SAT 2/5
Mardi Gras is just around the corner, but you'll need to get out those feathered and beaded masks a bit earlier if you are going to attend the New World Symphony's annual fundraising gala, A Musical Masquerade on Miami Beach. The evening begins with a Broadway-themed concert at the Lincoln Theatre (541 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach), featuring overtures and songs by Richard Rogers. You will then don your fancy masks for an elegant stroll towards the Ritz Carlton South Beach (1 Lincoln Rd.) where you can sip cocktails and bid on items in the silent auction before dinner and dancing. Ticket prices seem steep (starting at $500), but "New World needs to raise 50 percent of its annual budget of $7 million to support its educational mission," says Marc Fest, VP of communications. Fest admits the fundraising is challenging, but necessary "if we want to keep up the level at which we pursue our mission of preparing musicians for a career in symphony orchestras." Call 305-673-3330 ext. 230, or visit www.nws.edu. -- Lyssa Oberkreser
Short Films, Big Prize
And no Joan Rivers
SAT 2/5
California is overloaded with awards ceremonies, from the People's Choice to the Academy Awards. Well, not every red carpet extravaganza has to happen in Hollywood. Now the members of our burgeoning South Florida film scene will get their chance to enjoy the spotlight. At the Dinner at the Movies Gala, the finalists of "Collaboration ... a Short Film Contest" will be fêted with cocktails, dinner, a silent auction, and a screening of their movies. The winner gets a face-to-face meeting in Los Angeles with the president of Lions Gate Production and Development, and $75,000 worth of filmmaking prizes. This snazzy function is at the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort, 4833 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. Tickets cost $125 at the door. Call 305-672-9297, or visit www.eincubator.org. -- Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik
Poster Men
SAT 2/5
More than merely functioning as street level disseminators of ideas, posters capture the spirit of an age. "Classic Posters of the Belle poque," opening today at the Lowe Art Museum (1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables), features a trove of gems executed by many of the famed fathers of the genre. These vibrantly colored lithographs -- created as pictorial advertising by artists Toulouse-Lautrec, Villon, and Cheret -- first dazzled pedestrian audiences in Paris in the 1890s. The current collection, assembled over the past three decades by Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator, is making its public debut and the works are as vibrant as when originally printed, a rarity for posters. The exhibition starts at 10:00 a.m. and runs through April 3. Call 305-284-3535, or visit www.lowemuseum.org. -- Carlos Suarez de Jesus
