South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Best outdoor winter events to check out
Though indoor gatherings can be frightful, outdoor events sound delightful
WithCOVID-19 still in the air, who doesn’t feel a little better being outside these days? Lucky for us this is South Florida, where the dead of winter is a subtropical paradise.
There aren’tmany other places in the country where this time of year you can catch an al fresco ballet performance of “TheNutcracker” in a park, a Shakespearean comedy on a patio plaza or play gumshoe detective in an immersive theatrical event on downtown streets— at leastwithout a serious case of frostbite.
These shows, experiences and things to do are taking advantage of the wonderful weather and moving the action outside.
ArtHeist Experience
Based on a true story about an art caper, the “Art Heist Experience” is awalking showwhere you move through five outside locations to pick up clues to whodunit, interacting with everyone from criminals and con men to art experts and detectives.
The interactive performance borrows a lot fromthe headline-grabbing plot in 1990 when two thieves dressed up as police and conned their way into the Isabella StewartGardnerMuseum in Boston. Theywalked outwith $500 millionworth ofworks by the likes of Rembrandt, Manet and Vermeer.
FromMarch 16-April 4, 2021, the “ArtHeist Experience” comes to the campus of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts at 201 SWFifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Showtimes vary. Tickets are $39.50-$44.50. To order, call 954-462-0222 or go to BrowardCenter.org.
FromJan. 14-31, the “ArtHeist Experience” will be at the campus of Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts at 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami. Showtimes vary. Tickets are $43 and $48. To order, call 305-949-6722 or go to ArshtCenter.org.
Levis JCCWest Boca Theatre Company courtyard series
TheAdolph andRose Levis Jewish Community Center is starting an outdoor performance series at the Sandler Center Courtyard, starting with the
LOEWSMIAMIBEACHHOTEL
“ShakespeareUnder the Stars— Comedy: Twelfth NightAbridged” on Jan. 27. The rest of the theater productions and music concerts include:
“The God of Isaac” by James Sherman” Feb. 4-21.
“Kultur Festival” (AaronKula and the Klezmer Company JazzOrchestra) Feb. 17
“Love Letters byA.R. Gurney” March 4-14 “Jewish Broadway Cabaret” (Ari Axelrod) March 24-25
“Words… Alive!” Dates to be announced
The SandlerCenter Courtyard at the Levis JCC Phyllis andHarvey Sandler Center is at 21050 95th Ave. S. in Boca Raton. Showtimes vary. Prices per showare $20 for general admissionwith non-members, $15 for Gold and Gold Plus members, $10 for Gould and Weinberg House Residents and free for Platinum members. To order, call 561-558-2520 or go to LevisJCC.org/culture/theater.
Piquet Entertainment and Race Park
This newentertainment park opened earlier in Decemberwith go-carts, mini golf, paintball, axe throwing on more on 20 acres that used to beHot Shots Paintball. Granted, some of the experiences are inside, such as the SpeedMuseumwith race
cars andmemorabilia (the investors include Formula
1 driversNelson Piquet andNelson Piquet Jr.), but there’s plenty to do outside.
And over the next two years there are plans to add bowling, arcade games, paintball, climbingwall, skating rink, restaurants and a stage for concerts.
The park is at 16169 Southern Blvd., LoxahatcheeGroves. Attractions cost $20 for go-karts, $7 and $9 formini golf, $25 for a paintball day pass (equipment rentals by the hour averages about $40 with
200 paintballs, $15 and $25 for axe throwing and $3 for the museum. Formore information, call 561-781
9145 or go to PiquetRacePark.com.
Palm Beach Opera’s Outdoor Opera Festival
For the first time, the Palm Beach Opera is staging a fresh-air festival Feb. 19-27 with some heavy-hitter headliners such as LatoniaMoore, Janai Brugger, KathrynLewek, AnaMaría Martínez, Isabel Leonard, Matthew Polenzani, Michael Fabiano, Robert Watson, QuinnKelsey,
JoshuaHopkins, Michael Chioldi, Ryan Speedo Green, MorrisRobinson and SamuelRamey.
The live performances will take place at the South Florida Fairgrounds’ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre. As of now, the performances will include “La bohème” Feb. 19 and
24, “Pagliacci” Feb. 23 and
27 and “Die Zauberflöte (TheMagic Flute”) Feb.
21 and 26. There will be projected English subtitles.
TheiTHINKFinancial Amphitheatre is at 601-7 SansburysWay, West Palm
Beach. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. (with the exception of the 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 21 performance of “Die Zauberflöte”). Tickets range from$35-$200. To order, call 561-833-7888 or go to PBopera.org.
Xperimento, Live on the Plaza
The Miami-based band Xperimento— with members fromVenezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina and Puerto Rico— will perform its blend of reggae, urban, cumbia and
soul music on theThompson Plaza for the Arts at theAdrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts at 1300 BiscayneBlvd, Miami. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 7. Tickets are $15. To order, call 305-949-6722 or go to ArshtCenter.org.
Champagne on the Lawn
This pop-up experience will be at the Loews Miami BeachHotel with theVeuve Clicquot flowing at an al fresco lounge while you shop from a curated selection of designer brands and dine onwagyu burgers with foie gras and lobster rolls with caviar served withMaryland crab cakes, pomme soufflé fries and desserts. Champagne on the Lawn is from11 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec.
22-Jan. 1. TheLoews is at
1601 CollinsAve., Miami Beach. The meal is $79, the meal and a glass ofVeuve Cicquot is $99 and a bottle ofVeuveClicquot is $140.
George Balanchine’s ‘TheNutcracker’ by the Miami City Ballet
This time around the Miami CityBallet is staging
this holiday staple as a live, multimedia production with animation, projections, video and, of course, live sequences. And it will all take place Dec. 19-31 outside atDowntown Doral Park, at 8395NW
53rd Street, Doral. Showtimes vary. Tickets are sold as pods of up to four people and cost $120
$285. Guestmay select a chair pod or a blanket pod. In chair sections, chairs will be provided. In blanket sections, guests must bring their ownblankets to sit on. All tickets include free parking. To order, call 305-929-7010 or go to MiamiCityBallet.org/ nutcracker.
Miami Light Project’s ScreenDance Miami Festival 2021
This annual (and free) festival puts the spotlight on dance films from performers, choreographers and filmmakers Jan.
15-Feb. 5. Details will be announced later, but Miami Light Project does say that there will be someoutdoor screenings, specifically at Soundscape Park atNew World Symphony Center
(400 17th St., Miami Beach) and theNorth BeachBand
shell (7275 CollinsAve., Miami Beach). For updates and more information, call 305-576-4350 or go to MiamiLightProject.com.
Old School Square
The multi-venue entertainment, arts and festival destination Old School Square will have a couple of concerts outdoors at the Pavilion.
First up will be theWildfireBand— known for their mind-bending fusion of rock, R&B, country, roots and jazz-rock— on Jan. 8. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30-$150.
Next will be Jorma Kaukonen, psychedelic rock star aswell as a founding member of Jefferson Airplane andHotTuna on Feb. 8. Showtime is 7 p.m. Tickets are $180-$275.
Seating for these shows are in pods, which can include four people. To order, call 561-243-7922 or go to OldSchoolSquare. org. The PavilionAt Old School Square is located at 51N. SwintonAve., Delray Beach.
Stay tuned for an announcement that Old School Square’s “25th Annual Cabaret Series” will bemoving fromits home in their Crest Theatre and to the Pavilion.