City of Miami Beach Arts in the Parks presents Five Nights at the Opera

Don't miss any of the five exceptional opera films that will be shown throughout the month of March on The Wall at the New World Center during SoundScape. Films begin promptly at 7:30 p.m., and one is shown on each Thursday in March. This is a free event.

The New World Center is located at 500 17th St., Miami Beach.

March 1: CARMEN (1984) Directed by Francesco Rosi; featuring Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes

March 8: LA TRAVIATA (1983) Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, featuring Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas

March 15: OTELLO (1986) Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, featuring Placido Domingo and Katia Ricciarelli

March 22: DON GIOVANNI (1979) Directed by Joseph Losey,  featuring Ruggero Raimondi and Kiri Te Kanawa

March 29: RIGOLETTO (1982) Directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, featuring Luciano Pavarotti and Ingvar Wixell

The Florida Grand Opera will present live soloists prior to one of the screenings. Check the official website for details.

Miami Beach Arts in the Parks events feature a variety of cultural offerings such as concerts, plays, musical performances and other acts, and are free and open to the public. The Arts in the Parks program further elevates Miami Beach’s role as a leader in the cultural arts.

Arts in the Parks launched in 2006 in response to the results of community surveys and focus groups that indicated residents would like to see more free cultural events. The Miami Beach Arts in the Parks program hopes to increase the community rating of cultural activities, which is part of the City’s overall strategic plan.

The Cinema Series at SoundScape, also an Arts in the Parks program, continues its free film series on Wednesday nights at SoundScape.

For more information on Arts in the Parks visit www.mbculture.com.

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Don't Miss Out on the Great Promotions During Miami Museum Month in May

Jewish Museum of Florida

The cultural scene in Greater Miami and the Beaches is unique and diverse. During May, celebrate Miami Museum Month. This is an incredible opportunity to experience the area’s inspiring museums. 

Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA)

Buy One, Get One Free — During May, all visitors and locals will be offered "Buy One, Get One Free" admission at participating museums. 

Join One, See Them All — During this month-long program, membership at any one of these participating museums will work as a free pass to any of the other museums. Whether you just joined or have been a member for years, this is an incredible opportunity to museum hop and experience the Miami cultural scene. 

For more information please visit the event website at www.miamimuseummonth.com. Don't miss out on all the additional events happening around town in celebration of Miami Museum Month!

Participating Museums:

¤ Ancient Spanish Monastery

Wings Over Miami Air Museum

¤ Art Center/South Florida

¤ Bass Museum of Art

¤ Black Police Precinct & Court House Museum

¤ Coral Gables Merrick House

¤ Coral Gables Museum

¤ The Haitian Heritage Museum

¤ HistoryMiami

¤ Jewish Museum of Florida

¤ Lowe Art Museum

¤ Miami Art Museum

¤ Miami Children's Museum

¤ Miami Science Museum

¤ Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA)

¤ The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum

¤ Wings Over Miami Air Museum

¤ The Wolfsonian-FIU

To join a museum, or with questions specific to a participating museum, please contact them directly. 

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Ancient Spanish Monastery

Ballet Etoile Presents the South Florida Premiere of "Edith Piaf" at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center

Ballet Etoile presents the two-night South Florida premiere of "Edith Piaf" on Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30 at 8pm at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center as part of the Arts Access Program. Through contemporary dance, live singing and dramatic theater, the work tells the tragic, but romantic story of the life of the famed 1940s French singer, Edith Piaf.

Ballet Etoile strives to promote contemporary dance theater in South Florida and combines passionate artists and creative innovative works.

The event is part of the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center’s Arts Access Program, which provides technical and marketing support to local community groups enabling them to develop and build their audiences.

Tickets to the performance are $25 with $30 VIP tickets available offering premium seating and admission to a wine and cheese reception with the cast after the show. Tickets and group discounts are available by calling 954-462-0222 or select a seat online at www.aventuracenter.org.

The Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, which is managed by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, is a 14,864-square-foot, 324-seat waterfront complex that hosts performing arts, cultural and educational programming for all ages.  The Aventura Arts & Cultural Center is located at 3385 N.E. 188 Street in Aventura and on Twitter @aventuracenter.

All dates, programs and artists are subject to change.

