november 7
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: The eleventh annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival opened last week but now goes into full swing with screenings at five locations around Broward County, mainly at Coral Ridge Theatre (3401 NE 26th Ave., Fort Lauderdale). Among the films making their world or U.S. debuts at the fest are Scott Hick's Shine -- screening at tomorrow's gala at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts (201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale) at 7:00 -- plus Antonio Baiocco's Gently Into the Night, Kevin Spacey's Albino Alligator, and Trevor Nunn's screen version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Tickets to most screenings cost seven dollars. See "Calendar Listings," or call 800-745-4621 for a complete schedule. (GC)
Heritage Festival: This 22nd annual festival moves to bigger digs this year at the West Palm Beach Auditorium (1610 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.), exploding tonight at 8:00 with a concert by Nashville-based alternarockers Jars of Clay, with Matchbox 20 and the Gufs. Widespread Panic performs tomorrow, Ted Nugent takes the stage on Saturday, and the Doobie Brothers perform on Sunday. Other artists include War (November 14), the Mavericks and the Charlie Daniels Band (November 15), and the Bayside Boys (November 16). The festival closes on November 17 with jazz vocalist-guitarist George Benson. The fest also features carnival rides, Native American and Western dancers, art and history exhibitions, and children's activities. General admission to the festival is $7.50; VIP concert tickets range in price from $10 to $17.50 (children under twelve get in free). All concerts begin at 8:00 (Sunday at 7:30). Gates open at 5:00 on Thursday and Friday, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, and noon on Sunday. Call 561-832-6397. (GC)
friday
november 8
Katherine Dunham: In the Thirties Katherine Dunham pioneered the fusion of Afro-Haitian ritual movements with American modern dance. She subsequently became not only one of the most celebrated choreographers in the world but also a highly initiated Vodou priestess. Tonight at 7:30 the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance presents a special evening with Dunham at Fairchild Tropical Garden (10901 Old Cutler Rd.). Dunham, who is now 87, will be on hand to talk with the audience about dance, Vodou, and her commitment to Haiti's environment (she plans to turn her 30-acre property outside Port-au-Prince into the Haitian National Botanical Garden). Films of Dunham's work will be shown, and Miami's Black Door Dance Ensemble will perform a tribute to the choreographer. Paris-based Haitian singer James Germain will sing traditional Vodou songs and gospel. Tickets cost $20. For reservations, call 667-1651. (JC)
New Vision Florida/Brazil: Tigertail Productions presents its second annual Florida/Brazil arts exchange, featuring more than twenty events and running through November 16. The fest kicks off tonight with the world premiere screening of Brazilian director A.S. Cecilio Neto's The Demons' Meeting at the Bill Cosford Cinema (University of Miami, off Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables); screenings run tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 and 10:00, and Sunday at 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00 p.m. Admission is five dollars. Tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. the South Florida Art Center's Ground Level gallery (1035 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach) features the opening of the art exhibition "The Manipulated Word: Text and Image ... Florida/Brazil," which runs through December 21 and features works by Tom Downs, Maria Martinez-Canas, William Keddell, and others. Admission is free. The festival continues November 14 through 16 with dance and music concerts, lectures, and video screenings. See "Calendar Listings" for more events or call 324-4337 for a complete schedule. (GC)
ENATOWAP: Local theater artists Marta Garcia, Octavio Campos, and Nancy Gomez have teamed up to open the Next Stage (7122 Biscayne Blvd.), a space for showcasing original works by dance and theater artists. The first production is ENATOWAP, Garcia and Gomez's look at the impact of current political trends on the future, which opens tonight at 8:00. Garcia directs and Gomez stars with Lela Lombardo and Juan Sanchez in this exploration of identity and individuality, relationships, and survival, as two women are trapped in a dark world in which they exist only to serve the state. Tickets cost $12. Performances run every Friday and Saturday at 8:00 through November 16 and November 29 through December 7. Call 758-0630. (GC)
Dance Alloy/Ann Carlson: Pittsburgh's premier modern dance company Dance Alloy makes its Florida debut in collaboration with dancer/choreographer/performance artist Ann Carlson and the local Lambda Chorale tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach) as part of the Miami Light Project's performance series. Dance Alloy performs Carlson's Antidote, a that blends movement, voice, sound, visuals, and stories from the local community in an effort to destroy gender stereotypes. Also on the program are Carlson's Blanket and Mark Taylor's Damage/Contest/Love's Demise. Tickets cost $18. Call 531-3747. (GC)
Heritage Festival: See Thursday.
