Pumpkin is the flavor of the weekend in Mizner Park, Slow Burn Theatre goes “Into the Woods,” and a jazz guitar great makes a rare Delray appearance. Plus, new plays at Dramaworks and Island City Stage, and more in your week ahead.
FRIDAY
What: Opening night of “Love! Valour! Compassion!”
Where: Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $40-$45
Contact: 954/928-9800, islandcitystage.org
Humor, insight and pathos are central to this signature work by the legendary Florida-born playwright Terence McNally, who died from COVID-19 in 2020. It’s set in “Manderlay,” the lakeside vacation estate of Gregory Mitchell, a successful but creatively stymied Broadway choreographer. He’s gathered seven of his friends, lovers and their acquaintances for a summer escape from the bustle of New York City, among them his twentysomething partner and legal assistant; two of his business consultants; a costume designer and musical-theater fanatic; and a young man in the final throes of HIV/AIDS. Every character in “Love! Valour! Compassion!” is gay—not a common premise in the late ‘80s, even in cosmopolitan New York—and the play is as notable for its liberal attitudes toward nudity as its lengthy running time of three hours with two intermissions. Island City Stage’s production runs through Nov. 5.
What: Oscar Peñas Quartet
Where: Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $40-$45
Contact: 561/450-6357, artsgarage.org
October marks the Arts Garage debut for this eminent jazz guitarist, one of his only two performances in the Southeast this year. A Barcelona-born phenom rooted in the bebop tradition, Peñas mastered the craft of the foundational jazz guitar combo, only to spread his musical wings in new directions: performing on electric, rather than traditional acoustic guitar, spicing the formula with South American and Iberian Peninsula influences, and adding unusual lyrical color through the prominent use of classical strings. The result is an unpretentious, evocative path forged by Peñas and his worldly quartet. Having previously recorded with such jazz and crossover giants as bassist Ron Carter and pianist Esperanza Spalding, Peñas will support his sixth LP Chicken or Pasta on this intimate date alongside Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell, award-winning six-string bassist Motohito Fukushima and drummer Richie Barshay, who has performed on upwards of 80 albums.
What: Opening night of “Lobby Hero”
Where: Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach
When: 8 p.m. (includes preshow reception at 7 p.m.)
Cost: $104 ($84 for remainder of run)
Contact: 561/514-4042, palmbeachdramaworks.org
Writer Kenneth Lonergan is known by most of us for his contributions to the movies—like his Oscar-winning drama “Manchester by the Sea.” But he’s written no less compelling works for the stage, including “Lobby Hero,” a four-character moral minefield that premiered off-Broadway in 2001. The play has aged well: Its themes of racial division and sexual harassment have only become more pronounced in the eras of #MeToo, systemic injustice and police reform. It’s set in the foyer of a drab, middle-class housing development in New York, where a security guard and U.S. Navy dropout looking to put his life back together; his exacting African-American supervisor; a swaggering police officer; and the female rookie cop he has taken under his wing all converge. Over the course of the tumultuous play, their uneasy conversation will expose nerves and secrets, keeping everybody on edge—including, hopefully, the audience. Palm Beach Dramaworks’ season-opening production runs through Oct. 29.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Boca Raton Pumpkin Patch Festival
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $27.50
Contact: bocapumpkinpatch.com
Nothing says fall like the influx of pumpkins in markets, on lawns and decorating window displays. To that end, the seasonal squash plant also will be center stage in the City of Boca Raton’s largest attraction this weekend, as the Mizner Park Amphitheater transforms into a pumpkin patch. In addition to the opportunity to decorate pumpkins into edible works of art, kids can enjoy a cornstalk maze, carnival rides and the Scarecrow Dress-Up Village. You can also enjoy autumnal backdrops for great family photos, and choose from more than 2,500 pumpkins to take home. Sweet and savory pumpkin entrees can be purchased at a specialty food court, and guests 21 and up can imbibe at the Pumpkin Beer Bar.
SATURDAY
What: Opening night of “Into the Woods”
Where: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $54 and up
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s second musical collaboration needed just one tryout before it debuted on Broadway, netting three Tonys in a year (1988) otherwise dominated by “The Phantom of the Opera.” “Into the Woods” has since become one of their signature works, a delightful and deadpan mash-up of the several Brothers Grimm fairy tales with some of the composer’s most persistent earworms and plenty of narrative surprises. Central to the story are a baker and his wife, and their quest to remove a witch’s curse that has left them childless. As the baker enters the woods to secure the ingredients needed to reverse the curse, his story collides with others who have ventured into the mystical space, among them Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (of the Beanstalk fame). With a cast of 14, it marks the 2023-24 season debut for Slow Burn Theatre Company, and it runs through Oct. 29.
SUNDAY
What: Bored Teachers
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 3 p.m.
Cost: $35 and up
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Education may be an august institution, and its stewards may well be doing the lord’s work—often thanklessly. But let’s not kid ourselves: As anyone who has binged “Abbott Elementary” knows all too well, the potential for comedy in this underpaid, underappreciated, overstressed job is as vast as the cosmos. And sometimes, not taking oneself, or one’s darling pupils, too seriously can be the only way to maintain one’s sanity. Bored Teachers, an organization of educator-comedians, has been sharing this philosophy since 2016. Its stable of talent, in boldly going from the blackboard to the standup stage, has collectively accrued more than 99 million YouTube views. The group’s fall comedy tour is appropriately titled “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” As the old Japanese proverb goes, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” This should be a memorable one indeed.
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