Wednesday
Opening day of “Martin Schoeller: Close Up” at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; $14 adults, $12 seniors and $6 students; 561/392-2500 or www.bocamuseum.org
She already fills our gossip magazines, films, entertainment programs and sex tapes – do we really need Paris Hilton in our museums, too? Apparently, the answer is yes – when Martin Schoeller is the man photographing her. A famous portrait photographer who gained recognition when he joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1999, Schoeller specializes in celebrity close-ups, snapping intimate images of everyone from Brad Pitt to Barack Obama to Andre Agassi. Shooting them all from the same angle, with the same lighting, his method tends to “de-fame” his oft-seen A-listers so that we can view them in a new way. Today also marks the opening of “Natura Morta: Photographs by Patrizia Zelano,” a collection of 18 possibly disturbing photographs from one of the Italy’s most controversial artists. Both shows run through March 18.
Opening day of Beth Lipman still-life installation and “The Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Roadshow” at Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; $5 to $12; 561/832-5196 or www.norton.org
The 50th anniversary of the studio glass movement sets the context for these two feathers in the Norton’s 2011-2012 seasonal cap, both of them unconventional in a museum setting. Renowned contemporary artist Beth Lipman, known for elaborate and expansive “laid table” glass sculptures, will construct a site-specific installation in the center of the museum’s European galleries. Inspired by Old Master still-life paintings, the fragile sculpture will address such monumental themes as death, decay and overconsumption. Meanwhile, top glassblowers from New York’s Corning Museum of Glass will demonstrate hot glassmaking techniques for 10 weeks in their 28-foot-long studio trailer. Their appearance will accompany hands-on workshops and live demonstrations, with nine public programs six days a week.
Sebadoh at Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 8 p.m.; $15 advance or $20 at door; 305/377-2277 or www.grandcentralmiami.com
If you aren’t lucky enough to be attending the Weezer cruise leaving this week, you still have the chance to see a handful of the floating festival’s marquee acts here on dry land. Legendary indie rockers Sebadoh began as an offshoot of Dinosaur Jr. (which plays Grand Central next Monday) but has evolved into a distinct, compelling band in its own right, and is known for its epic live shows. Frontman Lou Barlow has ushered Sebadoh from lo-fi to high-fi music without a hitch, maintaining a quintessentially scabrous lyrical personality that plumbs relationship blues with uncomfortable honesty. For this appearance, the band will draw from its classic ‘90s albums “Bakesale” and “Harmacy.” Miami’s hip, garage-pop exports Jacuzzi Boys and local fuzz-rock act Plains will open the show.
Friday and Saturday
“Stardust Memories” at Bill Cosford Cinema at University of Miami, 5100 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables; 7 p.m. Friday and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; $7 to $9; 305/284-4861 or www.cosfordcinema.com
For the past couple of years, I’ve been bemoaning the decline of 35mm film projection in a climate of increasing digitization. After “Hello,” it’s usually the first topic of discussion with anyone I meet, and I wrote a controversial Boca Mag blog about it in 2010 that, like many celluloid prints, has wilted into oblivion. So it’s a good thing – nay, a greatthing – that Miami’s Bill Cosford Cinema is one of the few cinemas left that actually cares about preserving the proper exhibition format for the countless film prints currently at risk of extinction. In its new “Celluloid Classics” series, the Cosford will be bringing back a retro film, on the big screen, in its proper format, on a monthly basis, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. First up is Woody Allen’s existential, self-referential comedy “Sardust Memories.” Look for Jean-Luc Godard’s difficult masterpiece “Week-End” in February.
Friday to Sunday
Boca Raton Fine Art Show in downtown Boca Raton; 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; free; 954/755-3088 or www.hotworks.org
One of Boca Raton’s most anticipated art fairs returns to downtown Boca for its third annual juried art exhibition and sale. There is no admission or parking fee for this fair, which distinguishes itself from other art fairs through its stringent artist application process and the artist awards it gives away – all part of promoter Hot Works’ attempts to raise the bar for the Boca Raton Fine Art Show. Disciplines including sculpture, paintings, clay, glass, printmaking, fiber, wood, jewelry and photography will be sold, and visitors can enjoy live music from French performer Michelet Innocent. This year’s fair features the debut of a Teen Art competition as well as contributions from Sol Children Theatre Troupe and the South Florida Theatre League.
Saturday
Opening night of “La Rondine” at Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 7 p.m.; $25 to $179; 800/741-1010 or www.fgo.org
Considered one of Giacomo Puccini’s least successful works when it premiered in the 1910s, this comic opera has seen renewed interest, and indeed a second life, through recent revivals at the Boston Lyric Opera, the San Francisco Opera and The Metropolitan Opera. It tells the story, without the aid of spoken dialogue, of a “kept” woman’s romantic adventures. Elizabeth Caballero, a participant in Florida Grand Opera’s Young Artist Program in the 1999–2000 season, returns in the dynamic leading role of Magda. The production runs through Feb. 4.
Opening night of “Next to Normal” at Actor’s Playhouse, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables; 8 p.m.; 305/444-9293 or www.actorsplayhouse.org
Actor’s Playhouse gets first dibs at the regional premiere of this ambitious hit, which we’re hoping is one of the highlights of the current theater season. “Next to Normal” is a rock musical about mental illness – not the easiest sell for Broadway. Nonetheless, it migrated from off-Broadway to the Great White Way in 2009 and won three Tony awards from its 11 nominations. It even won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming the eighth musical in history to do so. This moving, sensitive and dramatically complex piece includes songs such as “My Psychopharmacologist and I,” “Superboy and the Invisible Girl” and “Aftershocks,” and it runs through Feb. 12.
Monday
Dinosaur Jr. at Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 8 p.m.; $26 advance or $30 at door; 305/377-2277 or www.grandcentralmiami.com
Fresh off its performances on the Weezer Cruise, the original lineup of the influential alternative rock outfit Dinosaur Jr. will kick off next week well, helping indie rockers across the tri-country area fight off severe cases of the Mondays. Masters of noisy, feedback-drenched rock music, Dinosaur Jr. released at least three uncontestable masterpieces – “You’re Living All Over Me,” “Bug” and “Green Mind” – in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and it proved it was still relevant with a pair of comeback albums in 2007 and 2009. Expect to hear a set list of mostly classics, though. I’m equally psyched about opening act Yuck, a newly emerged band with a sound that harkens to the time of Dinosaur Jr.’s prime. Yuck appeared in Miami a few months ago at a venue which shall not be named; surely it will be a better fit at Grand Central.
