TUESDAY
What: Apollo Robbins
When: 3 p.m.
Where: Society of the Four Arts, 2 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach
Cost: $15-$35
Contact: 561/655-7226, fourarts.org
As a theatrical pickpocket and self-proclaimed “gentleman thief,” Apollo Robbins has mastered the art of a crime by perfecting sleight-of-hand techniques and illusionism. A New Yorker profile last year detailed how Robbins pocketed a pen from Penn Gillette, dismantled it, and placed it in pieces in different openings of Penn’s clothing, without the blustery magician noticing any of it. It gets even better: He once “borrowed” vital information from Jimmy Carter’s Secret Service agents, which prompted the U.S. government and police departments to take notice of Robbins and even employ him to understand thieves’ skill sets. He’s made a quite a pop-culture career out of his dubious but astonishing talent, appearing on such television programs as “Brain Games” and “Nova ScienceNow.” At today’s Society of the Four Arts appearance, expect him to pick the pockets of some of the lecture’s guests, right in front of our noses.
THURSDAY
What: Opening night of Festival of the Arts Boca
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
Cost: $25-$125
Contact: 866/571-2787, festivaloftheartsboca.org
Festival of the Arts Boca will launch its eighth annual event tonight with the world’s reigning superstar of the classical violin. Itzhak Perlman, the 15-time Grammy winner, will grace us once again with his presence, for the third time in the Festival’s short but prestigious history. Tonight’s program, performed with the Festival Orchestra Boca under the baton of Constantine Kitsopoulos, will feature Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5 in C minor” and two compositions from Mendelssohn: the “Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture” and his “Violin Concerto in E minor.” You can also join Perlman on Sunday, March 9, for what is arguably the festival’s benchmark concert this year: “Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul,” a collaboration with celebrated Israeli-born cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, performing their unique blend of “Jewish comfort music.” For the full festival schedule, visit its website, and check bocamag.com throughout the event for exclusive reviews and artist interviews.
What: Screening of “Buck and the Preacher”
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $10
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
The highlight of Kravis’ annual African-American Film Festival, “Buck and the Preacher” may be the best blaxploitation western ever made – not that it has much competition. This cult film was directed by Sidney Poitier who, in a departure from the stately characters he crafted in prestigious studio films, stars as a rowdy trail guide leading former slaves to a western homestead in the wake of the Civil War. Harry Belafonte plays a swindling priest who joins forces with Buck, pistols blazing, to tackle the largely all-white hegemony of the Old West. This is an ultra-rare screening; while “Buck and the Preacher” is available on DVD, it is almost never shown or referenced.
FRIDAY
What: Tamburitzans
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach State College, 4200 Congress Ave., Lake Worth
Cost: $25-$27
Contact: 561/207-5900
This company bills itself as the longest-running stage show in the country, which speaks to the universal appeal of its regional message. Named after the tamburitza, a long-necked lute popularized in Central Europe, this ever-evolving live production dates back nearly 80 years, when a college professor in Minnesota put together a tamburitza trio in the early 1930s. Since then, the Tamburitzans have become something like international ambassadors of eastern European music and folklore, complete with colorful costumes, a full repertoire and—in their home base at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University—their own administration building.
What: Opening night of Miami International Film Festival
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Gusman Center, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami
Cost: TBA, varies by event
Contact: 305/237-3456, miamifilmfestival.com
Forty-nine films will make their World, International, North American or U.S. premieres at this year’s star-studded Miami International Film Festival, which runs through March 16 at theaters throughout Miami-Dade County. Tonight’s film, at the Gusman Center’s Olympia Theater, is “Elsa & Fred” (pictured), a remake of the ‘90s international hit “Il Postino” starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer—both of whom will be in attendance. Expect a red carpet stretching pretty much all the way to North Miami. Other major titles include John Turturro’s “Fading Gigolo,” co-starring Woody Allen; “City of God: 10 Years Later,” a Brazilian documentary charting the impact of the enduring drama “City of God;” and “Rob the Mob,” a “Bonnie & Clyde” style crime caper starring Andy Garcia and Ray Romano. Visit miamifilmfestival.com for the complete program.
SATURDAY
What: Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive
Cost: $40.28-$61.28
Contact: 954/344-5990, coralspringscenterforthearts.com
OK, here it goes: I want to see a soap opera taking place in the Old West, spoken entirely in pig Latin. Oh, and you have to be upside down the entire time. Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, alumni of the beloved improv series “Whose Line Is it Anyway?” are used to requests like these; they’ve become peerless experts at making up brilliance on the spot, welcoming each new hurdle that’s thrown in front of them. And in their live show, which Sherwood calls “the longest running international improv show on planet Earth, we think,” the comedy stakes are raised higher than ever. The production’s signature obstacle is an elaborate assemblage of 270 mousetraps—dangling from the air and spread across the stage like landmines—which the dynamic duo must avoid, or more likely stumble into, while performing an audience-suggested sketch. Visit bocamag.com later this week for an interview with Mochrie.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: WellFest Delray
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Delray Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave., and Hyatt Place, 104 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach
Cost: $15 single day or $20 for both days
Contact: wellfestdelray.com
If you missed last weekend’s Health and Wellness Experience in Mizner Park, you can still get your nutrition and fitness fix this weekend at the expanded WellFest Delray, now in its second year. Last year’s debut event took place over one day—a Thursday—and this year, due to popular demand, we have a full weekend of festivities. More than 100 sponsors and exhibitors will offer tips and merchandise, and 30 expert speakers will address a variety of health-related topics at Hyatt Place. There will be celebrity chef demos, fitness events, free samples and an “Eat Well Food Court,” which means, one assumes, no Chick-fil-A. Hallelujah.
MONDAY, MARCH 10
What: Peking Acrobats
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $15-$49
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Last seen roughly one year ago at last year’s Festival of the Arts Boca, China’s Peking Acrobats have been defying gravity since 1986, and are internationally renowned for their fusion of traditional instrumentation, special effects and feats of gymnastic wonder. Their productions showcase somersaulting, contortionism, balancing skills, juggling dexterity and other jaw-dropping carnival benchmarks. In short, they need to be seen to be believed, and this performance is especially anticipated: The company’s cirque-style dancers will re-create the passion and pageantry of a traditional Chinese carnival, and expected stunts include maneuvering on a pagoda of chairs and dazzling trick cycling.
