june 12
International Hispanic Theatre Festival: The twelfth annual International Hispanic Theatre Festival concludes this week at Teatro Avante (235 Alcazar Ave., Coral Gables) with five final performances. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m., Uruguay's Teatro del Escorpion performs Alvaro Angel Malmierca's Bartleby el Escribiente. Argentina's Grupo Teatral Entramite presents Roberto Barcena and Raul Sansica's production of Fausto on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. The festival wraps up on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. with Argentina's Compania Franklin Caicedo performing the original work Che Tanguito at Actors' Playhouse (Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables). Admission to each performance is $15. Group discussions will follow the first performance by each troupe. See our "Calendar Listings" for play information, or call 445-8877. (GC)
Coral Gables Congregational Church Summer Concert Series: The Coral Gables Congregational Church (3010 DeSoto Blvd., Coral Gables) has answered your prayers for an exciting musical summer. The series opens tonight with 1995 Murray Dranoff International Two-Piano Competition prize-winners Jeroen and Maarten Van Veen. Concerts continue on alternating Thursday nights with jazz vocalist Mark Murphy and his trio, soprano Sandra Lopez, folksinger-songwriter Livingston Taylor, the classical-crossover quartet Quartetto Gelato, and vibraphone master Milt Jackson. Tickets for each concert cost $25. All concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. Call 448-7421. (GC)
friday
june 13
Florida Marlins: A Bronx-transplant cheer for interleague play! For the first time in Major League Baseball history, the American and National leagues will meet in the regular season in games that count. For the Marlins that means a three-game series against the defending world champion New York Yankees. For Marlins fans it's a chance to see heretofore inaccessible stars like pitcher Andy Pettitte, shortstop Derek Jeter, and American League-lifer Cecil Fielder. For migrant Yankee fans it's the Bombers blasting baseballs beyond the Blue Blocker. Beautiful! The batters swing tonight and tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 4:35 p.m. at Pro Player Stadium (2269 NW 199th St.). Before or after each game, stop by the stadium's Club Level Gallery for The Art of the Game, an exhibition of baseball-themed art by local and national artists. Call 930-7800 for ticket information. (RAP)
South Florida Boat Show: Everything that floats, zips, speeds, and splashes in the water will be on view and for sale at the South Florida Boat Show, running today through Tuesday at the Miami Beach Convention Center (1901 Convention Center Way, Miami Beach). The show includes more than 500 midsize power boats from famous makers, plus weekend cruisers, offshore fishermen, high-performance models, personal watercraft, and accessories, all priced to sell before next year's models debut in July. Try your hand in a daily casting contest. Kids of all ages can fish for live rainbow trout in a giant tank. Afraid of the water? Experience the virtual-reality Sportfishin' Simulator. Admission is seven dollars for adults, three dollars for kids ages seven to twelve (kids under seven get in free). Show hours are 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. today, Monday, and Tuesday; 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday; and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. Call 535-0210. (GC)
International Hispanic Theatre Festival: See Thursday.
saturday
june 14
Isabella Rossellini: It would be easy to hate Isabella Rossellini. She's beautiful, wealthy, the daughter of famous and distinguished parents (Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini). She's had successful modeling and acting careers and has been romantically involved with incredibly talented men, such as ex-husband Martin Scorcese and ex-lovers David Lynch and Gary Oldman. It's almost enough to make other, less accomplished women turn chartreuse with envy. All is not rosy in her world, though. Lanc™me dumped her as its representative the second she turned 40, her romantic relationships have lived and died in the public eye, and her acting career has had as many downs as ups. So in the spirit of troubled celebrities everywhere, she's written a book. Rossellini will be reading from Some of Me at Coral Gables Congregational Church (3010 DeSoto Blvd., Coral Gables) tonight at 8:00 p.m. But don't arrive before 7:00 -- you'll interrupt a wedding. Free tickets are available at both Books & Books locations. Call 442-4408. (JO)
Grand SLAM: The winners of artsfusion's monthly spoken-word SLAMs will convene tonight at 9:00 p.m. at Tap Tap Haitian restaurant (819 Fifth St., Miami Beach) for the annual Grand SLAM competition. Poets Steven Buxton, Dominic Traverzo, and Lebo are among the spoken-word artists who will compete in this winners-only final SLAM based on three topics chosen at random by audience members. Following the SLAM, percussive spoken-word group the Weeds will perform. Admission is five dollars. Call 531-7267. (GC)
Sing Out Proud: The 90-member Jacksonville Gay Chorus joins the 65-member South Florida Lambda Chorale to present Lambda's second season concert tonight at 8:00 p.m. at Broward Center for the Performing Arts (201 SW Fifth St., Fort Lauderdale). The program conveys the themes of humanity, diversity, and unity with such songs as "In the Still of the Night," "From a Distance," "We Shall Be Free," "Diversity," and "Finally Here." Tickets cost $10, $15, and $25. Call 954-462-0222. (GC)
Ballet Flamenco La Rosa: Miami's own flamenco dance company presents Mascara y Espejo (The Mask and the Mirror), a multicultural work with music by renowned composer Loreena McKennit. Flamenco, a traditional dance of southern Spain, melds elements of Gypsy, Jewish, and Spanish cultures with North African rhythms and Moorish rituals. In addition to the ballet, the program offers collaborations with Middle Eastern dancer/choreographer Jihan Jamal, African dancer/choreographer Bamba, modern dance/choreographer Hannah Baumgarten, and the Gold Coast Theater Company. Performances take place tonight at 7:00 p.m. and tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). Tickets cost $25. Call 674-1026 for more information. (JO)
Miami Symphony Orchestra: Award-winning pianist Edith Chen joins the Miami Symphony Orchestra to present an all-Beethoven program tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Miami's Gusman Concert Hall (1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables) and tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre (555 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). Music director Manuel Ochoa leads Chen and the orchestra to perform the Piano Concerto no. 5 (Emperor), Leonora Overture, and Choral Fantasia for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra. Chen is a grand-prize winner of several international competitions, including the Ivo Pogorelich Piano Competition, the Richner International Piano Competition, and the Stravinsky International Competition. Tickets range from $15 to $30. Call 667-0015. (GC)
International Hispanic Theatre Festival: See Thursday.
