february 6
Miami Film Festival: The fourteenth annual Miami Film Festival continues its dominion over the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts (174 E. Flagler St.) tonight at 7:00 p.m. with American director Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers and at 9:30 p.m. with Argentine director Mario Benedetti's Wake Up, Love (Despabilate Amor). Screenings continue through February 9 with a dozen more films, including the reissue of Roberto Rossellini's 1946 classic Open City (Saturday at 11:30 a.m.) and a 30th anniversary showing of Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde (Saturday at 4:30 p.m.). The festival also features a series of lectures at the Gusman Center and at Miami-Dade Community College's Wolfson Campus (300 NE Second Ave.), including a daylong seminar on videomaking on Saturday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Admission to all film screenings is $7 (except for the closing-night film, which costs $25); all lectures are free unless otherwise noted. See our "Calendar Listings" for a complete schedule of events, or call 377-FILM. (GC)
Miami Spring Home and Garden Show: Before you start your spring cleaning, think about remodeling, redecorating, and gardening at the fourteenth annual Miami Spring Home and Garden Show, running today through Sunday at the Coconut Grove Convention Center (2700 Bayshore Dr.). The show highlights new products and creative ideas for the house, as well as the garage, patio, and garden, with lectures by master gardener Jerry Baker (who suggests using human hair, mouthwash, chewing tobacco, and birth control pills to help plants grow). Baseball fans can meet Florida Marlins pitcher Al Leiter on Saturday at 6:00 p.m., while Spanish-language soap opera watchers can meet actor Carlos Ponce from Sentimientos Ajenos on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Admission is seven dollars for adults, three for kids six to twelve (free for tots five and under). Show hours are 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. today and tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. Call 666-5944. (GC)
Silence of the Mambo: The Adunde Theatre Company makes its debut with this production of local Haitian-American actress/playwright and company artistic director France-Luce Benson's drama about the terror of life under the Duvalier dictatorship, opening tonight at 8:00 p.m. and running through Sunday at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center Theatre (6161 NW 22nd Ave.). By the age of 22, Benson has not only established the Adunde Theatre Company and performed with the Coconut Grove Playhouse's company, the Public Theatre of Fort Lauderdale, and the Fantasy Theatre Factory, but has also written five plays. Tickets cost $20 for tonight's opening, $12 for tomorrow's and Saturday's 8:00 p.m. performances, and $60 for Sunday's 2:00 matinee to benefit the National Foundation for Children with AIDS. Call 238-0731. (GC)
friday
february 7
Laugh Out Loud!: Laugh till you burst tonight at 8:00 at the Lincoln Theatre (555 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach) as four top comedians join forces for a good cause. Comics Bob Smith (the first openly gay comedian to appear on the Tonight Show and to have his own HBO comedy special), Elvira Kurt, Michele Balan, and Ant come together to perform in this show, which is being taped for an hourlong cable television special. A surprise celebrity will host the evening. Tickets cost $28. All proceeds benefit the People With AIDS Coalition. Call 673-3331. (GC)
Marianne Faithfull: Considered the "It Girl" of the Sixties (which raises the question, Who is the "It Girl" of the Nineties? Drew Barrymore? Sandra Bullock? RuPaul?), Marianne Faithfull has been through hell and back. Heroin addiction, depression, suicide attempts, an affair with Mick Jagger -- it's enough to make a girl sing the blues. Best-known for her hit 1979 album Broken English, Faithfull forges on with her latest release, 20th Century Blues, in which she explores the dark and vibrant cabaret music of Weimar Germany in songs by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. (For more, see "Music," page 85). Faithfull performs tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). Tickets cost $25. Call 531-3747. (GC)
Justin Hayward: Singer-songwriter Justin Hayward just can't keep it all in his head. Frontman for the artsy and ethereal Moody Blues for more than three decades, Hayward launched a solo career simply because he writes so much material that he can't get the band together frequently enough to record it all. Live out your wildest dreams as Hayward performs an acoustic lunchtime set of Moody Blues hits, as well as selections from his latest solo album The View from the Hill (his followup to 1991's Keys to the Kingdom) today at 12:30 p.m. at Borders Books & Music (2240 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale). Admission is free. Call 954-566-6335. (GC)
Miami Film Festival: See Thursday.
Miami Spring Home and Garden Show: See Thursday.
Silence of the Mambo: See Thursday.
