Entertainment in Miami
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Florida Room at the Delano
‘Wanna buy me an eight-dollar beer?’ asks an out-of-towner, gazing awestruck at the sheer mass of model-types packed into this den of iniquity. The Florida Room is as exclusive as they get, plus a popular dancehall/samba piano lounge for local scenesters who eschew the tourist trap megaclubs further down the beach. Show up before 11pm or be on the list (or be Lenny Kravitz – who helped design this place) to get in.
reviewed
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B
Mango’s Tropical Café
- Miami, USA
- Entertainment › Bar
Cuba meets Coyote Ugly Saloon in this tourist hotspot, where a staff of gorgeous and/or ripped bodies (take your pick) dances, gyrates and puts some serious booty on the floor. Of course, you’re here for anthropological reasons: to study the nuances of Latin dance. Not to watch the bartender do that thing Shakira does with her butt.
reviewed
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C
Lyric Theatre
Hallowed names such as Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald walked across the Lyric stage when it was a major stop on the ‘Chitlin’ Circuit’ – the black live-entertainment trail of pre-integration USA. But as years passed both the theater and the neighborhood it served, Overtown, fell into dysfunctional disuse. Then the Black Archives History & Research Center of South Florida kicked in $1.5 million for renovations and overhauled everything. The phoenix reopened its doors in 1999 to appreciative neighbors, civic leaders and entertainers alike. A 2003 expansion feels a little too modern when juxtaposed with the Lyric’s elegant early-20th-century exterior, but it’s shiny, we …
reviewed
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D
Gusman Center for the Performing Arts
The Olympia Theater at Gusman Center for the Performing Arts is a one-of-a-kind classic. You know how the kids in Hogwarts can see the sky through their dining hall roof? Well the Olympia recreates the whole effect sans Dumbledore, using 246 twinkling stars and clouds cast over an indigo-deep, sensual shade of a ceiling. The theater first opened in 1925; today the lobby serves as the Downtown Miami Welcome Center, doling out helpful visitor information and organizing tours of the historic district; at night you can still catch theater and music performances.
reviewed
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E
Karu & Y
Karu smacks of an Atlanta hip-hop megaclub in ways good and sundry. Basically, it’s a bottle of iced-out Cristal given club form – there’s a Dale Chiluly chandelier in the entrance, waterfall out front and restaurant (Karu; Y is the lounge) that serves foie-gras lollipops. It’s all (literally) smack on the tracks that separate tatty but gentrifying downtown Miami (bling!) from Overtown’s worst projects (bang!). Come here to star in your personal MTV video, and expect to pay for the privilege.
reviewed
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F
White Room
Miami’s hipsters are so, well, Miami – artsy yet glam compared to their London and NYC counterparts. They flock here, where there’s the requisite weird movies playing on open-air projectors, Lawrence of Arabia tents curving around an exposed-industrial main-stage and, according to promoters, a shared design-aesthetic-lifestyle-blah blah blah. Hot hipsters get drunk and dance with other hot hipsters. You go, White Room. The very popular Poplife party goes off here Saturdays.
reviewed
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G
Buck 15
Located in a loft above Miss Yip, B15 manages to blend everything we like about going out – kinda edgy but not scary graffiti chic, cast-off action figures, consistently awesome DJs (Did they just mix ‘Your Love’ by the Outfield into ‘Low’ by Flo Rida? Oh yes they did), free entry, a good mix of the hip and the hot and the drunk and the folks who just don’t care but definitely wave their hands in the air – into one shot of nightlife fun.
reviewed
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H
Rose Bar at the Delano
The ultrachic Rose Bar at this elegant Ian Schrager original is a watering hole for beautiful creatures (or at least those with a healthy ego). Get ready to pay up for the privilege – but also prepare to enjoy it. The tiki bar in the back of the Delano is another winner; wait for staff to set out a wrought-iron table in the shallow end of the pool and you’ll start rethinking your definition of opulence.
reviewed
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I
Coconut Grove Playhouse
This lovely state-owned theater, anchoring the Grove since 1956, gained fame via the American premiere of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (which audiences and critics generally rejected out of hand as opaque and confusing). Although it was closed during research due to debt issues, it is set to reopen by the time you read this, and will hopefully continue to showcase some of Miami’s best theater.
reviewed
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J
Miracle Theater
This gorgeous, 80-year-old theater is one of the best bits of deco anywhere off the Beach. Today, the Actors’ Playhouse company puts on productions in the three performance spaces – the 600-seat main-stage auditorium, a smaller children’s theater and a black box for cutting-edge works – although the theater is nice to visit whether you’ve got tickets or not.
