West Boca Halloween Activities


October 20th
Shriek Week at Sugar Sand Park, Runs through October 28th. Haunted House, Live Shows, Film Fest, Games, and Rides.
October 21st

Halloween at the Boca Y, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Costumes, decorations and activities. Y members: one bag of candy per person, Non-members: $5 adult, $15 child.
Fall Festival at The Shoppes of Loggers Run, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hay rides, Kids magic show, games and crafts, scavenger hunt and character appearances. Free.
Pumpkin Patch, October 21st through 31st at United Methodist Church, 9087 Glades Road, Boca Raton.
October 23rd
Haunted House Rehearsal at Glades Road Library, 6 p.m. Bring your most creative and spooky ideas for our Haunted house held October 30th. Grades 6 & up. 45 minutes. Call 482-4554 to preregister.
October 24th
Learn the Thriller Dance! at the Glades Road Library, 6 p.m. Grades 6 & up. Call 482-4554 to preregister.
October 25th
Hallo-tween Spooktacular, Glades Road Library, 6 p.m. Listen to scary stories and write your own! Ages 8-12. Call 482-4554 to preregister.
October 27th

Hoot ‘N Howl, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Daggerwing Nature Center. Free Admission. Children of all ages with adult supervision. Games and crafts, learn about nocturnal animals, Night time boardwalk.
Trick’Em Treat’Em Costume Party at Patch Reef Park. 10 a.m. to Noon. Ages 2-5. $5 per child. Munchies, mayhem, games and more.
October 28th

Halloween Bash at Drop In Action Sports Complex.
Trick or Treat Tales, 3 p.m., Glades Road Library. Enjoy stories, songs, games and a craft about Halloween with a costume parade to follow. All ages. Call 482-4554 to preregister.
Peek-A-Boo!, West Boca Library, 10:30 a.m. Not so scary Halloween stories, dancing and singing for ages 1-2. Call 470-1600 to preregister. Also, October 30th and 31st at 10:30 a.m.
Celebrate Frankenstein, West Boca Library, 2:30 p.m. Grades 6-12. Learn about Mary Shelley’s infamous monster and his portrayals thru cinema, books and folklore. Call 470-1600 to preregister.
October 30th
Haunted House!, Glades Road Library, 6 p.m. Our teens will scare you in our walk-through Haunted House. Ages 5 & up. 60 minutes.
Halloween Crafts, West Boca Library, 3:30 p.m. Ages 3 & up. Wear a costume or just come as yourself and make a Halloween themed craft while listening to fun Halloween music.
Trick or Treat at Delray Marketplace, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free pumpkins and Family Fun. Kids 10 and under can trick or treat at the shops, decorate a pumpkin, enjoy face painting, music, a trackless train and more.

October 31st
Preschool Monster Mash, West Boca Library, 11:30 a.m. Gather with other ghouls, goblins, heroes, princesses and just regular kids for a monstrous time of Halloween stories, music and a craft. First come, first served. Ages 3 & up. Limit 20.

How a Spanish River Alum Made It In Hollywood

Janah Brooks Golden, Spanish River High 2003

We had the pleasure of speaking yesterday with Janah Brooks Golden about her unusual path from Spanish River High School to a successful career in Hollywood. We thought her story might be helpful to local youth and their parents.
Known as Janah Brooks Adickman when she was at Spanish River, is now a casting producer in Hollywood, California. She contacted us about a show – The F Word with Gordon Ramsay – she is working on right now for Fox Television. The show will feature families of four (or teams of four) who are amazing home cooks with no professional experience.

The original purpose of our contact was her effort to get the word out to those who might want to be on the show. You can apply directly on their The F Word Casting website. The deadline to apply is April 7th so move fast if you’re interested.
Her path to this career is not what we would have guessed. Ms. Brooks Golden graduated from Spanish River High in 2003. She went to University of Florida, completing a Master’s degree in Special Education in 2008. She thought she wanted to be a teacher but along the way she realized it wasn’t right for her.
She worked for a while with her father’s construction company (Ross Adickman is a founder and the CFO of Amicon). While doing that her love for food led her to start writing a blog about food, food shows on television, and cooking. Her sister was living in Los Angeles and invited her to come out and “see what it’s like.”
Two days after she arrived she found a job teaching cooking at Sur La Table. Then she got another job working as a personal chef for an celebrity she would not identify. She had various other jobs, sometimes three at the same time.
A friend was doing casting for a well known cooking show and introduced Janah to the world of reality TV casting. That led to doing casting for 13 seasons (two a year) for the show Cutthroat Kitchen, and for other shows including NBC’s Biggest Loser, Bravo’s Recipe for Deception, Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games and Iron Chef Gauntlet (airs in April).
That friend who helped her get started became her wife in 2015 and is also her business partner in their company, Front Foot First, which does reality TV development and casting.
Of course she’s only getting started, now in her early 30s. She hopes to have a longstanding career creating groundbreaking content. And she still has a passion for food.
I asked her where she likes to eat when she comes back here. One restaurant stood out in her mind – Mario’s Osteria. She ate there a lot while she was growing up – then it was closer to Town Center. Other Boca favorites include Sushi Ray, Trattoria Romana and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. In Miami she likes Alter with Chef Brad Kilgore and Eating House (Giorgio Rapicavoli).
Janah’s advice to kids (and parents) is simple: If you’re not happy with what you’re doing, move on to something else and find your path.

