Lynn bids farewell to its influential dean of music, a Canadian dance troupe moves to Leonard Cohen, and Theatre Lab brings a new-play festival to FAU. Plus, Bill Murray’s Blood Brothers and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: Ballets Jazz Montreal: Dance Me
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $57.50-$103.51
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
To say that Leonard Cohen is beloved in his native Canada would be to understate his importance to our neighbor to the north. As one of his nation’s greatest musical and cultural exports, Cohen received the Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor. So it’s no surprise that a Canadian dance company such as Ballets Jazz Montreal found inspiration close to home in its latest touring production. In “Dance Me,” the company, which has been performing internationally for upwards of 50 years, will bring the dynamism and unpredictability of jazz dance to bear across a program entirely composed of Cohen’s music, including his most indelible cuts: “Hallelujah,” “Suzanne,” “So Long, Marianne,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “Everybody Knows,” and “Dance Me to the End of Love.” With Cohen’s lyrics, moody vocals, and creative arrangements as the guide, the dancers endeavor to capture the songwriter’s soul through their movements.
SATURDAY
What: Opening day of Owl New Play Festival
When: Starts at 11 a.m.
Where: Performing Arts Building at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: $30 or $15 per event
Contact: 561/297-6124, fauevents.com
Following on the success of its inaugural Owl New Play Festival in 2025, FAU’s resident professional theater company, Theatre Lab, is back with an all-new slate of discussions and play readings to further its mission of fostering the best new work from regional and national playwrights and enlightening audiences on the creative process. The first public event, “Themes & Threads: New Plays + Real Life,” will feature a moderated discussion (plus a catered lunch buffet) with playwrights Joanna Castle Miller, Deborah Zoe Laufer, and Daniel Green at 11 a.m. Saturday. It will be followed at 2 p.m. Saturday with the premiere of a reading from playwright Jeff Bower, The Elephant in the Room, a high-stakes thriller set at a business retreat in a remote Airbnb. The busy Saturday concludes with “LabRATS,” a series of readings of original student work, at 5 p.m. Return Sunday at noon for the reading of another new work, Gretchen Suarez Pena’s The Saga of Peaches and the Black King, about an irreverent text conversation between longtime friends that takes unexpected directions. The festival continues through April 26; click here for the full schedule.
What: Twilight in the Garden
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Delray Beach Historical Society, 3 N.E. First St., Delray Beach
Cost: $180
Contact: 561/274-9578, delraybeachhistory.org
Now in its sixth iteration, the Delray Beach Historical Society’s premier annual fundraiser is one of the nonprofit’s most vital—and certainly its most enjoyable—methods of supporting its educational programming and preserving its archives. Attendees meander through the dusky pathways of its heritage gardens while enjoying food samples and curated cocktails from Delray restaurants—including Avalon Beach House, Campi Italian, Elisabetta’s, Caesar’s Famous Ribs, Farmer’s Table, Drift, City Oyster, Dada, Jimmy Bistro, Two Fat Cookies, and more. Ticket buyers can also support the Society by bidding on items in a silent auction. Live music on the north lawn, and access to the Society’s three current historical exhibitions, round out the experience.
What: Bill Murray and his Blood Brothers
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $64.31-$360
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
Music has never been far from Bill Murray’s diverse show-business career. His hilariously tone-deaf “Nick the Lounge Singer” helped put Saturday Night Live on the map in the 1970s; his character’s rousing karaoke rendition of Roxy Music’s glam-rock classic “More Than This” was a highlight of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation; and he’s long performed alongside a classical trio, which he brought to Festival of the Arts Boca in 2018. This latest venture finds the actor exploring yet another sonic avenue, as a singer and musician in a crackerjack blues-rock outfit. His “Blood Brothers” include Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, guitarists with a collective 14 Blues Music Awards; and Jimmy Vivino, former bandleader for Conan O’Brien’s late-night shows. Their material includes Zito/Castiglia originals and groovy covers from Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Prince, and more, interpreted with Murray’s trademark combination of reverence and flamboyance.
What: Dr. Jon Robertson Tribute Concert
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University, 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton
Cost: $100
Contact: lynn.edu/events/dr-jon-robertson-tribute-concert
An irreplaceable figure in South Florida music education, Jon Robertson helped propel Lynn University’s Conservatory into one of the most esteemed in the nation. His time at Lynn, which will end at the conclusion of this academic year, caps a 70-year career that began at age 9, when the piano prodigy debuted at New York City’s Town Hall, and continued with performances and conductions at venues from San Francisco to Beijing to Cairo. Lynn will honor Robertson’s legacy at this special farewell concert, in which Music Director Guillermo Figueroa will conduct Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 1 in F Minor” and Richard Strauss’ “Don Quixote for Cello and Orchestra,” with guest cellist David Finckel. The $100 ticket price includes a Champagne reception beginning at 6:30 p.m., and proceeds will benefit the Jon Robertson Endowed Scholarship, which supports the university’s conservatory students.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
