Tag Archives: Parker Playhouse

Kelley Shanley’s Legacy After 25 Years Leading Broward Center

An array of arts crossing genres, ethnicities and expectations at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is the result of an unprecedentedly smooth integration of culture and society which has elevated the quality of life in Broward County. And at the vortex of those challenging flows is Kelley Shanley, CEO, president and former general manager who steps down this month after 25 years.

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UPDATED: Zev Buffman, Legendary Local & National Figure, Dead At 89

Nationally-known impresario Zev Buffman, a key figure in the evolution of South Florida theater, died Wednesday. Charismatic with an elfin visage and a slight accent from his origins in Israel, he was known for enthusiasm, showmanship and drive as he developed the Coconut Grove Playhouse and Parker Playhouse, helped develop the modern-day national touring system, and co-founder of the Miami Heat.

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Kelli O’Hara Coming To The Parker Playhouse with Rudetsky

In the current Broadway stratosphere, several leading actresses belie the idea that there are no more Carol Channings or Ethel Mermans. But it’s hard to argue that other than Audra McDonald, there is no regularly working actress held in as much awe and adoration as Kelli O’Hara whose sparklin soprano sparks superlatives from fans, critics and colleagues.

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Theater Maven Seth Rudetsky Lives His Dream At Parker Playhouse With Kelli O’Hara

Seth Rudetsky is living the dream of every theater geek, except that he is not an outsider, he is an insider who doesn’t name drop to impress; they are his colleagues and friends. The effervescent Rudetsky is bringing to the Parker Playhouse his unique unscripted events in which he and a boldface performer schmooze, share backstage stories and create impromptu duets from the guest’s songbook. Up first Jan. 3 Kelli O’Hara

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Curtain Up On The 2017-2018 South Florida Theater Season

If you know where to look, certainly you can find reliable warhorse titles in the upcoming theater season in South Florida, but it’s easier to find vibrant, contemporary and challenging offerings.

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Stefanie Powers Hopes To Channel Tallulah in Looped

Stephanie Powers is stepping in as the emergency replacement for the lead part in a play in which she has 80 percent of the lines, doing it with less than two weeks’ rehearsal, and re-creating an iconic celebrity she personally knew in Looped, the slightly fictionalized account of Tallulah Bankhead’s comic and tragic – and substance abuse affected — attempt to dub one line of dialogue for her last movie a few years before she died.

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Agatha Christie’s Radio Plays The BBC Murders Intriguing, Entertaining, But Not Riveting

There’s the canny germ of an idea in producer Zev Buffman’s pet project to fuse radio, theater and modern technology into a hybrid exemplified in his latest production, Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders at the Parker Playhouse. The end result is undeniably entertaining in a quiet smile kind of way, although this is clearly an early foray into this genre and, arguably, not the most enthralling material to do it with.

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Zev Buffman Sees No Mystery In Producing Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders In Florida

South Florida impresario and veteran Broadway producer Zev Buffman foresees a future for stage theater — in radio. Not just for any theater, but orphans like the Parker Playhouse that are too big for local theater troupes and too small for Broadway tours. And he wants to do it in part by reviving the genre of mystery/thriller plays. Local audiences will see his first foray this month with his production of Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders, four radio plays lost for a half-century, uncovered by Buffman’s detective work and adapted by grafting full-fledged theater techniques onto a vintage radio drama foundation.

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Love, Loss and What I Wore is Gently Funny Celebration of, Well, What You Wore

Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Parker Playhouse is a gently funny and knowing celebration of clothing not as fashion per se, but as talismans, totems and souvenirs that instantly summon associations of moments in our lives.

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