Marquee Theater Company presents Dreamgirls at West Boca Performing Arts Center


Written by Jacqueline Faustin, a senior at West Boca High, and a member of the school’s musical theater troupe.
Marquee Theater Company proudly opened their latest performance, Dreamgirls, at the West Boca Performing Arts Theater (in West Boca High School) this past Saturday, January 21, 2017. Director Andrew Shultz and choreographer Ben Solmor did a noteworthy job accurately and respectably chronicling this captivating tale.
Dreamgirls depicts the story of three women who all search for happiness and success in the music industry. With the help of their manager, they get the chance of a lifetime performing as backup singers for a national star. As they delve deeper into the twisted music industry, they abruptly learn just how high the cost of fame truly is.
The up-and-coming Marquee Theater Company is fortunate enough to have an across-the-board strong cast for this show. Their authentic energy, palpable throughout the entirety of the show, never faltered. This unique attribute was most definitely thanks to Alex Lugo (Deena), David Berry (Jimmy Early), and Kendra Williams (Effie). All mentioned characters exhibited remarkable stage presence that made a lasting impact on the audience.

Dreamgirls is on for two more shows at West Boca High – Friday, January 28th at 8 pm and Saturday, January 29th at 2 pm. Buy tickets online at the Marquee box office.

Alex Lugo truly is meant for the stage. Her presence alone creates an appealing and captivating ambiance; the audience can’t help but admire her as she effortless sings and gracefully acts. She has the inimitable talent to truly bring out empathy from the audience, making them really feel for her character.
David Berry presented a hilariously eccentric, yet charming charisma with his role as “Jimmy Early”. He kept his energy level high throughout the duration of the show, and this could be seen specifically in his number, “The Rap.” His character indubitably created a comedic relief for the show.
Kendra Williams stole the show with her performance as “Effie.” Williams, whom has been previously seen as Joanne in Rent, has an unequivocal aptitude for the theater arts. She portrayed her character with such emotional depth and authenticity that it is hard to believe that she, herself, is not Effie. Her show-stopping performance of “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going,” the closing of Act I, had the entire audience on their feet with profuse applause before she was even finished belting her last note.
The ensemble importantly added magnetism to the show. Though some characters lacked believability, overall, they truly enhanced the large group numbers. Harmonies were beautiful when they were not too soft to hear. Their costumes and wigs added to the credibility to the show without drawing too much attention from the characters themselves.
Dreamgirls is a show that you do not want to miss out on. Its entrancing storyline was notably told through a cast full of impressive “Dreams.” Marquee Theater Company may be up-and-coming, but it definitely is not one you should look past.

West Boca High Takes "Blood Brothers" to Tampa

All photos credit G. Richard Booth
All photos credit G. Richard Booth

The West Boca High Drama Department’s “Blood Brothers” musical has been selected for the Florida State Thespian Festival in March. Out of all the schools in the state, only nine shows were selected for “main stage” performances. The Blood Brothers performance will be one of the two shows performed in the Carol Morsani Hall venue, which seats over 2600.
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We are so proud to announce that Blood Brothers has been selected to perform at the Florida State Thespian Festival in March in Morsani Hall at the Straz Center. Congratulations to Mr. Blank, Mrs. Crout and the cast, crew, and staff for all of your hard work.

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Don’t worry if you missed it. The school plans to do another run of performances in February.
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Review: Marquee Theater's Fiddler on the Roof

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We had the pleasure of seeing Fiddler on the Roof performed by the Marquee Theater Company. The professional show ran through October 16th at West Boca High’s theater. We caught it on the 15th.
They did a great job both in filling the house and in delivering their performance. The audience loved it.
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We saw lots of energy on the stage. The dream scene was particularly well done.
Tevye (Peter Librach) and Golde (Joanne Shultz) had outstanding chemistry. Erica Rose Dade glowed as Tzeitel.
Andrew Shultz and Ben Solmor yet again delivered quality theater to our local audience.
If I have a quibble, it’s Librach’s rendition of “If I Were a Rich Man”. I thought it was quirky but judging by the audience response I might be alone in that.
We hope our readers will forgive this late review. We saw one of the last performances of Fiddler on the Roof in October and any review would have been after the last performance.
We look forward to their upcoming performance of Dreamgirls, scheduled to start January 21st.
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Tickets are available at the Marquee Theater box office.