Delray celebrates Pride Month with some crocodile rock, and Summer Shorts goes hyperlocal. Plus, Walker Hayes, a Hitchcockian thriller and more in your week ahead.
THURSDAY
What: “Let’s Talk About Water”
Where: Cornell Museum, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
When: 6 p.m.
Cost: Free, but RSVP required
Contact: 561/243-1077, downtowndelraybeach.com
If you haven’t made it to the Cornell Art Museum’s “The World of Water” yet, this Thursday might be the most constructive evening to visit. The museum’s second exhibition fully curated by its new partners in the Downtown Development Authority, “The World of Water” spotlights mostly Florida artists—all of whom make their museum debuts—whose work explores this essential, life-giving and often threatened natural element. This hour-long special event promises a deeper dive, so to speak, complete with thoughtful discussions centered on eco-consciousness. Imagine you’re listening to one of those QR-code enabled museum tours through a headset—except the information is actually coming to you live, in person, in the moment. RSVP here by Wednesday to ensure your spot.
FRIDAY
What: Opening night of “Summer Shorts”
Where: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $50
Contact: 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org
Always looking to mix up the formula of its decades-long tradition of ten-minute short plays, City Theatre’s annual and beloved “Summer Shorts” program is taking on a hyper-local tenor this year. All eight of its plays have been scripted by emerging Miami playwrights, and all are set within the 305—hence the program’s subtitle, “Homegrown Edition.” Four directors helm a cast of diverse talent through such plays as Lolita Stewart-White’s “7,” about a bride-to-be who may be having cold feet at the altar; Ivan R. Lopez’s “I Found This on the Web,” a zeitgeisty comedy about A.I. and the dating world; Joel Castillo’s “Balloo(n),” a culture-clashing, helium-aided romance; “2201: Xibala,” a sci-fi adventure from Chris Anthony Ferrer; and more. “Summer Shorts” runs through June 25.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Screenings of “Chile ‘76”
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach
When: Various show times
Cost: $9
Contact: 561/296-9382, lakeworthplayhouse.org
“Chile ‘76” tells you both the location and the timestamp of Manuela Martelli’s debut feature—a straightforward title for an anything but straightforward movie. Set three years into the brutal military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, “Chile ‘76” centers on Carmen, a well-heeled bourgeois grandmother and flight attendant who lives in comfort in Santiago, until her friend, a local priest, asks her to provide care and shelter for a wounded revolutionary. By harboring this enemy of the state, Carmen is forced to lie to authorities and effectively dig herself into a hole of surveillance and paranoia of which there is little escape. “Chile ‘76” has been called Hitchcockian in its command of onscreen suspense and its many thrilling developments, and it has the added emotional wallop of a fact-based provenance.
SATURDAY
What: Pride Fest and Concert
Where: Pineapple Grove at Northeast Second Avenue, Delray Beach
When: Starts at 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/243-7250, downtowndelraybeach.com
Delray Pride Fest returns for its third year with a day of festivities to celebrate and support Delray’s LGBTQ+ community. The free event will begin in the Pineapple Grove district, where attendees can grab food truck bites and enjoy live music and dance as they make their way to the Pavilion at Old School Square, where Elton John tribute band Rocketman will be performing. John, of course, is one of the music world’s preeminent supporters of the LGBTQ community, and the performer known as Rocketman is arguably Florida’s finest interpreter of his music; he plays wearing costumes actually owned by John, and he’s been endorsed by the Elton John Fan Club and Elton John AIDS Foundation. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
What: Walker Hayes
Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
When: 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $89 and up
Contact: 561/393-7890, mizneramp.com
Of all music genres, country artists tend to most fashion themselves as tribunes of the people, even when the singers themselves are multimillionaires. But Walker Hayes has seriously burnished his working-class credibility. In 2010 and 2011, Hayes appeared on the Hot Country Charts with his first two singles, “Pants” and “Why Wait For Summer.” When neither charted within the top 40, Hayes’ record label, Capitol, dropped him—and Hayes found himself humbly working the 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. shift at a Costco, with four children to support and a fifth on the way. A testament to the fleeting glories and mercurial vagaries of the music business, Hayes ultimately emerged on top: His 2016 hit “You Broke Up With Me” would go platinum, the precursor to his 2021 LP, Country Stuff, which, fingers crossed, has cemented his place in the country music annals and away from the time-clock at big-box stores. See Hayes play hits like “Fancy Like” and “U Gurl” at this local appearance featuring opening acts Ingrid Andress and Breland.
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