The Delray Affair continues to innovate at 55, a Dreamgirl headlines a Boca fundraiser, and country superstars dip their toes in the Fort Lauderdale sand. Plus, Miami City Ballet, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Camille Paglia and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: Jennifer Hudson fundraising performance
Where: Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $200
Contact: 561/488-6980, bocawestfoundation.org
Now’s your chance to see a Dreamgirl up close and for an exceptional cause. The star of stage and screens large and small will headline the Boca West Foundation’s “Concert for the Children,” whose proceeds benefit 25 local charities serving South Palm Beach County children. An “American Idol” alum, Hudson’s meteoric rise from general unknown to household name is thanks to the film adaptation of “Dreamgirls,” her Oscar-winning film debut. Though she’s released two gold albums, acted on Broadway and secured a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her career has been famously beset by tragedy, when three members of her family were killed in a shooting in 2008. She’s since become a generous advocate for families of slain victims, making her an ideal headliner for this charity-focused fundraiser. R&B star Ellis Hall will open the show, followed by Hudson’s performance at 9 p.m.
What: Screening of “1984”
Where: Silverspot Cinema, 4441 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $8-$14.50
Contact: 954/840-8150
Absurdity reigns: After Donald Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway unveiled the insta-meme “alternative facts” earlier this year, sales of George Orwell’s 1984 spiked on Amazon. In Orwell’s version, the revision and control of language was called “newspeak,” and the current administration’s embrace of this and other Orwellian tropes is no laughing matter. That’s why some 90 theaters across the country are screening the film adaptation of Orwell’s prophetic novel, for one night only. Why April 4? Because that’s when Winston Smith, the everyman hero of “1984,” begins his scandalous, verboten diary in Orwell’s story. The screenings double as a tribute to John Hurt, who plays Winston, and who died in January.
What: Camille Paglia
Where: Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 De Soto Blvd., Coral Gables
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 305/442-4408, booksandbooks.com
A leading light in the fight for gender equality since her surprise 1990 breakthrough Sexual Personae, culture critic Camille Paglia has spent decades threading the needle between academic author and clickbait provocateur. Like fellow free-speech absolutist Bill Maher, this sometimes means shaking the nest of her ostensible demographic: Some of this feminist’s boldest rejoinders are against traditional feminists themselves. You can read many of them in her new essay collection, Free Women, Free Men, a survey that acts as both introduction and summation of a career on the intellectual fringe. She’ll read from and discuss the book—and hopefully offer some opinions on the news of the day—at this off-site appearance courtesy of Books & Books.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Delray Affair
Where: Downtown Delray Beach
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/279-0907, delrayaffair.com
The Delray Affair has long billed itself as the largest arts and crafts festival in the Southeastern United States, and after 55 years of bringing eclectic art in countless mediums to locals and visitors, this linchpin of downtown Delray continues to innovate. In addition to the worldwide art for show and sale—last year, the Affair attracted vendors from 30 states and 12 countries—the event is integrating “Delray Affair After Dark” programming, including “Artrageous,” a 7 p.m. show Friday and Saturday at the Old School Square Pavilion that combines live painting with music, choreography and audience interaction. There’s also plenty of food, pop-up music stations where local singer-songwriters perform, and a Family Fun Zone featuring a mobile video arcade and a celebrity dunk tank. So if you ever wanted to see Delray luminaries like Mayor Cary Glickstein and multihyphenate Frank McKinney plunged into cold water, this is your chance.
What: Tortuga Music Festival
Where: Fort Lauderdale Beach
When: Starts 1:30 p.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Cost: $99-$999
Contact: tortugamusicfestival.com
Cowboy hats and pedal-steel guitars continue to dominate the headlining slots of this beachy festival. Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Alan Jackson, Darius Rucker and countless more country-music standard-bearers will set the tone, while scattered purveyors of R&B (Nelly), alternative (Slightly Stoopid) and bluesy hip-hop (G. Love & the Special Sauce) add a pinch of sonic seasoning.
SATURDAY
What: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Where: Funky Biscuit, 303 S.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $50-$70
Contact: 561/395-2929, funkybiscuit.com
Along with Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, the California septet Big Bad Voodoo Daddy helped usher a ‘90s revival of an unlikely genre: swing music. Bolstered by BBVD’s prominent appearance in the 1996 cult hit “Swingers,” big, brassy, horns, and jumping, jiving and wailing began vying for dominance against the grunge movement and punk revival on alternative record shelves. Voodoo Daddy hits like “Mr. Pinstripe Suit” and “You and Me and the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight” transcended the genre, and remain instantly recognizable even by listeners who don’t recall the band. You can argue that the neo-swing phenomenon has come and gone, but BBVD has survived the vagaries of industry trends, with nine albums and more than 2,800 live shows to prove it. For the intimate Funky Biscuit, this booking is an outstanding “get,” Daddy-O.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Miami City Ballet’s Program IV
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $20-$189
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
Miami City Ballet has been premiering plenty of buzz-worthy dances in recent years, but the acclaimed company’s final program of the season is full of its majestic bread-and-butter: It’s bookended by a pair of classic George Balanchine ballets, a spring treat from these foremost Balanchine interpreters of the Southeast. “Divertimento No. 15,” which opens the program, is a plotless, spellbinding work for five starring women and three supporting men, and the closing “Who Cares” is a joyous celebration of New York City set to more than 15 Gershwin compositions. In the middle, you’ll be treated to Paul Taylor’s “Arden Court,” an exhilarating and acrobatic display scored to William Boyce’s Baroque music, which earns its first MCB performance in 11 years.
