Art: The Norton Museum of Art this week announced that it is opening an exhibit of three canvases by two great abstract expressionists, Clyfford Still and Joan Mitchell. Officials at the museum point out that the work of these two artists has never been seen at the Norton before. Still’s 1941-A-No. 1 (1949) and PH-1033 (1976) are on display with an untitled work from 1960 by Mitchell. Still usually gets the credit for paving the way for abstract expressionism in the 1940s, and Mitchell with bringing a fresh interpretation to the movement just a few years later. The exhibit, American Masters, is on display through September. Call 832-5196 or visit www.norton.org.
Film: You’ve probably been hearing about Bully, the urgent documentary about the potentially fatal effects of school yard taunts and physical abuses which have too often led to attempts at suicide by the picked upon. The film has made headlines because of its initial R rating, which meant that the very kids who need to see it were theoretically shut out of the theaters. Now, thanks to a compromise and the deletion of a few choice “f”-bombs, Bully has been re-rated to PG-13, and arrives locally this weekend, showcasing numerous case histories of ostracized youths who have been unable to stand up to the taunts and beatings for being weak, different or simply new in town. Director Lee Hirsch captures with great sensitivity the often inarticulate feelings of the bullied, of the parents of dead teens and the indifferent school administrators who allow the problem to fester. – H. Erstein
Theater: Few of the great Stephen Sondheim musicals could be considered family fare, but Into the Woods comes close. This Tony Award winner from 1987 looks at such fairy tales as Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack (of beanstalk fame), intertwining them with a vengeful witch and a baker who yearns for a son. The result, particularly in the darker second act, is several lessons on the importance of community and the unexpected consequence of “happily ever after.” It is not a particularly conventional musical, which makes it right up Slow Burn Theatre’s alley, with director Patrick Fitzwater helming a large non-Equity cast, including co-artistic director Matthew Korinko as The Baker. Through Sunday, April 22. Call (866) 811-4111 for tickets.
Music: This Wednesday, the San Francisco-based vocal orchestra Chanticleer makes a return appearance to South Florida with a program of love songs, including a new piece commissioned for the group and composed by Stephen Paulus. Since its founding by Louis Botto, then a graduate student in musicology, in 1978, the all-male chorus has become probably the best-known such group in the nation, with a stellar series of recordings to its credit. The music on the program ranges from Renaissance France and Spain to German Romanticism (the Drei Mannerchore of Richard Strauss) and contemporary American music (Steven Sametz’s Not an End of Loving). The concert begins at 8 p.m. at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets range from $29.50-$39.50. Call 954-462-0222 or visit www.browardcenter.org.