Mary Damiano Photo by David Vance

Mary Damiano’s Arts Scene

Guitar god Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy Launches Jazz Roots Series
There’s a reason the word legend so often appears next to blues guitarist Buddy Guy’s name. That much was clear to anyone lucky enough to be at the Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center Friday night, November 6. Guy rocked the house with his phenomenal playing, unique personality and tremendous showmanship. I didn’t even know a guitar could do the things that Guy made it do—he deftly coaxed sounds and squeals out of that sent shivers through the audience. In the highlight of the evening, Guy walked down the steps of the stage and he and his guitar ventured out into the audience, playing his way up one aisle, across the back of the Knight Concert Hall, and then up the aisle alongside our seats and back up onto the stage. Fans in the audience at first didn’t know what to make of it, or how far Guy would take his mid-concert stroll, but once they realized his intentions, they crowded his path, their phones poised to take photos. It was awesome to see Guy’s fingers work his guitar into a frenzy up close. New Orleans icon Dr. John opened the show with his Crescent City sound and encouraged the audience to dance in the aisles to his hits “Right Place, Wrong Time,” and “How Come My Dog Don’t Bark When You Come Around.” The concert launched the 2009-2010 season of the popular Jazz Roots Series at the Arsht. Next up is “An Evening with Dave Grusin” on Friday, December 4, a concert that also features Jon Secada, Patti Austin, Gary Burton, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres and Sammy Figueroa. In addition to exploring Grusin soundtrack work for Tootsie, On Golden Pond and The Fabulous Baker Boys, the second half of the evening will feature Grusin and his guest stars in a rare live performance of his classic contemporary jazz take on West Side Story. For more information of the Jazz Roots Series, visit www.arshtcenter.org.

New World School of the Arts college dance students Jessica Quintana and Joshua Winzeler in Michael Uthoff’s A Media Luz

World Dance
New World School of the Arts and the University of Florida collaborate to present world dance with “World Dance,” for three performances on Friday, November 20 through Sunday, November 22. With more than 55 college and high school dancers performing to the beat of live drums and recorded music, the African Diaspora features choreographic works from contemporary world modern dance to traditional African dance. Contemporary choreographers included in the program are Peter London, Michael Uthoff, Darshan Bhuller, Mohamed Da Costa and Robert Battle.
London, on faculty at New World School of the Arts, will present Caribbean and modern style works, a work that explores the movements of the Islands in the Caribbean and a men’s quartet in modern dance style. Battle from New York City, will present BattleField, his signature work using the rhymes of African drums to do modern movement. Bhuller, formerly with London Contemporary Dance Theatre, will present the world premiere of Exile & Death, inspired by the dramatic life and works of a Baroque painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Uthoff, the artistic director of Dance St. Louis, will present A Media Luz, a ballet adapted from the style of the Argentina tango. The University of Florida will round off the program by presenting three traditional African works, Soboni Kun, Goumbe and Gbedzie by Mohamed DaCosta. World Dance will be presented at New World Dance Theater. MDC Wolfson Campus Building 5, 25 NE 2 St., 8th floor, in downtown, Miami. For more information or tickets, call 305-237-3341 or visit www.nwsa.mdc.edu.

Storyteller Regina Ress. Photo: Ari Reiss

Tell Me a Story
The South Florida Storytelling Project at Florida Atlantic University will present “A Cultural Feast: A Deliciously Different Performance Event,” a luncheon theatre series which includes a buffet with food from various cultures followed by a storytelling performance. The first performance on Saturday, November 14, features New Yorker Regina Ress and her “A Bite of the Big Apple New York Stories.” The series continues on Saturday, February 20, when Connie Regan-Blade presents “True Grits a Window on Appalachia,” a performance filled with traditional Appalachian Mountain tales. The series will be held in the Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park, 300 S. Military Trail, Boca Raton. Tickets are $25 for the lunch and performance. For more information, call 561-347-3948 or visit www.willowtheatre.org.

