Filed under: Broadway Across America
The Adrienne Arsht Center makes its Broadway debut as one of the producers of The Addams Family, a new musical starring two-time Tony® Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams. With book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) and direction by Jerry Zaks (Guys and Dolls), The Addams Family is scheduled to open on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre April 8, 2010 following its record-breaking pre-Broadway run in Chicago this winter.
Courtesy of www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com
In this original story, the famously macabre Addams Family – Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandmama and Lurch – are put to the test when outsiders come to dinner – hurling the family headlong into a night that will change them forever.
“The Adrienne Arsht Center is thrilled to be part of bringing the new musical The Addams Family to Broadway,” says CEO John Richard. “When the Center opened in 2006, the Board of Directors made a commitment by investing and becoming a partner in Elephant Eye Theatrical, the exciting new theatrical and development company, in order to take a pro-active role in the creation of exciting new plays and musicals for Broadway, our home here in Miami and for stages around the world.”
The Center joins producing teams from 15 of the country’s leading performing arts centers, including The Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston and Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, becoming major players in shaping the future of the American musical theater. As shows are developed and ready for production, they will debut on Broadway, then first play at member’s theaters and, finally, at unaffiliated markets across the U.S. and around the world.
Filed under: At the Center
Although February marks “Black History Month,” the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts Of Miami-Dade County celebrates African American and international black artists and productions– – the best in theater, gospel, blues, jazz and soul, modern dance, world music, and percussion – throughout the season. Year after year, our South Florida community enjoys a year-round festivalof Black culture as we continuously honor the many valuable artistic contributions Black artists have gifted our society.
Our epic celebration spans the entire 2009-10: The Color Purple musical; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Buddy Guy; Julian, Stephen and Damian Marley; Sweet Honey In The Rock; Jon Hendricks and Angelique Kidjo. We continue to host free community-focused events: the sold-out FREE Gospel Sundays showcasing CeCe Winans, Richard Smallwood and others; while Family Fest events bring talent such as the powerful Step Afrika!’s percussion and rhythmic dance to our stage. Our February offerings are lush with an abundance of gifted Black performers from all disciplines including Ne-Yo, NAS and Goodie Mob, Al Jarreau, Ramsey Lewis, The Canton Spirituals, and the award-winning comedy Platanos and Collard Greens.
Free Gospel Sundays
Since our opening, we have proudly hosted a wealth of world-recognized Black performers including Sonny Rollins, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Diane Reeves, Bobby McFerrin, Irvin Mayfield, the Classical Theater of Harlem, Mavis Staples, and Mos Def. Non U.S.-based, critically acclaimed Black talent also have graced our stages, including Gilberto Gil (Brazil), Peru Negro (Peru), Emeline Michel (Haiti) and Lura (Cape Verde), and the award-winning musical The Harder They Come (Jamaica). Also, the Adrienne Arsht Center has presented locally based artists who represent the African diaspora, such as 21st Century Steel Pan Orchestra (Trinidad/Tobago) and Ife-Ile Afro-Cuban Dance Ensemble (Cuba).
Angelique Kidjo
We are delighted to mark this important moment in U.S. history by celebrating Black History Month at the Adrienne Arsht Center this February and beyond, and will continue to applaud Black talent on our stage and in our community season after season.
Filed under: At the Center
Ballerinas, krumpers, tappers, jazz and contemporary dancers lined the entrance to the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall by the hundreds last week. All thought they could dance, and most hoped they had a shot at the title of America’s best dancer on the 7th season of Fox’s award-winning show, “So You Think You Can Dance!” For the second time in the show’s history, the Knight Concert Hall was the backdrop for three days of auditions and call backs that were open to dancers ages 18 – 30. Performances ranged from funny to fabulous and were subject to critique by judges Nigel Lythgoe, Sonya Tayeh, and Jason Gilkison, who provided feedback to each dancer individually.
Two years ago, auditions for Season 5 were held here in Miami, which proved to be a hot spot for dance talent. Those auditions produced a number of South Florida-based favorites including winner Jeanine Amson, runner up Brandon Bryant, Janette Manrara (Top 8), and Vitolio Jeune (Top 14). Furthermore, Season 6 saw native Miamians Jonathan “Legacy” Perez and Victor Smalley place in the Top 20. “We have always been very lucky in Miami, “ noted Jeff Thacker, Executive Producer for the show.“We are starting off Season 7 [auditions] in our lucky city!”
