Onstage Chills for Adults

The Culture Edit, October 21st - November 3rd

Author

Susan Bannon
October 20, 2024

I don’t know about you, but I grew out of enjoying horror films somewhere around my twentieth birthday, which makes sense given the prevailing themes of the genre (classics like “your parents can’t help you” and “sex is fatal”). But to avoid being a complete Halloween-Scrooge, I’m always looking for something chilling around this time of year that isn’t just bad.

Fortunately, Zoetic Stage is providing just the thing with The Pillowman: a truly scary, award-winning play by Martin McDonagh, the British-Irish playwright and filmmaker whose credits include The Banshees of Inisherin, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and In Bruges. The play explores the nature of evil, the generational trauma of abuse, and the bottomless well of terror embedded in fairy tales, with zero clown makeup or (visible) dismembered body parts. This production only runs through November 10th, so make your plans to see it now.

Also on tap this week: Nu Deco Ensemble, our genre-bending contemporary orchestra, kicks off its “Nu Deco Lounge” series at the Citadel with an evening of classic rock, and New World Symphony takes over Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center with a 22-year-old piano superstar for a one-night-only performance featuring Rachmaninoff, Wagner, and Holst’s The Planets.

If you would rather dedicate your week to shellfish, the 12th edition of the South Beach Seafood Festival celebrates the new stone crab season with a four-day seafood bacchanal starting Wednesday. Hosted by Robert Irvine, of Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible, the festival brings back fan-favorite events like the “VIP Chef Showdown” and “Crabs, Slabs, and Cabs”, plus an all-new, all-access day pass for Saturday to sample the wares of 40 different seafood vendors.

Let’s get planning...

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Ongoing Theater

Carmen: Genesis of Fire

The Faena Theater presents Carmen: Genesis of Fire, an original cabaret production based on the (unfortunately) timeless tale of passion, jealousy, and murder. Spanish singer-songwriter Mimi Barber leads the evening as Master of Ceremonies, with performances that blend flamenco, cabaret, cirque nouveau, illusion, and percussive live music. Seating at the Faena is two-by-two, and tables can be upgraded with fancy bottle service, so this is definitely a date-night booking.

Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Faena Theater, $100-$300

Neighborhood: Miami Beach

Nearby Eats & Drinks: Make it an all-Faena night, with dinner at Pao or Los Fuegos and drinks at Living Room or The Saxony Bar (or head to Broken Shaker for a change of scenery).

Thursday, October 24th

Miami Film Festival: Producer’s Roundtable

White Elephant Group’s Ronald Baez, with producers Ronald Colom and Tim Davis.

The official Miami Film Festival is in the spring, but once a year is not enough! So they’re giving us GEMS: Making Waves, a five day mini-festival of award-season contenders starting October 30th. As a warm-up, MFF and local film collective White Elephant Group are hosting this conversation with Ronald Colom and Tim Davis, producers of the award-winning films Mountains and Konpa, respectively, on the joys and challenges of making films in and about South Florida. Reception with light refreshments following the talk.

7:30pm, MDC’s Wolfson Auditorium, $12

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: ViceVersa, NIU Kitchen, Tâm Tâm | Drinks: Over Under, Margot

Also on October 24th:

  • Opening night for The Pillowman, Zoetic Stage’s season opener at the Arsht Center (see Sunday feature).

  • Two new exhibits opening at Nina Johnson Gallery- Minjae Kim: Ba-Da and Luis Carabaño: iluminaciones, with a reception from 6-8pm.

  • A book signing and talk on photography as meditation with artist and author Laura Paresky Gould at Dale Zine Shop, from 6-9pm.

Friday, October 25th

Nu Deco Lounge: Symphony of Rock

Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami’s genre-bending contemporary orchestra, returns to the Citadel cabaret space for its intimate - and very popular - Nu Deco Lounge series. To kick off the season, the orchestra takes on the music of rock legends Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Queen, and Fleetwood Mac. I foresee a lot of crowd sing-a-longs with this one! (If you’ve never experienced one of these concerts, they are very high energy, with a lot of audience participation.) Note that general admission prices are for standing-room only. If you want a seat on the floor or the balcony, you’ll need a VIP ticket.

7pm & 9:30pm, the Citadel lounge, $45 or $85 VIP

Neighborhood: Little River

Also on October 25th:

  • The National Ballet of Ukraine, touring the U.S. for the first time in 30 years, comes to the Arsht Center with a selection of its most popular ballet works.

  • Poet, translator, and essayist Michael Hofmann visits Books & Books to discuss his translation of Booker Prize-winning Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck.

  • Zest Collective presents Afro Blue and The Fountain at Miami Theater Center, two dance works commemorating Black music in America.

  • Zoetic Stage presents The Pillowman at the Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center.

