Tilda Swinton as the title character in Orlando.Film: Tilda Swinton broke into the wider consciousness back in 1992 with her star turn as Orlando, the androgynous hero/heroine of Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending novel of a Tudor-era Zelig who begins as a debonair male court poet in 1588 and ends up in 1928 as a married woman. In Sally Potter’s lovely-to-look-at film, Quentin Crisp makes a marvelous Queen Elizabeth I, and there are all kinds of nice historic-era touches, such as when the immortal Orlando encounters Alexander Pope, while a singer warbles Handel’s Where’er You Walk in the background. This fascinating film has been digitally remastered and returns to the big screen starting today at Emerging Cinemas outlets including the Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park and the newly restored Stonzek Black Box Theater at the Lake Worth Playhouse.
Silent film star Mabel Normand (1892-1930).Theater: Broward Stage Door in Coral Springs, which just finished showing The Drowsy Chaperone, stays in the first part of the 20th century with Mack and Mabel, Jerry Herman’s 1974 musical about the meeting of silent-film pioneer Mack Sennett (he of the Keystone Kops) and Mabel Normand, who died young of tuberculosis. The show did not do well in its original run, but since has developed a cult following and been revived several times. Herman’s score contains standouts such as I Won’t Send Roses, in which Mack tells Mabel to keep her distance, although already it’s too late for that. The show opens tonight and runs through Sept. 26. Tickets are $38; for more information, call 954-344-7765.
Music: Baroque music is again on tap for this weekend, with Keith Paulson-Thorp of St. Paul’s Episcopal in Delray Beach and his Camerata del Re taking on music from 18th-century Spain. Paulson-Thorp is a scholar-musician, and devotees of the former organ series at Bethesda-by-the-Sea may recall him playing two pieces by the completely unknown Catalan composer Fransesc Civil, music that was heavily influenced by Wagner and beautiful nonetheless. Sunday afternoon, it’s music by Jose Herrando, Salvador Rexach, Juan Astorga and the Pla brothers (Juan and José), as well as a piece by Boccherini, an Italian who spent much time in Spain working for the archbishop of Toledo. Once again, this regular monthly St. Paul’s series provides a good chance to hear rare, worthy music and join the Camerata del Re on its voyages of discovery. At 4 p.m. Sunday; tickets: $15-$18.
Gamera, about to enjoy a tasty Eiffel Tower lunch.Art: It’s been a brutal summer, weather-wise, and not just here in South Florida where the heat has been so relentless for so long (our punishment for a very cool winter, apparently). It’s the kind of thing that raises dark thoughts about what’s going on with our environment, and that might be a good reason to wander over to the Morikami Museum this weekend for a visit to Kaiju! Monster Invasion! One of two exhibits currently at the museum of Japanese culture west of Delray Beach, it’s a display of more than 100 vintage toys modeled on creatures from the era of Japan’s big-monster movies and TV shows, beginning with Godzilla in 1954. The kaiju – monsters – from the shows were played by actors in rubber suits, and while the results often were unintentionally hilarious, they came out of real fears experienced in Japan after the two nuclear attacks that ended World War II. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and tickets range from $7 to $12; visit www.morikami.org for more information.