Enjoy a century of photography, a “soul”-ful Beatles tribute, and one of 2023’s best films. Plus, the Riptide Music Festival and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: Screenings of “May December”
Where: The Landmark at Merrick Park, 358 San Lorenzo Ave., Coral Gables
When: 2:55, 5 and 7:25 p.m.
Cost: $12
Contact: 786/574-4116
The truth is a hall of mirrors in Todd Haynes’ extraordinary “May December,” a hothouse tragicomedy starring Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry, an actor in a forthcoming biopic who is visiting Savannah, Georgia, to study the life of her real-life protagonist, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore). Decades earlier, Gracie seduced a seventh-grade boy at her place of employment, served time in prison, birthed his child and eventually married him. Still Gracie’s second husband, the now 36-year-old Joe (Charles Melton) is as damaged from the crime as everyone else in the movie, whose lives persist, barely, under layers of unacknowledged trauma. Portman’s uninhibited obsession with understanding every physical and mental nuance of her character, and Moore and Melton’s cracked vulnerability anchor the film, while Haynes studs the drama with ‘70s-style zooms and jagged humor. It opens on Netflix Friday, but for a drive, you can see it early, on the big screen where it belongs.
FRIDAY
What: The Fab Four Performs “Rubber Soul”
Where: The Parker, 707 N.E. Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale
When: Dec. 1, 8 p.m.
Cost: $39.50-$89.50
Contact: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org
One of the benchmarks in the Beatles’ discography, 1965’s Rubber Soul was arguably the Beatles’ first “grown-up” LP—an album that leaned into themes of sex, jealousy and marijuana, both overtly and through veiled innuendo. Embracing an emergent folk-rock sound, it earned plaudits from Bob Dylan, who hailed the elegiac “Nowhere Man” as his favorite Beatles song, and the album’s integration of unorthodox instruments such as sitar, harmonium and fuzz bass paved the way for the revolutionary experimentation of “Sgt. Pepper’s” a couple years later. At this tour appearance, the Emmy-winning Fab Four, one of the most authentic Beatles tributes, will perform Rubber Soul in its entirety, offering album-perfect takes on “Drive My Car,” “Norwegian Wood” and “In My Life,” among many others. The band will also play a set of Beatles’ greatest hits, complete with costume changes to reflect the quartet’s varied eras.
SATURDAY
What: Opening day of “Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder”
Where: Norton Museum, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $15-$18 museum admission
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
Influenced by Roland Barthes’ quote that photographs offer “certificates of presence”—proof that moments, people and places, captured for posterity, actually existed—this wide-ranging exhibition of 20th century photography celebrates the art form’s unique ability to provide “presence” across styles ranging from landscapes and portraits to surrealism and street photography. Judy Glickman Lauder, herself an accomplished photographer and wife of the nonagenarian cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, has amassed one of the nation’s most esteemed and eclectic photography collections, and “Presence” is a dynamic journey, divided into four themed sections, through the image-makers that compel her. Many of photography’s household names—Richard Avedon, Dorothea Lange, Edward Steichen, Nan Goldin, Gordon Parks—are showcased among less familiar artists, for a total of nearly 110 works, which, remarkably, only constitute a fifth of Lauder’s entire collection.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Riptide Music Festival
Where: Fort Lauderdale Beach
When: Noon
Cost: $109-$3,399
Contact: 888/512-SHOW, riptidemusicfestival.com
One of South Florida’s most hotly anticipated festivals returns for another toes-in-the-sand weekend on Fort Lauderdale Beach featuring 22 bands that expand the definition of “alternative” music. The industrious and hard-driving blues-rock duo the Black Keys, and the country-rap phenom Jelly Roll—who secured New Artist of the Year at the 2023 CMT Awards—are the headliners on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Openers include Bleachers, Jack Antonoff’s bright, anthemic pop collective, alt-rock favorites Young the Giant, reggae-rockers Dirty Heads and Sublime with Rome, and Silversun Pickups, AWOLnation, Lovelytheband, Misterwives, Barnes Courtney, Lovejoy, Cannons and more.
SUNDAY
What: Symphonia Concert II: “Flowing Tides”
Where: Countess de Hoernle Theatre at Spanish River High School, 5100 Jog Road, Boca Raton
When: 3 p.m.
Cost:
Contact: 561/376-3848, thesymphonia.org
Expanding on last season’s theme of the Earth and its essential elements, the Symphonia will continue to celebrate nature and the world around us in its four-part “Journey to Discovery.” “Flowing Tides” features Patrick Harlin’s recently composed, seven-movement “Wilderness Anthology,” a combination of live string quartet performance and audio soundscapes recorded in environmentally imperiled destinations such as the Amazon Rainforest and Utah’s Book Cliffs. The program also includes Benjamin Britten’s “Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings” and Mozart’s final symphony, “Jupiter.” Special guests include conductor Laura Jackson and tenor Leo Williams.
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