One Week in Miami

Whenever someone comes at you with “Miami’s not a cultural city,” please send them this week’s newsletter. Not only is Miami the white hot epicenter of the art world for the next seven days, we also have two big theater openings, book talks by Dave Barry and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and some spectacular holiday concerts.

For Art Week, I have two final pieces of advice: (1) focus on the things that won’t be here next week (you can see local museum and gallery shows in peace later), and (2) go early and stay to avoid traffic nightmares.

The ephemeral must-see’s include the art fairs, of course, but also the big public installations that everyone will be talking about. The Great Elephant Migration is already wallpapering social media with images of its stunning life-sized replicas of Indian elephants on Miami Beach at 36th Street. The Faena Hotel, which never disappoints with its Art Week program, has a Spanish galleon emerging from the sand and an A.I. “oracle” housed in a golden portal that will answer all of your big, philosophical questions. Not to be outdone, the Design District will be literally awash in public art, including The Kaleidoscope (…Bigger) House, an immersive exhibit that you leave with your own digital memento.

As for that second piece of advice, the one about going early, just accept that it will be a long day and avoid trying to get onto or off of the Beach, or into the Design District - or anywhere, really - in the early evening. If you must change clothes, do it in the car (unless it’s an Uber, clearly)!

Art Week not your thing? No problem! City Theatre’s Black Santa is opening at the Arsht Center, as is Miami New Drama’s Lincoln Road Hustle, set in various locations along Lincoln Road. With Tick, Tick…Boom! still running at Actor’s Playhouse, and the one-weekend-only The Great Yes, The Great No also at Arsht, you have no less than four big local theater productions to choose from. Sprinkle in the beginning of our holiday performances - Seraphic Fire’s beloved Christmas concert and SFSO’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah - and you have one crazy, packed week!

Let’s get planning...

Ongoing Theater

Tick, Tick… Boom!

Actor’s Playhouse opens its 37th season with Tick, Tick… Boom!, the “other” musical by Jonathan Larson (who also wrote Rent and tragically died of a heart defect the day it opened). Packed with great songs like Therapy, this autobiographical work follows Jon, a young composer trying to balance the need to create with life’s complications and heartbreak. Performances run through December 8th.

8pm, Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, $40

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Vinya Table, Francesco, Zitz Sum | Drinks: Armstrong Jazz House, Maíz y Agave

Art Week Fairs: My Top Picks

“The Big Show”: Art Basel Miami Beach @ Miami Beach Convention Center (with Design Miami across the way)

The art world’s most important galleries bringing you their most important, most daring, most controversial, most beautiful stuff. Head straight to the Meridians section to see the pieces everyone will be talking about. And wear your most comfortable shoes!

Dec. 4th-5th for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 6th-8th for General Public ($65-$120)

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Barceloneta | Drinks: Water Lion at the Sagamore, Brother’s Keeper

“The Solid Sidekick”: Untitled @ Beach Tent at Ocean Drive & 12th Street

A smaller, more manageable show (with smaller, more manageable prices) of high quality galleries and artists, in a glowing white tent on the sands of Miami Beach. Bring your sunglasses!

Dec. 3rd for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 4th-8th for General Public ($25-$40)

Nearby Eats: Tropezón, The Alley, The Drexel | Drinks: Swizzle Rum Bar, The Piano Bar at The Betsy

“The Upstart”: NADA @ Ice Palace Studios

My favorite show! New and emerging artists from a non-profit art collective of young galleries, set in one of Miami’s most pleasant spaces, complete with garden hammocks.

Dec. 3rd-4th for VIP’s (Free), Dec. 4th-7th for General Public ($55-$75)

Nearby Eats: Bunbury, Miami Slice, Sokai Sushi Bar | Drinks: The Canvas Bar

“The Easy One”: Pinta @ The Hangar in Coconut Grove

If you want to experience Art Week without the traffic and spending eight hours on your feet, this small show of Spanish and Latin American art in the Grove is for you!

Dec. 5th-8th for General Public ($39), extra $40 for opening party Thursday night, including cocktails

Nearby Eats: Eva, Krüs Kitchen, Bellini, Bartaco (save a spot in line and have a drink upstairs while you wait) | Drinks: Mayfair rooftop, Level 6, Bodega (speakeasy, door at the back behind the counter)

Monday, December 2nd

Patrick Dean Hubbell: You Guide Me Through

Nina Johnson presents You Guide Me Through, a solo show of new work by Navajo artist Patrick Dean Hubbell, at her Little Haiti space. Dean’s work, created with natural pigments from the Navajo Nation, seeks to “redefine the visibility of the Indigenous experience,” according to the artist. Opening the same night will be Josué Sánchez: Guardians of the Sacred Land, a debut solo exhibit for the Peruvian artist and his intricate, narrative paintings.

