For more than 20 years, jazz lover Jerry Blanton has been coming to SunFest, Florida’s largest music and art festival. But he’s noticed a change. There’s not much jazz anymore.

"I can remember running back and forth between stages to see jazz artists," said Blanton, of Lake Worth.

But Blanton, who bought a five-day ticket with his wife, Margaret, still keeps coming back.

"It’s SunFest," Blanton said, smiling broadly. "And I love people-watching."

There will be plenty of that going on through Sunday as SunFest organizers expect over 250,000 sweat-drenched people to stroll along the Flagler Drive waterfront to take in the festival’s sights, sounds and, well, smells. There is great food, after all.

More: Photos of bands, festivities on Day 1 | Photos of people, faces on Day 1 | pbpulse.com’s SunFest coverage | Fans react to SunFest Day 1: Sublime with Rome | SunFest itineraries | Follow @SunFestPulse on Twitter for updates

The festival kicked off its 29th year Wednesday night on a picture-perfect South Florida evening. Typically, opening night is low-key and not as crowded as the weekend, but not this year. Thousands drank Captain Morgans, jammed to the head-bopping rock sounds of Variety Workshop and noshed on all kinds of snacks, including French crepes.

Read the full story

Season previews: Classical music/dance | Theater | Pop music | Arts

The season has arrived.

And arts groups are a little worried. Will patrons return? Will the economy improve enough to help boost endowments and charitable giving?

Well, there’s one thing that might help: A bargain.

So we asked staff writer Kevin D. Thompson to find out what kind of bargains local arts groups are providing. They’re hoping you’ll take advantage of these deals, and maybe come back for a second helping of culture.
Read the full story

Jay Leno may have left The Tonight Show, but he still calls NBC home.

Starting today (10 p.m., WPTV-Channel 5), the 59-year-old funnyman can be seen five nights a week hosting The Jay Leno Show.

Here’s what The Chin has to say about the new gig.

On whether he’s nervous: “I’m still pretty laid back. NBC is in fourth place. I can’t do any worse. This is not as nerve-wracking as taking over for Johnny (Carson). Then I was an unknown entity. At this point, people kind of know what you do. They either like it or they don’t. All you can do is give it your best shot.”

On all the show’s hype: “I try to keep my head down. I’m very flattered the network has all this faith in (me). It seemed a little much. OK, guys, it’s just comedy. I didn’t even want to call it The Jay Leno Show. I wanted to call it Weeknight with Jay Leno so if it’s successful, they have a franchise. They didn’t want to do that because in the TV listings, it would be listed as Weeknight and then it looks like a Dateline show.”

On taking shots from rival network execs: “I enjoy it. It’s trash talking. If you like playing the game, it’s great fun and I enjoy playing the game. They all vowed none of their stars would be on our show. OK. But we’re all here to benefit. Television is dying. We can either all support each other and support each others’ shows, or we can go back into our little caves and pretend like we’re the only thing on.”

On how TV has changed: “It’s all about what’s happening right now. The shows that do well — Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, the Olympics, the Super Bowl — are shows that happen right now in real time. Now everybody is twittering and sending instant messages and sending e-mails as the show is happening so information is good for only a day.”

On “Time” proclaiming him the future of television: “That is hilarious. That shows you the trouble we’re in. I guess it’s very funny. It’s not that big a deal. There’s another issue coming out next week.”

kevin_thompson@pbpost.com

Jay Leno may have left The Tonight Show, but he still calls NBC home.

Starting Monday (10 p.m.), the 59-year-old funnyman can be seen five nights a week hosting The Jay Leno Show, a new comedy variety show Leno says will boast many of Tonight‘s signature bits.

“We’re keeping elements of The Tonight Show people seemed to like and that seemed to work well,” Leno said this afternoon on a conference call with TV writers.

Those popular elements include “Headlines” and “Jaywalking.” But look for a jazzy theme song, a different set (no desk!) and A-list stars driving race cars in front of a green screen!

“This race car track could be interesting, seeing celebrities crash and burn” Leno said. ” Who doesn’t want to see a celebrity hit the wall and burst into flames?”

In his 45-minute chat, The Chin touched on everything from his new diet to why he loves Lost to if he thinks he Conan O’Brian’s Tonight Show’s ratings will improve.

Read the full story

Ron Paolillo goes over the play "The Glass Menagerie" with students at G-Star School of the Arts in West Palm Beach Wednesday. Paolillo, the actor who played Arnold Horshack on the popular ABC sticom, "Welcome Back Kotter," is a teaching acting class at the school. (Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post)

“Oooooh-oooooh-ooooh, Mr. Kotter!”

That’s how we remember Ron Palillo in a classroom, playing the cut-up Arnold Horshack on the popular TV series Welcome Back, Kotter.

So what’s this? The Sweathog is Mr. Kotter?

Read the full story

To no one’s surprise, AMC today announced it’s renewing Mad Men for a fourth season.

Not only has the show garnered much critical acclaim, it’s also getting more viewers as the positive word-of-mouth continues to spread. The show’s third season premiere on Aug. 16, for instance, was watched by a record 4.5 million viewers. That may not sound like a lot of eyeballs to the big boys at ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, but for an itty, bitty cable network like AMC, well, 4.5 million might as well be 45 million. Mad Men has also earned 16 Emmy nominations — the most for any drama series — and put AMC on the basic cable map.

If you’re not mad about Mad Men, now’s the time to start.

Ask Tamara Jones to name her favorite TV show and she answers immediately, like the smart kid in class whose hand is always raised.

Burn Notice, she says excitedly. “I love the action. I love the scenery, and it’s not like Law & Order where you’re sobbing at the end.”

OK, Jones, a 39-year-old Boca Raton film and TV actress with personality to spare, has a reason to love USA Network’s cheeky shot-in-Miami spy series.

Read the full story

For the past several years, Beth Clark has helped at-risk kids improve their life and social skills through music as the executive director for Young Singers of the Palm Beaches.

That mission might be more difficult to accomplish this year.

The reason: The Young Singers and about 40 other cultural organizations are in danger of losing thousands in grant funding.

Read the full story

Thanks to glowing reviews and an overwhelmingly favorable audience response, The Whipping Man‘s run has been extended, The Caldwell Theatre announced today.

The compelling Civil War drama, which opened last week, was scheduled to close this Sunday. But five additional performances were added, taking the show to Sept. 6.

It certainly deserved it.

“The response to the show has exceeded my wildest expectations,” Clive Cholerton, the Caldwell’s artistic director, said in a statement. “It’s one thing to hypothesize South Florida audiences will come to see intelligent drama in the summer months, but to witness it first hand has been breathtaking.”

Former Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay

There’s less than a month until Dancing with the Stars’ ninth season premiere. Last week ABC revealed the mostly C-list (and in some cases D-list) star hoofers competing for that prized disco ball trophy.

This morning we found out who the stars will be paired with. Poor Cheryl Burke. Doesn’t look like the hottie, two-time champ will last long this season. Her partner: Tom Delay.

Here’s the network release…

Read the full story