A new theater opens in Pompano Beach, a cult horror film becomes a splatter-filled musical, and a rare art-house film receives a 4K restoration. Plus, new art at the Norton and more in your week ahead.
WEDNESDAY
What: Opening day of “Four Nights of a Dreamer”
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse’s Stonzek Theater, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach
Cost: $9
Contact: 561/296-9382, lakeworthplayhouse.org
In an era of plenty, when even the most obscure movies are available on home video or some streaming platform, “Four Nights of a Dreamer” remains among the most elusive films from an important filmmaker. Unavailable in the U.S. ever since its brief 1971 release, Robert Bresson’s loose and low-key French-language adaptation of a Dostoyevsky short story has only screened at occasional festivals, and still has not seen a DVD or Blu-ray release in the Americas. So this 4K restoration, unveiled last year, is viewed by cinephiles as a long-awaited revelation. Seen as Bresson’s most romantic and approachable film—the director is known for his slow burns about the human (and animal) condition, across such bleak masterpieces as “Mouchette” and “Au Hasard Balthazar”—“Four Nights of a Dreamer” chronicles the titular evenings spent by an alienated Parisian artist and the heartbroken woman he discovers pondering suicide on the edge of the Pont Neuf. Wednesday’s premiere includes a post-screening discussion; other screenings include 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
FRIDAY
What: Opening night of “Evil Dead: The Musical”
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs
Cost: $41.58-$52.92
Contact: 954/344-5990, thecentercs.com
Director Sami Raimi established his reputation with the Evil Dead franchise, a landmark in low-budget, gross-out cinema that has spawned five sequels, a TV series and three graphic novels to date. In the tradition of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Cannibal! The Musical,” this adaptation leans into the contrast between hummable song-and-dance numbers and a plot rooted in expressive horror: In this case, a terrifying night at an isolated cabin in the woods, in which five college students inadvertently release a legion of demons into the world. Borrowing and tweaking elements from both “The Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead 2,” this high-spirited musical is meant to appeal to both “Dead” heads and those with no knowledge of the series. If you choose to sit in the first five rows, be forewarned: It’s considered a “splatter zone.” This production, from Invision Theatre Company, runs through Sept. 26.
SATURDAY
What: Opening day of “Leslie Hewitt: Achromatic Scales”
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
Cost: $18 general admission, $15 seniors
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
“Achromatic Scales” marks a rare opportunity to engage with the work of this major American contemporary artist. An M.F.A. graduate from Yale University, Hewitt is a Black American artist born in 1977 who, as a member of the “post-civil rights generation,” chronicles its politics through images and text rather than lived experience. This sense of distance informs series such as “Riffs on Real Time” and “Riffs on Real Time with Ground,” which deploy found photographs, archival books, magazines and documents capturing the Black American experience, and presented as layers upon layers, frames within frames. Works from these series will show at the Norton alongside the more-abstract “Chromatic Grounds”—photograms whose colorful boxes contrast and complicate the often black-and-white dichotomies of “Riffs on Real Time.” The exhibition runs through Feb. 22, 2026.
What: The Hive Grand Opening
When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: 335-353 Dr. MLK Jr. Blvd., Pompano Beach
Cost: Free with RSVP
Contact: pompanobeacharts.org/events/the-hive-grand-opening
The community is abuzz (sorry) about the Hive, the latest black-box theater space to open in South Florida. Part of Ali Cultural Arts Center, the flexible venue is the result of a $1.2 million investment to revitalize Pompano Beach’s Northwest Community. To celebrate the occasion, local civic leaders and cultural stakeholders will cut the ribbon on the new theater at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by a day of free activities, including a hip-hop dance class (noon), an excerpt from an original new production titled “Me & My Miami” (1:35 p.m.), an artist talk from a local filmmaker about an infamous lynching incident in Fort Lauderdale (2:30 p.m.), a comedy workshop with comedian Felicia Frazier (3:30 p.m.), and a screening of the documentary “Small Towns Need Poetry Too!” (6 p.m.). There are also events scheduled throughout the day at its partner venues, Ali Cultural Arts Center and Hazel K. Armbrister Courtyard, just steps away. See the above link for the full schedule.
MONDAY, SEPT. 15
What: A Conversation with Florida Supreme Court Justice Renatha Francis
When: 10 a.m.
Where: Lifelong Learning Friedberg Auditorium at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: $10
Contact: 561/297-6124, fauevents.com
Appointed by Gov. DeSantis in 2022, Justice Renatha Francis made history when she became the first Jamaican-American person to serve on the Florida Supreme Court. The role represents the culmination, thus far, of an esteemed legal career that includes service on 15th Judicial Circuit Court here in Palm Beach County, and more than six years clerking for the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. Justice Francis has presided over large dockets and conducted many bench trials during her three years on the court. In this conversation, she’ll discuss her upbringing in Kingston, Jamaica; her decades of experience in Florida’s judicial system; the importance of the courts to our constitutional democracy, and more.
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