Tuesday
Screening of “Darling Companion” at Gusman Center, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami; $14; 305/374-2444 or www.miamifilmfestival.com
Moviegoers will have a special opportunity to see “Darling Companion,” director Lawrence Kasdan’s first movie in nine years, more than a month before its theatrical opening in April. Dog lovers will have their hearts in throats for the majority of this old-fashioned comedy-drama about a divided family that comes together over a lost dog during a wedding in the Rockies. Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Richard Jenkins, Dianne Wiest, Sam Shepard and Mark Duplass headline an all-star cast in a solid, authentically grounded family movie that truly is for all audiences. Attend tonight’s screening and be close to the stars for a Q&A: Kevin Kline will join Kasdan and Casey the Dog himself after the screening.
Wednesday
Bill Press at Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 8 p.m.; free; 305/442-4408 or www.booksandbooks.com
Some political commentators are so abrasive and unlikable that it’s amazing any listeners can appreciate their hateful bile. Bill Press, on the other hand, comes off as one of the few nice guys in political talk radio, a pleasant enough fellow who still has the ability to make Republicans pull their hair out when listening to him (Press’ nationally syndicated show, from 6 to 9 a.m., is not available in South Florida). His previous book, “Toxic Talk,” catalogued the multitude of right-wing talk-show hosts Press felt were polluting the public airwaves, and his latest release, “The Obama Hate Machine,” treads much of the same territory, roasting the usual suspects. Democrats will add it to their libraries and Republicans will use it for kindling; hopefully both camps will show up Wednesday for a lively discussion and signing.
Thursday
Alfredo Rodriguez and his Trio at Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 7:30 p.m.; $25 to $45; 866/571-2787 orwww.festivaloftheartsboca.org
Festival of the Arts Boca kicks off this week in Mizner Park, and we’re plastering Bocamag.com with coverage through March 16. Unfortunately, renowned tenor Jose Carreras canceled his American tour, which was scheduled to open Festival of the Arts on Wednesday. So it’s up to Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez to inaugurate this year’s star-studded festival, and we’re convinced he’ll be up to the task. The son of a famed Cuban entertainer of the same name, Rodriguez has been playing music since the age of 7, and Quincy Jones, who produced his upcoming album “Sounds of Space,” has called Rodriguez “one of the most prolific and gifted jazz pianists of the 21stcentury.” He’ll be performing tonight fresh off the Java Jazz Festival in Indonesia, a bill he shared with Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock and Erykah Badu.
Friday
“Casablanca” at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 7:30 p.m.; $25 to $85; 866/571-2787 or www.festivaloftheartsboca.org
If last year’s Festival of the Arts screening of “The Wizard of Oz” is any indication, then one of the highlights of this month’s Festival of the Arts Boca is sure to be tonight’s screening of “Casablanca” with the Boca Raton Symphonia and guest conductor Constantine Kitsoupolos. This rare opportunity to see the iconic film, on the big screen, in honor of its 70thanniversary, is reason enough to celebrate. But with the Symphonia performing Max Steiner’s Oscar-nominated score live in the intimate amphitheater, the evening offers a fusion of music, film and fun unlike any other.
Henry Rollins at Revolution Live, 100 S.W. Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 7 p.m.; $26; 954/449-1025 or www.jointherevolution.net
Spoken-word performer Henry Rollins’ latest tour is called The Long March, which will send him all the way around the world throughout 2012 and 2013. But that name may as well apply to any of Rollins’ tour appearances, which land at Revolution Live on an almost annual basis. Rollins, former vocalist for legendary hardcore band Black Flag, spends most of the year marching across countries few sane Americans would travel, from Afghanistan to the Ukraine, and he shares his compelling stories from these visits, along with memorable comedic anecdotes from whatever showbiz venture he’s engaged in domestically (his work on the TV series “Sons of Anarchy” made for some memorable material one year).
Opening night of “Death and the Maiden” at Mosaic Theatre at American Heritage Center for the Arts, 12200 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation; 8 p.m.; $39.50 adults, $34 seniors, $15 students; 954/577-8243 or www.mosaictheatre.com
Twenty years after it premiered in England, this shattering drama by Ariel Dorfman is as moving as ever. Last year’s successful revival in London’s West End inspired Mosaic Artistic Director Richard Jay Simon to shuffle around his season to accommodate it: “The Birds” is now out, and “Death and the Maiden” is in. The play is set in an unidentified country making the transition from dictatorship to democracy. In the wake of the Arab Spring, Dorfman’s fiction hews awfully close to reality. The Broadway premiere starred Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss and Gene Hackman, and Mosaic’s production features local heavyweights Stephen G. Anthony, Laura Turnbull and Oscar Cheda. It runs through April 1.
Opening night of “The Unseen” at Promethean Theatre at Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Ave., Davie; 8 p.m.; $30 adults, $25 seniors, $15 students; 866/811-4111 or www.theprometheantheatre.org
Another one bites the dust, much to the South Florida theater community’s great sadness. The Promethean Theatre, co-founded in 2004 by Artistic Director Deborah L. Sherman, has announced that its latest production, “The Unseen,” will be its last. This news comes off the heels of the Women’s Theatre Project’s postponement of its season (it lost its performance space) and the Caldwell Theatre’s bankruptcy problems. We’ll miss the Promethean’s hip, edgy approach to left-of-center theater, but at least we have this potentially great work by the under-staged Craig Wright to leave on. It’s about three prisoners trapped, for reasons unknown, in a prison in a totalitarian state. Wright is a playwright, musician and screenwriter who wrote some of the best episodes in the five-year history of “Six Feet Under,” among other estimable projects.
Friday to Sunday
Miami City Ballet at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; various show times; starting at $19; 561/832-7469 or www.kravis.org
For its third program of the 2011-2012 season, Miami City Ballet is presenting Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s “Giselle,” considered by many to be the quintessential 19thcentury romantic ballet. Spread over two acts and 26 seasons, “Giselle” has all the excitement of an epic fantasy from Hollywood: jilted love, death, disguises, paranormal activity and stone-coled vengeance. A classical transition from MCB’s last piece, an ultra-modernist premiere by Liam Scarlett, “Giselle” stars Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra (and different different dancers on Saturday and Sunday) in a performance that has already run at the Broward Center and the Arsht Center, where the Miami Herald called the dancing “confident” and “impeccably sculpted.”
Sunday
Icons of Reggae at Central Broward Regional Park, 3700 N.W. 11thPlace, Lauderhill; 2 p.m.; $42; 954/708-6717 or www.iconsofreggae.com
In celebration of the 50thanniversary of Jamaica’s independence, this concert features a handful of its reggae’s most acclaimed practitioners. Britain’s UB40 has been performing for 34 years, charting in the U.S. and U.K. with hits like “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” They’ll share the co-headlining slot with Toots & the Maytals, a Jamaican reggae collective originally formed in the ‘60s whose song “Pressure Drop” was included in the legendary reggae-centric film “The Harder They Come.” The lineup also includes Black Uhuru, Wailing Souls, U-Roy, John Holt and more.
