Palms West Monthly • April 2014 • Page 1
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Summer Calling all Haute Hoedown than 300 cowboys and cowCamp volunteers! More girls had a boot-stomping time as they converged at the National Volunteers are needed for the Great Guide American Cleanup on April 12 to help Croquet Center on March 22 to Check out our pull-out section of awesome local camps.
PAGES 11-13
Volume 4, Number 4
transform Palm Beach County’s public areas into cleaner, greener places.
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celebrate KidSanctuary’s Second Annual Haute Hoedown.
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THE ACREAGE • LOXAHATCHEE GROVES • ROYAL PALM BEACH • WELLINGTON • WEST PALM BEACH
April 2014
Home Gardening
Wellington homes open backyards for garden tour
Area students shine at 3rd annual Brain Bee
By AMY WOODS Palms West Monthly
Max Planck Florida hosted 50 students from Palm Beach and Martin counties who took part in the 3rd annual Brain Bee Challenge.
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RPB to show ‘Gravity’ at next Movie Night
The blockbuster film “Gravity” will play on the giant screen during Royal Palm Beach’s Movie Night & Food Truck Invasion set for Friday, April 25.
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‘Brew at the Zoo’ sure to be a wild time
Sip craft beers, listen to live music, sample fine fare and interact with the animals at this year’s “Brew at the Zoo” hosted by The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society.
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INSIDE
Local Happenings ................4, 6 In Brief................................8 Nice and Easy ........................9 Health Matters ..................... 10 Summer Camp Guide .......... 11-13 At the Movies .......................16 On Stage .............................16 Faces & Places ......................17 Community Round-Up ........ 18, 19 Just For the Fun of It ............. 21 Outside The Neighborhood ...... 22 Service Directory .............22, 23 PalmsWestMonthly.com
Photo by Robert Harris
In foreground from left, Hailey Goldstein, Darity Carr, Lindsay Creneti, Amelia Haymond and Zoe Garnett rehearse a number from the Wellington Children’s Theatre’s upcoming production of “Les Misérables,” which will be performed April 11-13 at Palms West Alliance Church in Loxahatchee.
Until Wellington Children’s Theatre founder Karen Braunstein can find a permanent home for her theater …
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE By AMY WOODS Palms West Monthly
WELLINGTON — The girls eagerly arrive for rehearsal at the Wellington Children’s Theatre, some with Starbucks cups in their hands, others with backpacks slung over their shoulders and one with a furry costume on. They enter the glass doors of the storefront school in the original Wellington Mall ready to go through music for the upcoming production of “Les Misérables.” Ranging in age from eight to 18, the student singers and aspiring actors jump into the song “Prologue” as director Karen Braunstein leads them on the piano. “‘Les Misérables’ is my favorite movie ever,” says 11-year-old Peyton Santiago, a sixth-grader at Okeeheelee Community Middle School. While Peyton wants to be a television news anchor, “I also like to act,” she says. Georgie Murphy, 12, has the stage bug, too. “I want to be the best actress I can and have fun,” the homeschooled seventh-grader says. Peyton, Georgie and the other children at the Wellington
Children’s Theatre enrolled in the program because of their passion for performing. Braunstein, a classically trained singer and cantor, founded the company in 2012 out of her love of teaching and passion for musical theater. “Our motto is, ‘We grow actors,’” Braunstein says. “Although we are working with children, we take seriously our responsibility to train them. The greatest reward is the end product – watching our students during their performances, when everything that we have been teaching comes together, and they are truly in character and in the moment.” “Les Misérables,” which Braunstein says she has seen live more than a dozen times and describes as “the greatest musical ever written,” will run April 11-13 at the Palms West Alliance Church on Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee. According to Braunstein, the greatest challenge for her children’s theater has been the costs associated with producing a musical. There is no community or private theater space in Wellington, says Braunstein.
UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS: LES MISÉRABLES: Performances are April 11 at 7:30 p.m.; April 12 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and April 13 at 3 p.m. SLEEPING BEAUTY: One performance will be held April 19 at 2 p.m. VENUE: Both productions will be performed at Palms West Alliance Church at 16401 Southern Blvd. in Loxahatchee. COST: Tickets for “Les Misérables” are $19 for adults and $12 for students and children. Tickets for “Sleeping Beauty” are $14 for adults and $8 for students and children. WHERE TO BUY TICKETS:
Tickets may be purchased online at wellingtonchildrenstheatre.com.
This necessitates the renting of non-theatrically equipped spaces, or school auditoriums, which can be costly. “It seems as though we are always working way beyond budget, between our licensing and royalties and materials and tech costs,” says Braunstein. “But the most stressful piece is trying to find an appropriate and affordable venue where we SEE THEATER / PAGE 20
WELLINGTON — Six serene gardens blooming in an array of rich colors and detailed designs will be showcased during the Wellington Garden Club’s seventh-biennial tour, “The Secret Gardens of Wellington.” The private paradises will be open to the public for one day only on April 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Highlights include gardens with 72 kinds of bougainvillea, a beautiful butterfly sanctuary, an impressive display of 260 trees and creative yard sculptures. There also will be an art boutique, a honey-bee exhibit, a plant sale and raffle prizes. “It’s our major fund-raiser,” tour chairwoman Jayne Kiesewetter said of the event that takes place every two years. Proceeds from the tour fund the club’s junior-gardener program, pay for plantings at new homes built by Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County, support scholarships for horticulture students at Palm Beach State College and subsidize tuitions at the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs’ summer camp. Tickets are available in advance at a cost of $25 at Whole Foods Market in Wellington and Amelia’s Smarty Plants in Lake Worth. They also can be ordered via the club’s website. Tickets cost $30 the day of the tour and can be purchased between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Wellington. “I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a Saturday than to go see gardens that are not only beautiful but very much loved and cared for by the owners,” Kiesewetter said. “We hope people will come and enjoy but also come and learn. It’s an educational opportunity, as well as a thing of beauty.” For more information, call (561) 791-0273 or go online to wellingtongardenclub.org.