Saturday, October 26th

The Planets + Rachmaninoff

Grammy-winning conductor Xian Zhang, 22-year-old Russian piano phenom Alexander Malofeev, and the voices of the Master Chorale of South Florida join The New World Symphony for a special one-night-only concert at the Arsht Center. Rising star Malofeev tackles Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, one of Rachmaninoff’s best-loved works. Conductor Zhang works with the New World Fellows to bring out the ecstasy and devastation of doomed love in Wagner’s Prelude to Tristan and Isolde. (Listen out for the “Tristan chord,” which scandalized critics and audiences at the time.) Finally, the 87 members of the Master Chorale bring Holst’s celestial masterpiece The Planets to life.

8pm, Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center, $65-$215

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on October 26th: 

Sunday, October 27th

The Pillowman

To open the Arsht Center’s Theater Up Close series, Zoetic Stage presents The Pillowman, a truly scary play by Martin McDonagh, the award-winning writer-director of The Banshees of Inisherin and In Bruges. The plot centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state, who is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories - stories that just happen to echo a series of actual child murders in his town. This Olivier- and Tony-award winning play is NOT for children and designated 18+.

2:30pm, Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht, $56-$61

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on October 27th: a chance to watch artist José Parlá paint a site-specific mural for his Homecoming exhibition at PAMM.

Happening NEXT Week:

Because maybe your friends are busy this week. Or you're busy this week. Or this week just seems too soon to pull your act together and make a plan.

Wednesday, October 30th

Miami Film Festival GEMS: Blitz

Starting Wednesday, the Miami Film Festival presents GEMS, a five-day mini-fest of films that are expected to make waves in the upcoming awards season, weeks or months before we would typically get a chance to see them. This year’s lineup includes Oscar contenders in the main categories and multiple international submissions, plus talks, parties, and some retrospective screenings. You can check out the entire program here. Top of my list is this opening night screening of Blitz, a film by Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) about a mother trying to find her lost son in wartime England, starring Oscar-winner Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, Little Women) and newcomer Elliott Heffernan.

7:30pm, Silverspot Cinema, $16

Neighborhood: Downtown

Thursday, October 31st

The Odesa Ballet: Don Quixote

Yes, this is Halloween night, and I understand the likelihood that you’re going to leave your house for anything not Halloween-related is slim. However, if you find yourself wanting to swim against the candy corn tide, you can take in a classic story ballet, Don Quixote, performed by the ballet company of the Odesa National Academic Opera & Ballet Theatre, on tour in the U.S. from war torn Ukraine. If you can’t make it, the company is performing Giselle at the Fillmore the following night.

8pm, The Fillmore Miami Beach, $59-$95

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

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

Friday, November 1st

Sarah Vaughan: A Sassy Centennial

As part of its Jazz Roots series, the Arsht Center welcomes four talented jazz singers, including Grammy-winner Patti Austin, and the Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Orchestra, to pay tribute to Sarah Vaughan, one of the greatest jazz singers of her era. Fans of “The Divine Sarah”, including those onstage, will celebrate her legacy and her greatest hits. You can check out her velvet voice on this supremely seductive version of “Whatever Lola Wants,” recorded in 1955.

8pm, Knight Concert Hall at Arsht Center, $40-$130

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on November 1st:

Saturday, November 2nd

King James

Gablestage’s season opener is a basketball story, or at least a story about how basketball can help two Lebron superfans from Cleveland navigate their tumultuous relationship. A clever, fast-paced comedy by Pulitzer finalist Rajiv Joseph, King James is told over twelve years, from James’ rookie season for the Cavaliers through the championship. Performances through November 24th.

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

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Also on November 2nd: Spanish dancer and choreographer Sonia Franco performs her original flamenco work, SER.RANA, at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

Sunday, November 3rd

MISO Season Opener

Recently designated the Official Symphony Orchestra of the City of Miami by Mayor Suarez, the Miami Symphony Orchestra (aka MISO) opens its 2024-2025 season with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Ravel’s Bolero, under the direction of conductor Eduardo Marturet. Pianist Andreas Boyde joins to perform Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major.

6pm, Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center, $40-$140

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on November 3rd: a second chance to see SER.RANA by Spanish dancer and choreographer Sonia Franco at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

Planning Ahead:

Miami's most anticipated events sell out and those new restaurants you want to try book up. For the ultimate plan-ahead guide, you have my complete Highlights of the Fall Season, but if that’s too much trouble, you can just plan for these two…

November 13th - December 8th

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.

8pm evenings, 3pm Sunday matinees, Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, $40

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

November 16th-19th

The Magic Flute

Florida Grand Opera opens its season with Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an imaginative opera classic that features one of the most famous, and demanding, arias of all time - “The Queen of the Night.” Director Jeffrey Marc Buchman used inspiration from the world of gaming to bring the fantasy elements to life in this new staging. If you plan to attend the Saturday premiere, be aware people get really dressed up. If you’re looking for an excuse to break out the tux or ballgown, this is it!

Various times, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $30-$250

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

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