Join the circus in Mizner Park, celebrate Valentine’s weekend at BRiC, and explore a mosaic of celebrities at Cornell Art Museum. Plus, jazzy films at the Kravis, opera in Broward, and more in your week ahead.
THURSDAY
What: Opening night of “Mr. Swindle’s Traveling Peculiarium”
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $55-$95
Contact: 561/393-7890, mrswindles.com
The circus is in town, and it’s so 19th century. Mr. Swindle’s Traveling Peculiarium, a traveling circus and vaudeville extravaganza, will bring all manner of shady characters to Mizner Park audiences eager for a nostalgic change of pace in their entertainment diets—all of it presented under a climate-controlled big top tent. Highlights for the 2025 touring edition include “A Deadly Game,” a knife-throwing act featured on “America’s Got Talent”; an acrobat who defies gravity through the strength of her hair; seesaw entertainers from Germany; and new trapeze and comedy routines. “We were always inspired by the old-fashioned shows, and we wanted to go back to what made those shows great,” Allison Blei, co-owner of Salto Entertainment, which produces the event, told Boca magazine. “Our inspiration was P.T. Barnum. He was a bit of a character we looked up to in the way he was able to show things, and it’s always with a funny flavor. It’s not just about a swindle; it’s more about having fun with it.” The Drink-Ory Garden, a beer garden inside the tent offering brews, wine, cocktails and chef-curated food, will open an hour before each performance. The production continues through Feb. 23.
THURSDAY & SATURDAY
What: “The Elixir of Love”
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $28.50 and up
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
A peasant lovesick for a powerful woman who is out of his league; a quack physician selling a patent medicine that will make the object of one’s desire fall in love with them. These are the essential ingredients of “The Elixir of Love,” Gaetano Donizetti’s opera buffa, which premiered in Milan in 1832 and would go on to be the most-performed opera in Italy from 1838 to 1848. The basic contours of its story are pliable enough that opera companies have taken temporal and geographic liberties—the peasant transforming into a struggling auto mechanic in 1940s Italy, for instance, or a poor waiter in the Mediterranean Riviera. How will Florida Grand Opera choose to present this delightful crowd-pleaser? See for yourself in its two Broward performances.
THURSDAY TO SUNDAY
What: African American Film Festival
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: Show times vary
Cost: $15-$25 per film; $60 for five-film series
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
This annual Black History Month tradition at the Kravis Center enters its 19th year this week, with the five entries all centered on a theme: “Jazz Legends & Cinematic Icons.” The titles span from the cinema’s formative era through modern times. They include the silent classic “Siren of the Tropics,” starring Josephine Baker—this screening will feature a live improvised score from renowned trumpeter and percussionist Etienne Charles!—along with “Paris Blues,” an interracial jazz drama set in the American expat community in Paris; “Mo’ Better Blues,” Spike Lee’s insider account of the world of jazz recording; Pixar’s eschatological animated masterpiece “Soul”; and the joyful documentary “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” recorded at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
SATURDAY
What: Coco LoveFest
Where: Boca Raton Innovation Campus, 5000 T-Rex Ave., Boca Raton
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: cocomarket.org/event/feb-15-boca-raton
If your significant other is into holistic wellness and the consciousness-raising revolution, there may be no better gift for them than a day at BRiC this Valentine’s Day weekend. The event formerly known simply as Coco Fest celebrates its third anniversary with a heart-centered rebrand. Coco LoveFest is divided into six quadrants that are interrelated on the Venn diagram of earthy well-being: Innovation Island features panel discussions, interactive workshops, live demos and educational sessions with area experts, influencers and entrepreneurs; the Meditation Garden is the place for sound baths, qigong sessions and a drum circle; enjoy yoga and fitness sessions and live music at the Ascension Gateway; bring the kids to the Family Forest for creative activities for all ages; explore massage, acupuncture, cupping and animal therapy at the Healing Oasis; and take home a souvenir or two at the Retail Row of local makers.
What: Opening night of “ICONS of ART Italian Mosaic Portraits”
Where: Cornell Art Museum, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free, with donations welcomed
Contact: 561/654-2220, oldschoolsquare.org/cornell-museum/
The piercing blue eyes of Leonardo DiCaprio’s ragged character from “The Revenant,” David Bowie’s heterochromic stare as Ziggy Stardust, Muhammad Ali holding a butterfly and a bee—these are just a sampling of the vibrant mosaic works now on display at the Cornell Art Museum. Presented in collaboration with the Italy-based nonprofit Naonis Cultural Association, “ICONS of ART: Italian Mosaic Portraits” features works by young, up-and-coming mosaicists depicting, well, icons of art. If you can’t make the opening night, visit the Cornell through June 15 to see the full collection of 30 hand-crafted mosaics, which also include Amy Winehouse, Madonna, Lady Gaga and more.
SUNDAY
What: Opening night of “The Lehman Trilogy”
Where: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $74-$99
Contact: 561/575-2223, jupitertheatre.org
As the largest domino to fall in the subprime mortgage collapse, investment bank Lehman Brothers will go down in infamy as one of the major instigators of the 2008 financial crisis. But hey, we can’t all stick the landing. The story of this influential firm, as presented by playwright Stefano Massini, traces back to 1844, presenting a more complex legacy for German businessman Hayum Lehman and his two brothers, who moved from Bavaria to Alabama, first in the cotton business and then as barons of coffee, oil, coal, electricity, railroads, comic books, movies, computing … and, yes, banking. In Stefano’s 2020 play, which typically runs a hulking but engrossing three-and-a-half hours, three actors portray the O.G. Lehman brothers, their sons and the grandsons as they build an empire over 163 years, only to oversee its spectacular decline. The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s production of “The Lehman Trilogy” runs through March 2.
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