You may have already noticed -- the show business news at the moment tends to be loaded with season announcements about what's coming up in the 2008-09 season starting in September-October. This is traditional - it began in early spring with the major arts orgs that plan long-range, and is winding up now with most other groups who want to get the word out before snowbirds head north and the rest of us check out for wherever. Coming days and weeks likely will have plenty more. We'll ID the highlights and give you the links to pour over the details.

If you're looking for info on something specific, let me know. I'll checkitout.

> Discuss this entry

"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

> Discuss this entry

New York's Metropolitan Opera will expand its high-definition broadcast schedule from eight to 11 transmissions next season, the project's third.

The number of theaters carrying the performances will go up from 600 to 800, expanding to more countries and (gasp!) cruise ships worldwide. Let's hope the Met adds at least one more theater in South Florida - specifically in Broward County, which thus far has no venue for the series while there are several in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade.

The 2008-09 lineup will have a total of 11 performances from the opening night gala Sept. 22 (The HD series weekly hostess Renee Fleming, pictured at left, in scenes from various operas) through May 9.

On schedule is the Met preem of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic," Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon in "Lucia Di Lammermoor," a new production by Chicago/Broadway director Mary Zimmerman of "La Sonnambula," and Angela Gheorgiu with Roberto Alagna in "La Rondine," among others.

A complete list and details are available on the Met website. Tickets won't go on sale until August, though.

> Discuss this entry