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Aventura Arts & Cultural Center Makes Music and Memories This November

Music lovers of all ages will delight in the November lineup at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. Doreen Cronin's bestselling barnyard books return to the theater in the Family Fun production of Giggle, Giggle, Quack on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 11 am and 1 pm Mayhem ensues when Farmer Brown leaves town and puts his city-slicker brother in charge. The farm animals enjoy treats such as pizza for the hen, bubble baths for the pig and movie night for the cow. Children will enjoy pre-show arts and crafts presented by Young At Art Museum, complimentary face painting and a post-show snack provided by Whole Foods Market and Blue Bell Ice Cream. Tickets are $14 with $3 lap tickets available for infants 12 months and under. Tickets are $15 the day of the performance.

The City of Aventura presents The Piano Men starring Jim Witter in a musical journey through the 70s, featuring the songs of Billy Joel and Elton John on Friday, Nov. 12 at 8 pm. Hits including "My Life," "Candle in the Wind," Rocket Man" and "Just the Way You Are" are accompanied by rear-screen projection of the newspaper headlines, automobiles, people, events, toys and even the TV shows that shaped a decade. Tickets are $40 and $45.

Next Step Dance makes its debut in Miami-Dade with An Invitation to Dance on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 8 pm The contemporary dance company, showcasing entertaining and provocative works, will present audience favorites from the repertory: "Summer Time," "Silenzio," "Photograph," "The Other Side," "Surrender," "Woodblock Study" and "One For My Baby." The event is part of the Aventura Cultural & Arts Center's Arts Access Program, which provides technical and marketing support to local community groups enabling them to develop and build their audiences. Admission is $26.50.

Relive the magic of the best time in musical history with A.B.B.A. International Entertainment's presentation of Remember Then on Friday, Nov. 19 at 8 pm. Reminiscent of old school sock hops and listening to the juke box over a malt and a burger at the neighborhood drive-in, the show is a memorable tribute to the 50's and 60's featuring the Marvelettes Revue and special guests The Temptations Revue. Tickets are $35 and $60 for preferred VIP seating which includes a Meet and Greet Celebration.

The City of Aventura presents Maria Rivas on Saturday, Nov. 20, at 8 pm. Rivas is Venezuela's premier contemporary vocalist and composer. A native of Caracas, her style truly represents the "new Americas." Drawing on the cultural richness of her homeland, her unique popular sound is an intoxicating blend of indigenous, European and African strains with just the right splash of Brazilian and Latin Jazz. Rivas is a remarkably gifted and versatile artist and an international star in the making. Tickets are $30.

Patrons of Exceptional Artists presents the Miami International Piano Festival, known for bringing the world's best pianists and rising stars to South Florida, on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 4 pm in the debut of the Aventura Cultural Series. The first concert of the Series will open the Festival's 2011 Season with a fascinating program by Italian keyboard master Francesco Libetta. This unique program will feature compositions by Chopin and others that specifically pay tribute to Italian Theatre, sopranos and ballerinas, as well as an enlightening pre-concert discussion by "Miami's Music Maven," Professor Frank Cooper. Tickets are $30.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts manages the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, a 14,864-square-foot, 324-seat waterfront complex that hosts performing arts, cultural and educational programming for all ages. The Aventura Arts & Cultural Center is located at 3385 N.E. 188 Street in Aventura.

DeBunking the Orange Blossom Myth, by Seth Bramson

For many years, because of the wonderful publicity generated by the City of Miami beginning shortly after its founding in July, 1896, it was believed that the legendary Henry Flagler extended his fabled railroad to the shores of Biscayne Bay because Julia Tuttle, the "mother of Miami," sent him some orange blossoms following the great freezes of December of 1894 and January and February of 1895.

Wonderful story. Totally false!

Mrs.Tuttle had beseeched first Henry Plant, the builder of the hotels and railroads in central Florida and on the state's west coast, to extend his railroadacross the state, but Mr. Plant rejected the idea. Without a moment's hesitation, she began pleading with Mr. Flagler to extend his railroad from West Palm Beach to the barely-a-pioneer-outpost 65 miles south, but was met with the same negative response. As Mr. Flagler pointed out, there was simply no reason to make the not inconsiderable expenditure. With the 1894 and '95 freezes, Mrs.Tuttle knew that her time had come, and in a telegram to Mr. Flagler in early March, 1895, she wrote,"Region around shores of Biscayne Bay untouched by freezes. Please come see for yourself."

Mr. Flager did not "come see" but sent his close associates, James E. Ingraham and Joseph R. Parrott, who returned to Palm Beach with bushels of produce and citrus and explained to Flagler that, while the freeze had killed almost all of the fruits and vegetables into what was then middle-Dade County, the region south of what is approximately today's 163rd Street in North Miami Beach was untouched by the horrific weather.

