So it’s the holidays, and it’s too cold outside, and everyone I know (including myself) is sick, and most arts and culture institutions are on vacation. The stars are pretty much aligned for a very, very slow arts weekend, as entertainment has taken a second seat to family time. But if you’re so inclined to brave the bitter cold (for South Florida anyway) this weekend, here is a sampling of the slim pickins.
Theater
While most theaters are dark for the next couple of days, Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale has good reason to remain open: It’s producing “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens’ enduring masterpiece, for two final nights, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Befitting its status as an alternative theater, Empire Stage is mounting the play with a twist: The theater has reformatted Dickens’ multi-character classic as a one-man tour de force, promising a bravura performance by actor, writer and producer Scott Sowers. Sowers has appeared in movies such as “Erin Brokovich” and “Under Siege 2.” Tickets are $25. Call 954/678-149.
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Up at Kravis Center, Florida Stage is taking the whole weekend off, but you still have a chance to see its recently opened show “Goldie, Max and Milk” at 7:30 tonight (Thursday), and it resumes its full run on Tuesday of next week. I caught this world-premiere, about a lesbian (Erin Joy Schmidt) raising a newly born child conceived by the seed of her ex-girlfriend’s brother, last weekend. Balancing the lead character’s “alternative” lifestyle with the strict views of her Orhodox Jewish lactation consultant (Deborah L. Sherman), Karen Hartman’s script is full of witty culture-clash barbs. It’s a sporadically funny play with its heart in the right place, but the humor is so self-consciously arch that I couldn’t get past the fact that much of the first act feels like a self-congratulatory pat on the back from the playwright. “Goldie, Max and Milk” runs through Jan. 2. Tickets are $40. Call 561/585-3433.
Party
The Boca/Delray social website LivingFLA.com has been promoting the heck out of The Eve Ball, a Christmas Eve party slated for 8 p.m. Friday at a venue well out the site’s usual domain: The all-new Water Club (formerly Shooter’s) in North Miami Beach. Singles and non-singles ages 21 to 50 are invited to mingle, and the ticket price includes one drink, light hors d’oeuvres, drink specials and dancing. The first 50 guests will receive champagne. Tickets are $15 if you order on the website today, or you can pay $20 at the door tomorrow evening.
Movies
I suppose I should mention movies, since Christmas day is the biggest opening day of the year, offering a veritable buffet of new films. Problem is, I haven’t seen much of anything I can recommend. “Gulliver’s Travels” is an asinine adaptation of the Jonathan Swift classic, with utterly superfluous 3D technology; “I Love You Phillip Morris” is an uneven comedy/caper that has accrued unnecessary provocation due to some frank gay love scenes; and “Monsters,” opening Friday at Coral Gables Art Cinema, is a limp romantic drama masquerading as a half-baked political allegory. The two most critically acclaimed films opening this weekend, “The King’s Speech” and “True Grit,” are the two I haven’t seen yet. Go figure.