Get up close and personal with actress and author Isabella Rosselini this week at the Miami Book Fair International.

Read-o-Rama
The Miami Book Fair International continues with their popular Evenings With series. Spend some time with Richard Powers, author of Generosity: An Enchantment, on Wednesday, November 11; Isabella Rossellini, author of Green Porno on Thursday, November 12; and Orhan Pamuk, author of The Museum of Innocence, Friday, November 13. All presentations begin at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $10. Free programs this week include “Color of Comics: Does It Matter?” on Friday, November 13 at 6 p.m., and “An Evening of Francophone Literature” Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m.. As a precursor to all the presentations, fair organizers will introduce a new component, Twilight Tastings, where on each evening leading up to the special sessions, local restaurants will offer a complimentary samples of their cuisine along with a drink. Some of the featured restaurants include Hard Rock Café; Mamajuana Café; and Miami’s Finest Caribbean Restaurant. And of course, the crowning event of the Miami Book Fair International, the three-day street fair, which features tons of vendors and booksellers appearances by more than 250 authors, will be held November 13-15. For more information, call 305-237-3528 or visit www.miamibookfair.com.

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe star in Lars von Trier’s latest film, Antichrist, which will be screened at Miami Beach Cinematheque.

MBC Salutes Provocative Director Lars von Trier
Miami Beach Cinematheque presents a salute to provocative director through November. The series begins on Thursday, November 12, 8 p.m., with Europa (Zentropa) from 1991, Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Suvoka and Max von Sydow, in which an American pacifist stumbles into a job as a sleeping-car conductor for the Zentropa railways in a Kafkaesque 1945 postwar Frankfurt. In English and German with English subtitles. Next up on Tuesday, November 17, 8 p.m., is Breaking the Waves from 1996. Emily Watson plays a religious woman whose husband (Stellan Skarsgard) is paralyzed from the neck down and unable to satisfy her, so he encourages her to take on other sexual partners. Next up on Thursday, November 19, 8 p.m., is Dancer in the Dark from 2000, starring Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Joel Grey and Jean-Marc Barr, about a Czech immigrant in rural America who is going blind, but finds meaning in life through the fantasy of classic Hollywood musicals. On Wednesday, November 25, 8 p.m., there’s Dogville, starring Nicole Kidman, Harriet Anderson, Lauren Bacall and Jean-Marc Barr, about an American town with chalk marks on the floor as walls. Kidman plays a visitor to Dogville who has a dangerous secret. And in an exclusive for Art Basel, MBC will present the Miami theatrical premiere of this year’s Antichrist, Friday, December 4 through Tuesday December 8. The film stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple who retreats to their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. Let’s just say things don’t go well. (No one under 17 will be admitted to Antichrist.) Miami Beach Cinematheque is located at 512 Española Way, Miami Beach. For tickets and more information, call 305-67-FILMS (673-4567) or visit www.mbcinema.com.

Classical guitarist Karen Schoenhals

Classical Guitar Concert
Classical guitarist Karen Schoenhals will perform pieces by J. S. Bach, Scarlatti, and Torroba in concert Saturday, November 14, 8 p.m., at the Congregational Church of Boca Raton, 251 SW 4 Ave., Boca Raton. I interviewed Karen years ago and ended up getting her CD, Body of My Guitar. While I don’t consider myself big on instrumental music—as a writer I tend to be more interested in lyrics—Karen is so good with her guitar that you hardly miss the words. Check out her concert, or her videos on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students. For more information, call 561-395-9255 or e-mail GuitaristKaren@aol.com.

Director Alex Jablonski’s film Blue Boy, about an impoverished teen lifeguard who sets his sights on a particular woman, is part of the “Spielberg and Lucas Met at Film School” program November 13 at the Miami Short Film Festival.

