[NOTE: This column previews two weeks of events, instead of the usual one, to accommodate a vacation.]
THURSDAY, JULY 30
What: Opening night of “The Summer of ’68: Photographing the Black Panthers”
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach
When: 5 to 9 p.m.
Cost: $5 students, $12 adults
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
The original Black Nationalist party known as the Black Panthers lasted from 1966 to 1982, and their members caused quite a stir, advocating armed resistance and ultimately leading J. Edgar Hoover to dub them the “the greatest threat to the internal security of the agency.” The Black Panthers also sounded important alarms regarding civil rights, poverty, prison double standards and especially police brutality. “The Summer of ‘68” captures a tumultuous period in the Black Panthers’ fiery history, offering a perspective of the Party far removed from the hyperbolic demonizations of the time. Curated by the Norton’s summer interns, the exhibition features 22 photographs by husband-and-wife street photographers Pirkle Jones and Ruth-Marion Baruch. Celebrate the exhibit’s opening at this week’s Art After Dark, which includes a scavenger hunt, a DIY button-making activity and a performance of spoken word, drums and hip-hop from local musician Eric Biddens.
FRIDAY, JULY 31
What: Opening night of “A LEGO Brickumentary”
Where: Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: Show times pending
Cost: $6.50-$9.50
Contact: 561/549-2600, fau.livingroomtheaters.com
“Look how many things we’ve built from this simple toy.” That sentiment, expressed by one of the interviewees in this documentary about the ubiquitous LEGO brand, is close to the movie’s mission statement. “A LEGO Brickumentary,” while charting the history of the Danish-designed interlocking toys, focuses mostly on adult LEGO hobbyists and the 21st century innovations they’ve created from this humblest of mediums. Some enthusiasts recreate paintings and movies, stroke by stroke and shot for shot, using LEGO bricks; others design miniature computers, 3-D architectural models or fine-art, gallery-worthy sculptures from the plastic bricks. But as the movie reveals, all of them discover sparks of imagination and innovation from this most surprising source. Jason Bateman narrates the movie as a pint-sized LEGO character.
SATURDAY, AUG. 1
What: Opening night of “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers”
Where: GableStage, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $55 ($40-$55 for remainder of the run)
Contact: 305/445-1119, gablestage.org
I must admit, I had never heard of talent agent Sue Mengers before I began researching this one-woman show by John Logan. But in the ‘70s and ‘80s, as new styles of acting, directing and screenwriting emerged in a Hollywood studio system that suddenly valued realism over escapism, Mengers was at the backstage forefront. As a boutique agent—one of the last of a dying breed, before corporate agencies hoovered up most of the talent—Mengers represented everyone from Sidney Lumet and Brian de Palma to Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Gore Vidal and Nick Nolte. Logan’s bioplay finds Mengers nearing the twilight of her Hollywood relevance, waiting in her upscale apartment for a phone call from her most important client, Barbra Streisand, while sharing insights, lessons and bon mots from her life and career. Laura Turnbull takes on this challenging part—all 42 pages of monologue—while never leaving her character’s centrally positioned sofa. “I’ll Eat You Last” runs through Aug. 30.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUG. 1
What: Mad Cat Live! “Ram”
Where: Miami Theater Center, 9806 N.E. Second Ave., Miami Shores
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
Contact: 305/751-9550, madcattheatre.org
Mad Cat Theatre’s Mad Cat Live! concert series, which kicks off this weekend, continues the collective’s efforts to expand the definition of what live theater can be. This theatrical concert, directed by Mad Cat founder Paul Tei, will feature a band of seasoned professionals, many of them crossing over regularly from music to theater and vice versa, performing Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album “RAM.” Guitarist Darren Bruck, singer and bassist Jim Camacho, multi-instrumentalist Matt Corey, guitarist and vocalist Erik Fabregat, percussionist Brian Sayre and keyboardist/singer Steph Taylor will execute this controversial turning point in McCartney’s career. Loose, playful and unexpected, McCartney’s first album released after the breakup of the Beatles was dismissed upon its initial release and has only recently, with a 2012 reissue, taken on the critical acclaim it has always deserved. The concert includes an introduction and a Q&A with the band.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, AUG. 1-2
What: Boca Ballet Theatre’s “Summer Spectacular”
Where: University Theatre at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $35 adults, $25 seniors and children
Contact: 561/995-0709, bocaballet.org
Ridiculous, meet sublime. Boca Ballet Theatre’s “Summer Spectacular,” a program celebrating the work of American masters, will hit every note along this tonal spectrum. On the more comedic side is Lew Christensen’s “Con Amore,” a 1953 masterpiece set to three effervescent Rossini overtures, which spoofs the outsized passions of opera. In the first scene, a pirate finds himself marooned on an island with sexually rapacious amazon warrior women (not a bad miscalculation); in the second, a flirtatious bride tries to hide three gentlemen callers when her husband arrives unexpectedly; and in the third, a devious cupid connects both plots by shooting arrows at the characters’ derrieres. This gonzo farce will be emotionally leavened by the dancers’ take on Balanchine’s “Serenade,” the great choreographer’s first original ballet created in the U.S. Designed as a lesson in stage technique, the half-hour ballet is defined by its ravishing blue costumes, its tragic interpretation of a Tchaikovsky score, and its allusions to the earlier ballet “Giselle.” A world-premiere ballet from renowned Philadelphia choreographer Christopher Fleming rounds out this dynamic program.
