Okeechobee Music Festival 2020 Dates March 5 Through March 8 - Miami New Times

Okeechobee Music Festival 2020 Dates March 5 Through March 8 - Miami New Times

Okeechobee Music Festival 2020 Dates March 5 Through March 8 - Miami New Times

Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

New Times reported earlier this month that Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival (OMF) was poised to make a comeback in 2020. Last week, Lake Okeechobee News confirmed the Florida music world's worst-kept secret: Okeechobee Fest is set to return in 2020, with dates scheduled for March 5 through 8.

The paper also confirmed Insomniac — now co-owner of Club Space in downtown Miami and the event producer of Electric Daisy Carnival — along with Okeechobee's longtime producer Soundslinger, is onboard to help make the comeback a reality. Jim Whisenand, a member of Soundslinger's board of directors, told the paper the lineup is expected to be announced in November.

Soundslinger attorney Tom Conely appeared before the Okeechobee County Commission last Thursday, July, 25, to seek approval for the dates. During the public comment period, locals expressed support for OMF's return as long as it didn't conflict with two local events — the Speckled Perch Festival and the Okeechobee Cattlemen's Association Cowtown Rodeo — taking place the second weekend of March. The commission unanimously approved OMF's return during the first weekend of that month.

The festival teased its comeback on Instagram: "The Portal Awakens #OMF2020." (The "portal" is fans' lingo for the magic and otherworldliness the festival creates as attendees enter the Sunshine Grove compound.)

Organizers originally wanted the festival to take place during the weekend of March 12 through 15, but those dates conflicted with the Speckled Perch Festival and the Cowtown Rodeo. The proposed dates immediately caused pushback from residents. Jim Colgan, president of the Cattlemen's Association, told New Times earlier this month that he supports the music festival, but just like a music festival, rodeos take careful planning months in advance. "We have to work with other rodeos close by to get the contestants down here."

Eventually, OMF dropped its push for those dates and settled or the first weekend in March. According to Lake Okeechobee News , the festival wanted the second weekend in order to better align with spring break.

Yesterday's announcement of Insomniac's ownership stake in Club Space also puts the company in a close relationship with David Sinopoli, founder of III Points. Sinopoli's event is scheduled for February 26 and 27, the weekend before OMF. Though III Points and OMF's aesthetics and musical tastes tend to differ quite a bit — and there's a geographical distance between the two — inevitably, there will be some audience overlap. (Insomniac has not announced any involvement in III Points.)

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. Thursday, March 5, through Sunday, March 8, at Sunshine Grove, 12517 NE 91st Ave., Okeechobee; okeechobeefest.com. Tickets prices are TBA.

Jose D. Duran has been the associate web editor of Miami New Times since 2008. He's the strategist behind the publication's eyebrow-raising Facebook and Twitter feeds. He has also been reporting on Miami's cultural scene since 2006. He has a BS in journalism and will live in Miami as long as climate change permits.

Review: 'Alive!' in the New York Musical Festival - DC Metro Theater Arts

Posted: 30 Jul 2019 09:30 AM PDT

Presented at the Pershing Square Signature Center as a one-night-only featured concert in this year's New York Musical Festival (NYMF), Alive!, with book, music, and lyrics by Josh Canfield, sings a tale of zombies, the missing people they've eaten, and a determined news reporter who relentlessly covers the story that others mock, but she knows to be true. Directed by David Ruttura, with musical direction by Taylor Peckham, the terrific new sci-fi musical rom-com follows the action from a small town being terrorized by the undead to a magical journey through a secret portal that could help one of them to reconnect with his gentle and loving human soul, and to change more lives in the process.

The cast. Photo by Walter McBride Photography.

Unlike many parodies of the horror genre, Alive! is not just over-the-top outrageous, it's extremely smart, thoughtful, and witty. There are recurrent self-referencing meta-theatrical jokes that break through the fourth wall, conversations and lyrics that capture the emotions of the characters, and songs that reference a wide array of musical styles, from blues and jazz, disco, pop, and country, to romantic ballads and show tunes, all within a well-synthesized, coherent, and harmonious score.

Under the astute direction of Ruttura, the song list of the staged NYMF concert was punctuated by narration, snippets of scenes, and bits of dialogue that allowed the audience to follow along with the full storyline. An engaging cast of eleven Broadway notables (including some former castmates from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, in which Canfield also appeared) captured the personalities, facial expressions, moves and attitudes of the living and living-dead characters with humor and heart, enhanced by Cory Pattak's colorful lighting. They also brought their stellar voices to the songs, backed to perfection by a live five-piece band (Peckham on piano, Ryan Berg on bass, Jeremy King on guitars, Jeff Roberts on drums, and John Di Simini on reeds), making for a true Broadway-quality experience.

Lindsay Nicole Chambers. Photo by Walter McBride Photography.

Leading the intrepid life-altering journey to the mystical region were Lindsay Nicole Chambers as the under-appreciated but indefatigable reporter Shelly; Chris Dwan as her smitten photographer Kevin; Amanda Jane Cooper as her unfulfilled co-worker Eve; and Zach Adkins as Zombie 6, who waxes nostalgic about his past and yearns to return to a life of love and compassion, forsaking the pervasive murder, dismemberment, and feasting in "Zombieland." Also featured were Nicholas Belton as Big Z, the imperious leader of the Zombies; Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Charles, unlikable head honcho of the TV news; and Blaine Krauss as the Oracle (his hilarious lead vocal on "Last Stop" was a showstopper).

Rounding out the across-the-board excellent ensemble, as the nameless zombies, were Mary Page Nance, Alex Gibson, Kennedy Caughell, and Daisy Hobbs (who also played the semi-operatic Fairy, encountered through the "Portal of Life"). They all joined together with Belton and Krauss (here as Zombie 4) in another musical highlight of the show, "How To Kill a Zombie" – a lively number with soft-shoe stylings, jazz hands, and chorus-line kicks.

Will the zombies triumph and continue to satiate their horrific flesh-eating drive? Or will love save the day and revitalize the deadened spirits with new life and humanity? Find out when Alive! returns for a full-stage production, which we can only hope will follow this outstanding development concert very soon.

Running Time: Approximately 70 minutes, without intermission.

Alive! played Monday, July 29, 2019, in the New York Musical Festival, performing at the Pershing Square Signature Center – 480 West 42nd Street, NYC.
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