Flagler cabled Julia, asking, "Madam, what is it that you propose?" Her answer was to the point: "If you will extend your railroad to the shores of Biscayne Bay and build one of your great hotels, I will give you 50 acres for shops and yards plus half of my holdings north of the river and Mr. [William] Brickell will give you half of his property south of the river," and with that an agreement was made, a contract was signed and on April 15,1896, the first Florida East Coast train rolled into town followed, a week later, by the first passenger train.

Miami was incorporated on July 28,1896; the Royal Palm Hotel, on the banks of the Miami River, opened on December 31,1896; the rest, as they say, is history.

But there were no orange blossoms!

Miami Beach's recorded history goes back to 1870,when father and son Henry and Charles Lum sailboated on to a large sandbar east of Fort Dallas (which would later become Miami). Returning to Key West, they arranged to buy the sandbar and its submerged vicinity for $.35 per acre!

Returning to the area in 1882, they sold the property to Ezra Osborne and Elnathan Field for about $.75 an acre, clearing a hefty - for the time - profit. Osborne and Field, several years later, would sell the same property to John S. Collins (yes,THAT Collins!) and his son-in-law Thomas Pancoast for approximately $1.25 an acre.

Eventually, running short on money, Collins and Pancoast sold most of their holdings to the Lummus Brothers (for whom the great oceanside park on Miami Beach is named) and Indianapolis automobilist Carl Graham Fisher, who is considered the father of Miami Beach.

Fisher filled and built Miami Beach, incorporating the city in March of 1915. Several years later he erected the beautiful monument in Biscayne Bay dedicated to Florida's Empire Builder, the greatest single name in the history of the Sunshine State: Henry Morrison Flagler. Today the Flagler Monument, floodlit at night and visible from the causeways during the day, is a fitting tribute to two of Florida's most revered names.

Seth Bramson is considered Miami's foremost and leading historian. The author of 14 books on Florida transportation and south Florida local history, he is Company Historian of the Florida East Coast Railway and is Adjunct Professor of History at both Florida International University and BarryUniversity. See more of his work at www.lchaimmiamibook.com. 


All images courtesy of the collection of Myrna & Seth Bramson.

Miami's Art Scene Is HOT!

With several major international festivals a year, entire neighborhoods revitalizing, thanks to art communities, and galleries featuring ever-changing exhibitions of the best in contemporary art, Miami has become a serious player in the global art world.

Although Art Basel Miami Beach, an offshoot of the Art Basel festival in Switzerland, gave Miami art a much needed PR boost with its arrival in 2002, artists have been quietly reinventing Miami for decades.

The now-famous Wynwood Art District started as long ago as 1986 with the Bakehouse Art Complex project, which provided for artists' space inside an old bakery building. As artists started moving into other buildings, the District decided formally to unite in 2003, and today has more than 70 galleries. Every second Saturday of the month, a community-wide Art Walk affords visitors a chance to peek into a variety of galleries in one evening.

Another long-time pillar of the art community in Miami is Brazilian native Romero Britto. Britto, whose paintings and sculptures are featured on five continents, in more than 100 galleries, has been a fixture in Miami for 18 years. Besides his Lincoln Road gallery, Britto has a studio in the Design District and many works visible all over town, including on the sides of buildings.


Besides the wonderful Art Basel Miami Beach festival held each December, with more than 220 leading art galleries showing works from more than 2,000 artists, Miami abounds with other festivals during the season. The same weekend as Art Basel, Art Miami showcases still more art in the mid-town Miami area, home to MiMo (Miami Modern) architecture in the 1950s and 60s, including the historic Bacardi headquarters, seen here. In Coral Gables, the Beaux Arts Festival, on the campus of the University of Miami, is in its 59th year. The world-renowned Coconut Grove Arts Festival has been beautifying "The Grove" for 45 years! 

Miami has several great art museums as well: the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum and the Wolfsonian, both at Florida International University; the Bass Museum on Miami Beach; the Lowe at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, the Miami Art Museum downtown (soon to relocate to a new state of the art building)and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami. MOCA was recently written up in the UK Telegraph as "one of the most exciting art museums in America."

Thanks to fantastic art museums, galleries and events, the rest of the world is finally discovering that there's more to look at in Miami than the beautiful beaches!