Neighborhoods

Twenty five years doesn’t sound like a long time until the opening band tells the crowd how excited his 10-year-old self is to be touring with the headliners. The 25 Years and Counting Tour brought the 90’s back in a big way Saturday at Daily’s Place with and the . Both bands are celebrating significant milestones to still be playing music to arenas full of adoring and appreciative fans after all these years. John Paul Roney of supporting act was in good company, though the majority of the audience was decidedly older than 10 when Live and Counting Crows both …

Cirque du Soleil is synonymous with bending the laws of possibility, as aerialists, acrobats, and performers occupy the space between reality and fantasy. Corteo takes audiences on a fantastical journey that celebrates the life of Mauro the circus clown. Each act represents stages of his life through childhood, his experiences in a small theatre troupe to the big top and beyond. Artistic Director Mark Shaub spoke with EU Jacksonville about playing with scale, the value of a second act, and the beauty that exists between the spaces. Corteo is staged August 1-5 at the Veterans Memorial Arena. “Corteo is a …

There’s a number of advantages to having a 25-year career in music. For starters, it’s a solid indicator of stable employment. It’s also damn good way to turn a summer road trip with your buddies into a cross country tour. For several years running, of the has parlayed his summers into something approximating work. “It’s great to get paid for your road trips,” he says. “I’ve been on the same road trip for 25 years now. As a musician, that’s always extremely doubtful, so whenever you can have it, that’s a big positive.” Granted, Duritz has a “friend pool” that …

Dick Kerekes & Leisla Sansom, Dual Critics of EU Jacksonville On Sunday July 22, 2018, Theatre Jacksonville held its annual celebration honoring volunteers from the 2017 –2018 season. The theatre combines the annual awards ceremony with its membership meeting. This year, the celebration was held at the theatre. Board President, , began by summarizing the past season and its accomplishments. He enthusiastically announced that TJ has once again finished in the black, thanks to the many individuals and groups who have generously contributed funds. Contributors included local foundations and non-profit organizations, businesses, and city and state organizations. New members of …

Coach Doug Marone explains, “We open up today, so we are excited. I think that one thing we are looking for as a team is to make sure that over the course of these practices — starting today — is obviously that we have an expectation of how we want to look on the grass, how we want to hold each other accountable, how we want to be running from drill [to drill], how we want to compete and obviously win the day. That is really what we are trying to do, like I said before. We are not trying …

Over the years, Jacksonville Beach’s Players by the Sea community theatre has presented a number of outstanding summer musicals. This year’s selection, staged during July 20 – August 12, 2018 is noteworthy in many ways. In 2008, “” was nominated for 13 Tony awards and won 4, including Best Musical and Best Original Score; in 2009, it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Award for drama. The play presents a slice of life story in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. The community is ethnically diverse, with Hispanics being the largest group. The music and lyrics were …

BY EMILY BLOCH Paul Reiser is scrolling through old photos of himself and his youngest son, Leon, upon his wife’s request. In a few hours, they’ll be watching the 18 year old cross the stage for his high school graduation ceremony. “Very literally my life is passing through my eyes,” Reiser tells EU Jacksonville. “The hair’s getting grayer and the waist is getting wider.” On July 28, Reiser will take the Stage as part of a 10-stop stand-up tour. It’s one of two scheduled Florida performances, the first being in Clearwater. “I’m looking forward to coming to Florida in July …

A DUAL CITICS REVIEW Jacksonville’s Northeast Florida Conservatory, in cooperation with the Haskell Company, opened Disney’s delightful “” on July 20, 2018. The production will run through July 29 at 11363 San Jose Boulevard, Building 200. For reservations, call 904-374-8639 or visit nfconservatory.org. Under , Founder and Executive Director, the Conservatory opened its doors in 2010, offering private music lessons and a community orchestra. Dickson rapidly expanded programming and began to produce musicals in a neighborhood with little in the way of theatre. Disney’s “Newsies” is the thirteenth musical production staged, each with great success and many sold out performances. …

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW The FSCJ Artist Series and the Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts debuted the thirteenth annual High School Summer Musical Theatre Experience (SMTE) on July 20th, 2018 with “,” Mel Brooks’ zany musical, which runs through July 29th. The musical is based Brooks’ 1974 black and white comedy-horror film by the same name. The film became and remains a cult passion; DVDs are available in public libraries and on-line, and it’s screened on television from time to time. Brooks wrote the lyrics and music for all but one of the songs in the adaptation (“Puttin’ …