Samara Joy and a Movable Art Feast

The Complete List: Week of February 12th-18th

Author

Susan Bannon
February 11, 2024

Gen Z jazz celebrity Samara Joy brings her romantic, old-school songbook to the Moss Center this weekend, close enough to February 14th for a Valentine's outing. Other romantic options this week include nude figure drawing at the Bass Museum and the last week of Two Sisters and a Piano at the Colony Theater.

The Progressive Art Brunch, one of the best art events in town, is on this Sunday. Fifteen local galleries sprinkled across Little Haiti and Allapattah open their doors for a roving art party. It's a great way to see what Miami's independent galleries have on.

Seraphic Fire is also back this week with its Enlightenment Festival celebrating baroque works, and the Detroit Symphony plays the Arsht Center with a cello "superstar".

Let's get planning...

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Continuing this Week:

Two Sisters and a Piano - Last Performances!

Miami New Drama presents Two Sisters and a Piano, a gripping play set amidst the Pan American Games and the Russians’ departure from Cuba. The story follows the cat-and-mouse game between novelist Maria Celia and a charismatic military officer, whose infatuation blurs the lines between passion and politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz weaves an authentic tale of oppression, human spirit, and the intertwining fates of two sisters awaiting freedom in a world of shifting global politics.

Performances through February 18th, Colony Theater, $47-$77

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Mister O1, MILA, Joliet | Drinks: MILA, Barceloneta, Medium Cool

Legally Blonde The Musical

Shove your inner cynic deep into your pink handbag and come enjoy this Actors' Playhouse production of Legally Blonde The Musical. It's an infectiously fun crowd pleaser that happens to have fantastic songs and really impressive dance numbers - basically everything your musical theater heart desires. In pink!

Performances through February 25th, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theater, $100

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Thursday, February 15th

National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 Honorees

Each year, the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program recognizes five exceptional debut fiction authors, selected by past National Book Award and 5 Under 35 honorees. Miami Book Fair and Books & Books bring us an evening of readings and conversation with these talented young authors. Moderated by Natalie Green, Director of Programs & Partnerships at the National Book Foundation. RSVP required.

8pm, Books & Books Coral Gables, Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Bass Third Thursdays | Featuring Raw Figs

Third Thursdays at the Bass Museum give you a chance to browse the museum's collections after hours free of charge, plus enjoy special programming that changes each month. This month's edition features a live figure drawing class (yes, they're nude) by Raw Figs, a local figure drawing pop-up that hosts events around town. Bass Museum members can also access the Sip-N-Chill Member’s Lounge for complimentary wine courtesy of Dry Farm Wines. Spots are limited for figure drawing, so be sure to reserve your spot in advance.

6-9pm, Bass Museum of Art, Free Museum Admission, $20 suggested donation for figure drawing

Neighborhood: Miami Beach

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra comes to the Arsht Center with a program of exciting contemporary work and a cello "superstar". The program opens with Emerge by Michael Abels, a Pulitzer Prize winner best known for his genre-defying movie scores for Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Us and Nope. Then, this “new generation's cello superstar” (Agence France-Presse) Alisa Weilerstein plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Pre-show conversation with principal symphonic trumpeter Dr. Pamela Smitter begins one hour before the performance.

8pm, Adrienne Arsht Center, $50-$170

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Enlightenment Festival: A Scarlatti Family Affair

Seraphic Fire, Miami's beloved and stunningly-good vocal ensemble, presents A Scarlatti Family Affair, part of their Enlightenment Festival, celebrating works by father and son Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. Captivating and meditative, these intricate Baroque vocal pieces provide a pause from modern life. Pre-Concert Conversation one hour before the performance with Dr. Nola Richardson, soprano.

7:30pm, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, $53

Neighborhood: in between Brickell and Little Havana

Nearby(ish) Eats: Chateau ZZ's, Momi Market, Cafe La Trova | Drinks: Cafe La Trova, Terras rooftop bar

Friday, February 16th

Knight Foundation Keynote: Cathy Park Hong

This year’s Knight Foundation Keynote Speech will feature award-winning poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong, speaking at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Her speech will build on themes from her book Minor Feelings, a searching work that reckons with American racial consciousness and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography in 2020.

5pm Cocktails, 6pm Lecture, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, $15

Neighborhood: Design District

Live at Knight: Chris Botti

Grammy Award-winning master trumpeter and composer Chris Botti is the nation’s best-selling instrumental artist. His mesmerizing performances with a stunning array of legends such as Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Yo-Yo Ma, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Andrea Bocelli, have cemented his place as one of the most brilliant and inspiring forces of the contemporary music scene.

8pm, Adrienne Arsht Center, $45-$125

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Enlightenment Festival: A Scarlatti Family Affair

Seraphic Fire, Miami's beloved and stunningly-good vocal ensemble, presents A Scarlatti Family Affair, part of their Enlightenment Festival, celebrating works by father and son Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. Captivating and meditative, these intricate Baroque vocal pieces provide a pause from modern life. Pre-Concert Conversation one hour before the performance with Dr. Nola Richardson, soprano.

