A string quartet that rocks, a different breed of musical cats, and a modernist Symphonia program. Plus, Delray’s First Friday Art Walk and more in your week ahead.
THURSDAY
What: DSQ: Electric Strings Unleashed
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College, 4200 Congress Ave., Lake Worth Beach
Cost: $39
Contact: 561/868-3309, duncantheatre.org
For a group whose configuration traditionally lends itself to classical composition, the Dallas String Quartet (DSQ) deserves credit for updating the canon—including not just Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert but their harder-rocking heirs: Hetfield, Plant, Perry. Performing with electric, instead of acoustic, stringed instruments, the musicians describe their M.O. as “Bach meets Bon Jovi,” and it’s the latter sound that will dominate during “Electric Strings Unleashed.” Accompanied by fellow-musicians on bass, guitar and drums, the DSQ is touring behind its tribute to ‘80s and ‘90s rock, with Metallica, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns ‘n’ Roses and their ilk performed with sprightly gravitas.
FRIDAY
What: First Friday Art Walk
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: Downtown Delray Beach
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/243-1077, downtowndelraybeach.com
It’s the first Friday of the month this week, which means that more than 20 of Delray Beach’s galleries and art spaces will stay open late, some offering free wine and munchies and inviting visitors to stay awhile. Exhibitions opening on Friday include a show from talented local elementary, middle and high school students on the upper floor of the Cornell Art Museum in celebration of Black History Month (shown above); and “The Body Show,” at Arts Warehouse, a group exhibition in which 20 artists address aspects of the human body through their multidisciplinary work. Delray’s art scene continues to grow, so be sure to check out the newest staples of the Art Walk: Lark MacPhail Fine Art Gallery, featuring the work of this eclectic longtime artist; and the reopened Creative Arts School at Old School Square.
SATURDAY
What: Opening night of “Parade”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $77-$94
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
First performed on Broadway in 1998, Jason Robert Brown’s sobering, fact-based musical “Parade” explores the trial and wrongful sentencing of Jewish factory owner Leo Frank in the racist, anti-Semitic Atlanta of 1913, for the unspeakable crime of raping and murdering a 13-year-old employee over Memorial Day weekend. The case became a cause celebre for the civil rights movement and eventually spawned the formation of the Anti-Defamation League. In their handling of the case, Brown and his book writer, Alfred Uhry, unravel the ways in which stubborn prejudice clouds rational inquiry, through tunes both elegiac and trenchant. Justin Albinder and Mikayla Cohen lead a huge cast in Slow Burn Theatre’s production, directed by Patrick Fitzwater and running through Feb. 23.
SUNDAY
What: The Symphonia Concert III
When: 3 p.m.
Where: St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 N.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton
Cost:
Contact: 561/376-3848, thesymphonia.org
Carolyn Kuan, guest conductor for The Symphonia’s third program of the 24/25 season, is noted for her passion for contemporary music, and this weekend’s programming reflects that commitment. Three of the four works derive from 20th century composers: Zoltán Kodály’s “Dances of Galánta,” a 1933 orchestral work inspired by Gypsy folk traditions; Ellen Taafe Zwilich’s “Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra,” which premiered in the U.S. in 1993; and the endlessly evocative “Adagio in G minor for Organ and Strings,” mostly composed by Tomaso Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto and published in 1958—and which has been used in films by Orson Welles, Alain Resnais, Werner Herzog and Oliver Stone. Mozart’s “Symphony No. 38” concludes the program; the performance’s guest soloists are bassoonist Gabriel Beavers and organist Tim Brumfield.
What: The Amazing Acro-Cats
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Boca Black Box, 8221 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: $48-$73
Contact: 561/483-9036, bocablackbox.com
Eat your heart out, Andrew Lloyd Weber. The entertainers of the touring rescue organization Rock Cats are actual felines, not humans in cat costumes. The members of the Acro Cats troupe, which includes celebrity housecats from Netflix’s “Cat People,” will jump through hoops, ride skateboards, ring bells and balance on balls. The finale features cacophonous live “music” from Tuna and the Rock Cats on cowbell (more is always better), guitar, piano and drums, with a chicken pecking away at cymbals, while conductors/trainers sweep the concert stage with treats. Essentially, these cool cats just pick up the mantle of avant-gardists like John Cage—in purrfect atonality. The tour continues with three more performances through Wednesday, Feb. 12.
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