saturday
february 8
Bob Marley Festival: The memory and legacy of reggae genius Bob Marley will be honored today at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater (301 Biscayne Blvd.) during the fourth annual Bob Marley Festival. This year's bill includes a mix of newcomers and stalwarts, from the legendary trio Culture (Two Sevens Clash), Maxi Priest, and Julian to Ziggy Marley's Melody Makers and Bob's mom, Cedella Marley Booker. Expect cameos from Fugees' vocalist Wyclef and actor Woody Harrelson (huh?), and performances by Mad Cobra, Johnny Dread, the Abyssinians, Safari, and surprise guest appearances. Admission to the festival is three cans of food and five dollars, all of which will benefit Camillus House. Children under twelve are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Gates open at 1:00 p.m. Call 247-1105 for more information. (JF)
SexSLAM: Words of lust and longing linger on the tongues of hot-blooded poets as the artistic group known as artfusion hosts its monthly spoken-word SLAM tonight at 9:00 p.m. at Tap-Tap Haitian restaurant (819 Fifth St., Miami Beach). The idea behind the SLAM is simple: On the second Saturday of each month, local wordsmiths face off in a heated contest of poetic skills. Usually there is a predetermined topic on which works must be loosely or specifically based (this month's hot topic, so to speak, is sex and desire). Admission is five dollars. Call 531-7267. (GC)
Jazz Under the Stars: Cool jazz rings out while the animals prowl at the tenth annual Jazz Under the Stars concert tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Metrozoo (12400 SW 152nd St.). Uruguayan harp king Roberto Perera, Brazilian jazz artist Nando Lauria, and jazz saxophonist Najee round out the bill. Tickets cost $15. Call 238-0703. (GC)
Open Axis: Space Cadette Records (7339 SW 45th St., suite A) is more than just a recording studio. It's an all-purpose artists' space with rehearsal rooms, a record store, visual art exhibitions, and a bevy of resources for visual artists and musicians. Tonight at 8:00 p.m., Space Cadette opens an exhibition of paintings by local artists Beatriz Monteavaro and Gavin G. Perry with a reception and a punk and hardcore concert, featuring performances by Boston band Karate and local groups Ed Matus' Struggle, Subliminal Criminal, Nobuhjest, and Yusef's Well. The exhibition, titled "Filling," remains on view through March 9. Admission is five dollars. Call 261-7587. (GC)
Regis Philbin: The Count of Cool, the Emperor of Excitement, the incomparable Regis Philbin shares his uniquely Regis outlook on life today at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. at Bailey Concert Hall (3501 SW Davie Rd., Davie). Philbin has hosted more television talk shows than just about any other human alive; his nationally syndicated Live with Regis and Kathie Lee is the top-rated morning program in the New York market. Today South Florida audiences will be delighted as Rege sings (accompanied by an eleven-piece orchestra, no less!), Rege tells stories, and Rege cracks jokes. Unfortunately for all, Rege leaves the universally beloved Kathie Lee at home. But don't despair -- six lucky audience members will be chosen to participate in wacky talent contests at various intervals during the show; the ultralucky winners will be flown to New York and given VIP passes to Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Tickets cost $28 and $30. Call 888-475-6884. (GC)
Miami Film Festival: See Thursday.
Miami Spring Home and Garden Show: See Thursday.
Silence of the Mambo: See Thursday.
Marianne Faithfull: See Friday.
sunday
february 9
99.9 KISS Country Chili Cook-off: KISS (WKIS-FM 99.9) mixes up an afternoon of music, food, and fun at the twelfth annual Chili Cook-off at C.B. Smith Park (900 Flamingo Rd., Pembroke Pines). Burnin' Daylight opens the show, followed by fourteen-year-old singing phenom LeAnn Rimes and vocal superstar Marty Stuart. Hillbilly beatniks BR5-49 take the stage next, warming up the crowd for country music's most successful band, Alabama. While enjoying the music, load up on protein as more than 100 chili teams cook up their specialties and compete for prizes. Tickets cost $18. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. All proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls clubs of Broward County. Call 621-4300. (GC)
Miami Film Festival: See Thursday.
Miami Spring Home and Garden Show: See Thursday.
Silence of the Mambo: See Thursday.
monday
february 10
Frank McCourt: Best-selling author Frank McCourt was born in Depression-era Brooklyn to Irish immigrants who soon returned to Ireland and raised their children in the slums of Limerick. McCourt's childhood was one of extreme poverty and squalor, but he and all of his surviving siblings went on to successful lives. He masterfully recounts his woeful Irish Catholic childhood in his deeply moving yet witty autobiography Angela's Ashes: A Memoir (a sequel is in the works). Tonight at 8:00 p.m., Books & Books hosts an evening with McCourt at the Coral Gables Congregational Church (3010 DeSoto Blvd., Coral Gables). Admission is free. Call 442-4408. (GC)
tuesday
february 11
Hymnody of the Earth: Folk composer Malcolm Dalglish, one of the world's foremost hammer dulcimer players, joins the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami to perform a program of original works tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Miami's Gusman Concert Hall (1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables). Dalglish's innovative arrangements of traditional folk music emphasize the music's international roots. Tickets cost $15. Call 284-4162. (GC)
wednesday
february 12
Masterworks in Haitian Art: The Davenport Museum in Iowa possesses this country's largest public collection of Haitian art. Works by well-known artists such as Hector Hyppolite, Wilson Bigaud, iron sculptors Gabriel Bien-Aime and Serge Jolimeau, and Miami's own Edouard Duval-Carrie elucidate the island's history and the artists' affinity with the Vodou religion. Seventy works from the collection are on exhibit at the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum (1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables), where Yale University professor Robert Farris Thompson will give a lecture on Vodou art tonight at 8:00 p.m. Admission to tonight's lecture is ten dollars. (Reservations are required; call 284-6981 for more information.) The exhibition is on view through March 30. Museum admission is five dollars. Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, except Thursday, when hours are noon to 7:00 p.m., and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Call 284-3603. (JC)
Tartuffe: Moliere's stylishly biting satire of religious hypocrisy in Paris in the 1660s opens tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Miami's Jerry Herman Ring Theatre (1380 Miller Dr., Coral Gables). Here's a quick synopsis for those of you who didn't read this in high school (or can't remember high school): Con man Tartuffe insinuates himself into the Paris home of the wealthy Orgon, where he turns around and tries to marry his daughter, seduce his wife, and swindle the deed to his property. The fun here is in the language -- Pulitzer Prize-winning Moliere translator Richard Wilbur manages to retain the scathing brilliance and rhythmic rhyming of the French original. Tickets cost $12 and $15. Performances continue through February 15, then February 18 to February 22 at 8:00, with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on February 15 and February 22. Call 284-3355. (
