News and Reviews<\/span><\/p><\/h1><\/span>

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DECEMBER 2015<\/strong>
\nWEEKEND PREVIEW: THE HEART AND ART OF A DOG<\/strong>
\nBY BEN CRANDELL<\/strong><\/p>\n

For years, I walked the Earth thinking Henry Gross\u2019 1976 hit \u201cShannon\u201d was about the saddest song I\u2019d ever heard, especially it is based on a true story. Imagine losing the love of your life in a drowning, you clinging to the faint hope that she might be \u201cdrifting out to sea\u201d toward some island.<\/p>\n

OK, so I grew up, and learned the song wasn\u2019t written about his high-school sweetheart, but instead was a lament over the loss of a dog (Beach Boy Carl Wilson\u2019s dog, which didn\u2019t drown exactly, but that\u2019s more story than we have room for). The thing is, when I found out the song was about the drowning of a family dog, not a girlfriend, it was even more crushingly sad. Is it wrong to feel that way?<\/p>\n

This weekend brings the South Florida premiere of musical polymath Laurie Anderson\u2019s film \u201cHeart of a Dog,\u201d which weaves her feelings about the literal loss of her rat terrier Lolabelle \u2014 the paw-painting, piano-playing puppy-mill rescue that she and Lou Reed shared a home with until Lolabelle\u2019s death in 2011 \u2014 and a kaleidoscope of other distress, from 9\/11 to the death of her husband.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Times review of Anderson\u2019s \u201cexperimental marvel\u201d called the film \u201cthat rarest of pieces, an unabashedly experimental work that’s as inviting as a visit with an old friend, one who may not always make sense, who’s sometimes goofy, but has been through a lot lately and treasures the opportunity to artfully unload.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHeart of a Dog\u201d begins week-long runs on Friday at Cinema Paradiso in Fort Lauderdale (FLIFF.com) and Coral Gables Art Cinema (GablesCinema.com). The film will screen at the Stonzek Theatre in the Lake Worth Playhouse beginning Dec. 18 (LakeWorthPlayhouse.org).<\/p>\n

Henry Gross has other songs besides \u201cShannon,\u201d of course, which is the point of his new residency at Lafayette\u2019s at CityPlace in West Palm Beach. Performances are 7 p.m. every Sunday through the end of January. A friend says that along with songs from more than 20 solo albums, Gross is quite the funny storyteller. Trivia: Gross was once a member of Sha Na Na, and at age 18 the youngest person to play the main stage at Woodstock. Surprisingly, admission to Gross\u2019 show is free. Info: Lafayettes.com, HenryGross.com.<\/p>\n

South Florida.com<\/p>\n<\/div>

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