The headliners of West Palm Beach’s Moonfest are scarily good, Boca Ballet Theatre hosts a Shakespearean fundraiser, and a Wick concert benefits the homeless. Plus, Hanson String Theory, Jerry Seinfeld, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: “Everyone Has a Story, Let’s Change the Ending”
Where: The Wick Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
When: 6 p.m.
Cost: $100
Contact: 561/995-2333, thewick.org
This benefit concert, whose proceeds support the homeless through the nonprofit Homelessness to Wholeness, has corralled a crackerjack lineup of first-rate South Florida singers. Leah Sessa, Irene Adjan, Avery Sommers and Clay Cartland are among the South Florida theatre professionals who will take the stage at the one-night-only fundraiser, backed by a three-piece live band. The $100 cover goes a long way: Attendees receive two complimentary drink tickets and food from local restaurants, and the concert also includes youth dancers choreographed by Emily Tarallo and a post-show performance by local trio The Rhythm Chicks. There also will be a silent auction and cash bar.
THURSDAY
What: Hanson String Theory
Where: Fillmore, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $54.50-$89.50
Contact: 305/673-7300, fillmoremb.com
The Hanson brothers—Isaac, Taylor and Zac—were just teenagers when they recorded “MMMBop,” the ubiquitous ‘90s smash, and one of the best-selling gibberish singles of all time. If, like most Americans, your Hanson knowledge begins and ends with this bubblegum earworm, you’ve missed out on their respected ascent to mature rock songwriting. Hanson may have receded from the limelight in the 2000s, but the band has continued to refine its consistent pop-rock trade across seven underplayed albums—the latest of which is its most ambitious to date. Hanson String Theoryfeatures songs from the band’s rich archive (including, yes, “MMMBop”) re-recorded with a full symphony orchestra, along with new songs written and composed with orchestral backing. The trio’s sound has evolved into a Maroon 5-style rousing soulfulness that the live symphony will only enhance.
FRIDAY
What: Opening night of “Mid90s”
Where: Cinemark Palace 20, 3200 Airport Road, Boca Raton
When: Various show times
Cost: Various prices
Contact: cinemark.com/theatre-1048
This writing and directing debut from actor Jonah Hill is too short, underdeveloped and wallows too much in the nostalgia of its title, but its promise and passion is vast—evoking the raw adolescent pangs of early Richard Linklater and Gregg Araki’s work in, yes, the mid-90s. Newcomer Sunny Suljic plays Stevie, an impressionable 13-year-old living in an abusive household in the Los Angeles suburbs, who stumbles into a skate shop and falls in with in a clique of older, mostly ne’er-do-well skateboarders. Suljic’s complex protagonist is a revelation, and Hill deftly balances shaggy, seemingly improvisational humor with acts of intense violence that never fail to shock even when we see them coming. Shot on grainy 16mm film, in a square aspect ratio to evoke the pan-and-scan television era, “Mid90s” is buoyed by its sharp, brutal editing rhythms and an unforgiving sound design. It’s not a masterpiece, but I can’t wait to see what Hill tackles next.
What: Jerry Seinfeld
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $76-$178.50
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Jerry Seinfeld has forged a career on making the banal interesting: Expiration dates on milk cartons, errant hairs clinging to shower walls and, most recently, the process of calling an Uber all have inspired comedy gold when filtered through Seinfeld’s idiosyncratic personality. The last I saw him perform, he did about 15 minutes on chairs, and another five on truffle oil. In essence, his standup act follows in the tradition of his eponymous ‘90s sitcom, which was famously a “show about nothing.” Even his award-winning streaming series, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” is a collection of dialogues predicated on the inherently unexciting process of driving to a diner and ordering a cup o ‘joe. Catch Seinfeld’s latest musings about the minutiae of existence, not long after his very first Netflix special has introduced his material to the streaming generation.
What: Ordinary Boys
Where: Voltaire, 526 Clematis St., West Palm Beach
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $10
Contact: 561/408-5603, sub-culture.org/voltaire
The Smiths lasted just five years in the early 1980s and all but invented a strain of earnest but muscular jangle pop that married punk, goth and art rock. Their prickly frontman, Morrissey, wrote lyrics that wallowed in self-pity one minute and bristled with dark humor the next, a trade he’s continued to ply in an enduring solo career. But Morrissey plays few Smiths songs on his current tours; Ordinary Boys, a Florida-based tribute to the Smiths and Morrissey, performs a robust mix of Smiths classics and deep cuts, along with selections from Morrissey’s solo career. Vocalist AJ Navarette, who formed the tribute in 2010, performs a perfect mimicry of the real McCoy, and his band is equally adept. Considering the Smiths will never reunite, this is the closest you’ll get to a real gig in Manchester circa 1986.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Robert Dubac’s “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?”
Where: Mizner Park Cultural Center, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: Various show times
Cost: $50
Contact: 844/672-2849, miznerparkculturalcenter.com
A monologist whose craft has been compared to Mark Twain and Lily Tomlin, Robert Dubac looks askance at American culture, with an eye that is both jaundiced and probing. Fresh off his production of “The Book of Moron” this past July, the hard-touring comedic storyteller is already back on a South Florida stage with a return engagement of his pioneering show, “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” In it, he tries to answer the simple question, “what do women want?” To find this holy grail of testosteronal searching, he transforms into five characters—among them a camo-wearing redneck, a sly Frenchman, a misogynistic Andrew Dice Clay type and a shuffling nebbish—yielding insights that are provocative, hilarious and, above all, relatable to both sexes.
SATURDAY
What: Moonfest
Where: Downtown West Palm Beach at Clematis Street
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $15, or $75 for VIP
Contact: moonfest.me
Prices have ticked up a bit for West Palm Beach’s annual Halloween-weekend shindig, and for good reason: The musical headliners are arguably its strongest yet. Eighties New Wave dominates, with infectious synth-pop act Information Society, exotic jungle poppers Bow Wow Wow, and rockabilly progenitors Stray Cats keeping the ghouls and centaurs and werewolves and sexy nurses and disfigured Trumps dancing until the wee hours. Twelve additional acts, including South Florida jam rockers the Heavy Pets, will fill the three stages. A costume contest with cash prizes, a food truck “invasion,” a haunted house and vendors complete the twisted merriment.
SUNDAY
What: Boca Ballet Theatre’s “A Princely Affair”
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club, 501 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton
When: Noon
Cost: $95 adults, $65 children
Contact: 561/995-0709, bocaballet.org
Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? On Sunday, at least, he’s staying at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, along with his star-crossed paramour. As the centerpiece of Boca Ballet Theatre’s 27th annual fundraiser, dance stars Georgina Pazcoguin and Sterling Baca will be performing the famous balcony scene from Prokofiev’s extraordinary adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Boca Ballet Theatre is humbled to welcome both of these standout performers: Pazcoguin has been dancing since age 4, and is a soloist with New York City Ballet; and Baca is a principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet. Tickets include a mimosa social hour and luncheon.