Short Film Fest
The Miami Short Film Festival is going green for their 8th annual event, which will be held at various venues November 13-22. The theme this year is “Back to the Roots. To illustrate the theme, the festival has added a new prize category for Best Environmental Short Film, and will replace the traditional red carpet for their opening night gala with a more eco-aware green carpet. “The first films ever made were short films,” says founder and director William Vela. “At the 2009 festival, we are paying special attention to the short film as part of cinema's roots, at the same time we look at what is happening in the world around us by showcasing several films that scrutinize our relationship with our environments—natural, political, social, even spiritual.” Presented by the University of Miami School of Communication, the 2009 Miami Short Film Festival will begin with two programs on Friday the 13, “Spielberg and Lucas Met at Film School,” devoted to outstanding new work from students at NYU, UCLA and other film schools; and “Big Bad Dreams of Darkness”, an eclectic collection of creepy, after-dark shorts. Both programs will take place at the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables. The official opening night gala and green carpet experience is set for Saturday, November 14 at 8 p.m., also at the Cosford, with a pre-reception at 7 p.m. and a post-screening party sponsored by Stella Artois. Films include Gloria & Eric by Miamian Nicolas Calzada and Death of a Boxer, a film from Jordan. Screenings will continue at the Cosford Cinema, with additional events taking place at the Miami Beach Cinematheque on Espanola Way and at the Miami Children's Museum on Watson Island where a special children's program will screen November 15-22. To purchase tickets and passes or for more information, visit www.miamishortfilmfestival.org.

Miami native Marco Ramirez, whose new play, Macon City: A Comic Book Play, will open at Naked Stage.

Theatre Openings
Naked Stage, which recently produced the marvelous 24 Hour Theatre Project, opens their season with the debut of Macon City: A Comic Book Play, the latest play by Miami native Marco Ramirez. Set in a fictitious American Metropolis, Macon City chronicles the lives of several local denizens as they struggle to survive in a decaying city, long-since abandoned by the Defenders, a super-powered team of crime-fighters. Macon City runs November 13-29 at the Pelican Theatre on the campus of Barry University in Miami Shores. The Friday, November 13 performance will feature a reception and meet and greet with the cast. www.nakedstage.org. The Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton opens its new season with The Voysey Inheritance, by Harley Granville-Barker and adapted by David Mamet. Although the play was written more than 100 years ago, it seems ripped from the headlines: a man discovers that his father, patriarch of the family investment company, has announced that he has run the company as a Ponzi scheme for years. Will he turn his back on his family and clients or work to make amends? The Voysey Inheritance runs November 8 through December 13. www.caldwelltheatre.com. In Broward, Plantation’s Mosaic Theatre opens the

Cast members of The Voysey Inheritance at Caldwell Theatre: Katherine Amadeo, Jim Ballard, Kathryn Lee Johnston, Cliff Burgess and Terry Hardcastle, with Peter Haig in front. Photo: Sean Lawson

provocatively titled Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, November 20 through December 3. Written by Christopher Durang, it’s satire about America’s Homeland “Insecurity” in a post-911 world. mosaictheatre.com. At Broward Stage Door in Coral Springs there’s Cantorial by Ira Levin, about a young couple who hear eerie Hebrew singing after moving into a condo that used to be a synagogue. It runs November 20 through January 3. www.stagedoortheatre.com. New Theatre in Coral Gables has the rolling world premiere of 26 Miles by Quiara Alegria Hudes, running November 21 through December 20. In 26 Miles, a Cuban mother defies a custody ruling, kidnaps her estranged Jewish daughter, and the two drive west in search of the authentic American experience. www.new-theatre.org. And Edge Theatre will open Fit To Be Tied by Nicky Silver, running November 20 through December 13. It concerns a neglectful mom, her long-suffering husband, their introverted son and a narcoleptic angel from a Christmas pageant. Edge is now operating out of the Literary Café, 12325 NE 6 Ave., North Miami. For more information and reservations, call 786-355-0976.

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