june 19
Fred D'Aguiar: University of Miami creative writing teacher and local author Fred D'Aguiar explores history, place, and the resonance of a single image in his works. After winning the Whitbread Award for his first novel, The Longest Memory, D'Aguiar received critical praise for his latest work, Dear Future, and cut a niche for himself as one of South Florida's most compelling literary voices. D'Aguiar reads from and discusses his prose based on the art of Doris Salcedo and screens his videos Rain (from a BBC series about Rwanda) and Sweet Thames tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Miami Art Museum (101 W. Flagler St.) as part of "Words & Images," an installation featuring works by D'Aguiar and fellow writers Adrian Castro, Tananarive Due, and Alexander Stuart, and visual artists Magdalena Abakanowicz, Leonardo Drew, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Doris Salcedo. Admission is free. Call 375-3000.
Raul Di Blasio: If it worked for pop princess Tiffany in the Eighties, why can't it work for a Latin easy-listening pianist in the Nineties? Shopping audiences get a taste of sophistication as Raul Di Blasio performs selections from his latest disc, Solo, tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Westland Mall (Palmetto Expressway at NW 103rd Street in Hialeah). The Argentine Di Blasio, credited with single-handedly (or using both hands, as the case may be) popularizing Latin-flavored piano instrumentals, recently set up house in Miami, where he recorded the album (which we think is better shopping music than Muzak). Admission is free. Call 445-4923.
friday
june 20
Come Out Laughing: The Miami Light Project presents its fifth annual Come Out Laughing gay and lesbian stand-up comedy series, beginning with two hot San Francisco-based comics tonight and tomorrow night at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). The remarkably deadpan comic Karen Ripley returns to South Florida for the first time since her 1993 Come Out Laughing debut ; making his own local debut, Mike Uryga takes audiences on a fast-paced romp through his native blue-collar Ohio. The series continues with Maine-native Julie Dano and Boston boy Bob Gautreau on July 18 and 19, and L.A.'s Georgia Ragsdale and Chicago's John McGivern on August 15 and 16. Tickets cost $15. All shows take place at 9:00 p.m. Call 531-3747 .
Further Festival: Woodstock, Altamont, the never-ending Grateful Dead caravan. Those were the days. Relive your youth (or try to duplicate your parents' youth) at the Further Festival today at 4:00 p.m. at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre (601 Sansbury Way, West Palm Beach). Neo-hippies the Black Crowes headline, and folkmeister Arlo Guthrie hosts; Ratdog (the Dead's Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman), Jefferson Airplane's Mickey Hart and his Planet Drum, Bruce Hornsby (huh?), Moe, Jorma Kaukonen and Michael Falzarano, and Sherri Jackson round out the bill. Tickets cost $27.50. Call 561-793-0445.
Ansel Adams: It's very likely that you or someone you know has an Ansel Adams print or calendar. The American photographer's techniques for creating his sharp, breathtaking black-and-white landscapes revolutionized twentieth-century art photography, and the popularity of his work is inarguable (hence the prints and calendars). The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami (1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables) is currently running the exhibition "Ansel Adams: The Man Who Captured Earth's Beauty," a collection of 24 photos taken between 1930 and 1960 that explore the grandeur of the American West. The exhibition is up through July 27. Admission is five dollars. Museum hours are noon to 7:00 p.m. Thursday; 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Call 284-3536.
Festival Rep '97: The play's the thing this month at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts (201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale) as the Florida Atlantic University theater department presents a summer repertory theater festival, beginning with the Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identity, Twelfth Night, tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 and 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. The fest continues next week with Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer's Yentl. The plays will be presented in rotating repertory, with a total of 25 performances scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday (except this Sunday and Wednesday) through July 20. Tickets cost $17. Performances take place at 2:00 or 8:00 p.m.; call 954-462-0222 for times and tickets.
saturday
june 21
Pathways to Pride: S.A.V.E. (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone) hosts the fourth annual Lambda Conference today from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Miami Beach Convention Center (1901 Convention Center Way, Miami Beach). Four-time Olympic gold-medal diving champion Greg Louganis will be the keynote speaker at the conference, which will also feature Miami Herald columnist Liz Balmaseda and Dade County Judge Victoria Sigler, one of only two openly gay judges in South Florida. The conference offers about 25 different workshops on a variety of personal and social issues, plus a business expo and an evening concert by jazz singer Suede. Tickets cost $15. Call 751-SAVE.
Tomata's Lush Life: New Orleans-based artist Tomata du Plenty returns to his former home base of Miami Beach to unveil a series of jazz portraits tonight at 8:00 p.m. at Ted's Hideaway (124 Second St., Miami Beach). An homage to the musical icons that put him "in the groove," du Plenty portrays Charlie Parker, Etta James, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and a bevy of jazz cats and queens in colorful, quirky canvases as only he can. Admission is free. Call 532-9869.
5K Rum Run and Walk: Celebrate the first night of summer with the Rums of Puerto Rico's 5K Rum Run and Walk to benefit Health Crisis Network. The run/walk begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. on the beach at Twelfth Street, travels south along the hard-packed sand to South Pointe Park, north to Fifteenth Street, then back to the park. Following the run/walk, racers and friends can toast one another at a Traveling Rum Party at Island Outpost's Marlin Bar (Collins Avenue and Twelfth Street, Miami Beach). Registration is $20; guests can attend the party for a $10 cover charge. Call 227-1500.
