Loading...
Miami Herald Article - re: Miami Beach Musical by David Smiley Locals set the stage for Miami Beach -- the musical - 04/28/2010 - MiamiHerald.comPage 1 of 2 Posted on Wed, Apr. 28, 2010 Locals set the stage for Miami Beach -- the musical BY DAVID SMILEY The Miami Herald The vice of Tubbs and Crockett is likely to be mentioned. So too is the scandal of Alex Daoud, the struggles and triumphs of John Collins and the brazen violence of the cocaine cowboys. But when Arts at St. Johns tells the history of Miami Beach through song, stories of lesser knowns like Fish Mary and Leo Casino will share the stage with the likes of Don Johnson and Frank Sinatra. The creation of Wish You Were Here -- The DANIEL BOCK / FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER History of Miami Beach -- The Musical is Cast members, from left, Nancy Andrade, David Kingerly, Jesse Carlo, and Jenna Fernandez perform a number from underway for Arts at St. Johns, a Miami “Miami Beach - the Musical” during the Miami Beach Beach nonprofit arts group. And with months History Project kickoff party at the Art Deco Welcome Center, Thursday, April 22, in Miami Beach. Sponsored by to go until opening night on the first of Arts at St. John’s and the Miami Beach Preservation October, the creators of the musical aren't just League, the event also featured a silent auction, food, and hitting the history books -- they're sorting refreshments. through personal stories of Miami Beach. ``We want to celebrate not just the movers and shakers but the average people here on Miami Beach,'' said David Kingery, artistic director for Arts at St. Johns. Kingery and three performers gave a glimpse of the show recently at the Ocean Front Auditorium at 10th Street and Ocean Drive. They performed three original songs that may or may not make the show. While Kingery and company sang and danced, a crowd of about 50 people sat and watched or mingled around the auditorium, sipping on wine or organic vodka and cranberry. Some chatted with local historian Seth Bramson, whose books have been a source for much of the musical's account of the city's history. Standing near the auditorium's entrance, Paula Turk reminisced about dancing with soldiers from Homestead decades ago in the same building, and the days when Saks Fifth Avenue was the anchor of a high-class Lincoln Road mall. ``I remember fur-wrapped ladies strolling down Collins Avenue with husbands walking dutifully behind holding their handbags,'' said Turk, an Arts at St. Johns board member http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/28/v-print/1602909/locals-set-the-stage-for-miami...04/29/2010 Locals set the stage for Miami Beach -- the musical - 04/28/2010 - MiamiHerald.comPage 2 of 2 whose father-in-law, Harold Turk, was Miami Beach's mayor from 1949 to 1951. Some learned about the musical through its Facebook page, where anecdotes of the Miami Beach Kennel Club and of mobster Al Capone have streamed in for months. One post recalls saxophonist Leo Casino's stories of racism before desegregation: ``Leo remembers that all Blacks were supposed to get a work card to be on Miami Beach. `I refused,' he stated. `If I had a dollar for every time some cop stopped me coming to the Beach and then would escort me to the bridge and send me away, I would be wealthy today.' '' Robert Bowman traveled from Davie to make the kickoff event. Clad in a black tuxedo T- shirt, he recalled growing up on South Beach when ``little old ladies lined Ocean Drive in lawn chairs,'' and the story of his mother Mary Bowman, or Fish Mary, as the locals called her. Bowman, 56, said his mother used to catch and sell bait from a since-demolished South Beach pier. He was thrilled that an arts group would act out his personal stories. ``I never thought anybody would really be interested and finally somebody was,'' he said. But that's part of the point, said Deborah Weed, creative consultant for the arts group. Said Weed: ``It's the common person's musical.'' 1001 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach, FL © 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/28/v-print/1602909/locals-set-the-stage-for-miami...04/29/2010