Shakespeare meets hip-hop in Broward, the Miami Music Festival mounts an immersive Hans Zimmer tribute, and a Boca theater revisits Woodstock. Plus, Ryan Adams and more in your week ahead.
WEDNESDAY
What: Art & Jazz on the Avenue
When: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Pineapple Grove District, Northeast Second Avenue in downtown Delray Beach
Cost: Free
Contact: downtowndelraybeach.com/artandjazz
Pineapple Grove, often the place to be in downtown Delray, will hum with music and art for four hours on Wednesday evening. Artists are expected to work on outdoor murals; galleries and businesses will stay open after hours; and performing arts will spread across three stages. At Old School Square Park, country act Little Things Duo will open for jazz/R&B outfit the Melinda Elena Band; at the stage north of Hyatt Place, the upbeat blues-funk of Giaco opens for Bianca Rosario & the Smooth Operators; and near the Ray Hotel, the Elixir Duo’s pop, rock and Latin music opens for the pop, funk and dance of the Streetlight Band. At all three stages, Southern Dance will perform in between the two musical acts. And because it’s Wednesday, don’t forget the bustling Delray Beach drum circle, which begins an hour early with a pop-up circle at the Pride intersection (Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street) before moving to its usual spot at Old School Square.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
What: The Bard in Bars
When: 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $35.40-$59
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
William Shakespeare’s writing predated hip-hop by a tad, but had he existed in concert with the genre’s evolution, I think he would have dug it. Take this quasi-rhyming stanza from “Hamlet”: “Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love,” which one can almost imagine being spoken by one of today’s conscious rappers. “The Bard in Bars,” a production from locally based nonprofit the Art Prevails Project, thrives in connections like these, reimagining—or, more appropriately, remixing—Shakespeare’s timeless prose and poetry into the vernacular of contemporary hip-hop. Melding the bard with rap’s greatest hits, and supplemented with music from a 12-piece orchestra, “The Bard in Bars” promises to be a unique and inclusive interpretation for the Shakespeare scholar and hip-hop head alike.
SATURDAY
What: Ryan Adams
When: 8 p.m.
Where: The Parker, 707 N.E. Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $39.50-$69.50
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
It’s been 25 years since singer-songwriter Ryan Adams released his debut, Heartbreaker, a turn-of-the-century statement of warmth, beauty and stratospheric talent that’s often shortlisted among the best albums of the 2000s. Adams proved to be no slouch before or after this pivot point, previously recording three successful albums with the seminal alt-country group Whiskeytown, and since releasing no fewer than 21 LPs. Adams is as creatively eclectic as he is furiously prolific, whether laying down aching ballads or up-tempo rockers, while earning fans as varied as Elton John, Taylor Swift and Norah Jones, despite a history of mercurial and diva-like onstage behavior. (For the benefit of all, it’s best not to heckle him.) Stephen King, another admirer, pinpointed the artist whom Adams most resembles in sound and attitude: “I won’t say Adams is the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young, but I won’t say he isn’t either.” His current tour celebrates Heartbreaker’s anniversary year and features many of its cuts alongside various surprises.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Immersive Space Symphony
When: 5 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Temple Emanu-El, 1701 Washington Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: $31 and up
Contact: immersivespacesymphony.com/miami
Returning for its second year after seven weeks of sold-out performances in 2024, this multimedia program from the Miami Beach Classical Music Festival features live symphonic music supplemented with 360-degree projection mapping, essentially placing audiences in the middle of a sonic and visual feast. Artistic Director Michael Rossi coordinated the projections to align with the music, which for this season spotlights the soaring, cinematic compositions of Hans Zimmer, the two-time Academy Award-winning film composer. Zimmer’s contributions include the music for “Gladiator,” “The Lion King,” “Inception,” “Interstellar” and the recent “Dune” and “Batman” franchises, so expect out-of-this-world projections to accompany the expertly executed notes. The series continues through the end of August.
SUNDAY
What: Peace of Woodstock
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Boca Black Box, 8221 Glades Road, Suite 10, Boca Raton
Cost: $43-$63
Contact: 561/483-9036, bocablackbox.com
More than 55 years after its hallowed “Aquarian Exposition” on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Woodstock remains the definitional moment of the Sixties counterculture—and the launch point for generations of outdoor, big-tent music festivals. Peace of Woodstock, a longtime Tampa-based tribute band, has perfected the art of re-creating the three-day festival’s greatest hits in 90 minutes, from Richie Havens’ acoustic opener to Jimi Hendrix’s searing climax, and classics from Janis Joplin, the Who, Sly & the Family Stone, Santana, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane and more in between. The five band members, playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and other percussion instruments, also dress the part, complete with tie-dyed clothing and peace-sign insignias to spare. So join the party in your own flower-power cosplay. The best parts, compared to the actual Woodstock? You won’t have to wait through hours of traffic to get there, and you won’t be covered in mud when it’s over.
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