Mr. Charlie Cinnamon’s response to Huffington Post

Posted on 05. May, 2013 by Howard Salus in Entertainment, featured, Florida News, The Arts Advances

 VETERAN AND RESPECTED PUBLICIST CINNAMON RESPONDS TO ARTICLE IN HUFFINGTON POST REGARDING MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER

Ron Levitt, ENV Magazine, Florida Media News

April 30, 2013       Subject: Response to Roger Stone. Huffington Post

Responding to the recent  Huffington Post posting of Roger Stone’s comments on the renovations being proposed for the Miami Beach Convention Center I would first like to compliment Mr. Stone for the verve  in which he exhibited his passion for the legacy of the late Jackie Gleason, a passion I equally share. In the wake of so important a decision to proceed with a multi-million dollar civic project, to be sure he is correct in questioning Jack Portman’s queries as to whether the building is functional, it’s contribution to the area, it’s historical significance.

It is in this context that Mr. Stone will be happy to learn that Mr. Portman, along with his colleagues at Portman-CMC have, indeed, sought out the answers, listening and adapting, all of which will be clearly evident come public show time on May 14

Having been on the scene in those wildly colorful glamour days, I recall those years as a parade of “shtick” in which Jackie did, indeed, open the world of Miami Beach to those who yearned for a winter  in the “sun and sand” away from the cold and snow of the fearful North. What should also be remembered is the year 1976 when what was fundamentally the Miami Beach Auditorium, a barn of a house-turned-studio for the Gleason show, was transformed into the Theater of the Performing Arts, fondly recalled as “TOPA,” when Zev Buffman  produced Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel,” starring Lucie Arnaz  in a glittering premiere that brought to town Lucie’s parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, launching a respectable reign as South Florida’s foremost legitimate theater venue. From thereon in, and through the years, the building underwent internal and external changes, being renamed at one time or another The Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts and now under which it still lives, The Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

Mind boggling as those changes are, what remains is an edifice with a colorful history of all things performance, a heritage that the Portman-CMC plans to continue in the most handsome reincarnation yet to behold. Indeed, following the mandate of the city officials and of those to whom we are all ultimately responsible Portman-CMC clearly proceeded to find the answers by reaching out to the community to hear their voices. By virtue of their response, presented will be a re-imagined design that will not only honor the Gleason legacy but one we are assured by those closest to his history, a theater and entertainment complex that would not only delight the community but would, indeed, please “The Great One” himself.

All will be on full display Tuesday, May 14, 10:30 A.M. Miami Beach Convention Center Hall “C” to which we urge all to attend and take pleasure in what they see.

Respectfully submitted:  Charlie Cinnamon, Press Rep, Portman-CMC

WAR HORSE – On Its Way

Posted on 16. Apr, 2013 by Howard Salus in Entertainment, featured, Florida News, The Arts Advances

“A LANDMARK THEATER EVENT”

-Time Magazine

WINNER OF FIVE TONY® AWARDS

INCLUDING BEST PLAY

PREMIERES IN FORT LAUDERDALE

MAY 7 – 19.

Fort Lauderdale, Fl – April 16, 2013 – The National Theatre of Great Britain’s epic WAR HORSE, winner of five 2011 Tony®  Awards including Best Play, will make its premiere in Fort Lauderdale beginning May 7th. Tickets are available at the Broward Center box office, on-line at www.browardcenter.org; by phone 954-462-0222. Groups of 10+ are invited to call 954-626-7814 or 954-462-0222.

Joey and Topthorn – BrinkhoffMogenburg

Michael Morpurgo ’s beloved novel, War Horse, is also the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s feature film of the same name, which earned six Oscar® nominations including Best Picture.

Hailed by The New York Times as “theatrical magic,” WAR HORSE is the powerful story of young Albert’s beloved horse, Joey, who has been enlisted to fight for the English in World War I. In a tale the New York Daily News calls “spellbinding, by turns epic and intimate,” Joey is caught in enemy crossfire and ends up serving both sides of the war before landing in no man’s land. Albert, not old enough to enlist, embarks on a treacherous mission to find his horse and bring him home. What follows is a remarkable tale of courage, loyalty and friendship, filled with stirring music and songs and told with some of the most innovative stagecraft of our time.

The tour of WAR HORSE, which was adapted from the book by Morpurgo by Nick Stafford, is directed by Bijan Sheibani based on the original Tony® Award-winning direction by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, and presented in association with Handspring Puppet Company. At the heart of the show are life-sized puppets which bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.

In addition to Best Play, WAR HORSE received Tony® Awards for Best Direction of a Play (Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris), Best Scenic Design of a Play (Rae Smith), Best Lighting Design of a Play (Paule Constable), and Best Sound Design of a Play (Christopher Shutt). A Special Tony® Award was given to Handspring Puppet Company for their integral work on the production.

WAR HORSE received its World Premiere in a limited engagement at the National’s Olivier Theatre in 2007. The play returned to the National Theatre for a second run playing from 2008-2009 before transferring to the West End’s New London Theatre in Spring 2009 where it continues to play an open-ended run.

WAR HORSE has been seen by over 2 million people worldwide and is currently playing at New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, in London’s West End, and at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. Future productions of WAR HORSE are planned for Australia, Berlin and South Africa, as well as a UK Tour. For more information, please visit www.WarHorseOnStage.com

The lead producers of the National Tour of WAR HORSE are Bob Boyett and the National Theatre of Great Britain. Lincoln Center Theater and the National Theatre of Great Britain in association with Bob Boyett and War Horse LP, are the producers of the American premiere of WAR HORSE, which opened in Spring 2011 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater where it is currently playing an open-ended run.

