The Norton Museum of Art will close from Sept. 12 to Sept. 30 while it reinstalls several of its galleries, museum officials said earlier this month.
The goal for this project is to provide a more engaging experience for visitors, officials with the West Palm Beach museum said in a news release. Normal operating hours will resume Saturday, Oct. 1. Palm Beach County residents are admitted free on the first Saturday of each month.
The museum’s Art After Dark series will recommence Oct. 6 with a jazz performance by the duo of Davis and Dow, and a wine tasting hosted by Café 1451 and Selected Brands. Art After Dark takes place every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and features special performances, tours, artist demonstrations, and other events.
The new season’s first exhibition, Dave Cole’s Flags of the World, will open Nov. 3. For more information, visit www.norton.org.
Tamarac playhouse to host first alt-theater festival
A new alternative theater festival featuring eight companies from three South Florida counties will open next week at the Tamarac Theatre of Performing Arts.
On the Boards, a joint effort of Conundrum Stages and Three Lefts Productions, will run from Aug. 17-20. Two different troupes per night, hailing from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, will be showcased in performances and play readings. In addition, vocalists will provide pre-show solo concerts on separate evenings.
Wednesday night will preview Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, a performance leading up to an upcoming fall fund raiser for the Center for Creative Growth. The second program is The Honesty Project, a performance that weaves together theater, music and dance and is based on the responses to a questionnaire Florida Atlantic University students were asked about their lives.
Thursday evening opens with Paradise Lost: Wings of War, a performance of scenes from John Milton’s biblical epic poem, followed by The Lab Project, a series of one-act plays written by resident playwright David Sirios.
Friday’s opening performance will be a series of new works performed by Fort Lauderdale’s Thinking Cap Theatre. Following this is a double bill: The Charms of the Gifted and 7 Generations.
The final night, Saturday, will see a new work written by the founders of Fort Lauderdale’s Infinite Abyss Productions, and Little Men, a one-act about teenage boys facing consequences following a failed bullying incident.
The shows begin at 7 p.m. and the suggested donation for each is $10. The Tamarac Theatre of Performing Arts is located at 7143 Pine Island Road. For more information on the festival and performances, visit www.conundrumstages.net.
Palm Beach Opera to sell single tickets early
The Palm Beach Opera company will begin selling single tickets Monday for its 50th anniversary season.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 15, a change from the earlier announced date of Sept. 24. They can be bought online at www.pbopera.org, by calling 561-833-7888, or by coming to the opera box office at 415 S. Olive Ave. in downtown West Palm Beach.
The company’s season includes Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Dec. 16-19), a 50th anniversary gala concert (Jan. 2o and 22), Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette (Feb. 24-27) and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (March 23-26). The Grand Finals concert of the opera’s vocal competition is set for April 29.
All performances take place at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.
Lynn to offer sneak preview of coming arts season
The Lynn University Conservatory of Music, along with the Boca Raton college’s drama and American studies programs, will team for a preview concert next month of the arts season to come.
The Lynn University Evening of the Arts will feature violinist Sylvia Kim in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (in D, Op. 35), accompanied by the Lynn Philharmonia, which also will play the Academic Festival Overture of Brahms.
American studies professor Robert Watson will be the narrator for Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, and students from the drama division will perform a medley of songs from Broadway.
The free concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Wold Performing Arts Center on the Lynn Campus. Call 237-9000 for more information.
Delray Beach Chorale auditioning singers
The Delray Beach Chorale is currently seeking singers for its 2011-2012 season.
The most desirable candidates will have sight-reading ability, chorale officials said. To arrange an audition, candidates should contact Eric Keiper, musical director and conductor, at ejk321@comcast.net or (561) 865-3354.
The Delray Beach Chorale, founded in 1982 is made up of 65 members who engage in community performances as well as provide educational opportunities for local high school students and scholarships for select college students with musical talent. The group performs primarily at Delray Beach’s First Presbyterian Church, but welcomes singers of all faiths and ages. For more information, visit www.delraybeachchorale.org.
– Compiled by Katherine Concepcion and Greg Stepanich