The Scene for July 25, 2008

Not much opening this week in South Florida, but there's still lots to see.

Wicked's Idina Menzel brings her act to the Parker Playhouse tonight at 8pm. The Tony Award winning actress is promoting her new album. If you like her as Elphaba, you'll love her as...herself.

One of the few openings this week is Slava's Snowshow,at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. It's also the Herald's Critic's Choice pick for this week.

As an added treat, they'll be dumping several tons of ACTUAL snow out in front of the theater on Saturday morning. The sledding starts at 9:00am - and you don't even need tickets to the show.

LAST CHANCE TO SEE..

Also at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, this is the final weekend for The 23rd Annual Hispanic Theater Festival. Produced by Teatro Avante, the Festival's theme is "Spain." Jordan Levin of the Miami Herald writes about one of the plays in the Festival, Miami Libre, while Antonio Orlano Rodriguez tells us about El día más feliz de nuestra vida (The Happiest Day of Our Lives).

This is the final weekend for The Hate U Gave: The Tupac Shakur Story, presented by Ground Up And Rising.

I missed Bill Hirschman's review last week; the Sun-Sentinel doesn't seem to understand the purpose of its RSS feed. But an attentive reader posted a link in the comments (thanks, connerythedragon! Or should I say 'KC?')

"A dazzlingly insightful script and mesmerizing performance, both by Meshaun Labrone Arnold, make this a don't-miss production by Ground Up & Rising..."

"...his masterstroke is to turn down the volume and speed to let the work breathe in dramatic silences and quiet soliloquies. By slowing the rendition of a Shakur song, he reveals its words as passionate and insightful sociological comment wrapped in a lyrical, if profane, street poetry."

Brandon K. Thorp slips in his review just in time for the show to close. But as always, Brandon gives us something to talk about:

"If rap people see this, they'll say, "Holy shit! Plays have balls!" If theater people see this, they'll say, "Holy shit! Rap people are deep!" And though as a white dude I cannot know for sure, I suspect that people of all aesthetic persuasions, colors, and political philosophies will walk away from the show with an enlarged perspective on white-black relations."

That's what we missed in his Souvenir review; a clear statement about the play's impact.

Broward Stage Door's biography of Zero Mostel, Zero Hour, winds it up on Sunday.

The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival raps up The Comedy of Errors at Boca Raton's Sunset Cove Ampitheater. It's free, but don't forget the mosquito repellent.


STILL PLAYING:
Dream a Little Dream at Florida Stage.
MIDLIFE: The Crisis Musical, at Actors' Playhouse.
Why We Have A Body is held over through August 9 at Sol Theatre Project.
SOUVENIR - a Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, at Palm Beach DramaWorks.
The Sisters Rosenweig at Rising Action Theatre Company.