Delray’s funniest fundraiser returns, kinetic art whirls and twirls in Boynton Beach, and more than 170 artists descend on Mizner Park. Plus, a world premiere from Theatre Lab and more in your week ahead.
FRIDAY
What: Laugh with the Library
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Opal Grand Resort & Spa, 10 N. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach
Cost: $500 and up
Contact: 561/266-0194, delraylibrary.org/classes-programs/laugh
With his ever-shifting facial hair and mop of curly locks, T.J, Miller looks like he could have walked off a hippie commune in 1968—and can step straight out of central casting to play any number of countercultural freethinkers, slackers and ne’er-do-wells. He also has been gifted with a distinctive voice, which works as well in stoner comedy as it does in animated cinema: His vocal cords have helped the “How to Train Your Dragon series” and “The Emoji Movie,” and the rest of him has appeared on films from “Ready Player One” to the “Deadpool” franchise to “Cloverfield;” he also spent three memorable years on HBO’s “Silicon Valley.” But as he says, standup remains his first love, and his most essential skill. See him ply it at this signature fundraiser for the Delray Beach Public Library, whose tickets include cocktails and dinner (including a sake and sushi room) co-chaired by local tastemakers Paige Eber and Amanda Perna.
What: Opening night of “Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 N.W. Ninth St., Delray Beach
Cost: $45
Contact: 561/272-1281, delraybeachplayhouse.com
In the Jimmy Buffett mythos, Margaritaville isn’t so much a physical place as a state of mind, or perhaps an aspiration for a post-retirement oblivion. For Parrotheads, it’s a “radiant beacon for their laid-back, frozen-drink-sipping, 3/4-time way of life,” to quote Maxim Mower in an analysis for the website Holler. Now, thanks to this jukebox musical, it is, in fact, a place: a run-down hotel in an unnamed Caribbean island, where the show’s male protagonists, a singer named Tully and a bartender named Brick, toil—working hard when they’d rather be hardly working, in the true Buffett spirit. “Escape to Margaritaville” follows their travails as they try to woo a pair of vacationing ladies: Rachel and Tammy, the latter of whom is set to be married to a controlling fiancé named Chadd. That’s pretty much all you need to know about this breezy and appropriately escapist musical, whose main draw is the 24 iconic Buffett tunes performed by the cast, including “Fins,” “Son of a Son of a Sailor” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Delray Beach Playhouse’s production runs through Feb. 23.
SATURDAY
What: Opening night of “Two of Us on the Run”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Theatre Lab at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: $35-$45
Contact: 561/297-6124, fauevents.com
A female-driven open-road dramedy that recalls “Thelma & Louise” and “Drive-Away Dolls,” this world-premiere play from Florida’s own Steve McMahon fits squarely into Theatre Lab’s adventurous wheelhouse. Its central characters, known only as J and C, flee the boredom of their small-town lives in search of the “real” America. What they find disrupts their own preconceptions as well as the very fabric of reality. As their fantasies blur along with the pavement stripes of the open road, the two friends become unlikely bank robbers and literal bomb-throwers, while meeting a cryptic bartender named Brian and debating feminism and their uncertain future. Or do they? Real America is a slippery place indeed; you’ll just have to see the production, helmed by award-winning director Margaret Ledford, to discover where it leads. It runs through Feb. 16.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Boca Raton Museum of Art Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Downtown Boca Raton, at 501 Plaza Real
Cost: Free
Contact: bocamuseumartfestival.com
More than 170 artists from at least 10 countries will descend on Mizner Park this weekend for the museum’s 38th-annual art festival, the only event of its kind organized by the city’s preeminent art institution, and featuring only artists vetted by the museum. Artwork in mediums including ceramics, wood, fiber, glass, jewelry, painting, photography and sculpture will be available for sale in this strolling event throughout the Mizner Park grounds. Stilt walkers and a drummer will parade through the park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and activities including a face painting station, coloring station, caricature station and balloon twisting station ensure that the youngest of art enthusiasts will be catered to as well. Additionally, visitors receive a 50-percent discount on Boca Museum admission during the event, should they wish to enjoy its celebrated exhibitions, including “Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and its Empire.”
What: International Kinetic Art Experience
When: Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: 100 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach
Cost: Free
Contact: kineticboyntonbeach.com
The art on display at this seventh biennial exposition in Boynton Beach will be a literally moving experience: Kinetic art, by its definition, constitutes artworks with moving parts embedded in them, often powered by wind, a motor or interaction with the spectator. Kinetic artworks may also include virtual or “apparent” movement by having some fun with our optic nerves. All forms of this exciting style of contemporary art will be on display, large and small, indoor and outdoor, at this gathering, which features walking tours of the artworks, artist talks, live music from the Valerie Tyson Band, children’s activities courtesy of ARTnest, food trucks on site and more.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