reviewed
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Score
Muscle boys with mustaches, glistening six-packs gyrating on stage, and a crowd of men who’ve decided shirts really aren’t their thing: do we need to spell out the orientation of Score’s customer base? It’s still the best dedicated gay bar on the beach, and the addition of the more mature Crème Lounge upstairs will undoubtedly raise the cachet of this perennial favorite.
reviewed
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La Covacha
Drive out about halfway to the Everglades (just kidding, but only just) and you’ll find Covacha, the most hidden, most hip Latin scene in Miami. Actually, it’s not hidden; all the young Latinos know about Covacha and love it well, and we do too. It’s an excellent spot to see new bands, upcoming DJs (almost all local), an enormous crowd and pretty much no tourists.
reviewed
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M
Circa 28
Miami can work its magic on anyone, even Wynwood’s angst-y artists. Like Cinderella touched by a fairy godmother (or a very good DJ), they become glamorous club kids in this two-story hepcat hotspot. Circa is as sexy and gorgeous as Miami gets, but with its modish library and (semi) literati clientele, it’s also intelligent enough to hold a conversation.
reviewed
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N
The Bar
- Miami, USA
- Entertainment › Bar
All in a name, right? Probably the best watering hole in the Gables, The Bar is just what the title says (which is ironic in this neighborhood of extravagant embellishment). If you’re in the ’hood on Friday come here for happy hour (5pm to 8pm), when all the young Gables professionals take their ties off and basically let loose long into the night.
reviewed
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Noir Bar
On the 18th floor of this sleek Downtown high-rise you'll find Noir Bar: a dark and sexy lounge, all black except for splashes of orange and red which come courtesy of the geometric candles along the bar. Be sure to saunter into the lobby after a few drinks, where you can peer over the bay and into the night sky through a high-powered telescope.
reviewed
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Florida Grand Opera
Founded in the 1940s, this highly respected opera company, which stages shows like Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, Tosca and many others, performs throughout the year at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Fort Lauderdale. Ticket offices are in Doral, but it’s recommended you purchase online or on the phone.
reviewed
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Q
Wallflower Gallery
Put this funky, cool gallery on your short list of places to check out. In addition to offering a well-rounded lineup of music, dance and film, the gallery features poetry readings, spoken-word artists, open-mic poetry nights and 'regular' art shows featuring local talent. This cultural oasis boasts plenty of artwork worth splurging on.
reviewed
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R
Space
This multilevel warehouse is Miami’s main megaclub. With 30,000 sq ft to fill, dancers have room to strut, and an around-the-clock liquor license redefines the concept of after-hours. DJs usually pump each floor with a different sound – hip-hop, Latin, heavy trance – while the infamous rooftop lounge is the place to be for sunrise.
reviewed
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S
BED
You probably know this drill: someone sets a bunch of beds around a DJ booth. House music ensues. People go crazy. Except the music is really loud here, and you have to order bottle service to lounge, so come with cash if you want to lay down (which seems opposed to the whole, ‘Let’s go dance’ thing, but hey).
reviewed
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T
Actors Playhouse
Housed within the 1948 deco Miracle Theater, this three-theater venue stages musicals and comedies, children’s theater on its kids stage and more avant-garde productions in its small experimental black-box space. Recent productions have included Footloose and The Wizard of Oz for the little ones.
reviewed
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Gablestage
Founded as the Florida Shakespeare Theatre in 1979 and now housed on the property of the Biltmore Hotel, this company still performs an occasional Shakespeare play, but mostly presents contemporary and classical pieces; recent productions have included Frozen, Bug and The Retreat From Moscow.
reviewed
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University of Miami School of Music
Held at the Gusman Concert Hall, as well as Clark Recital Hall, these free concerts highlighting university students are a bargain. Seek out the long-running international Festival Miami, which features symphonies, chamber music and jazz, and runs from late September to late October.
reviewed
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Chesterfield Hotel
- Miami, USA
- Entertainment › Bar
Perch on some prime Collins people-watching real estate and get crunk on the hip-hop-and-zebra stripe theme they've got going on here. You'd think this would be a pre-funk kinda place, but the setting's so fly, folks end up stationary, sipping on mad martinis 'til they stumble into their rooms.
reviewed
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Northern Miami Terminal
One of Greyhound's major terminals. There are several buses daily to New York City ($115 one-way, 27 to 30 hours) and Washington, DC ($109 one-way, 23 to 25 hours); five daily to New Orleans ($95 one-way, 20 to 22 hours); and 10 daily to Atlanta ($95 one-way, 16 to 18 hours).
reviewed
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X
Cameo
This enormous, touristy club, where Gwen Stefani tracks get smooshed into Oakenfold, is where the sexy times are to be had – if by sexy time you mean thumping music, a packed crowd and sweat to slip on. Sunday’s gay night (the specific party name frequently changes) is one of the best in town.
reviewed
