A mentalist weaves webs of deception in Boca, and a national Consciousness Conference expands your mind in West Palm Beach. Plus, Max Weinberg, rare Picasso art and more in your week ahead.
FRIDAY
What: Spidey: “Make Believe”
Where: Mizner Park Cultural Center, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $42
Contact: 844/672-2849, miznerparkartscenter.com
Despite Spidey’s stage moniker, it wasn’t a radioactive spider that granted this talented entertainer his powers (as far as we know). It was good old-fashioned practice in the fields of mentalism and other magic specialties, as well as a natural panache for the camera. From stealthily planting ideas into volunteers’ heads which are revealed through astonishing “mind-reading” techniques, to making objects move of their own volition a la psychokinesis, Spidey’s eclectic performances have stunned average audiences and celebrities alike, among them Steve Harvey, Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Lopez and those staunchest of magic critics, Penn & Teller. This weekend, you too can fall under the spell he weaves—you know, like a spider web.
What: Opening night of “Montana Story”
Where: Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: Show times pending
Cost: $7-$10.50
Contact: 561/549-2600, fau.livingroomtheaters.com
While not household names to most non-cinephile audiences, co-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel produced seven thoughtful and sometimes innovative indie films between 1994 and 2012, including the striking debut “Suture,” “The Deep End” and “What Maisie Knew.” Their latest collaboration, “Montana Story,” is their first film in a decade, and if the critical hosannas it’s already received are any indication, it’s well worth the wait. Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague, both earning much praise for their performances, play estranged siblings who return to their family’s ranch in Montana on the occasion of their father’s terminal illness. The visit allows buried traumas to resurface against a mythic backdrop of the American west that begs to be seen on a big screen; one critic called “Montana Story” the midpoint between John Ford and modern-day auteur Kelly Reichardt. The movie runs at least through Thursday, June 2.
What: Max Weinberg’s Jukebox
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $45-$65
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
As well-known to viewers of Conan O’Brien’s early-aughts late-night show as he is to local Delray Beachers as a member of the city’s planning and zoning board, Max Weinberg enjoys eclectic interests. This extends to his musical tastes, honed across nearly 50 years of drumming for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and now as the bandleader of Max Weinberg’s Jukebox, a quartet formed with three versatile musicians from New Jersey. Like the name suggests, the shows are a hodgepodge of material from rock history, with the audience selecting the entire set list each night in real time from a “menu” of more than 200 songs. One show from last year, for instance, saw the group segue from AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” into Tom Petty’s “American Girl” into Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Weinberg often tells stories from his nearly 60-year career in between songs.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: The Conference for Consciousness and Human Evolution
Where: Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: Presentations begin at 4:45 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Cost: $199 to $1,099
Contact: tcche.org/us-conference-2022
This annual conference, with its home base in the United Kingdom, hosts only one American satellite event annually—and the 2022 edition happens to be scheduled right here in our (relative) backyard. Topics range from scientific breakthroughs to the humanities, human evolution and the mystical experience. Florida’s own Billy Carson, an internationally renowned expert on forbidden knowledge, neuroscience, aerospace, the ET phenomenon and other fields, will host the conference and offer a talk on “Multidimensional Consciousness” on Sunday morning. Other guest speakers include best-selling cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, scientist and human-potential specialist Gregg Braden, physicist and author Dr. Theresa Bullard and humanitarians/futurists Drs. JJ and Desiree Hurtak.
SATURDAY
What: Opening day of “Picasso in Warmer Climes: Works on Canvas, Clay and Paper”
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $15 seniors, $18 general museum admission
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
Us Floridians know from “warmer climes,” but to Pablo Picasso, his favorite warm-weather sojourns didn’t involve sunbathing in Miami or lounging on Palm Beach. The Cubist master’s favorite getaway was the South of France (we should all be so lucky), which he would visit routinely in the spring and summer, and which would inspire some of his most bucolic and pastoral art across a variety of mediums. These contributions, which constitute this Norton Museum survey, still resonate with Picasso’s definitive, mutable and inimitable style—you wouldn’t confuse any of these works for a painting by, say, Seurat—but they have a distinct seasonal charm often missing from his wintrier work, featuring motifs of summer-y flora and fauna. The exhibition runs through Aug. 28.
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