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
saturday
november 9
Three by Oshima: The Cinema Vortex film series offers a tribute to leading Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima with screenings of three of his films. Today at noon at the Alliance Cinema (927 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach), the Vortex screens 1968's Death by Hanging, which details the execution of a young Korean worker found guilty of rape and the authorities' re-enactments of his crimes. Tomorrow at the same time and place, the series continues with 1969's Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, a look at the world of young Japanese radicals through a romantic story line that uses hand-held cameras, jump cuts, and complex narrative structures. At 2:00 1970's The Man Who Left His Will on Film rounds out the trio of films; in this utterly dark film, a Japanese leftist becomes obsessed with the film images he finds in the camera of a young radical who leaped to his death. Admission to each screening is four dollars. Call 531-8504. (GC)
Sixo: Singer-songwriter Rene Alvarez offers up a piece of blackened broken heart on his second Sixo disc Rescue. The six-song collection, which features the talents of drummer Derek Murphy and bassist Matt Sabatella backing Alvarez's aggressive acoustic guitars and raspy, emotion-drenched tenor, tackles the politics of love and the wayward ways of the heart. Tonight Alvarez and his band Sixo celebrate the disc's release at Cheers (2490 SW Seventeenth Ave.), with openers the Avenging Lawnmowers of Justice and Tampa band the Doses. Admission is five dollars; showtime is 10:00. Call 857-0041. (GC)
Peace Concert with Sri Chinmoy: Enjoy an evening of music and meditation with instrumentalist, composer, author, poet, multievent athlete, artist, and humanitarian (yeah, but can he dance?) Sri Chinmoy at the first-ever Miami Peace Concert. Since he came to the U.S. in 1964, Chinmoy's musical mission has been to inspire audiences to seek inner peace, and to promote harmony among all nations, religions, and ethnic groups. The man Leonard Bernstein called "incredible" takes the stage tonight at 8:00 at the James L. Knight Center (400 SE Second Ave.). Admission is free (tickets required). Call 891-9933 for tickets and information. (GC)
Tobacco Road 84th Anniversary Festival: The oldest bar in Miami (626 S. Miami Ave.) turns a year older and celebrates tonight with a rock and blues fest featuring seven bands on two stages. New Orleans blues rockers the Radiators headline, along with Koko Taylor and her Chicago Blues Band. Rounding out the bill are Iko-Iko, Manchild, Taska-Marakatu, the Tallboys Blues Band, and Raw B Jae and the Liquid Funk. Admission is $15. Gates open at 7:30. Call 374-1198. (GC)
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
Heritage Festival: See Thursday.
New Vision Florida/Brazil: See Friday.
ENATOWAP: See Friday.
Dance Alloy/Ann Carlson: See Friday.
sunday
november 10
Hot Pursuit '96: Challenge your tastebuds to some of the hottest and tastiest chili dishes in town at the fourth annual Planned Parenthood Chili Cook-Off, taking place today at the Kampong, which is part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (4013 Douglas Rd., Coconut Grove). Surrounding the former home of legendary botanist David Fairchild, these private gardens can be difficult to tour otherwise. Now's your chance: Chefs from several local restaurants, including Chef Allen's, Nemo, Lucky Cheng's, Thai Silk, Pacific Heights, and Natural Food Market, will prepare a variety of chilis (like Thai and Caribbean recipes) designed for this event. And singer-songwriters Mary Karlzen and Amanda Green will serve up original rock, with DJ Mark Leventhal spinning discs later. The event starts cooking at 4:00. Admission is $35 (proceeds benefit Planned Parenthood's teen pregnancy prevention programs). Call 441-6677. (GC)
The Secret Life of James Thurber: New York theater company Symphony Space and the Miami Book Fair International team up once again to present a program of dramatic readings of short stories -- this time, the brutally funny works of James Thurber -- tonight at 8:00 at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). Actors Jonathan Hadary and Tandy Cronyn (daughter of Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn) and director Isaiah Sheffer tackle the war between the sexes and other themes in "The Catbird Seat," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "The Macbeth Murder Mystery," "A Box to Hide In," "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox," and "The Unicorn in the Garden." Admission is free. Call 237-3258. (GC)
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
Heritage Festival: See Thursday.
Three by Oshima: See Saturday.
New Vision Florida/Brazil: See Friday.
monday
november 11
Kareem Abdul-Jabar: Since retiring from the NBA in 1989, basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabar has not only appeared in several films and television programs and worked for numerous charities; he also penned two best-selling books, Giant Steps and Kareem. Tonight at 8:00 Books & Books hosts an evening with Abdul-Jabar as he discusses his latest book, Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement, at Coral Gables Congregational Church (3010 DeSoto Blvd.). The book looks at the lives of extraordinary men and women who typify the virtues of integrity, discipline, and self-respect, including orator and writer Frederick Douglass, abolitionist Harriet Tubman, scientist Lewis Latimer, and Bunker Hill soldier Peter Salem. Admission is free (tickets are required). Call 442-4408. (GC)
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
tuesday
november 12
Barrymore: Tony Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer provides a tour de force performance in William Luce's play about screen and stage legend John Barrymore, opening tonight at 8:00 at Parker Playhouse (707 NE Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale). Directed by three-time Tony winner Gene Saks, the play is set in 1942, with Barrymore recalling the triumphs of his four-decade career, as well as the tribulations of his deeply troubled life. Tickets range in price from $38 to $41. Performances run through December 1; the curtain goes up Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00, with 2:00 matinees Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday (except November 24, when the performance takes place at 7:00). Call 954-763-2444. (GC)
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
wednesday
november 13
The Tokyo Forum: Florida International University's School of Design celebrates the architectural beauty of Miami Beach with its new Rubell Series of lectures and exhibitions highlighting the works of local and national architects and designers at the Sony Music Building rooftop terrace (605 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach). The series kicks off tonight at 6:00 with "The Tokyo Forum," a lecture by and reception with internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Vinoly; Vinoly's exhibition will remain on view through December 1. Admission is free. Call 348-2765. (GC)
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: See Thursday.
Barrymore: See Tuesday.