So once again,a diverse array of dancers came to the show’s “lucky city” from all over the state of Florida and around the country and performed on the Adrienne Arsht Center stage for a chance to advance to the choreography round of competition or get “fast tracked” directly to the Las Vegas final auditions. Dancers that make the Top 20 go on to compete in the weekly dance television program that includes learning new routines and trying to avoid elimination from the competition that airs on Fox. Viewers call in and vote to save their favorites from the judge’s elimination. At the end of the series, one dancer is voted America’s favorite dancer. We’ll have to watch to see how Miami’s best dancers do in this Season’s action packed competition.
Filed under: Education
On January 25 some of the best aspiring jazz musicians in Miami-Dade County Public Schools nervously awaited their turn to audition for the Jazz Roots Student All Stars, a new student band that will be featured at a free concert at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theater on February 12 at 7:30 PM. Students from schools around the county showed up at South Miami Senior High for the blind auditions, a process where the players are assigned a number and recorded, so that the judges don’t know the identity ofthe person they are listening to . This type of audition insures the selections are based completely on talent and artistry,of which there was no shortage !
The evening’s activities, which were proctored by Jennifer Jimenez, the President of Florida Band Master’s Association, and Jairo Ontiveros, the Project Coordinator here at the Adrienne Arsht Center, took students through the process of a formal audition, which included a warm up period and an individual recording session. Students gathered together prior to their audition time slots and exchanged thoughts on how to play the assigned excerpts, sharing tips and information they brought from the band directors at their home schools. The cooperative spirit seemed to calm the nervous energy and focus the students on the music and the artistry of playing the selections that were assigned for the audition.
The Jazz Roots All Stars highlight the performance aspects of jazz programs in the county schools and the Jazz Roots education initiative.
Filed under: About the Center
The Adrienne Arsht Center strives to bring the very best in performing arts to the South Florida community. The breadth of our programming reflects the diversity of our Miami community and represents a dazzling array of world class performing artists from all corners of the globe. We place great importance on programming that is relevant, accessible, and inviting for the widest possible audience living in and visiting South Florida
Supporting local performing arts companies illustrates our view that “world class” and “local” are not mutually exclusive–some of the nation’s leading up-and-coming creative artists live and work in our own backyard! As we grow and mature as a cultural hub for our community, we have developed our programmingl with an eye topresenting on our stages the vast creativity and diversity reflective of the cultural mosaic that makes South Florida unique..
Since its inception, the Adrienne Arsht Center has proudly provided a global stage for three critically acclaimed resident companies—Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral AcademyOur partnerships with the The Cleveland Orchestra and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater strengthens as they further immerse themselves in our community through the Orchestra’s annual residency education programs and Ailey Camp Miami. Furthermore, the Center has developed deep relationships with many South Florida artists, helping them in the creation of new work through commissions, access to artistic advice from Center staff, and public presentations.
This year, we are working with some bright, homegrown talent and local organizations in these efforts including award-winning local choreographer Rosie Herrera, award-winning local playwright Michael McKeever, , Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation, City Theatre Summer Shorts Festival and the International Hispanic Theater Festival, one of the jewels of Miami’s theater scene.
In April, Miami’s Mad Cat Theatre Company and the Adrienne Arsht Center will team up for a co-presentation of Paul Tei and Marco Ramirez’, Broadsword, to be performed in the Center’s Carnival Studio Theater. After their initial 2009 workshop production was heralded by critics, and a second workshop further developed the work at the Kennedy Center; the Adrienne Arsht Center will take on the risk of presenting the latest incarnation of this home-grown theater piece,, resulting in a win-win for both organizations, the playwright, and the community.
The Adrienne Arsht Center’s Miami Made Program, which expanded from a commissioning program into a full festival in 2009, funds free workshops of works in progress, readings of unproduced plays, and discussions with artists and arts professionals. Additionally, it serves as a showcase of world-premieres presented during the annual Here & Now program, a joint commissioning project with Miami Light Project dedicated to the professional development of South Florida-based artists. Here & Now annually subsidizes Miami’s most innovative, ground-breaking works, and marks the debuts of many promising local talents.
The Center’s new works range from the Center-produced Miami Libre, which featured dozens of South Florida’s spiciest musicians, singers and dancers, to the current work-in-progress and collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Rock Odyssey, which will première at the Center in April to every 5th grader in the County– that’s over 2,400 kids! – for free. The Adrienne Arsht Center expands the boundaries of “world class” performing arts by nurturing and supporting artists, particularly those working and living in our own community.
