Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Week Ahead: June 2 to 8

THURSDAY

What: Opening of “The Pool”

Where: West Palm Beach Waterfront, 101 S. Flagler Drive

When: 7 to 11 p.m.

Cost: Free

Contact: 561/822-1515, wpb.org/clematis-by-night

No, that’s not a crop circle arranged by fabulous aliens on the grounds of the West Palm Beach Waterfront; all of those multicolored panels arrayed in concentric circles is a temporary art installation called “The Pool,” by artist Jen Lewin. Opening Thursday and running throughout the summer, it’s kinda like a giant Simon Says board, where kids (and kids at heart) can jump, run and play on the circles to make their own artistic formations. You need to see it to believe it, and it’s one of many free city-sponsored activities that continue the installation’s glow-in-the-dark theme, including miniature golf, bowling, badminton and ring toss. It’s West Palm Beach’s way of toasting 20 years of Clematis by Night, its popular Thursday evening community shindig.

What: Opening night of “Summer Shorts”

Where: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

When: 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $35

Contact: 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org

For theatergoers, “Summer Shorts” represents the unofficial kickoff to summer in South Florida, a collection a curated short plays, most with a comedic bent and many already boasting national awards. And this year, the venerable annual program launched by Miami’s City Theatre celebrates 20 years of producing quality truncated theater, which together amounts to some 200 Florida premieres in two decades. The 2015 plays run a customarily wide gamut, addressing themes ranging from paranoid moms (“Mrs. Evelyn Foxy & Her Low Orbit Anxiety”), lesbian marriage (“The Anthropology Section”), immigrant life in Miami (“Risen From the Dough”) and an eventful guy’s night out (“Mandate”). There will be at least one outrageous selection: Expect to encounter puppets in the corporate satire “Human Resources.” The stellar cast includes Elizabeth Dimon, Tom Wahl, Karen Stephens, Bechi Sylvain, Chasity Hart and Michael Uribe, and the show runs through June 28.

FRIDAY

What: Opening night of “Little Shop of Horrors”

Where: Slow Burn Theatre Company at West Boca Performing Arts Theater, 12811 W. Glades Road, Boca Raton

When: 8 p.m.

Cost: $25-$40

Contact: 866/811-4111, slowburntheatre.org

Before there was “Hedwig” and “Cannibal! The Musical” and “Song of the Living Dead” and “Toxic Avenger,” there was “Little Shop of Horrors,” the pioneering rock musical, a bloody horror-comedy that somehow remains perfectly family-friendly. Based on a 1960 B-movie by schlock maestro Roger Corman, “The Little Shop of Horrors” was adapted into a stage musical in 1982, which was later made into its own feature film, about a meek employee of a flower shop who discovers an unusual plant, names it after his unrequited beloved, and watches it grow … and grow … and grow, all the while feeding off—what else?—human blood and flesh. The show popularized tunes such as the title track and “Suddenly, Seymour,” and it has long been a bucket-list show for Slow Burn Theatre director/choreographer Patrick Fitzwater. Slow Burn’s final production in Boca Raton will feature a knockout cast of Mike Westrich, Amy Miller Brennan, Shane Tanner and Matthew Korinko. It runs through June 28.

What: Lisa Lampanelli

Where: Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood

When: 8 p.m.

Cost: $44-$64

Contact: 800/745-3000, myhrl.com

Since roughly 2002, when she became one of the most coveted comics on the celebrity roast dais, Lisa Lampanelli’s act hasn’t evolved all that much—her material has remained a consistently shocking, hilariously abrasive crowd-driven insult act in the vein of Don Rickles and Bobby Slayton: Minorities, and pretty much everybody in the front row of her audience, beware. But a couple years ago, everything changed. The heavyset comic dropped 107 pounds thanks to gastric-sleeve surgery and a change in diet. She also got a divorce and changed her hairstyle into a Miley Cyrus coiffure. Last but certainly not least, her act evolved. It has turned personal, with more long-form stories about her transformative life events; now, many of her most wicked barbs are aimed at herself. While some of her bread-and-butter crowd work will endure, fans can expect to see a Lisa Lampanelli 2.0 on her “Leaner Meaner Tour” this weekend.

SATURDAY

What: Third Eye Blind and Dashboard Confessional

Where: Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd., Miami

When: 7 p.m.

Cost: $30.75-$45.25

Contact: livenation.com

Back in 1997-1998, the five singles off Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut album were everywhere—pop stations, rock stations, restaurants, supermarkets, the repertories of cover bands nationwide, and probably your CD collection, with no song more ubiquitous than the infectious “Semi-Charmed Life.” Another successful album, “Blue,” followed in 1998. But in the Aughts, Third Eye Blind dropped off the pop-music map, losing original members and releasing a pair of solid, mature but largely unheard albums. Attention has begun to return back to 3EB with the announcement of its fifth—and apparently final—album, “Dopamine,” and its strong leadoff single “Everything is Easy.” (The band isn’t breaking up so much as releasing songs piecemeal henceforth.) Expect the group’s cult to remain intact on this summer tour, though Dashboard Confessional—the primary project for Boca-bred singer-songwriter turned national emo-rock icon Chris Carrabba—will need no help packing the amphitheater on its own.

What: Screening of “The Last Metro”

Where: Cosford Cinema at University of Miami, 5100 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables

When: 8:30 p.m.

Cost: $5

Contact: 305/284-4861, cosfordcinema.com

The Cosford Cinema will finish its run of the new Catherine Deneuve drama “In the Name of My Daughter” this Thursday, but on Saturday, fans of the actress might want to return to catch her in a rare 35mm screening of “The Last Metro,” arguably the biggest commercial hit from beloved French director Francois Truffaut. Released in 1980, and set during the Nazi occupation of France, it stars the ravishing Deneuve as a leading lady for a local theater troupe dealing with multiple crises at once: censorship from the Gestapo, the sheltering of her Jewish husband (whose directing duties she must take on) and a leading actor—Gerard Depardieu at his handsomest—who moonlights in the Resistance. This triumph of art over political adversity was one of three films Truffaut planned about backstage dramas in the performing arts: The great “Day for Night” dealt with the film industry, and “L’Agence Magique,” about life in a music hall, was never filmed.

SUNDAY

What: Israeli Dance Festival

Where: Broward Center’s Au-Rene Theater, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale

When: 7 p.m.

Cost: $10-$50

Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org

Israeli folk dancing isn’t limited to the performance halls and street fairs of Tel Aviv or the historic celebrations of Jerusalem—in fact, it spans countless nations, to which this annual festival attests. Sponsored by Festival Yachad, the Israeli Dance Festival enters its 19th year with this gala performance at the Broward Center. More than 500 young dancers will take the stage, hailing from dance companies based in Mexico, Brazil and Panama, in addition to, of course, Israel. State-of-the-art lighting, sets and costumes will supplement the dances, which are structured around the theme “Israeli Sheli,” or “My Israel.” Each dance will represent a different facet of Israeli life, from its traditions and culture to its food and history.

John Thomason
John Thomason
As the A&E editor of bocamag.com, I offer reviews, previews, interviews, news reports and musings on all things arty and entertainment-y in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

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