South Florida Boat Show: See Friday.
sunday
june 15
Changing Spaces: Fabric in art can be more than the canvas on which a picture is painted. For some examples of just how innovatively fabric can be used in art, check out the exhibition Changing Spaces: Artists' Projects from the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, consisting of fourteen multimedia, fabric-based works, including Louise Bourgeois's She Lost It (a 180-foot spiral maze that unfurls a story as the viewer moves closer to the center), Maria Fernanda Cardoso's Flea Circus (which features tiny props used by trained fleas), and works by Chris Burden, Jim Hodges, Renee Green, Mona Hatoum, Narelle Jubelin, Betty Semmes, and Lorna Simpson, among others. The Fabric Workshop is an arts organization that commissions artists to experiment with materials, techniques, and concepts associated with fabrics to create ambitious new works. The exhibition is on view at the Miami Art Museum (101 W. Flagler St.) through August 17. Admission is five dollars. Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (open Thursday until 9:00 p.m. with free admission after 5:00 p.m.); and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Call 375-3000. (GC)
International Hispanic Theatre Festival: See Thursday.
Florida Marlins: See Friday.
South Florida Boat Show: See Friday.
Miami Symphony Orchestra: See Saturday.
Ballet Flamenco La Rosa: See Saturday.
monday
june 16
Caetano Veloso: Legendary Brazilian musician and composer Caetano Veloso makes his South Florida debut as part of his Fina Estampa tour tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts (1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach) in a concert presented by the Rhythm Foundation. Together with long-time partner Gilberto Gil, Veloso revolutionized Brazilian popular music and culture when the two founded the tropicalia movement 30 years ago; the music, a blend of Afro-Brazilian, Amazon Indian, and European influences, infiltrated and invigorated all aspects of Brazilian pop culture in the late Sixties. Veloso left Brazil for political exile in London in 1969, returning three years later with an even wider range of influences and ideas. For the past two and a half decades he has enjoyed international acclaim, creating several cross-cultural collaborations. Veloso's latest project, Fina Estampa, is sung mostly in Spanish and draws from the Latin music of the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties that he grew up listening to on the radio in Bahia. Tickets cost $28, $38, and $50. Call 672-5202. (GC)
South Florida Boat Show: See Friday.
tuesday
june 17
Chloe/Giorgio: The New Theater (65 Almeria Ave., Coral Gables) concludes its second annual New Plays Project with the first-ever staged production by Hollywood-based Theatre with Your Coffee. The company, headed by playwright Roberto Prestigiacomo, generally devotes itself to developing new works through play readings; for this inaugural production, the troupe offers Allan Kravitz's Chloe and Prestigiacomo's Giorgio. Tickets cost $10 and $15. Performances run tonight through Thursday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m., and Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21, at 8:00 p.m., with 3:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22. Call 445-5300. (GC)
A Chorus Line: The perennially popular musical A Chorus Line, choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, takes the stage tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts (201 SW Fifth St., Fort Lauderdale). An smash when it debuted in April 1975, the musical ascended to Broadway three months later to become one of the longest-running hits in history; it garnered nine Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for drama, three Drama Desk Awards, an Obie Award, and a New York Drama Critics Award for best musical, among other accolades (and was also made into a 1985 feature film starring Michael Douglas). Performances run Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday through June 22. Tickets cost $35 and $47. Call 954-462-0222. (GC)
South Florida Boat Show: See Friday.
Changing Spaces: See Sunday.
wednesday
june 18
Matthew Sweet: Jangle-rocker Matthew Sweet's music is the perfect soundtrack for (and by) someone who's been on an emotional rollercoaster after a bad breakup. First comes the denial, fear, and bargaining of Sweet's poppy 1991 hit album Girlfriend, then anger kicks in on the harder, darker followup, 1993's Altered Beast, while his ironically titled 1995 disc 100% Fun finally strikes a musical and emotional balance (acceptance, perhaps?). Despite plenty of melancholy, an overall feeling of futility and self-loathing, and a painful recognition that love's not meant to last, Sweet's music is sometimes deceptively happy-sounding, depending on the degree to which he steeps himself in misery and guitars. Commiserate with Sweet tonight at 8:00 p.m. as he sweeps into the Chili Pepper (200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale) to perform songs from his new, undoubtedly bittersweet album Blue Sky on Mars. Tickets cost $12. Call 954-525-5996. (GC)
Changing Spaces: See Sunday.
Chloe/Giorgio: See Tuesday.
A Chorus Line: See Tuesday.
