Mayor Troast at RECORD TV grand opening in 2019. Photos by Rachel Galvin.

By Rachel Galvin

We were very sad to hear of the passing of Lighthouse Point Mayor Glenn Troast on March 23 after a long illness.

During a March 31 meeting, Commission president Kyle Van Buskirk was chosen as mayor-elect. According to a source at the meeting, he says he wants to be sworn in after Keepers’ Day, which is this weekend. 

William Gallo, Chip La Marca, Chuck McLaughlin, Glenn Troast & Ryan Kolb at Honors Memorial Shrine during it being unveiled in 2018.

Kyle VanBuskirk, commission president, now mayor-elect, with his wife Christine… taken back in 2016.

Mayor Troast and his wife Marjorie at 150 Drawdown event in 2018.

Volunteer Award Winners with BHH Staff Members (L to R): Greg Hazle (BHH Executive Director), Rusty Cobb, Lourdes Harman (BHH Food Center Manager), Charles Crowley, Denise Crowley, Sal Perla (BHH Distribution Coordinator), John Wyman, Richard Weinstein, June Freedman, Jason Cascio (BHH Distribution Coordinator), Joan Novellino, Bill Harper (BHH Director of Food & Warehouse Operations), Larry Cellon, Terry Blackman, Tom Groendyke, Jerry Schwartz, Gary Hildebrand, Tara Currier (BHH Volunteer Manager), Maria Puente (BHH Content Specialist). Submitted photos.

Boca Helping Hands celebrated their committed and hardworking volunteers with a dinner and awards ceremony at The Addison of Boca Raton on Wednesday, March 9. Boca Helping Hands staff members recognized superstar volunteers for their relentless dedication to the organization and its mission to give a hand up to those who need it most in the community.

Boca Helping Hands is a community-based nonprofit that provides food, medical and financial assistance to meet basic human needs, as well as education, job training and guidance to create self-sufficiency.

For more information, visit www.bocahelpinghands.org.

Photos by Amy Pasquantonio

Get launched into Doo-Wop heaven with the nifty and nostalgic Sh-Boom! Life Could Be a Dream at The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton.  Featuring over 25 of your favorite 1950s songs, Sh-Boom! will have you longing for the days of American Bandstand, the Twist and perfect 4-part harmonies.  The show runs through April 3, 2022, with matinees at 2 p.m. and evening performances at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75-$95, available at www.thewick.org or by calling the box office at 561-995-2333.

“Sh-boom is the jukebox musical we need right now!” said Marilynn A. Wick, Managing Executive Producer. “Expect pristine harmonies, peppy dance steps, and of course our signature period-perfect costumes and sets that will transport you directly to this beloved era.  We dare you not to grin and sing along to classic hits including ‘Unchained Melody,’ ‘Runaround Sue,’ ‘Duke of Earl,’ and more!”

The frothy plot centers on Denny and the Dreamers, an amateur doo-wop group preparing to enter the Big Whopper Radio contest. They hope a win will lead to their big break, but complications ensue when former classmate Lois steps in to provide some much-needed polish.

Sh-Boom! Life Could be a Dream was written by Roger Bean who scored a huge hit with The Marvelous Wonderettes, which ran for over 1,200 performances Off-Broadway, and lead to three sequels for the franchise including Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, Winter Wonderettes, Wonderettes: Dream On, as well as the new large-cast Wonderettes: Glee Club Edition.

The Wick’s production is being directed and choreographed by Wick favorite Jonathan Van Dyke, who previously helmed critically acclaimed shows including Hot Shoe Shuffle and BeeHive–the 60s Musical. The cast includes Jeffrey Keller as “Denny,” Dorian Quinn as “Duke,” Julia Rifino as “Lois,” Willy Beaton II as “Wally,” and Ricky Cona as “Eugene,” along with a stellar ensemble.

Reservations for dinner at Tavern at The Wick are also available by calling the box office.

The Motowners

Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department is proud to announce the return of the Pompano Beach Arts Music Series featuring virtuoso performances by award-winning, globally acclaimed vocal artists and musicians. For three months, starting in April, the Pompano Beach Cultural Center will be a wellspring of world-class talent with different styles of popular music including jazz, R&B, soul, disco and pop. The concerts featuring Carole J. Bufford, Evelyn “Champagne” King, and The Motowners will all begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45. For more information, please visit www.pompanobeacharts.org

“This year, we are delighted that our audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy these phenomenal concerts live in person,” said Phyllis Korab, Cultural Affairs Department. “While each concert showcases a different musical era, all the performers share the same passion for providing high-energy and extremely entertaining shows for their fans.”

Saturday, April 9, 2022| 8-9:30pm | $45

Carole J. Bufford

Honoring International Jazz Day is New York-style cabaret singer Carole J. Bufford performing ROAR! Music of the Jazz Age, featuring classics from the Jazz Age songbook made famous by the likes of Sophie Tucker, Louis Armstrong, Al Jolson, Fats Waller, and many more.  A recipient of the Nightlife, Bistro and Broadway World Awards for Outstanding Vocalist, Carole has become one of the most sought-after young performers on the American jazz and cabaret scene. Swing with Carole as she travels back to a time where flappers, vamps and sheiks were shimmying in gin joints as great social and political change whirled around them.

Saturday, May 21, 2022 | 8 – 9:30 pm | $45

Evelyn “Champagne” King 

This American singer, songwriter, and record producer is best known for her hit disco single “Shame,” which was released in 1977 during the height of disco’s popularity. Evelyn “Champagne” King went on to place fourteen additional singles in the R&B Top 20 list. Some of her other hits include “I’m in Love,” “Love Come Down” and “Your Personal Touch.” King is a spirited soul-R&B-disco artist who continues to delight audiences with her funk, musicality and prodigious voice. Join us for a night of hits that will have you dancing in the aisles!