WAR HORSE will play Tuesday, May 7th through Sunday, May 19th at Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00pm and Sunday May 12h at 7:30pm. Matinee performances are all Saturdays and Sundays and Wednesday, May 15h at 2:00pm. Tickets are $39.50 – $79.50 and are now on sale at the Broward Center Box Office Monday through Friday 10AM – 5PM, Saturday and Sunday 12 Noon – 5PM and 1 ½ hours prior to show times; or on-line at www.browardcenter.org; by phone 954-462-0222. Groups of 10+ are invited to call 954-626-7814 or 954-462-0222 The Broadway in Fort Lauderdale 2012-2013 subscription season is made possible with the generous support of Bank of America and is presented by Florida Theatrical Association, Broadway Across America and Broward Center for the Performing Arts

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AN ILIAD – “a unique production”

Posted on 15. Apr, 2013 by Howard Salus in Entertainment, featured, Florida News, The Arts Reviews

AVI HOFFMAN HITS A HOME (R)  RUN IN A SOLO PERFORMANCE  FOR OUTRE

Ron Levitt, ENV Magazine, Florida Media News

BOCA RATON,FL –    Avi Hoffman is accustomed to doing solo performances.  He has a television and theatre history with three separate versions of his humorous Too Jewish. But, he has taken strictly a dramatic turn as he does a modern-day retelling of the ancient Greek classic by Homer –this  time by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, in an Outre theatre production at the Mizner Park Studio Theatre. It’s called AN ILIAD.

But, don’t be fooled.  This is no comedy nor is it the exact retelling of THE  Iliad.  This is a modern-day version  which dramatizes in a convincing way how wars over the centuries have been waged by those in power (often for ridiculous reasons)  with the burden being carried by  individual soldiers, their wives back home and their children.

It’s a powerful message aimed at the audience in this Southeastern premiere.  And, the Outre Company chose wisely in selecting Hoffman as the poet to spread the anti-war message.  Hoffman, utilizing his years of stage experience – is backed by  the outstanding direction of Skye Whitcomb and an excellent technical staff.  He  moves to every point of the destruction-obvious set   - even involving some of the audience — to make his valid points. He gives a simply majestic performance  to show  the individuals suffering in wars covering generations, including the “wails of  women.’  In the final moments, he rips off a liturgy of every war imaginable, providing the thinking men and women a reason they are watching this unique bit of theatre

The production team deserves special mention – sound by Denny Butler, lighting by Stefanie Howard, stage management by Sabrina Lynn Gore,  and especially the vivid set design by double Carbonell honoree Sean McClelland.

Homeric purists may find plenty to quibble with this adaptation.   It is not the same storyline or emphasis that you may have been taught in high school or college,  This piece  focuses primarily on Hector and Achilles, with only a glancing mention of Odysseus, Helen, Menelaus and Paris.  But it  does give credit to Helen as the most famous war fought over a woman .The concentration – aptly portrayed by Hoffman – are the dozens of wars over the years fought by thousands of nameless men  and women because of some tyrant, inept leader or dictator.

This unique shows runs  through April 21. Call for tickets — 954-300-2149.

from 350.org

Posted on 13. Apr, 2013 by Howard Salus in Education, featured, Florida News, Green Business, Green Events

From Duncan Meisel – 350.org [organizers@350.org]

10 days. That’s how long we have to flood the State Department with comments opposing Keystone XL.

For the next ten days our friends across the movement are coordinating a ‘Comment Sprint’ to submit hundreds of thousands of comments against the pipeline — hopefully hitting 1 million in total.

If you’ve already submitted a comment, keep reading: you’re able to submit more than one, and in fact, you should. We want to show that people are opposed to the pipeline for many reasons, all of them grounded in hard facts, so every day for ten days, we’ll focus on a new reason to oppose the pipeline and submit new comments.

The State Department’s review has been heavy on politics and light on science, so the more we focus on the facts, the stronger our case to the President and the public will be to stop the pipeline.

The first day of the comment sprint is today. The first issue we’re focusing on is how the pipeline undermines energy security. We need to clear about one thing: TransCanada wants this pipeline so they can get tar sands oil to export.

President Obama’s job is to decide whether the pipeline is in the US national interest. TransCanada has shown that it’s not. In filings to the State Department and contracts with refiners, they’ve spelled out their plans to pad their profits by exporting it to the international market where it will fetch a higher price — putting more money in the pockets of big oil and accelerating tar sands development in Canada.

Can you submit a comment to the President and State Department explaining the energy security case for stopping the pipeline? Click here to submit your comment: act.350.org/letter/kxl-sprint-day-1/

To hit a million comments, it will take a lot of us pitching in in different ways. At 350, we won’t email you every day for 10 days (more likely 4 or 5), but we will use social media and other tools at our disposal to promote the push every day between now and the 22nd. In particular, we will be relying on our Social Media Team to share crucial info about each day’s issue — if you’d like to join the Team and help super-charge key content over the next ten days, click here: act.350.org/signup/social/

Keystone XL is a climate disaster, and an economic loser. If built, it would carry 800,000 barrels a day of tar sands to export for the next 50 years, leaving a toxic legacy for communities along the route, and a massive carbon footprint on the atmosphere. And we’re going to do whatever we can to stop it.

Thanks for all you’ve done, and all you will do to stop the pipeline.

Duncan

P.S. – If you’ve submitted a comment and would prefer to opt-out of emails about the next ten days of comments, that’s fine too! Just click here, and we won’t send you any more Comment Sprint emails: act.350.org/sign/kxl-sprint-opt-out/ You’ll stay subscribed to 350.org, but we’ll leave you out of updates for the Sprint.

Arts Ballet Theatre Presents SPRING BALLET GALA

Posted on 10. Apr, 2013 by Howard Salus in Entertainment, featured, Florida News, The Arts Advances