WEDNESDAY
What: “Samurai Culture: Treasures of South Florida Collections”
Where: Morikami Museum, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $8-$14 museum admission
Contact: 561/495-0233, morikami.org
We have our tradition of noble warriors, but ours don’t tend to have the fashion-forward history of the samurai, the enduring icon of feudal Japan. With their suits of armor and caches of exotic weapons, samurai have achieved cult status in the West, centuries after they walked the earth in the East. According to Veljko Dujin, curator of collections at the Morikami Museum, the samurai is one of his most-requested exhibition subjects, and this summer the museum is meeting popular demand by mounting a full-scale samurai exhibition, its first in more than a decade. “Samurai Culture” features paintings and prints depicting samurai, along with armor and weaponry, including “some very special blades,” says Dujin. “Samurai Culture” makes for a vivid contrast to the Morikami’s other summer exhibition, “From a Quiet Place: The Paper Sculptures of Kyoko Hazama,” which features adorable papier-mache constructions of animals and people courtesy of this emerging Japanese artist. Both shows run through Aug. 31.
FRIDAY
What: Independence Day celebration
Where: Downtown Delray Beach at A1A and Atlantic Avenue
When: 3:30 to 9:25 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: julyfourthdelraybeach.com
The City of Delray Beach’s July Fourth extravaganza remains one of South Florida’s preeminent Independent Day bashes, and this Friday’s festivities are no exception. There will be entertainment for grown-ups (a beer garden hosted by three of the Avenue’s top restaurants, and burger- and custard-eating contests), activities for little ones (sand sculpting, a “Kids Corner” hosted by the Avenue Church, and a “splash zone” to combat the heat); and plenty of fun for visitors of all ages, including mini golf from Putt’n Around and beach volleyball. Mike Mineo, one of our region’s best and most original singer-songwriters, will perform live at 5:30, followed by The Petty Hearts, a Tom Petty tribute act, at 7 p.m. Mayor Cary Glickstein and the dance troupe No Bodies Crew will usher in the fireworks countdown show at 8:30.
What: Independence Day celebration
Where: Bryant Park Amphitheater and the Cultural Plaza in Downtown Lake Worth
When: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/533-7353, lakeworth.org
But if there’s any city this year that can give Delray more of a bang for its entertainment buck, it’s the city of Lake Worth, which is going all out with its daylong festivities across two venues. It begins at 11:30 a.m. with a raft parade and will be succeeded by “Art on the Water” performances and the 12th annual “Race of the Rafts” at 1 p.m. Aquatic activities continue with a special wakeskating, wakeboarding and Jet Ski show from 3 to 5 p.m. at Intracoastal Waterway at Bryant Park. There also will be live pro wrestling shows, a free watermelon and monster waterslide, and antique car show and—saving the best for last—a lineup of 11 live bands on two stages, from reggae-ska bands Spred the Dub and The Supervillains to the theatrical KISS tribute act KISS Alive (pictured). Fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
Opening night of “Borgman”
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth
When: Show times pending
Cost: $7 to $9.
Contact: 561/586-6410, lakeworthplayhouse.org
Once again, the Lake Worth Playhouse’s intimate and adventurous Stonzek Theatre has booked a movie most theaters have shied away from. It appears to be the only local cinema to open “Borgman,” a blackly comic psychological thriller from Dutch polymath Alex van Warmerdam. In an inversion of Jean Renoir’s classic “Boudu Saved From Drowning,” a straggly vagrant ingratiates himself into an upper-class household and, instead of assimilating into their lives, disrupts the family unit through a series of malevolent actions. The movie’s trailer is stunning and contains a multitude of dazzling images that suggest much while giving away nothing. It’ll creep you the heck out, though, and has earned favorable comparisons to the Austrian enfant terrible Michael Haneke. The movie runs through July 10.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: New Theatre 1-Acts Festival
Where: Artistic Vibes, 12986 S.W. 89th Ave., Miami
When: 8 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $12 per program, $20 for two-program pass
Contact: 305/443-5909, new-theatre.com
Every year, Miami’s New Theatre provides an indispensable opportunity for 16 playwrights—and 16 directors—to showcase new work at this festival of one-act readings. In total, more than 45 actors and crew will participate in this unique festival, a rare theater treat at a time when most companies are dark. We don’t know anything about the works themselves except for the titles, which are enough to pique our interest, from David Victor’s “Aliens, Mr. President!” to Will Cabrera’s “Burying Shakespeare in Hialeah.” And if you visit on July Fourth, the performance will be accompanied by Independence Day grub (think burgers, hot dogs and beer), music and a fireworks display.
SATURDAY
What: Lindsey Stirling
Where: Sunset Cove Amphitheater, 20405 Amphitheater Circle, Boca Raton
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/488-8069, ticketmaster.com
Most YouTube “sensations” are one-hit wonders or novelty acts whose fame ends at 15 metaphorical minutes. Rare is the act that launches on YouTube and proceeds to make a genuine, lasting cultural impact, remembered well beyond his or her first millionth view. Lindsey Stirling has accomplished this feat. The grassroots violin phenomenon launched her career on social media in 2007 and worked her way up to a quarter-finalist on “America’s Got Talent” in 2010. Her star has continued to rise ever since, thanks to her unclassifiable blend of performance art and music, which combines the plaintive lyricism of string music with hip-hop danceability; these days, she’s one of the most organic acts on the Top 40 charts. With her YouTube channel reaching 675 million views and counting as of this month, Stirling is supporting her new album “Shatter Me.” Her recent set lists have included most of that album along with a dazzling medley of “Legend of Zelda” music.
SUNDAY
What: Opening day of Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival
Where: Delray Beach Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
When: 2 p.m.
Cost: $25 single tickets; $85 for four-concert series
Contact: 800/330-6874, pbcmf.org
The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival is one of the great cultural pleasures of living in Delray during the summer. For four weeks, classical music enthusiasts can enjoy a Sunday afternoon refuge from the blazing sun, while hearing intimate, expertly played compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and others, inside the comfort of the Crest Theatre, where there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The first program of the season, which runs Sunday only in Delray Beach, will feature Malcolm Arnold’s “Trio for Flure, Viola and Basssoon,” Herbert Howells’ “Rhapsodic Quintet” and Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s “Septet No. 2 in C major ‘Military.’” The snowbirds never know what they’re missing.
What: Replay America Festival
Where: Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood
When: 4 p.m.
Cost: $44 to $64
Contact: 954/797-5531, hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com
Nineteen-eighties pop music, which everybody made fun of in the postmodern ‘90s, has enjoyed a resurgence in the 21st century, fueled initially by irony but evolving into a genuine nostalgia for the era’s three-chord rock minimalism and its inchoate pangs of synthpop. This mini-festival features four acts who enjoyed popular success in that decade. The Go-Gos, a band forever etched in history for being the first all-female group to top the Billboard album charts with material entirely written by the artists themselves, will headline. They’ll be joined by Naked Eyes, the British New Wave duo famous for its dancey cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Always Something There to Remind Me;” Martha Davis & the Motels, the Berkeley new wavers responsible for “Suddenly Last Summer;” and Patty Smyth, the charismatic rocker who will play hits from her days with Scandal, including “The Warrior” and “Goodbye to You.”
