Neighborhoods

Four years ago, with its renaissance in full swing, the and Revitalization Committee created a walk-able event to showcase the historic neighborhood with live music playing from the porches of the area’s “Grand Old Ladies.” The first annual was a success, drawing an estimated 4,000 visitors into the community. Now in its fourth year, the Jacksonville PorchFest is bigger and better than ever. The free, family-friendly event is held from noon to 9 pm Saturday on many of the inviting porches in the historic neighborhood. PorchFest begins and ends in beautiful , with a main stage performance from headliner Big …

Michael Winslow is a comedian, film actor, voice-over artist, and beatboxer, but he is best known for his wicked arsenal of impressions. Branded “the man of 10,000 sound effects” Winslow can imitate anything from a leaky faucet to an Air Force jet, but to call him an impressionist is a gross understatement. He’s an anomaly that you must hear to believe. Winslow will perform two shows at the . He hosts the first annual Black Friday Black Ball on Nov 24 and a second show Nov 25. EU Jacksonville had the chance to chat with the funny man and “voicetramentalist” …

“Feed Me.” With just two simple words, a villain is born. Or sprouted, in this case, under curious circumstances during a solar eclipse of the sun. With an immensely talented cast, superb direction, spot-on vocals and expert puppeteering, Players by the Sea’s staging of Little Shop of Horrors is a riotous good time that is out of this world. “Little Shop of Horrors” is staged through November 18 at PBTS, 106 6th Street N. in Jacksonville Beach (www.playersbythesea.org). This delightfully campy musical directed by Jocelyn Geronimo is based on the sci-fi Broadway play by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. It …

A  JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF THE FINE ARTS REVIEW Jacksonville University opened a four-performance run of “” during October 26 – 29, 2017, staged in the school’s at 2800 University Boulevard North. With ticket prices of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, military, students, and children, the large theatre was almost filled to capacity on opening night. This musical comedy opened on Broadway in 2001 and ran for almost a thousand performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards and won three, for Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Direction of a Musical. The Dual Critics saw the …

The pre-show applause was instantly met with energetic music by the as they took the stage. The Avett Brothers are musicians that sound even better live than their fine-tuned songs on the radio. Ask anyone who went, and they will probably say their experience was also better than they could have imagined. The rain fell before the start of the show, prompting everyone to their seats to take cover. It stopped just in time for the band to make their entrance, and the light wind and drizzle cooled everyone off as they danced in place. The lighting was on point, …

ROB MIDDLETON, CYNTHIA WALBURN, & STEPHANIE CAFCULES Abstract art is made for emotion. It’s open and free, a democratic form made for the artist to interpret their feelings and for the viewer to interpret from there. It makes the viewer question what it represents, if anything at all. It’s a surprising art form, and sometimes the most surprising thing about it is where it’s located. The Haskell Gallery, located in the pre-security, has been housing art for over 20 years. Its newest addition is Abstraction: Bold + Beautiful, showcasing abstract works by three local artists. “This show is one of …

A DUAL CRITICS ATLANTIC BEACH EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE REVIEW ABET opened a two-week run (Oct 17 – Nov 5, 2017) – of “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” by Paul Zindel (1936 –2003). The play received the Obie Award and the Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play in 1970, followed by the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1971. The story is that of a dysfunctional family and is semi-autobiographical, as Zindel incorporates material drawn from his difficult teen years with an impoverished single mother, and his career as a chemistry teacher prior to his later success as a …

For art lovers here in Jacksonville, there’s a huge pool of local talent to chose from. There’s a new place to find some of that talent in the San Marco neighborhood. Located in a building just off of the shopping district is . “There is an abundance of art talent here, some that have built a huge following, others just emerging, but all with one purpose: to share art with the world,” says gallery owner . Carr, who is known in the neighborhood as the proprietor of consignment shop, opened the commission-based gallery with her husband Jim last November. Rula …