The original tribal love-rock musical lets its “Hair” down in Boca, the king of late-night radio tours Florida, and Mizner Park lets you sing along with musical royalty. Plus, John Cusack, Blink-182 and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
What: FAU Festival Rep Reading Series
Where: Parliament Hall at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 for one play, $30 for both
Contact: 561/297-6124, fauevents.com
Festival Rep, FAU’s annual slate of student productions, may have ended this past weekend, but Theatre Lab, the school’s resident professional theatre, is extending the life of this popular tradition by offering a pair of staged readings. Both are brand-new works from the popular and prolific playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer, whose Theatre Lab collaborations have included “The Three Sisters of Weehawken” and “Be Here Now.” On Tuesday night, you can be the first to experience Laufer’s Shakespearean homage “Much Ado About Boys,” a feminist comedy that re-imagines the Bard’s young heroines banding together to combat the toxic men in their lives. On Wednesday, catch “The Witch,” about a blogger whose isolated life of writing about the consciousness of plants from her treehouse abode is disrupted when pilgrims begin to believe she’s their savior.
THURSDAY
What: Blink-182 and Lil’ Wayne
Where: Coral Sky Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $37.50-$137.50
Contact: 561/795-8883, livenation.com
Despite the precedent of the Warped Tour, in which punk bands and hip-hop acts shared stages for years, this is an odd bill. Pairing the caffeinated, eternally adolescent pop-punkers Blink-182 with the down-n-dirty southern rapper Lil Wayne would seem to yield minimal crossover fandom at best, something Wayne discovered not long into the tour. On July 11, he walked off mid-performance, Morrissey-style, after suggesting that not enough of his fans were in attendance. As of this writing, he’s still on tour, though, and hopefully, for devotees of both acts, Thursday’s show will be a drama-free, genre-bending night of rap and alternative. In honor of the 20th anniversary of Blink’s seminal album Enema of the State, the band has been playing the album in its entirety, followed by a second set of newer and older favorites.
FRIDAY
What: Opening night of “Hair”
Where: Lightning Bolt Theatre at West Boca High School, 12811 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/886-8286, lightningbolttheatre.com
Don’t let the location of this professional production throw you: “Hair” is one of the most adult musicals Broadway has ever produced, and its premiere in 1967 shook up the status quo for its fiercely antiwar message and its frank depiction of sexuality, complete with onstage nudity. It is, in another words, an honest appraisal of one of the most trying periods in American history, where patriotism was largely equated with militarism. A message play whose message has only strengthened in its five decades of continuous productions, “Hair” is also, at the risk of burying the lede, a pioneering rock musical whose songs, like the opening “Aquarius,” became bona fide radio hits. A multicultural cast of more than 20 young actors will bring the show’s still-relevant themes to life. Lightning Bolt’s production runs through Aug. 4 only.
What: “Bohemian Rhapsody” screening and sing-a-long
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/544-8600, mizneramp.com
OK, so Mizner Park Amphitheater isn’t exactlyWembley Stadium during the 1985 Live Aid concert. But with a couple thousand Queen fans packed into the venue with their vocal cords primed, we might just be able to conjure a similar sense of unbridled, fist-shaking, thunder-rumbling excitement. In this special sing-along version of the Oscar-winning biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the lyrics to Queen’s hits will scroll along the screen so fans can belt them out alongside Freddie himself—that means the title track, of course, plus “Radio Ga Ga,” “Killer Queen,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We Will Rock You” and many more. The movie begins at 8:15, but show up at 7:30 and provide the entertainment yourself with a 45-minute karaoke session. Arrive with a lawn chair and/or blanket, or rent a chair for $5.
What: John Cusack and “Say Anything” screening
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: July 26, 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $39-$69
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
John Cusack had a dozen film credits prior to 1988’s “Say Anything …” But this landmark teen comedy rocketed him to stardom, and turned the idea of serenading your sweetheart with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel into a cultural meme before there were memes. The movie’s story—average high schooler falls for valedictorian who’s out of his league, overcomes obstacles, and somehow it all works out—has been often copied but never surpassed. “Say Anything …” boasts a 98 percent “Fresh” consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, which is virtually unheard of for romantic comedies. At this unique program, Cusack will appear live following a screening of the movie, in a moderated discussion. He will also field questions from the audience about the film’s backstory and legacy, as well as his extensive movie career, which exceeds 70 titles.
What: Opening night of “Asako I & II”
Where: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables
When: 6:15 p.m.
Cost: $10-$11.75
Contact: 786/385-9689, gablescinema.com
Rooted in concepts of Hitchcockian doubling but coasting on its own waves of magic realism, this Japanese import explores synchronicity, coincidence and the vagaries of the heart through the device of an unusual love triangle. Sparks fly, literally, when Asako meets Baku outside an art museum amid the burst of children’s firecrackers. They fall in love immediately, but Baku is mercurial and callous, and it’s not long before he vanishes without a trace. Years later, Asako, now working in a different prefecture, bumps into Baku’s doppelganger, the considerate and good-natured Ryohei—the yin to Baku’s yang. She falls for him too, but is he just a placeholder for the original model? “Asako I & II” occasionally feels precious, but its themes of the irrationally of attraction and the challenges of forgiveness resonate. This exclusive premiere runs through Aug. 1.
SATURDAY
What:“George Noory Live!”
Where: Miramar Cultural Center, 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar
When: July 27, 5 p.m.
Cost: $45-$109
Contact: 954/602-4500, miramarculturalcenter.org
As the nation’s No. 1 rated overnight talk show, “Coast to Coast AM” is radio listeners’ favorite choice for ghost stories, UFO developments, psychic phenomena, bigfoot hunters, conspiracy theories and other facets of the strange and unexplained. George Noory, the platform’s avuncular host for the past 16 years, has only recently added a live component to his paranormal campfire, in which he converses with three guests about their areas of expertise. For its Florida debut in Miramar, “George Noory Live!” welcomes Chip Coffey, a renowned psychic medium; Billy Carson, a scholar of ancient and “forbidden” knowledge; and James L. Paris, a motivational speaker. Noory, whose musical tastes lean toward classic crooners, has even been known to belt out a song or two between interviews. Look for an interview with Noory later this week on bocamag.com.
