WEDNESDAY (TODAY)
What: John O’Sullivan Memorial Lecture
Where: FAU’s University Theatre, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 4 p.m.
Cost: $20
Contact: 800/564-9539, fauevents.com
With Halloween around the corner, Florida Atlantic University could not have scheduled a more frightening topic for its John O’Sullivan Memorial Lectureship: “Hitler and the Decisions for the Final Solution.” An expert on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, speaker Christopher Browning, of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, has penned numerous books on the subject, including “Ordinary Men” and “Origins of the Final Solution.” The latter has been called “definitive,” “magisterial” and “superb” by critics, documenting how persecution of Jews accelerated into genocide in three short years. And with history always doomed to repeat itself, this cautionary tragedy is worth revisiting.
FRIDAY
What: Mall-O-Ween
Where: Town Center at Boca Raton, 6000 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/368-6001
Families looking for a safe trick-and-treating environment should bring their pint-sized zombies, astronauts and fairies to Town Center, where candy will dispensed at participating retailers. “There is an activity here for every ghost, witch, princess and werewolf,” said Town Center marketing director Ellen Korelitz in a statement. Better yet, for the adults, the event is early enough that you’ll still have time to run home, change into your costume, and hit the party of your choice, while your little ones gorge on sugar.
What: “Bluebeard’s Castle”
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth
When: 8:30 p.m.
Cost: $40-$65
Contact: 561/586-6410, lakeworthplayhouse.org
For one of those adult Halloween options, visit the Lake Worth Playhouse for its season gala opening, a one-night only production of possibly the most macabre of all operas, “Bluebeard’s Castle.” Composed by the Hungarian virtuoso Bela Bartok in 1911, this minimalist opera, which runs just over an hour and features just two singing characters, features enough sinister mayhem and high drama for operas twice its length. Not to be confused with his high-seas namesake, the Bluebeard in Bartok’s tale is an eccentric duke with a history of murdered wives. Not taking the hint, his latest paramour Judith enters his gloomy castle at the opera’s opening and is confronted with seven locked doors, which contain secrets about her lover’s true nature. Attendees are encouraged to arrive in costume, and after the production, VIP ticket-holders (for $65) can shake off the scares at a private after-party at next door’s Suri Tapas Bar, where they will receive appetizers and a free drink.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: “Dracula”
Where: Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Drive, Palm Beach Gardens
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $21
Contact: 561/207-5900, reachdancecompany.com
Another of those Halloween night choices could very well be this return engagement from Reach and O Dance, two of the very few dance companies producing original work in South Florida. The piece, which premiered in 2013, has become Reach Dance Company’s “signature work,” founder Maria Konrad told Boca magazine earlier this year. The jazz dancers of Reach and the ballet specialists in O Dance will join forces for a full-length work juxtaposing the vampiric darkness of the Dracula legend with 1920s glamour, creating a cinematic experience through movement, costuming, sets, lighting and video projection. If done right, the dance will be so effectively you’ll want to check your neck for teeth marks on the way out.
SATURDAY
What: “Haunted: A Pop-Up Gala”
Where: Delray Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
When: 8 to 11 p.m.
Cost: $75
Contact: 561/243-7922 ext. 304, delraycenterforthearts.org
With the Mexican Day of the Dead following Halloween by exactly one day—both on a weekend, no less—the opportunities for dress-up and revelry are manifold. At tonight’s pop-up gala at Delray’s Cornell Museum of Art, you can dress to the skeletal nines and honor the dead while at the same time supporting an increasingly vital cultural institution in Palm Beach County. Masks and hats are encouraged at this fundraising bash, whose requested attire is described as “creative black tie.” There will be light bites from 10 downtown restaurants as well as an open bar, DJ dance music and artwork for sale from edgy artists. According to event organizers, there will be some guaranteed surprise guests and a rumored appearance from the Delray Center’s resident ghost … wait, the Delray Center for the Arts has a resident ghost? Visit Saturday and find out.
What: “Last Comic Standing” tour
Where: Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $41.87-$121.37
Contact: 954/344-5999, coralspringscenterforthearts.com
NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” returned triumphantly this year for the first time since 2010, running 10 comedians through a ringer of challenges, from national TV appearances to celebrity roasts and Universal Studios hosting gigs. Last week, four comedians survived these challenges unscathed, and they’ll be sharing a stage for the series’ fall tour. They’re all undeniably funny and certifiably unique, so that for comedy fans, this quadruple-bill provides something for everyone: the unrelenting stream-of-consciousness of Rod Man (pictured), the outsized humility and warmth of Nikki Carr, the masterly high-pitched provocations of Joe Machi, and the observational riffs of Lachlan Patterson. Let’s just hope they brought some material for their roadshow that hasn’t already been broadcast to millions.
SUNDAY
What: “Keep Memories Alive—Exercise Your Mind” walk
Where: Town Center at Boca Raton, 6000 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 9 a.m.
Cost: Free, with participants encouraged to raise funds
Cost: 561/297-4066, nursing.fau.edu
Unlike most fundraising walks, this ninth annual event supporting FAU’s Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center takes place amid the sparkle and air conditioning of an indoor mall, Boca’s own Town Center. And in spirit of the Center’s indispensable service toward those with mild to moderate memory disorders, the event’s mall route will feature games, exercises and entertainment aimed at stimulating your mind as well as your feet. Walkers who raise a minimum of $30 before the event of $40 the day of the event will receive a commemorative T-shirt. Let’s hope this year’s funds will top last year’s event, which raised more than $300,000 to fund, among other thing, 27 Day Center scholarships.
What: Opening day of “American Scene Photography: The Martin Z. Margulies Collection”
Where: Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
When: Noon to 5 p.m.
Cost: $5-$10
Contact: 954/525-5500, moafl.org
Vintage photographs by Walker Evans, Lewis Hines and Dorothea Lange are among the works collected, over a 20-year period, by Martin Z. Margulies, whose taste in photography captures the beauty and expansiveness of America’s landscapes and the character and diversity of its people and cities. In fact, the subject of this survey of Margulies’ collection is nothing less than American history from the early 20th century to the present, with more than 190 images from 74 photographers helping to tell the story. “Marty Margulies’ collection of photography is unique in its historical depth, with strong holdings of vintage impressions, as well as the breadth of contemporary works,” curator Bonnie Clearwater tells Boca magazine. “I’m interested not only in the photographs, but how the collection creates a narrative about the collector, especially Mr. Margulies’ deep interest in the human condition.” The exhibition runs through March 22.