TUESDAY, AUG. 4
What: Face to Face
Where: Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: $15
Contact: 954/564-1074, ticketmaster.com
The last time we remember punk rockers Face to Face swinging by South Florida, it was an acoustic tour in 2012, also at the Culture Room. This time, fans of the longtime SoCal favorites will get to see the group in its full amped-up, floor-scorching glory. Since reuniting in 2008, Face to Face has released a couple of relevance-maintaining albums, but vocalist Trevor Keith and company know what their fans want to hear; that’s why they’ve lately taken to playing their first three seminal early-to-mid-‘90s albums—“Don’t Turn Away,” “Big Choice” and “Face to Face”—in their entirely at select concerts. All represent delectable chunks of pop-punk candy, so no matter which one you get, it’ll be a rockin’ night.
THURSDAY, AUG. 6
What: Opening night of “Shorts Gone Wild 3”
Where: Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $30
Contact: 954/519-2533, islandcitystage.org
“Shorts Gone Wild,” which began just a couple of seasons ago as a Broward County correlative to Miami’s popular “Summer Shorts” program of one-act plays, has evolved in this brief time into a much-anticipated shorts compilation in its own right, one with a distinctly LGBT bent and a decidedly local flair: Half of the plays this year are world premieres by South Florida writers. The others have already received national acclaim on the short-play circuit. The third-annual docket includes Sheri Wilner’s “The One,” Becca Scholssberg’s “Hands,” Patricia Cotter’s “The Anthropology Section,” Michael Leeds’ “I’m Going First,” Tony Finstrom’s “Oldest Living Chorus Boy Tells All, or the Last of Billy Button,” Stuart Meltzer’s “Quiche or Quinoa,” Michael McKeever’s “The Agenda” and a play yet to be announced. Four directors will lead actors Antonio Amadeo, Niki Fridh, Gladys Ramirez, Christina Groom, Larry Buzzeo and Craig Moody through the mostly comic material. “Shorts Gone Wild 3” runs through Sept. 6.
FRIDAY, AUG. 7
What: The Appleseed Cast
Where: Churchill’s Pub, 5501 N.E. Second Ave., Miami
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $14
Contact: 305/757-1807, churchillspub.com
You could argue that the primacy of this Kansas-based quartet has passed: The Appleseed Cast peaked at the onset of the new millennium, around the time “emo” was first being used as both as genre of pride and dismissal. The Appleseed Cast embodied this emotional, angular alt-rock subgenre in its earliest records, but if “emo” is no longer the buzz-label it once was, the band seems to evolved beyond it. Regularly shifting lineups and styles, the Appleseed Cast has gone on to embrace dreamy instrumentals and elaborate post-rock exorcisms more so than the diary-scribble songwriting of emo’s foundation. The website Pitchfork, which treats emo as if it were ebola, even called its 2013 album “Illumination Ritual” “an entryway to their sprawling discography as well as a culmination of it.” But if I were you, I’d bone up on the group’s classic 2000 record “Mare Vitalis,” a concept album about the movements of the sea. The band has recently been playing it in its entirety, in honor of the album’s 15th anniversary.