Everglades National Park Tour: The Everglades is a little scary if you go by yourself; it's large and isolated, and full of blood-thirsty mosquitoes and hungry alligators, not to mention a few Florida panthers conceivably pissed off by their near extinction at the hands of humans. So why go it alone when Miami-Dade Community College's Kendall campus environmental center (11011 SW 104th St.) offers a trivia- and history-filled bus tour of the park with Everglades Magazine publisher Cesar Becerra today at 9:00 a.m. Meet at the Kendall campus, hop on a bus, cruise into the park's southern entrance, and venture 44 miles south to Flamingo, where you'll leave the bus for an educational walking tour. The cost is $43, and don't forget to bring lunch, wear long sleeves and pants, and slather on lots of bug repellent. Call 237-0636.
Come Out Laughing: See Friday.
Festival Rep '97: See Friday.
sunday
june 22
Blues and BBQ Festival: The smoky taste of hickory and mesquite harmonizes with the sound of down-home blues today at the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre grounds (1801 NE Sixth St., Pompano Beach). Blues legend B.B. King and his lovely Lucille headline the show, with the Robert Cray Band and the Memphis Horns, Tower of Power, and Blues Time with Magic Dick and Jay Geils rounding out the show. Tickets cost $21 ($10 off for kids ages two to twelve) and $27.50. The show starts at 1:00 p.m. Call 954-946-2402.
Tran-ZEN-dance Summer Solstice Celebration: Club Zen (1203 Washington Ave., Miami Beach), the only "clean-air" club in Miami Beach (smoking is prohibited), hosts a BYOB (bring your own bongos, that is) drum and dance extravaganza in celebration of the summer solstice and the full moon. You health-conscious revelers can get back to your roots, whatever they may be, as you dance till you trance to Caribbean, reggae, and world-beat rhythms. Later enter the Wellness Womb, where you can enjoy a massage or chiropractic adjustment, or quench your thirst with a smart drink or fruit juice (they've got beer and wine for those who must imbibe). The party runs from 5:00 to 11:00 p.m., so you can still get up early for work tomorrow. Admission is ten dollars. Call 673-2092.
Rico J. Puno: Philippine crooner Rico J. Puno was discovered in the mid-Sixties by the revered soul group the Temptations while he was singing at a restaurant. Puno went on to record several albums in both Tagalog and English, frequently interpreting English-language standards in "Taglish" with his signature flair (including his legendary version of "The Way We Were"). For the past couple of decades Puno has kept a low profile, but his loungey song stylings have found new life with nostalgic audiences. Puno performs tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts (1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach). Singer Michelle Aldana, 1993's Miss Asia Pacific, opens the show. Tickets cost $20, $30, and $40. Call 371-9751.
monday
june 23
Four for the Night Benefit: Spend an evening steeped in romance and sensuality with blues and jazz performed by four up-and-coming solo artists tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Living Room at the Strand (671 Washington Ave., Miami Beach) to benefit the Florida AIDS Action Council. Blues and salsa singer Brent Charles, sultry Italian chanteuse Lola Fulin, funk and jazz vocalist Leesa Richards, and Dallas-based singer-songwriter Renee Rollins will belt, croon, strut, and coo original tunes and favorite standards, backed by keyboardist Phil Jelatis and saxman Tony Hayes. Tickets cost $25 and $50 (the latter includes admission to a VIP reception at 7:00 p.m.). Call 891-3666.
tuesday
june 24
Arturo Sandoval: Jazz trumpet master Arturo Sandoval makes a rare club appearance tonight at O'Hara's Pub and Jazz Cafe (722 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale). Sandoval joins Ed Calle and his Double Talk Band for three sets beginning at 9:00 p.m. A petition will be available for you to sign in support of Sandoval's application for American citizenship, which was recently denied by the INS. Admission costs ten dollars. Call 954-524-1764.
22 Jacks: Take a couple of former Adolescents, an ex-Wax, an original Weezer, and a member of face to face and you get 22 Jacks. Doesn't add up? Well, figure it like this: Joe Sib (Wax) hooked up with Steve Soto (Adolescents) to write some songs in late 1995, then enlisted Sandy Hanson (Adolescents), Scott Shifflet (face to face), and Jason Cropper (Weezer) to round out the band's lineup; they then recorded their debut album Uncle Bob (on Side 1 Records). Shifflet and Cropper were replaced by former Fear member Kelly Lemieux and Bill Fraenza (who helped pen and played on some of the tunes on Uncle Bob). 22 Jacks has been touring ever since with the likes of Social Distortion, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Unwritten Law, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls. They'll be back in August for the Warped Tour, but you can catch a preview tonight as 22 Jacks performs at Cheers (2490 SW Seventeenth Ave.). Admission is five bucks. Showtime is around 9:00 p.m. Call 857-0041.
wednesday
june 25
Lollapalooza '97: After last year's white-guy testosterone-rock fest, Lollapalooza returns to the Coral Sky Amphitheatre (601 Sansbury Way, West Palm Beach) with a more culturally diverse show (still mostly guys, though) than it has hosted in years. The main stage spins with techno whizzes Orbital, the melodic and churning Tool, gangsta rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, the inimitable Tricky, aggro-rockers Korn, British popsters James, and reggae children Julian and Damian Marley and the Uprising Band. On the second stage check out the eels, Summercamp, Dr. Octagon, Jeremy Toback, Radish, and Inch. Between all the music, visit the Brainforest, the Greenhouse, the Temple, and wonder at the performance artists and vendor stands on the concourse. Tickets cost $34. Call 561-793-0445.
