Tuesday
Opening night of “Cirque Eloize — ID” at Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 8 p.m.; $25 to $75; 305/949-6722 or www.arshtcenter.org
The setting for this hippest of all nouveau cirque productions, “Eloize – ID,” is a sprawling urban cityscape, with video projections of graffitied walls and images from comic books and science-fiction films framing the action. Created in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, “ID” is a seamless merger of high-flying theatrical showmanship with gritty street cred. Stunning acrobatics combine with break-dancing, dangerous bicycle stunts and the kind of extreme juggling and jump-rope skills that must be seen to be believed. This will surely be the apex of stage spectacles this summer. It runs through Aug. 7.
Abby Wambach at Macy’s at Town Center Mall, 5700 W. Glades Road, Boca Raton; 2 p.m.; free; 561/393-4400
Women’s soccer may not always top the “SportsCenter” headlines in the United States, but it did earlier this month when our women’s national soccer team defeated Brazil to advance to the finals in the 2011 Women’s World Cup. The U.S. team’s anchor is Abby Wambach, an Olympic gold medalist, a four-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award and the national team’s all-time highest scorer. The 31-year Rochester native will greet fans at Macy’s today, with the first 200 guests able to receive autographs from the soccer superstar.
Thursday
Opening night of the LaCroix French Film Festival at Cinema Paradiso, 503 S.E. Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale; 6 p.m.; $20 to $25; 954/525-3456
One of the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival’s most popular mini fests of the year, this year’s French Film Fest, sponsored by LaCroix Water, launches tonight with a 6 p.m. dinner of French delicacies such as chicken cordon bleu, beef bourguignon and herbed potato souffle, followed by the opening-night comedy “Romantics Anonymous” at 7:45 p.m., included with admission. The festival continues for four more days, with titles such as the culture-clash romantic comedy “The Names of Love” (8:30 p.m. Friday), the eccentric comedy “Silence of Love” (4 p.m. July 30) and the sobering World War II drama “La Rafle” (1 p.m. July 31). Individual ticket prices are $6 to $10.
Friday
“Mid-Summer Nights at the Museum” at South Florida Science Museum, 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach; 6 to 10 p.m.; $6 children and $10 adults; 561/832-1988 or www.sfsm.org
The museum promises an “enchanted evening” with this summer celebration, which features barbecue food from Smokey Bones. There will be plenty of family activities on tap, including frog dissections, sun-catcher construction, a butterfly release, live outdoor music and an open observatory. The planetarium show “Constellations in the Summer Sky” will run three times, at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30, and small additional fees will apply. Make sure to come early for the food – it’s first-come, first-served and limited to 150 guests.
Opening night of “Anita” at Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; show times pending; $5 to $9.50; 561/549-2600 or www.fau.livingroomtheaters.com
You may have caught this touching drama when it opened the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival last December. If not, this flawed but arresting film is worth seeing, if no other reason than for the lead performance of Alejandro Manzo as a Down syndrome-suffering woman separated from her caring mother after the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association. Some of the director’s melodramatic touches feel out of place, but overall this is a compelling piece of sociopolitical protest cinema disguised as a character study.
Friday and Saturday
Tracy Morgan at Palm Beach Improv, 550 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach; show times vary; $40; 561/833-1812 or
The stars continue to queue up at Palm Beach Improv, whose solid summer of talent continues with Tracy Morgan, the prolific and controversial funnyman. Morgan earned his mettle over eight seasons of “Saturday Night Live” and graduated to major-movie stardom in films such as “Cop Out” and “Death at a Funeral,” but it’s his iconic Tracy Jordan caricature on “30 Rock” that has catapulted his popularity. Morgan has said some rather untoward things about gay and disabled people at some of his recent standup appearances; attend one of his West Palm Beach shows, and maybe you’ll be front-and-center for his latest foot-in-mouth adventure.
Saturday
Surfer Blood at Funky Buddha, 2621 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; 9 p.m.; $10; 561/368-4643 or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/184829
The guys in Surfer Blood are gracious dudes: The West Palm Beach natives have already made it to the big time, performing on national music festivals, receiving airplay on national radio stations and selling one of their songs to an uber-popular video game. But they haven’t forgotten their roots. If anything, the band is playing smaller with fame, performing for the very first time at this hip but compact Boca Raton hookah bar. This may be the Surfer Blood show you shouldn’t miss, providing a rare opportunity to see them play in the equivalent of a spacious living room. Local act Bear in Mind, celebrating the release of its debut album, will open the show.
Vans Warped Tour at Cruzan Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansbury Way, West Palm Beach; 11:30 a.m.; $44.05 (after service charge); www.livenation.com
What better way to celebrate youthful rebellion that at a corporate-sponsored music festival at a giant amphitheater? A perennial favorite among skate-
punk, emo and alternative music lovers, the Vans Warped Tour has been expanding its artist palette in recent years, if only slightly, adding more pop-centric, reggae and metalcore acts. All of them are still likely to annoy parents, though. This year’s lineup includes Less Than Jake, Pepper, Against Me!, Simple Plan, Unwritten Law, Jack’s Mannequin, Attack Attack! and many more.
National Dance Day celebration at Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 9 a.m.; free; 305/949-6722 or www.arshtcenter.org
If you’re anything like me, then you’re no stranger to the best competition show on TV, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” whose customary multiple Emmy nominations this year attest to its stature as a cut above most tween-pandering performance series. But today, just as the show did on National Dance Day last year, Nigel Lythgoe and company are providing a dance even I can do, which is really saying something. Visit the Arsht’s dance website in advance to view the simple routine and learn it before coming to the outdoor celebration, where participants may wind up on an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance.” There also will be prizes, refreshments and a meet-and-greet with the cast of “Cirque Eloize – ID.”
