

LeBaron McClary, one of the dance finalists of the 2006 in the YoungArts program

Young at Art
The nation’s top 150 young artists will be in Miami beginning January 7 as part of 2008 YoungArts Week for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that furthers their artistic development. The annual program of National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), YoungArts Week allows the 17 and 18 year-old artists to participate in master classes, workshops, readings, exhibits and enrichment activities while also giving them the chance to perform in front of renowned artists and arts educators. The program recognizes all art disciplines: cinematic arts, dance, music, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. The best part is that the public can witness this emerging talent firsthand in a series of YoungArts Showcases, which are free. They kick off Tuesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. in Finalists in Jazz and Voice, held at Ransom Everglades Upper School Auditorium in Coconut Grove. Theater finalists continue the act with spoken and musical performances, Wednesday, January 9, at 8 p.m., also held on the Ransom campus, followed by dance pieces and short films by the Finalists in Dance and Cinematic Arts on Thursday, January 10, at 8 p.m. Visual art lovers can head to the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in Miami on Friday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m. for an exhibition for the YoungArts Finalists in Visual Arts and Photography.  The week concludes on Saturday, January 12 at 10 a.m. with readings by Finalists in Writing at the Marriott Miami Airport Hotel.  A Chamber Music performance by the Finalists in Music takes place at 1 p.m. at University of Miami, Gusman Hall. The week concludes with the annual An Affair of the Arts Performance and Gala, Saturday, January 12 at 6 p.m., honoring this year’s finalists and paying homage to architect Frank Gehry, who will receive the eighth annual Arison Award. American Ballet Theatre executive director Rachel Moore, a 1982 YoungArts winner in Dance and Presidential Scholar in the Arts, will receive the third annual NFAA Alumni Award. Following the traditional gala, the inaugural YoungPatrons Late Night Party will kick off at 10 p.m., featuring jazz singer Grace Weber and pianist Julian Pollack, 2006 YoungArts finalists who recently cut their first CD, as well as celebrity music personality DJ Irie. Tickets are $75 per person, or $100 per couple. Both events will be held at SoHo Studios at Wynwood Convention Center, 2136 NW First Avenue, Miami.  For more information, call 305- 377-1140 or visit YoungArts.org.

Tangerine by Ray Paul, one of the pieces in the “To Die Dreaming” exhibition at Artformz Alternative

Art Openings
Artformz Alternative in the Miami Design District will present the exhibition “To Die Dreaming”. The title, translated from Spanish, refers to the exotic, thirst quenching beverage of the Dominican Republic, Morir Soñando, comprised of lime juice, milk, sugar and crushed ice. The works in this exhibition follow a similar inventive recipe, mixing nontraditional forms of painting, photography, and sculpture, produced by local artists with roots from across the globe, that are each a part of the urban cultural esthetic, better known as the Miami Art Scene.  Exhibiting artists include Chieko Tanemura: photography, Rolando Dal Pezzo: photography, Alette Simmons-Jimenez: mixed media sculpture and painting, Oscar Achury: mixed media installation, Ileana Tolibia: mixed media drawing and painting, Alexsandra Salazar: mixed media painting, Ray Paul: painting, Gisela Savdie: photography, and Maria Caridad Perez: digitally scanned photo-imagery.  “To Die Dreaming” runs through March 8, with an opening night reception Saturday, January 12, 7-10 p.m.  artformz.net.

Spinello Gallery presents “This May Be the Last Time, I Don't Know,” the first solo exhibition by Miami-based artist, Christina Pettersson, featuring graphite drawings on paper. A brick, most minimal of objects, in and of itself hardly an object at all, but a cell for the larger structure it will become.  Yet a drawing of brick can be another matter entirely. Lone graphite drawings of bricks, surrounded by a great expanse of white paper flank the walls, telling Pettersson's story of how spirit actually finds its way inside of matter, and how humans tend to it.  The exhibition runs through February 2, with an opening night reception Saturday, January 12, 7-10 p.m.  spinellogallery.com.

Duthuit, by Henri Matisse