Opening Reception 6-8pm, Nina Johnson Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Little Haiti

Nearby Eats: Blue Collar, Phuc Yea, Walrus Rodeo | Drinks: Magie, Bar Kaiju

Also on December 2nd:

• The Rubell Museum opens exhibits of new acquisitions from seven important artists, a solo exhibit for artist-in-residence Vanessa Raw, and a rehang of their jawdropping collection, with extended museum hours from 10am-5:30pm.

• Spinello Projects opens Marlon Portales: The Last Man and Body & Spirit, a major multimedia group show, with an opening reception from 12-4pm.

• Art world Instagram sensation “Jerry Gogosian” and New York Magazine’s art critic Jerry Saltz discuss performance art as criticism at PAMM.

Tuesday, December 3rd

ICA and Design District Openings

ICA Miami anchors a host of exhibit openings in the Design District on Tuesday with a special opening night reception in their lovely sculpture garden for five exhibits they have to showcase, including Lucy Bull: The Garden of Forking Paths and Keiichi Tanaami: Memory Collage.

Opening Reception 6-9pm, Institute of Contemporary Art, Free for Members (or $50 to join)

Other (free) opening receptions around the Design District on Tuesday include:

• Alien, a group show of over 20 Asian artists curated by Yesiyu Zhao, at David Castillo (6-8pm).

• Woven, an outdoor sculptural installation with orchids by artist Joyce Billet in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Garden (6-9pm).

• Austin Lee: Psychomachia, a new site-specific mural presented by gallerist Jeffrey Deitch, that fuses painting with digital technologies (6-8pm).

• Break Glass in Case of Creative Crisis, a new exhibit by Gabino Azuela and Jackie Crespo of Can Can Press, at Dale Zine (5-9pm).

• A show of recent work by street artist Slawn, at Saatchi Yates (4-6pm).

Nearby Eats: Michael's Genuine, Cote, Mandolin, Mother Wolf | Drinks: Swan & Bar Bevy, Le Jardinier

Also on December 3rd: 

• PAMM presents a panel discussion with artist Kate Capshaw, whose portrait paintings are on view at the museum, with her subject, local barber Sergei Grant and PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans, at 12:30pm.

• Books & Books presents An Evening with Dave Barry, discussing his new novel, Swamp Story, at 6pm.

• Faena opens its large site-specific installations, including Seletega by Nicolas Galinin, a Spanish galleon emerging from the sands, with a grand opening at 6:30 and an afterparty with Fat Boy Slim.

Thursday, December 5th

Black Santa - Opening Night!

City Theatre and the Arsht Center present the Southeastern Premiere of Black Santa, an absurdist comedy about the ways racial assumptions can claim even our most benign cultural figures. After a 3rd grader named Sharifa publicly declares to fellow classmates at her exclusive private school that “Santa Claus is a black man from Detroit,” all hell breaks loose and the school’s sole black teacher is tasked with creating an ad campaign to make Santa white again. Performances through December 22nd.

7:30pm, Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center, $56-$61

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mangrove, Tâm Tâm, Mignonette | Drinks: Lost Boy Dry Goods, Over Under

Also on December 5th:

• Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami’s largest artist studio site, hosts its annual Art Week “Baker’s Brunch” to showcase its current exhibits and permanent installations, plus artist studio visits, 9am-12pm.

• A talk with artist Laurie Simmons at ICA about The Kaleidoscope (…Bigger) House, an immersive participatory sculptural work in the heart of the Design District installed for Art Week, at 4pm.

• PAMM celebrates Art Week and its blockbuster José Parlá exhibit with its annual party on the terrace, with music curated by Homecoming, at 8pm.

• The U.S. premiere of The Great Yes, The Great No, a surrealist chamber opera that imagines giants of 20th century thought and culture aboard an ocean liner captained by Charon, the mythical boatman of the River Styx, at 8pm.

Friday, December 6th

Lincoln Road Hustle - Opening Night!

In the depths of the pandemic, Miami New Drama triumphed with The Seven Deadly Sins, an innovative roving theater piece set in shuttered Lincoln Road storefronts. Last year, they brilliantly staged a series of short plays in The Rubell Museum for The Museum Plays. Now, MiND is bringing a similar concept to Lincoln Road Hustle, a new play co-written by Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys). Staged in secret locations - shops, restaurants, public spaces - along Lincoln Road, the audience will be “eavesdropping” on the actors. The plot features a massive casino and real estate deal that could change Miami Beach forever, and all the hustlers in its orbit. How Miami is that?

7:30pm, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $45-$95

Nearby Eats: Barceloneta, Tropezón, Paya | Drinks: Brother’s Keeper, Abbey Brewing Co.

Also on December 6th:

• Little Haiti photographer Woosler Delisfort gives a tour of his new photography exhibit, SANCTUARY: Our Sacred Place, at HistoryMiami Museum, at 11:30am.

• Books & Books welcomes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to discuss his children’s book The ABC’s of Democracy with our own Ana Navarro, co-host of The View, at 7:30pm.

• The Betsy Hotel celebrates its art installations for Art Week with a reception from 8-11pm, featuring newly commissioned dance work by former Martha Graham dancer Peter London.

