The Master Chorale of South Florida waited just long enough for the dust to settle over longtime Artistic Director Jo-Michael Sheibe's departure to announce his replacement, Dr. Joshua Habermann (pictured at left), who was recently named director of Choral Studies at the University of Miami.

In addition to timing, there's more serendipity in the announcement. As Sheibe heads for the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Habermann is relocating from San Francisco State University, where he was Director of Choral Activities, and off-campus Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus for the past 12 years.

The announcement was made late Tuesday by Master Chorale president Mark W. Glickman, who in a statement gushed to be "absolutely delighted" to land the man who was the "unanimous first choice of our chorus members" from among four finalists (and 33 applicants, total). He'll make his debut here Nov. 14 conducting Mendelssohn's "Elijah." Click on the link below for additional information from the official announcement.

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The Theatre League of South Florida wraps up its third annual spring Theatre Festival this weekend, then celebrates Monday (May 12) in Fort Lauderdale with a new awards fete that salutes the best of the fest.

The league is introducing the Silver Palm Awards, a dozen citations for top shows and performances among the fest's 26 participating productions, and to thank the program's major sponsors. The event is party style at 7:30 p.m. at Stork's Bakery Cafe on E. Las Olas Blvd., free to League members and $20 for non-members.

The festival Silver Palm performance honorees are:

The Naked Stage Company - As Outstanding New Emerging Theatre Company.

Playwright Jules Tasca - Outstanding New Work for "The Mission" at the New Theatre in Coral Gables.

"Some Girls" - Outstanding Ensemble, at the Mad Cat Theatre Company, Miami.

"From the Mississippi Delta" - Outstanding Ensemble, at the M Ensemble Company, North Miami.

Nanique Gheridian - Outstanding Performance in "Benefactors" at Palm Beach Dramaworks, West Palm Beach.

Bruce Adler - Outstanding Performance in "I'm Not Rappaport" at New Vista Theatre Company, Boca Raton.

Eric Fabregat - Outstanding Performance in "Dirty Story" at Mosaic Theatre, Plantation.

Ricky Waugh - Outstanding Performances in "The Mission" at the New Theatre and "Two Sisters and a Piano" at The Promethean Theatre, Davie.

The Silver Palm sponsor citations go to:

Jim Stork of Stork's Backery and Cafe Las Olas, WLRN radio-TV, the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Dept. and Doug Jones of Sixth Star Entertainment and Marketing, all for Outstanding Contributions to the South Florida Theatre Festival.

Also previously announced, Jay Harris of Boca Raton will receive the League's oldest and highest honor, the Remy Pioneer Award. Freelance journalist Ron Levitt, the league's current VP and a former Florida Assistant Secretary of State, will receive the Remy Service Award. Yours truly Jack Zink will be tapped for a Lifetime Achievement Award. Gush.

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"What good's permitting some prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away
Life is a cabaret, old chum
So come to the cabaret."

--Lyrics by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander, "Cabaret," Broadway, 1966

Welcome to the blogosphere that encourages discourse from everyone who recognize the obvious: There are few if any boundaries among interests in the arts or their connection to show "business" and pop culture.

Plays, musicals, opera, symphony, chorus, recitals, jazz, pop concerts, artspolitik, philanthropy, and much more are part of the Cultural Cabaret.

Here, you'll find breaking news and opinion of events - performing arts and show business - in the digital world, often as observation within minutes or hours of an event - previews to the fully vetted online and print news or reviews to follow.

Whether the discussion is conducted digitally or on paper, we all need to be a part of the community exchange. Ours is South Florida. These posts are the starting point for you to discuss our cultural community among one another.

Now that the cabaret is in full swing with a few scoops and catch-up items on the entertainment news front, it's time to pause for introductions and welcomes.

You lounge lizards know the drill - the set begins with a torch song opener, then a ballad, then the entertainer "chats" with you personal-like before diving into the show proper.

Here's my chat: I've spent nearly 40 years covering entertainment and the arts for every major newspaper in South Florida, from Miami through the Palm Beaches - over half of it here at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

For much of that time, I've also covered the statewide entertainment industry reporting for "the bible of show business," Variety based in New York City and Daily Variety in Los Angeles.

In the overview, that means nights in saloons and salons and sheds (a.k.a. amphitheaters), plus supperclubs, casinos and concert halls, from symphony orchestras to rock festivals, playhouses to theaters to opera houses, movies from the set to the neighborhood multiplex to art cinemas to film festivals, and artspolitik from city hall to the state legislature.

That's a jack-of-all-trades experience in a whole bunch of class-conscious worlds with many self-appointed high priests. So, expect to hear some some high-velocity rebuttals from contributors offering counterpoint as we rebuild the roads of information and opinion as two-way, community-wide thoroughfares.

This blog and its threads will attempt a univeral approach to the arts and show business without demeaning one to the other.

High priests have their place, and their standards deserve defense. I myself am a devotee of Ayn Rand's cultural philosophy and live in a condominium named The Fountainhead, for which I have been board president. This is not entirely coincidence or serendipity.

Yet, the differences that propel community expectations populate the arena of the cultural cabaret. On the web, the stage is yours, mine and ours.

There is one caveat, however. Anonymous comments won't get a followup or response from here. To be taken seriously, you need to be taken at face value. Without a face, your comments have no value.

- Jack Zink

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