Saturday, June 11, 2022 | 8 – 9:30 pm | $45

The Motowners

Celebrate African American Music Appreciation Month and relive the glory years of the Detroit sound with an incredible concert by The Motowners. The songs of that era will never lose their appeal, and this group faithfully recreates the smash hits of The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and many more.

This unique and family-friendly show has been an audience favorite since their founding in 2005, with a classic group sound and approach that remain evergreen crowd-pleasers.

Pompano Beach Cultural Center is located at 50 Atlantic Boulevard, Pompano Beach.  For more info., visit https://www.pompanobeacharts.org.

Photos from a previous year, taken by Rachel Galvin

By Rachel Galvin

Delray Beach Fashion Week 2022 Schedule of Events:

Photo by Keven Major Howard

By Rachel Galvin

You may remember them best from your TV screens back in the 1970s and 80s… Ted Lange is best known for “The Love Boat” and BerNadette Stanis for “Good Times.” But the pair have gone on to do countless projects and graced countless stages, as well as becoming authors. 

Their newest project is a play called “Willie & Esther,” which will be showing at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center March 26 and 27 at 3 p.m.

“Willie & Esther premiered in 1987 at the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles and won first place at the Center’s first short-play competition, beating out more than 100 other plays from around the U.S.,” said Phyllis Korab, Cultural Affairs Director. “Since then, the play has had many successful stagings, including an acclaimed Off-Broadway run. Now, we are thrilled to launch our own production, showcasing the talent of two beloved television stars.”

The comedic and touching play centers on a couple who hatch a plan to overcome their troubles by robbing a bank. A frustrated scam artist, Willie, is a warehouse worker scheming to achieve a big break.  Meanwhile, Esther endures the drudgery of her beauty parlor job and Willie’s endless schemes. 

In addition to the play, there will be other programming associated with the duo at the cultural center, including a screening of “The Love Boat,” followed by a Q&A with Lange on March 24 from 7 to 8 p.m. and a screening of “Good Times” with Stanis followed by a Q&A on March 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. Also, on March 28, Lange is doing a master class on screenwriting from 6 to 9 p.m.

For more information, visit www.pompanobeacharts.org.

The Pompano Beach Cultural Center is located at 50 Atlantic Boulevard, in Pompano Beach.

By Rachel Galvin

Tents lined the street within Mizner Park Feb. 5-6 filled with a wide variety of artworks, including ceramics, wood, fiber, glass, drawings, paintings, mixed media, jewelry, photography, sculpture and more. After perusing the artworks and talking to artists from all over, guests could go to a separate section and buy food items as well.

Approximately 165 artists and artisans from around the country are selected yearly at this fest that usually brings in about 40,000 art enthusiasts and collectors. The event is affiliated with the Boca Raton Museum of Art, which still had their exhibit showcasing Machu Picchu, so many visitors could explore it after browsing through the art fest outside. The exhibit is on display until March 6. 

For more information on what the museum has to offer, visit https://bocamuseum.org.

The Deerfield Beach Pioneer Days Celebration, is this weekend (Feb. 19-20). As usual, the parade kicks things off on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Be aware of road closures). The floats head to the beach, which will be filled with an art show and other vendors, as well as live entertainment. And don’t miss the fireworks at 9:05 p.m. New this year will be a bonfire as well on the beach from 6 to 9 p.m. in front of the parking lot on the sand.

BANDS & TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

For more information, visit https://www.deerfield-beach.com/1179/Pioneer-Days.

Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) is proud to present a solo exhibition by acclaimed South Florida visual artist Tommaso Fattovich. The works included in Abstract Punk spotlight dynamics of pigmentation and energy, and are open to interpretation by the viewer. The opening reception takes place on Friday, March 4 during Old Town Untapped, from 6 – 10 p.m., his artist talk takes place on March 16 at 7 p.m., and the exhibition runs through May 22. For more information, www.pompanobeacharts.org.

“The paintings of Abstract Punk engage the viewer immediately with their incredible vibrance and color,” said Phyllis Korab, Cultural Affairs Director. “These paintings bring abstraction to a level where anyone can understand and relate to what’s being depicted. There’s no need for rationalization–what you see is what it is!”

Fattovich paints with a combination of media using his hands and tools such as plaster trowels to create a textured surface. The artist finds that the most gratifying aspect of his process comes in recognizing when the painting becomes what it was meant to be and allows viewers to continually redefine the work. A self-taught painter, and a self-defined abstract punk, he has always valued self-determinism above all else, and spends his studio time alienating himself from the pull of the outside world in order to create from his most authentic inner source. Fattovich’s powerful compositions, eloquent and raw in their palette and gesture, draw the viewer in to sense the often overlooked, and at times overwhelming, energy all around them in the world. Inviting viewers to delve further into his creative world, his paintings showcase his brush movements, and even his arm gestures, that he uses to brings his powerful compositions to life.

Fattovich describes his early life in Milan, Italy, as his first significant education in the fine arts. His family moved to the United States when Fattovich was in his teens. He continues to draw inspiration from the similarities of both places, as well as the deep contrasts between them. The vast art landscape of the Wynwood Art District in Miami became the backdrop to Fattovich’s first fine art exhibitions beginning in 2010. His work has since been included in exhibitions in Miami, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boca Raton, East Hampton, as well as his first solo show in New York at CJ One Gallery in 2021. The artist currently lives and works in Boca Raton, Florida.

Bailey Contemporary Arts Center is located at 41 NE 1^st St., Pompano Beach. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Saturdays: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |Sundays & Mondays: CLOSED