New World Symphony jazzes up a Gershwin masterpiece, the Broward Center has a nose for wine and humor, and an autobiographical play goes behind the curtain of an actor’s life. Plus, “Some Like it Hot” and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: Opening night of “Some Like it Hot”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $46-$138
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Billy Wilder’s 1959 masterpiece “Some Like it Hot” has long bedeviled Broadway producers eager to translate its subversive humor and gender-bending plot to the stage lights. “Sugar,” the first attempt, from 1972, is remembered as an ambitious flop. But this recent adaptation, with music and lyrics from “Hairspray” hitmaker Marc Shaiman, properly updates the movie’s themes for the 21st century, while retaining its Jazz Age music and ambiance. As in the film, the musical centers on a pair of jazz musicians in Prohibition-era Chicago who witness a mob hit. With mafiosi on their heels, they masquerade as women and hitch a ride with an all-female band. But unlike the movie, a largely Caucasian affair, the disguised bassist as well as the character of Sugar—played by Marilyn Monroe in the film—are Black, allowing the musical to address the struggles of African-Americans to find work during segregation. Flush with tap dancing and period-specific verve, “Some Like it Hot” won four Tonys from its 13 nominations in 2023, and this marks its West Palm Beach touring debut.
What: Opening night of “Come From Away”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter
Cost: $50-$150
Contact: 561/575-2223, jupitertheatre.org
Inspired by real-life events in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, this celebrated musical is set during Operation Yellow Ribbon, in which the Canadian government shut down its airspace for safety concerns, grounding 38 planes and stranding 7,000 passengers in a small town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The locals welcomed their unexpected guests with open arms, each person confronting an unfolding overseas tragedy in their own way. Its bustling cast of 12 includes actors portraying Newfoundland residents as well as the passengers, and this unorthodox musical with a folk-rock score was nominated for seven Tonys on the strength of its uplifting message of hospitality and communion in the face of terror and hate. After numerous national tours, “Come From Away” makes its regional professional debut at Maltz Jupiter Theatre through Jan. 25.
THURSDAY
What: Opening night of “In Pour Taste”
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $112.10-$148
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
A bouquet that has nothing to do with flowers, a body that has nothing to do with our meat sacks, a bunghole that has nothing to do with Beavis & Butt-head. Wine terminology can be intimidating for the non-oenophile; one online glossary lists 300 terms associated with the art of wine making and consumption. Luckily, comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanaugh are here to help parse the difference between tannins and resveratrol, with plenty of jokes in between sips. Presented in the Broward Center’s intimate Abdo New River Room, “In Pour Taste” features the cheeky comics and a genuine wine expert holding court on all things vino, in a show designed to appeal to sommeliers and wine newbies alike. The best part? The ticket price includes tastings of five wines and a personal charcuterie board (or vegetarian board), with an alcohol-free option available as well. The show runs through Jan. 25.
SATURDAY
What: New World Symphony: “Rhapsody in Blue”
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
Cost: $80-$165
Contact: 305/673-3330, nws.edu
Classical and jazz commingle at this signature program from New World Symphony’s 2025-2026 season, in which one of orchestral music’s most iconic compositions meets the freewheeling spirit of improvisation. George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which premiered in 1924 in an afternoon program titled “An Experiment in Modern Music,” has lost none of its galvanic power across a century of interpretations, and this reimagined take will stretch its notes in new directions. Marcus Roberts, a jazz pianist rooted in the swing tradition, will create an improvised sonic tapestry around “Rhapsody in Blue” through his intrepid trio of drummer Jason Marsalis and bassist Rodney Jordan. The program also includes Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” suite and Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown and Beige,” described by its composer as a sweeping history of African Americans, all under the baton of acclaimed conductor Andrew Grams.
SUNDAY
What: “WHY: An Actor Preparing”
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach
Cost: $35
Contact: 561/450-6357, artsgarage.org
From his first onstage appearance as Travis, the son of protagonist Walter Younger, in a 2003 production of “A Raisin in the Sun,” Davion Tynarious Brown has been involved in myriad aspects of the dramatic life for more than 20 years—as an actor, director, writer, choreographer and theatre educator. His roles, more than 40 deep, have ranged from Bob Cratchit in “A Christmas Carol” to Guildenstern in “Hamlet.” That’s a lot of experience to inform his autobiographical two-character show “WHY: An Actor Preparing,” a meta play, set in a studio apartment, that captures the process of his craft, warts and all. The show’s title conjures Constantin Stanislavski’s “An Actor Prepares,” one of the seminal texts on acting of the 20th century, and Brown’s play updates its ideas for the 21st. Brown explores the fears and anxieties of the acting life, the vagaries and complexities of the theatre industry, and the eternal balance between family life and creative life, while serving as a clarion call—vital, given our ongoing crisis in cultural funding—to the importance of the arts in our lives.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
