A former president speaks at FAU, a former “Police” man tours Fort Lauderdale, and the New World Symphony visits the Kravis. Plus, the Boca Holiday Festival and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: Former President George W. Bush
When: 10 a.m.
Where: Kaye Auditorium at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: $75-$250
Contact: 561/297-6124, fauevents.com
As far as live appearances go, there aren’t many better “gets” than the 43rd president of the United States. As the keynote speaker of NobleCon, a financial conference now in its 19th year, Bush will discuss his time in office and challenges facing the United States over the next pivotal year. Noble’s Director of Research, Michael Kupinski, will moderate the hourlong conversation, which is being described as a casual “fireside chat.” But anytime a world leader can potentially make news at FAU is an important one for the university, and for Boca. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early for enhanced security measures. All ticketholders must present a government-issued ID, and backpacks, large briefcases and handbags will not be permitted in the auditorium.
THURSDAY
What: Andy Summers
When: 8 p.m.
Where: The Parker, 707 N.E. Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $29.50-$77.25
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
English guitarist Andy Summers was an integral part of the Police’s breathtaking nine-year run, and his style on tracks from “Every Breath You Take” to “Roxanne”—a patented blend of tape delays, chorus effects and other pedals—all but defined the bright, burgeoning new-wave sound of the 1980s. But he’s also released 13 studio albums under his own name in a productive, if largely under-the-radar, post-Police career, while also exhibiting his photography and penning eight books. For this tour, titled “A Cracked Lens + a Missing String,” Summers will spelunk his copious back catalog, from solo and Police numbers to a bossa nova tune and even a jazz piano standard from Thelonious Monk.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Boca Holiday Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
Cost: $15-$38
Contact: bocaholidayfestival.com
The City of Boca Raton has spared no expense for this family-friendly holiday extravaganza, scheduling a remarkable lineup of activities, rides and live performances throughout a jam-packed two days. With the Amphitheater bedecked in festive décor, the event includes a synthetic ice skating rink, live shows with themes like Disney’s “Frozen” and “Elves Science Show,” rides from a Ferris wheel to Motorized Musical Swings and a carousel, and a bounce house, holiday cookie decorating tent, face painting and more. Santa will be perched on his “throne” to receive tykes’ gift requests, and the Amphitheater will also welcome carolers, a shopping village with local vendors and plenty of food options.
MONDAY, DEC. 11
What: Opening day of “Ann Talman: Elizabeth Taylor and the Shadow of Her Smile”
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 N.W. Ninth St., Delray Beach
Cost: $45-$55
Contact: 561/272-1281, delraybeachplayhouse.com
A multihyphenate drawn to show business like a magnet, Ann Talman is an actor, singer, storyteller and documentary filmmaker with nearly 45 years of credits. But it was her first “break” in the business that helped spur a lifelong friendship—and inspire the show that’s touring Delray Beach Playhouse in December. In 1981, just two years out of college, Talman was cast in the Broadway revival of “The Little Foxes” as the daughter to Elizabeth Taylor’s southern belle. Talman maintained a close relationship with her “stage mom” over the next three decades, amassing plenty of humorous and poignant memories in the process. She’s compiled many of them in her hit cabaret production “Elizabeth Taylor and the Shadow of Her Smile,” in which she performs favorite Broadway and Songbook standards while dishing on Taylor’s many nuptial adventures, the opportunity to wear Taylor’s jewelry to a gala, and much more. The show recently received the 2023 Bistro Award for Outstanding Musical Memoir, and it runs through Dec. 14.
What: New World Symphony
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $60-$95
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Throwing obvious shade at one Ludwig Van Beethoven, Austrian composer Alan Berg once said that there was just one “Sixth Symphony”: that being Gustav Miller’s Symphony No. 6, which premiered in Vienna in 1906. An orchestral masterpiece praised for both its lyrical beauty and percussive thunder—including the infamous “Mahler hammer,” sometimes replicated with a sledgehammer striking a wooden box—the work has become known as Mahler’s “Tragic” symphony. Culturally relevant again, the composer has been in vogue ever since the Bernstein-Mahler Cycle, of which No. 6 is a part, played such a key role in last year’s Oscar-nominated movie “Tár.” In this guest appearance, Miami’s New World Symphony will make the drive up to perform the 80-minute work as part of its 2023-2024 programming, the first full season for new Artistic Director Stéphane Denève, who succeeded the legendary Michael Tilson Thomas in 2022.
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