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Culture As home to the Florida Grand Opera, the New World Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts, Miami’s cultural life is very much alive and kicking. The local newspapers are a good way for visitors to find out what is on – the New Times or the Friday edition of the Miami Herald are best – or the excellent online events calendar (website: www.miami.nightguide.com) gives daily listings of special events. Tickets can be bought at the various venues or by phone through the Ticketmaster booking agency (tel: (305) 358 5885; website: www.ticketmaster.com). Music: The Florida Grand Opera (website: www.fgo.org) is undergoing a renaissance, breaking box-office records with its repertoire of well-loved classics and lesser-known works, at the Dade Country Auditorium, 2901 West Flagler Street (tel: (305) 547 5414). The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, America’s premier regional symphony orchestra, also performs there regularly, while the New World Symphony (website: www.nws.org), America’s unique orchestral academy, plays from late September to early May in the historic Lincoln Theater, 555 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach (tel: (305) 673 3331). The only symphony orchestra of its kind in the world, the New World Symphony has been training gifted graduates for careers in music since 1987. Both symphony orchestras sometimes play at the historic Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 East Flagler Street (tel: (305) 374 2444), a renovated 1920s movie palace, which now stages a huge variety of arts events, including the annual Miami Film Festival. Theatre: The Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts, 1700 Washington Avenue (tel: (305) 673 7300; website: www.gleasontheater.com), is Miami Beach’s top artistic venue, showcasing Broadway shows, concerts and dance from the Florida Philharmonic, the Miami City Ballet, the Concert Association of Florida and other celebrated productions. Also on South Beach, the intimate Art Deco Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Road (tel: (305) 674 1026), hosts an exciting and varied programme of dance, theatre, music and film. Other major theatres include the Edge Theater, 405 Espanola Way, Miami Beach (tel: (305) 531 6083), noted for its comedies and its 20th-century classics, and the Coconut Grove Playhouse, 3500 Main Highway, Coconut Grove (tel: (305) 442 4000; website: www.cgplayhouse.com), nationally recognised for its innovative productions. Dance: Florida’s internationally acclaimed dance company, the Miami City Ballet (website: www.miamicityballet.org), performs a wide repertoire of classical and contemporary works, at a variety of venues including the Jackie Gleason Theater, 1700 Washington Avenue (tel: (305) 673 7300; website: www.gleasontheater.com). Film: There are cinema complexes at every major shopping mall. Miami’s three-dimensional Imax Cinema at Sunset Place, 5701 Sunset Drive, South Miami (tel: (305) 663 4629; website: www.imaz.com/miami), offers the ultimate 3-D movie-going experience, with a screen the size of a six-storey building and a wraparound sound system as dynamic as a full-sized symphony orchestra. Arthouse aficionados should head to the Bill Cosford Cinema, in the University of Miami’s Memorial Building, Coral Gables (tel: (305) 284 4861). Miami’s film and entertainment industry has grown dramatically in recent years. Indeed, the city’s brash reputation was built on the television series Miami Vice in the 1980s. Miami is now the third largest centre for film and TV production in America. Recent films set here include Something about Mary (1998), The Bodyguard (1992), Ace Ventura (1994), True Lies (1994), Get Shorty (1995) and Striptease (1996), not forgetting old classics such as Citizen Kane (1941), Key Largo (1948) and three James Bond movies – Dr No (1962), Live and Let Die (1973) and Goldfinger (1964). Cultural events: The Art Deco Weekend (website: www.artdecoweekend.com) is the world’s largest annual festival dedicated to the preservation of this unique style. It takes place every January, with a huge programme of street theatre, big band concerts and processions in South Beach. The Miami Film Festival (website: www.maimifilmfestival.com) is a springtime event (February and March), which showcases films and videos by filmmakers from across the USA, with a forum for smaller, independent works. Literary Notes Miami itself has little literary history. However, over the years, numerous writers have made Florida their home, in particular Key West. Among them were Ernest Hemingway (1899-1960), author of A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952), Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79), one of the most celebrated American poets of this century, and Tennessee Williams (1911-83), playwright and author of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1944) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1955). Hemingway – the rough, tough, local novelist – built his reputation in the bars of Key West (see Excursions). The beautiful Spanish colonial-style house, 907 Whitehead Street (tel: (305) 294 1136; website: www.hemingwayhome.com), where he wrote some of his finest works, is open to the public. The contemporary American novelist, Alison Lurie, also has a house in Key West and set her novel, The Truth about Lorin Jones (1989), there. |
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