NOTE: A&E editors sometimes need vacations too. This special “double shot” Week Ahead covers two weeks of activities to help facilitate one.
TUESDAY, FEB. 6
What: Prima Trio
Where: Flagler Museum, 1 Whitehall Way, Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $70
Contact: 561/655-2833, flaglermuseum.us
This Ohio-bred trio for clarinet, violin and piano was only three years old when it secured the coveted Grand Prize at the 2007 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, besting 136 entries from around the world. Prima Trio has been praised for its genre-hopping versatility—one critic heard echoes of jazz, country and even the rollicking riffs of Jerry Lee Lewis—in the context of a faithful repertoire of Khachaturian, Stravinsky, Bartók and other titans.
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, FEB. 7-8
What: Van Morrison
Where: James L. Knight Center, 400 S.E. Second Ave., Miami
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $71.50-$256.50
Contact: 305/416-5978, jlkc.com
If Van Morrison had only gifted us with “Brown Eyed Girl,” he’d still be canonized in rock history. But this undisputed master of “Celtic Soul” also helped invent the concept album. When most pop singers focused on two-and-a-half-minute commercial singles, Morrison was recording seven-minute opuses that married folk and R&B, jazz and classical. He remains as romantic, soul-stirring and generically unclassifiable as ever. For this rare appearance—his only East Coast U.S. tour stop this season—he’s supporting his 37th album, Roll With the Punches, featuring his gritty take on blues classics by Bo Diddley, Lightnin’ Hopkins and others.
THURSDAY, FEB. 8
What: Opening day of “Jean-Michel Basquiat: Drawing Into Painting”
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach
When: Noon to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
Back in 1992, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Dogman” sold for a paltry $60,000 at Christie’s—a far cry indeed from the record-breaking $110 million the artist’s untitled 1982 painting of a skull netted last year at Sotheby’s. But either of these amounts would have surprised (and perhaps offended) the pioneering street painter, who elevated graffiti to fine art while exploring concepts of class struggle and racial justice. Basquiat died in 1988, far too early too enjoy his historic success, but exhibitions like this one to continue to unpack his legacy and discover new revelations. “Drawing Into Painting” showcases “Dogman” along with four early, rarely exhibited drawings whose cultural symbolism forecast his later masterpieces. The exhibition runs through March 18.
What: Opening night of “An Inspector Calls”
Where: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $58.20-$68
Contact: 561/575-2223, jupitertheatre.org
First performed in 1945 but resonating with today’s populism, “An Inspector Calls” takes place over three acts and one night in the home of Arthur Birling, an affluent mill owner. A police investigator interrupts a celebratory dinner, informing the Birlings that a young woman who worked for Arthur has just committed suicide. Abounding in narrative twists, this bristling psychological thriller is a potent commentary on economic inequality that has earned comparisons to Ibsen and Shaw. It runs through Feb. 18.
What: Opening night of “Disaster!”
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $45
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
The 1970s were the Golden Age of the disaster movie: You couldn’t go to a cinema during this fraught decade without witnessing plummeting planes, erupting volcanoes, apocalyptic earthquakes and … killer rats? OK, so they weren’t all Oscar winners, but films like “The Swarm” and “Juggernaut” have endured as cult curios, and they helped inspire this spirited parody. Scored to nearly 40 pop hits of the 1970s, “Disaster!” is set on a floating discotheque in New York, which proceeds to endure every calamity known to Hollywood over the course of two hours. It runs through Feb. 18.
FRIDAY, FEB. 9
What: Rufus Wainwright
Where: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $39-$89
Contact: 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org
Despite being the son of folksinger Loudon Wainwright III, composer-pianist Rufus Wainwright’s sonic evolution has been decidedly less rustic. He records are a thorough remove from 21st century (or even 20th century) pop trends: His two most recent albums were a collection of nine Shakespeare sonnets put to music and a recording of his 2009 opera “Prima Donna,” performed in French. But his nasal tenor and baroque compositions have carved out a singular place in contemporary music, where Judy Garland, Leonard Cohen and Edith Piaf coexist, sharing cigarettes.
TUESDAY, FEB. 13
What: Travis Wall’s Shaping Sound
Where: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $39-$69
Contact: 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org
Of all the alumni of “So You Think You Can Dance!,” few have summited the breathtaking heights of Travis Wall, the dancer-turned-choreographer whose emotionally stirring routines tell aching stories while pushing his dancers’ bodies in new directions. And that’s just in four-minute dances: His touring company Shaping Sound features 100-minute narratives, including this one, “After the Curtain,” which deploys a mash-up of dance styles to convey the story of a man discovering his creativity following the death of a loved one.
THURSDAY, FEB. 15
What: Annie Griffiths
Where: Crest Theatre at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
When: 2 p.m.
Cost: $32-$67
Contact: 561/243-7922, oldschoolsquare.org
Photographer Annie Griffiths helped shatter the glass ceiling at National Geographic by becoming one of the famed magazine’s first female photographers—a job that has allowed her to see, and document, nearly 150 countries. She has photographed ballet dancers in the Czech Republic, Bedouins in Jordan and mystics in Turkey. As comfortable capturing landscapes and fauna as she as is portraits and culture, Griffith’s best work explores the plight of young girls and women worldwide, putting human faces on such abstract issues as climate change and food insecurity. She will share her humanitarian mission, and stories from her exciting life, at this Crest Lecture Series event. Her moving lectures are known to turn on the waterworks of her guests, so bring a hankie.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, FEB. 16-17
What: Urban Bush Women
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Now entering its 34th year, this Brooklyn dance company communicates themes resonant with the African diaspora in the most exciting, energizing way possible: through movement and sound. Founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, who claims to have had “two left feet” growing up, formed Urban Bush Women because of dance’s unique ability to address sociopolitical issues in a manner that is challenging and inviting. Her group’s accolades include its selection in the U.S. Department of State’s cultural diplomacy program, DanceMotion USA, which brought the company’s illuminating and rhythmic productions to South America. Its current tour, “Hair and Other Stories,” is a sequel of sorts to its 2001 work “Hair,” which was inspired by the African-American community’s contentious natural-hair movement. Combining dance with voices, text and live theatre, “Hair and Other Stories” explores self-image and inequality with choreography that stimulates the mind, touches the soul and even makes you laugh.