• The Tribeca Festival, in partnership with Art Basel Miami Beach, presents trippy pop duo Magdalena Bay in concert at the Miami Beach Bandshell, at 8pm.

• The Great Yes, The Great No gets another performance at the Arsht Center, at 8pm.

Saturday, December 7th

A Seraphic Fire Christmas

In the spirit of giving, Seraphic Fire, our stunningly good vocal ensemble, gives its audience what it wants - a holiday concert, complete with candlelight and a fan favorite playlist featuring Ave Maria and Adeste Fideles.

7:30pm, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, $65-$85

Neighborhood: The Roads

Nearby Eats: The Gibson Room, Coral House, LPM | Drinks: The Gibson Room, Chateau ZZ

Also on December 7th: 

• Locust Projects hosts a party with artists Alba Triana and Alexandre Arrechea to celebrate their new exhibits and the end of Art Week, 7-10pm.

• The Tribeca Festival presents Brazilian singer-songwriter Luedji Luna and world famous DJ Natasha Horn at the Miami Beach Bandshell, at 8pm.

Sunday, December 8th

Handel’s Messiah

The South Florida Symphony Orchestra rings in the holiday season with its annual performance of Handel’s glorious Messiah (or at least Part I, the Christmas part). Get your “Comfort Ye” fix, courtesy of four dazzling guest vocalists and the South Florida Symphony Chorus. This festive concert also features a selection of favorite holiday pops.

4pm, Broad Center at Barry University, $30-$90

Neighborhood: Miami Shores

Nearby Eats: Edan Bistro, EntreNos, Sunny’s Steakhouse | Drinks: Bar Kaiju, Magie Wine Bar

Happening NEXT Week:

Because life still happens after Art Week!

Friday, December 13th

Miami City Ballet’s The Nutcracker - Opening Night!

The quintessential Christmas spectacular, Miami City Ballet’s The Nutcracker has it all: gorgeous sets, sumptuous costumes, Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, and some thrilling dancing by Miami City Ballet’s precise, energetic dancers. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun, as evidenced by this very “hype” Mouse King vs. Nutcracker promo MCB dancers made with Florida Memorial University’s marching band. If you need to put yourself in the holiday mood, look no further.

7pm, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $40-$250

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mignonette, Brasserie Laurel, Casadonna | Drinks: Lost Boy Dry Goods, ViceVersa

Also on December 13th:

• Both Sides Now at Gablestage (see below) has its preview performance, at 7:30pm.

• Miami Chamber Music Society presents Winter Dreams, an evening of holiday favorites for strings, from The Nutcracker to White Christmas, at Sanctuary of the Arts at 8pm.

• Nu Deco Ensemble, our genre-bending contemporary orchestra, returns to the Arsht with a reimagining of Prince’s Purple Rain album and a special collaboration with guest artist Estelle, at 8pm.

• Seraphic Fire presents another performance of its fan-favorite Christmas Concert, at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, at 8pm.

Saturday, December 14th

Both Sides Now - Opening Night!

An intimate theatrical cabaret, Both Sides Now, weaves together the lives and iconic music of lifetime friends and one-time lovers, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Starring and written by UM Frost School of Music alum Danielle Wertz and rock-folk musician Robbie Schaefer.

7:30pm, Gablestage at the Biltmore, $40-$60

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Luca Osteria, Zitz Sum, Zucca | Drinks: Sospiro Wine Bar, Armstrong Jazz House

Also on December 14th:

• World-renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos joins the New World Symphony for an evening of Mozart and Brahms, at 7:30pm.

• New Canon Collective swings into the holidays with A Duke Ellington Jazz Nutcracker, with its 18-piece big band orchestra playing holiday classics arranged by Ellington and legendary collaborator Billy Strayhorn, at 7:30pm.

• For the first concert in its Starlight Jazz series, the Miami Beach Bandshell presents pianist and composer Jon Cowherd, backed by an all-star jazz ensemble, at 8pm.

• Books & Books welcomes legendary true-crime author T.J. English to discuss his new book, The Last Kilo: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire that Seduced America, at 6pm.

Sunday, December 15th

Kavakos: Mozart & Brahms

New World Symphony welcomes world-renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos for his NWS debut, taking center stage in Mozart’s playful Fourth Violin Concerto. Kavakos will then take the baton and lead the New World Fellows in Brahms’ romantic final symphony.

2pm, New World Center, $75-$170

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Paya, Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi | Drinks: Water Lion at the Sagamore, Medium Cool

Also on December 15th:

• The Opera Atelier presents Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos alongside La Noche y La Luna, a new contemporary dance work by choreographer Leyson Ponce, at Sanctuary of the Arts at 4pm.

• Your final chance to catch Seraphic Fire’s Christmas Concert at the Moss Center, at 4pm.

• Florida Chamber Orchestra presents a special Christmas concert, featuring classic Christmas tunes, lively Latin rhythms, and iconic film scores, at the Miami Beach Bandshell, at 7pm.

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