Sharon Geltner

‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ brings comedy tonight to Mickel Park

Mar 05, 2025 / Sharon Geltner

The dawn of theater in ancient Greece coupled with a musical about ancient Rome, inspired a former Bakersfield, Calif., boy to create a theater in the parks program for Wilton Manors.

So says Ronnie Larsen, artistic director of Plays of Wilton, a non-profit theater company based in Wilton Manors and founder of POW! In the Park.
Starting Friday, March 7, Plays of Wilton (POW!) is collaborating w...

Make America debate again.

Where would you rather be: Washington, DC or Palm Beach, Florida?

Dare to compare with this fun chart.

Former dancers and performances find friendship amid showmanship with volunteer troupe

Three dozen women, mostly retirees from Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County, rehearse twice a week for 10 months, practicing their steps and synchronizing their moves for performances to be held in Broward and Palm Beach counties. And while the theme of the New Florida Follies latest extravaganza is “Be Our Guest” from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” the real theme for the cast, they say, is “Be Our ...

Eight-Women Revue to Showcase Composer Jerry Herman’s Best Tunes from ‘Hello, Dolly!, ‘Mame,’ ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ and More

Jan 10, 2025

The late Jerry Herman created the melodies and lyrics to some of America’s most enduring stage musicals, such as “Hello, Dolly!” “Mame” and “La Cage Aux Folles.”
Musical director David Nagy says that’s a good enough reason for the Pompano Players to stage “Jerry’s Girls.” The show runs from Friday, Jan. 10 to Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Ce...

This month is a milestone anniversary in Palm Beach County marking 35 years since a Chanukah menorah was first displayed on public property.

It started four decades ago with Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui and his brother, who bucked established narratives and even some Jewish thought to compel governments to allow religious symbols on public property.

“When I arrived 40 years ago, the island was an elitist enclave known for its restrictive policies, ‘No dogs. No Jews.’”...

A rabbi reflects on the lessons learned through his quest and how they remain relevant.

This month is a milestone anniversary in Palm Beach County marking 35 years since a Chanukah menorah was first displayed on public property.
It started four decades ago with Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui and his brother, who bucked established narratives and even some Jewish thought to compel governments to allow religious symbols on public property.
“When I arrived 40 years ago, the island was an elitist enclave kn...

New City Players Open Season With Original Christmas Play
Part Three of a Fort Lauderdale theater company’s holiday trilogy continues the legacy of the WNCP Radio studios.

Dec 04, 2024/ Sharon Geltner, BAJA

The cast and crew of “The Last Christmas” are going to party like it’s 1999 and the audience is invited to feel the holiday joy. The world premiere play kicks off New City Players’ ninth season and is penned by Boynton Beach playwright, ensemble member, Foley and sound designer and former box office manager, Tyler Johnson Grimes. (“Foley” in the...

If you liked Palm Royale, Apples Never Fall and Mr. & Mrs. American Pie, then you'll love CHARITY BASHED! It's a fun, comedy-drama set in Palm Beach, Florida, with plenty of juicy gossip, mystery, a crime or two, satire, secrets and sunshine. This is the snooty and elite resort barrier Island where those Netflix and Apple TV+ streaming shows take place.

Key word: "barrier."

CHARITY BASHED takes you deep inside Netflix territory; those hidden, posh enclaves, such as the Palm Beach Country Club...

Anne Geggis, president of Florida Press Club, announces the finalists in its Excellence in Journalism awards. I'm nominated for stories about: artist Sharon Koskoff in The Boca Raton Observer magazine plus 54Below at Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and a profile of author Beth Raymer (the latter two published in The Coastal Star.)

Thanks to editors Alona Abbady Martinez in Boca and Gregory Stepanich at The Coastal Star / PalmBeachArtsPaper.

https://www.floridapressclub.org/congratulations-to-the-finalists-of-the-2023-24-florida-press-club-excellence-i

By Sharon Geltner | Broward Arts Journalism Alliance

Pompano Beach – It wasn’t easy finding a silver lining during COVID-19, but Pompano Beach’s leaders did. They used that time to plan an ambitious rebranding of the city as an international destination with a first-class arts and culture scene. Soon they hired key employees with performing arts and local government experience.
One of the fruits of this labor is a new resident theater troupe. This month, the Cultural Affairs Department of Pom...

Fort Lauderdale theater company finds a new home in Hollywood

As the Arts and Culture Center/Hollywood approaches its 50th anniversary in 2025, it has already had a season of important milestones, ranging from new leadership, to an expansion underway, to contributing to ending the city’s 20-year drought of professional, live theater.

Under new CEO Jennifer Homan, who started last fall, the Center has rapidly embarked on a series of first-time accomplishments in an effort to expand its reach to...

Kristen Beck uses personal experience to inform her latest work.

Oct 16, 2024
Sharon Geltner, BAJA

Kristin Beck’s personal experience of caring for her father who was diagnosed with dementia in 2019 was what inspired the artist to create “Before I Forget.”
“Alzheimer’s touches everyone,” says Kristin Beck, curator and solo artist of “Before I Forget” on view at the North Regional/Broward College Library in Coconut Creek through Friday, Nov. 29.

Beck, a native Floridian, is from Miami and cu...

A renowned developer is parting ways with his home in a historic enclave of Jupiter Farms

September 19, 2024

Sharon Geltner / Florida Weekly Correspondent

The man who came out of retirement to build the successful Belvedere West Industrial Park in West Palm Beach is now selling his customized Reynolds Ranch home on what used to be Burt Reynolds’ private airstrip.

Douglas McMillen built the largest open-air shopping mall (at the time) in Florida. Later, he built an out parcel at Boynton Beach Mall. He and his ...

You may have heard the expression, “Brevity is the soul of discretion.”
Well, “Brevity is the soul of art” in the current exhibition at the Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) in Pompano Beach.
At “SMS: Semantic Textiles Art Exhibition,” on display through Friday, Sept. 20, the show’s creator and curator, Lisa Rockford of Rockford Projects, has put together a very “of the moment” show that sprawls through three galleries and over 6,000 square feet, with 70 works by 20 artists. Rockford own...

It wasn’t easy finding a silver living during COVID-19, but Pompano Beach’s leaders did. They used that time to plan an ambitious rebranding of the city as an international destination with a first-class arts and culture scene. Soon they hired key employees with performing arts and local government experience.
One of the fruits of this labor is a new resident theater troupe. In October, the Cultural Affairs Department of Pompano Beach will introduce the Pompano Players. The company’s six-show...