Dance: One of the nice things about today’s technology is that so many arts groups are using film to present insider looks at the worlds they inhabit, often with major stars giving people a glimpse into their lives. So it is with Sara Mearns, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet who is renowned for her work as Odette/Odile in the great Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake. This weekend, Mearns joins the Boca Ballet Theatre in three performances of the ballet with Dan Guin and Jane Tyree’s company at the Olympic Heights High School auditorium in west Boca. Her Prince Siegfried is Simon Ball, a principal dancer with Houston Ballet. Here’s a chance for ballet aficionados and young dancers everywhere to see one of the country’s leading ballet lights in one of the most beloved works in the repertory. Friday’s performance has come and gone, but you can still catch Mearns and Ball tonight at 8, and at 2 p.m. Sunday. The ballet can be seen at 7 p.m. Aug. 1, 8 p.m. Aug. 2, and 2 p.m. Aug. 3. Tickets are $20-$35 for adults, $10-$25 for children and seniors. Call 561-995-0709 or visit bocaballet.org.
Film: The advance hype is largely true. Richard Linklater, probably best known previously for the Before Sunset series, has taken enormous risks with his latest release, Boyhood, and they pay off well. He outdoes those old biblical epics that used to advertise “Years in the making!” by filming his marathon tale of growing up over a 12-year period. So he gambled that 6-year-old Ellar Coltrane would stick with the project over all those years and that he would blossom into an accomplished actor, which he absolutely does. Linklater was a little more confident about the perseverance of the young girl playing Coltrane’s sister, since she is Linklater’s own daughter, Lorelei. Filmed annually and largely improvised, Boyhood tells the remarkably involving story of a youngster’s move through his teen years, whipsawed by his divorced parents, played by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. The film runs 2 hours and 44 minutes, but it moves with an impressive urgency. Opening locally this weekend.
Theater: Palm Beach Dramaworks’ summer musical concerts have been a standout attraction of the season, and its well-sung, expertly staged revival of Frank Loesser’s quasi-operatic The Most Happy Fella has been such a hit with audiences that it has been extended for a third week, running through this Sunday. Applause is deserved all around, but let’s single out bass-baritone William Michals as middle-aged Italian vineyard owner Tony Esposito, Jessica Hershberg as Rosabella, the object of his affection, and Jim Ballard as Joey, the handsome ranch hand. Kudos also to Jeni Hacker as Marie, Tony’s sister, Gabriel Zenone as the doctor, Shane Tanner as Herman the ranch hand and Laura Hodos as Cleo. See it before it disappears. Tickets are $40; call 561-514-4042.
Music: This coming week, the Jazziz Nightlife club in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park hosts two shows with Sophie B. Hawkins, who had huge hits in the early 1990s with Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover as As I Lay Me Down. She’s been acting (appearing in a well-reviewed show about Janis Joplin a couple years back), painting (in a warm Impressionist style that would be popular here) and promoting environmental and political causes such as Hillary Clinton’s 2008 run for president. But she’s also continued to write and record, and you can hear what she’s been up to musically Tuesday and Wednesday night at Michael Fagien’s nightspot. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. both night, and tickets are $40. Call 561-300-0730 or visit www.jazziznightlife.com for more information.