Beatlemania returns to Delray Beach, the creator of “Sex and the City” dishes at Kravis, and artists from everywhere descend on Sanborn Square. Plus, Palm Beach Opera’s season opener and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: The Fanoos Ensemble
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
The term “Afghanistan musician” is practically an oxymoron. Music is among many pleasures of the free world banned by the Taliban, so to perform his art, Afghan vocalist and harmonium player Ahmad Fanoos had to flee the country—specifically aboard a Fox News evacuation plane during the final weeks of the U.S. presence in the country, in the summer of 2021. Now he’s reunited in the States with his family-centered ensemble, including sons Elham Fanoos on piano and Mehran Fanoos on violin, and Sohail Karimi on tabla. Despite the troubles in their native country, the Fanoos Ensemble considers itself a cultural ambassador to Afghanistan, performing material from the country’s pre-Islamic Buddhist period through contemporary compositions, and supplemented with poetry and visual art. The Fanoos Ensemble may not be able to perform in Kabul, but it has played Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center—and now the Kravis.
THURSDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Beatles on the Beach
Where: Downtown Delray Beach
When: Various event times
Cost: $39.50-$228.50
Contact: beatlesonthebeach.com
Delray’s sort-of annual celebration of all things Fab Four returns with arguably its strongest lineup to date, with an A-list headliner in Cheap Trick on Friday night at the Pavilion at Old School Square, followed by Saturday’s marquee performance, at the same venue, of the Fab Faux, the preeminent Beatles tribute that jettisons wigs and impressions for a focus squarely on the music—including difficult compositions the Beatles never performed live. But the fun extends well beyond this central venue, with satellite concerts for four days at venues including Throw Social, Johnnie Brown’s, the Hyatt, Aloft Delray and even the weekend GreenMarket. The fun actually begins Wednesday at the Delray Beach DDA’s periodic Art & Jazz on the Avenue event in Pineapple Grove, where She’s Leaving Home, a funky Beatles tribute from Finland, will take the stage free of charge at 6:45 p.m. at the Old School Square Stage. The festival also features a drum clinic from Greg Bissonette, drummer in Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band; tributes to the music of Kiss and Eric Clapton; a Beatles art exhibit and book signing; and much more.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Palm Beach Opera’s “Tosca”
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $25-$180
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Remarkably, when Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” premiered in 1900, critics were less than enthused. One musicologist called it a “shabby little shocker;” another called it “three hours of noise.” These days, with “Tosca” having earned its stature as one of the most-performed operas in the world, it’s fair to say the consensus eventually found its way to the correct response. Which isn’t to say it’s a passive few hours at the theater: Set during Napoleon’s invasion of Italy, “Tosca” contains torture, murder and suicide—all before the final act even begins. Another day at the operatic office, you might say, but this is an especially intense romantic drama, which Palm Beach Opera will mount in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Puccini’s death.
What: Candace Bushnell
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $50-$125
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
When it comes to the New York City high life in the 1990s, Candace Bushnell knows where the bodies are buried. The onetime freelance journalist’s witty column “Sex and the City,” published for three influential years at the New York Observer, brought all manner of private affairs into the public eye while promoting an empowered, sex-positive image of women. The rest, of course, is history, as Bushnell, who modeled Carrie Bradshaw on herself, would spearhead one of HBO’s most successful TV franchises of all-time. Now, Bushnell is emerging from behind the curtain in this onstage memoir, which covers her whirlwind history of literature, fashion and sex in the Big Apple.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Boca Raton Fine Art Show
Where: Sanborn Square Park, 72 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 941/755-3088, hotworks.org
Voted among the top 100 art fairs in the United States, this Boca Raton tradition brings approximately 120 fine artists to Sanborn Square, offering a wide variety of juried artworks at all price points. Expect to see work such as Brittany Murphy’s vibrant celestial paintings, Benjamin Maddox’s glass-art showpieces, John Crutchfield’s creative and functional mixed-media chessboards, Andres Arango’s wearable fiber art and much more. The artists will be appearing from around the corner, across the country and even internationally, in the case of Jerusalem-based jewelry designer Stacy Givon.
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