7:30pm, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, $53

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Food Event of the Week: Smorgasburg's Chinese New Year

Smorgasburg Miami, Miami’s largest outdoor food market, will transform into a Chinese street food market to celebrate the incoming Year of the Dragon. In collaboration with Wokstar Eleanor Hoh, the weekend celebrations will honor Chinese culture with festive decorations, live performances and activities, as well as special New Year foods from all over Asia. Two Locations: 1445 NW 1st Avenue in Wynwood, and at 1100 Lincoln Road.

Lincoln Road location: February 16th, 5:30-10pm

Wynwood location: February 16th, 6pm-12am; February 17th, 12-10pm; February 18th, 12-8pm

Saturday, February 17th

Samara Joy, Live at the Moss Center

Samara Joy is 23 years old, which will blow your mind when you hear her sing. With her Grammy award-winning and chart-topping album, “Linger Awhile”, she makes her case to join the likes of Sarah, Ella, and Billie as the next jazz singing sensation. The New York Times praised this “silky-voiced rising star” for “helping jazz take a youthful turn”, while NPR All Things Considered named her a “classic jazz singer from a new generation.”

8pm, The Moss Center, $40-$76

Neighborhood: Cutler Bay

Nearby Eats: Cutler Bay could really use some fancier dining options, but try Golden Rule Seafood | Drinks: Hole in the Wall Tavern

Art & Taco Field Trip to Homestead

If you've been looking for an excuse to drive to Homestead to stuff yourself with tacos, milkshakes, and sweet rolls, this is it! AIRIE (Artists in Residence in Everglades), the group that puts artists in a small cabin alone in the Everglades for a month to make art, is opening Contours of the Everglades, a group show of past AIRIE fellows' work in black & white photography. Participating artists include Marion Belanger (work pictured). The show will be in their AIRIE Nest Gallery, located inside the park in the Visitor's Center.

11am-2pm Opening Reception, AIRIE Nest Gallery (40001 State Highway 9336)

Nearby Eats: Taqueria Morelia, Casita Tejas, or La Pasadita for Tex-Mex, Yardie Spice for Haitian, or Redland Market Village to try a little bit of everything. PLUS, Robert Is Here for milkshakes and Knaus Berry Farm for sweet rolls (if the wait's too long, they're also selling them at Babe's Meat & Counter on the way back).

Oscar Nominated Short Films (Live Action)

Want to have an opinion on every category for this year's Oscars? Here's your chance to check the box for Live Action Shorts. Coral Gables Art Cinema brings you all the nominees, 5 films in all, representing Canada, U.K., Denmark, and the United States. Run time about 2 hours.

3:45pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $13

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Push and Pull

Andrew Reed Gallery presents Push and Pull, a group exhibition of twelve artists whose works span the past fifty years. The defining theme of the show is work that creates "pictorial space" within abstract planes. The show includes two artists whose work was shown at the Venice Biennale.

Opening Reception 6-8pm, Andrew Reed Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

Nearby Eats: Leku, Hometown BBQ, Pastis (Wynwood) | Drinks: Dante's Hifi, Higher Ground (both Wynwood)

Sunday, February 18th

Progressive Art Brunch

If you want to see what's on at Miami's independent art galleries, but just don't have the time during gallery hours, the Progressive Art Brunch is here to save the day. Fifteen galleries sprinkled across Little River, Little Haiti, and Allapattah participate, usually providing a glass of affordable prosecco, creating an event that's one part art fair and two parts bar crawl. Needless to say, it's one of my favorite art events in town, especially since many of these galleries show emerging artists whose work you might actually be able to buy.

11am-4pm, Various Galleries, Free

Eats in Allapattah: Hometown BBQ, México 1810 Taquería | Eats in Little Haiti: Branja, Blue Collar

Alejandro Sánchez: Some Economies / Wandering Horizons

La Cometa Gallery presents a solo show of new work by Colombian artist Alejandro Sánchez. The artist's ongoing Some Economies project wrestles with the human impact of our global market system, the latest phase being Wandering Horizons, new paintings and sculptures playing with images and models of shipping containers. On view through April 1st.

Opening reception 11am-4pm (during the Progressive Art Brunch)

Nearby Eats: the Allapattah listings above or head over to Wynwood to Oise or Lira.

Enlightenment Festival: A Scarlatti Family Affair

Seraphic Fire, Miami's beloved and stunningly-good vocal ensemble, presents A Scarlatti Family Affair, part of their Enlightenment Festival, celebrating works by father and son Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. Captivating and meditative, these intricate Baroque vocal pieces provide a pause from modern life. Pre-Concert Conversation one hour before the performance with Dr. Nola Richardson, soprano.

4pm, All Souls Episcopal Church, $53

Neighborhood: Mid Beach

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