More than 355,000 people attended performances at the Center last season. This season we anticipate half a million patrons will walk through our doors, and it’s our job to make sure that the programming contains something special, exciting, representative and personally compelling for everyone in our diverse South Florida community.
Filed under: At the Center
60 international stars galloped into town on that tropical night for the Miami premiere of a breathtaking, innovative performance event. And afterwards, they ate approximately 50 bales of hay, 120 pounds of grain, and several hundred carrots. Glorious, elegant, and amazingly agile, the superstars of this enchanting performance are horses – 12 different breeds from around the world – performing in Cavalia, an internationally acclaimed show developed by one of the founding members of Cirque du Soleil. Presented under the big white top tent in Bicentennial Park, Cavalia marks the Adrienne Arsht Center’s very first off-site presentation, underlining our commitment to provide world-class, diverse programming to the city of Miami and the South Florida community – both in our state-of-the-art theaters, and within the community at large. The production has enchanted audiences across the globe, and the Miami premiere was no exception. Astounding acrobatics, live music and brilliant special effects, and most especially the majestic and magnificent equine stars–all had audiences cheering with delight. Cavalia truly is a magical experience for people of all ages, highlighting the special bond between horses and humans, and captivating onlookers with the power and grace of these stunning horses running free. South Florida is sure to fall in love with the drama, the tenderness, and the sheer horse power of this astounding performance.
Cavalia continues at the White Big Top in Bicentennial Park through February 7, 2010. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Adrienne Arsht Center box office at (305) 949-6722 or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
Filed under: Green Room Society
Always known to bring the all-access experience to its members, the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Green Room Society (GRS) not only provides an exclusive look at the performing arts here at the Center but they’ve also been known to throw some of the hottest parties in Miami! This particular event was no exception.
On January 19, 2010, GRS members got to experience the much anticipated new restaurant STK at the Gansevoort Hotel on South Beach. Over 400 of Miami’s VIPs dined on various menu selections of this non-traditional fusion steakhouse, including spicy Wagyu Beef Tartar and their famous Shrimp Rice Krispies. Guests drank champagne til the wee hours while local DJ maven, Danny Daze, kept the crowd moving all night long. Also on board that night was the event’s media sponsor, Ocean Drive magazine, which was celebrating its 17th Anniversary with GRS.
The crowd at STK. Photo by David Muir.
“As much as GRS is about the performing arts, it’s nice to break away and get to experience something like this,” states GRS co-chair, Jimmy Vargas. “We want our members to feel like they have a magic key to this city and if it’s giving our members access to the hottest Broadway performance or to the hottest new restaurant, GRS is in the middle of it all.”
(L-R) GRS Committee Members Jimmy Vargas, Austin Cohen and Brian Ehrlich. Photo by David Muir.
Check out some of the night’s highlights here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenroomsociety/sets/72157623265261720/
To find out more on GRS and how you can join, call 786.468.2040 or email greenroom@arshtcenter.org.
Filed under: Board of Trustee
As one of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s founding donors, Ron Esserman is part of a family of donors who go the extra mile to keep the performing arts strong in this community. And when it comes to leaders in this community, his name is at the top of everyone’s list. Esserman energizes people, whether they are his own friends, his staff or an entire arts community. Ron Esserman is owner of Esserman International Acura-Kia-VW, Esserman Nissan – VW, and Largo Honda. He has more than 600 employees in his four dealerships and seven franchises. He is also an avid arts supporter.
Esserman is Chairman of the Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami (PACF) and has served on the board since its inception in 1990. The PACF Board raised more than $80 million in private sector funding to help build the performing arts center. Esserman was determined to make it happen: He was singlehandedly responsible for raising well over $10 million towards the Center’s capital campaign. Because of his efforts in engaging others in the community to support the project, the Center became a reality.
Esserman’s passion and love for the arts is evident, as he attends countless performances throughout the season and continues to give to the Center. Recently, Esserman donated a 2010 Volkswagen EOS convertible to the Center as part of the Arts Odyssey Gala. This generous donation has provided the Adrienne Arsht Center and its resident companies with a unique opportunity to raise additional funds, with proceeds from the drawing to be shared equally by all four participant organizations.
The Adrienne Arsht Center recognizes Ron Esserman and his extraordinary leadership. He cares about people and cares about Miami. Through his philanthropy in South Florida, he has played a significant role in making Miami a world-class city.
