Enjoy Latin dance and crafts at Mizner Park, a comedian with a knack for impressions, and a darkwave music triple bill. Plus, Billy Currington and more in your week ahead.
FRIDAY
What: Billy Currington
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $80
Contact: 561/393-7890, mizneramp.com
Before he became a top-charting country singer, this Georgia native poured concrete for a living and worked as a personal trainer—the latter gig leading to a connection that inspired Currington to record his first demo tape. The rest is country-music history in the making: Currington has been writing and performing award-winning songs since 2003, winning “Hottest Video” at the 2006 Country Music Awards for “Must Be Doin’ Something Right,” and recording such hits as “People are Crazy” and the definitive genre favorite “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer.” His latest single “Anchor Man,” released this past weekend, is one of Currington’s most laid-back tunes, and almost feels like an unintended homage to the newly departed Jimmy Buffett, with its encouragement for listeners to trade their “bad news” and problems for “salt air and freedom.” Country pop singer Jessie James Decker opens the show.
What: Opening night of “Millie Lies Low”
Where: Savor Cinema, 503 S.E. Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $10-$12
Contact: 954/525-3456, fliff.com
In this acclaimed cringe comedy from co-writer/director Michelle Savill, the titular architecture student has just landed a prestigious internship in New York City. But when she suffers a panic attack before her flight, she decides to fake it until she makes it, 21st century-style: She remains in Wellington, New Zealand but pretends she’s in New York City, doctoring her Instagram backdrops to create the illusion of a happy and productive time in the Big Apple—at least until harsh reality catches up with her. “Millie Lies Low” has earned comparisons to such esteemed guiding lights as the series “Fleabag” and the film “Eighth Grade.”
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
What: Matt Friend
Where: The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $32.50
Contact: 561/203-3742, thestudioatmiznerpark.com
Comedian Matt Friend has almost single-handedly (single-voicedly?) resuscitated the often-dormant art of celebrity impressions, a niche going back to the golden days of Rich Little that can feel awfully hackneyed when in the command of a lesser talent. But Friend is a naturally funny and uncanny mimic who has been honing his abilities since he was 4 years old and capturing the various nuances of the characters in the “Austin Powers” franchise. The young twentysomething’s star rose during the pandemic, when he offered TikTok takes on newsmakers from Donald Trump to Anthony Fauci. But he’s also cornered the market on such slippery-voiced figures as Rami Malek and Andy Cohen, often performing his impressions in front of these very celebrities. See what the buzz is about at this rare two-night stint close to home.
SUNDAY
What: South Florida’s Craft Show
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 1 to 6 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/393-7890, mizneramp.com
Local artists, artisans and craftspeople will be offering their unique wares at this periodic craft show, including soy wax candles, beaded jewelry, handmade Colombian bags, specialty soaps and oils, indoor plants and propagation vases, crocheted dolls and once more. But this iteration of the show is more than just a craft fair. Coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month, it features free dance lessons in salsa, bachata and merengue at 3, 4 and 5 p.m. respectively. DJ Elite will spin tunes throughout the event, and food vendors will be onsite as well.
What: The Mission (U.K.), Chameleons and Theatre of Hate
Where: Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/832-9999, sub-culture.org
Occasionally, Respectable Street, one of the Palm Beaches’ most historic and industrious rock clubs, will book a show from a landmark band, often of a European vintage, that seldom tours. In this embarrassment of post-punk riches, the venue has scheduled three such acts, each of them deserving a venue space twice as large. But those who snag tickets to this triple bill will be treated to a stirringly intimate and once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Mission (U.K.), formed by two members of the foundational British goth act Sisters of Mercy, has not performed in Florida for 23 years, and has not toured the U.S. at all in nearly a decade. Manchester’s twisty, atmospheric Chameleons live up to their name with a shifting and dynamic sonic palette. Theatre of Hate, the cult-iest of these three cult bands, takes a more punk-rooted approach, and is lauded as a riveting live act. All follow in the musical path blazed by forbears Joy Division, the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen, and will easily excite their black-clad followers.
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