* Note: The EOS convertible is on display in the Adams Foundation Lobby at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House. The drawing has been extended to Valentine’s Day. For further information on how to enter the EOS drawing and support the arts, please visit http://www.arshtcenter.org/gala09/drawing.aspx.
Filed under: About the Center
In December, Miami New Times saluted the Adrienne Arsht Center as one of Miami’s Ten Defining Moments of the Decade: “It was clear Miami was coming of age culturally, but we lacked a traditional, central arts center to host orchestras, ballets, Broadway shows, and the ilk. BOY, DID WE GET ONE. The Adrienne Arsht Center is the third-largest performing arts center in the nation, only behind one in Denver and New York’s famed Lincoln Center.”
Last Spring, the Center proudly welcomed its one millionth patron and the Center’s many sell outs have included the 2008-2009 Jazz Roots Inaugural Season, while Fuerza Bruta, twice extended in the summer of 2009, became the longest-running touring production in Miami history. In 2009 the Center also launched its first full season of music and dance programming, the first ever Ailey Camp Miami, in partnership with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company, and the Grand Opening of Prelude by Barton G., Miami’s newest dining hot spot.
The last month of the decade found the center in festive holiday swing with Broadway in Miami’s new family treat, The 101 Dalmatians Musical, playing its most successful national tour engagement to date at the Ziff Ballet Opera House. Serphiac Fire performed Handel’s Messiah in the Knight Concert Hall and The John S. and James L. Knight Masterworks Season’s Sanford and Dolores Ziff Classical Music Series got off to a gorgeous start with a concert by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. Capping off December was Miami City Ballet’s perennial holiday favorite George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
January brings a new decade and legendary entertainers to the Center: Tony Bennett on the Knight Concert Hall stage January 8 is now the highest grossing one-night show in the Center’s history. Bennett calls the venue “one of the most beautiful in the world.” Itzhak Perlman in Recital wowed a capacity audience on January 12. The 2009-10 Celebrity Chef Series ended with a BAM! January 9 with Emeril Lagasse, and 2010’s first Family Fest kicked off with a special pre-sale and activities for Wicked, Broadway’s Musical Blockbuster, coming to the Ziff Ballet Opera House March 3-21, and a free performace of Cinderella by the Miami City Ballet School.
The legendary Tony Bennett onstage at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center.
2010 will see the opening of the Bombay Sapphire Lounge in the historic Carnival Tower. And, for the first time, the Center presents off-site at the white big top at Bicentennial Park beginning January 19 with its co-presentation of Cavalia, a unique live entertainment featuring a magical encounter between man and horse.
With so many choices, a visit to the Adrienne Arsht Center could be the easiest New Year’s resolution you’ve ever made!
Filed under: Celebrity Chef
I’ve been there on a thousand other Saturday nights. A large pot of water boiling on the stove in anticipation of the crowd walking in, taking their seats, ready to be fed, to be comforted, to be satisfied and to be full. I keep thinking its Saturday night, always the busiest night. Will the crowd be pleased? Will the gratification be instant? Can we keep up the pace? I wonder why I am anxious. This isn’t my kitchen! To a chef though, all kitchens are their kitchens, familiar turf. All the excitement and anticipation and preparation are common among us. Pleasing people is what we do, what we strive for, what keeps us loving being back behind the line, pressured, hot, and moving at a frantic pace.
I’m excited as Emeril Lagasse takes the stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Emeril is a hero in this chef’s world, someone who has made his own success– restaurants, television shows, best-selling cookbooks, and product lines. I have to ask myself, success at what expense? I relate to his shy, introspective nature. I cook, I create, I ‘m not a story teller, well only in the kitchen. I too was influenced as a child by my mother’s cooking and found it difficult to find a job without French training. He and I have a lot in common.
Into his element, Emeril steps behind the stove. It was amazing to watch him move around an impromptu kitchen—albeit a highly theatrical stage kitchen—with such comfort and ease. I start to relax, sit back in my seat knowing that he was in his comfort zone and quintessential Emeril. In the kitchen he is home.
Emeril’s message was simple and one that every water boiler can take away with them.
We are busy people and good, local, fresh, healthy and tasty doesn’t mean slaving in a kitchen for hours.
As Emeril cooked and the show came to a close that ingrained Saturday night tension slowly dissipated as it did each and every week. I could relax, the crowd was pleased and I was full.
The writer owned and operated restaurants in the New York City area for over 25 years and is now retired and living in South Florida.
