Theater: Sharr White’s Six Years looks at the ups and downs of the second half of the 20th century, as seen through the struggles of Phil and Meredith Granger (Todd Allen Durkin and Margery Lowe), a married couple separated by World War II, who are challenged to re-establish a normal life when he returns from combat suffering from a trauma that is dismissively diagnosed as “exhaustion.” The Caldwell Theatre production sees them at six-year intervals, from war’s end to the boom years of the ’50s, to the turmoil of the ’60s, to the divisive Vietnam Era. This Florida premiere is staged by artistic director Clive Cholerton, who thinks it complements Michael McKeever’s just-closed Stuff, which together chart the social changes in America over the past 100 years. Previews begin on Wednesday, prior to opening next Friday, for a run through Sept. 4. Call (561) 241-7432 for tickets. – H. Erstein
Film: OK, so the economy sucks, unemployment remains depressingly high and your hopes of getting away to Europe have met the realities of your bank account. But if you can afford a movie ticket, you can afford a tour of Naples, Italy, led by John Turturro, who narrates and directs Passione, a look at the vibrant southern city as experienced through its musical traditions. As Turturro explains, Naples is a survivor, having endured volcanic eruptions, wars, organized crime and its own financial woes, all of which inform its music, sung by trained professionals and rank amateurs, belting out everything from operatic arias to pop hits, all with fervent passion. Passione is not only a handsomely shot film, but it manages to turn the music video into a cinematic asset. Opening this weekend at Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park. – H. Erstein
Art: Some of the more outspoken American voices of the early part of the 20th century were the image-makers, such as photographer Margaret Bourke-White and the painters of the Ashcan School. We’ve conveniently forgotten, too, how attractive the idea of socialism was to Americans in the 1930s in particular, when the economy had melted down and unemployment shadowed the land. Social realism is a term that gets conflated with all that (and with the Soviet officialdom’s Socialist Realism), but with the passage of time, the art can be seen more objectively. Art for the People: 20th-Century Social Realism, a collection of pictures from the 1920s through the 1960s, is on display through Sept. 11 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
American painting was alive with criticism and social protest at this time, and it gives these images a wonderful sense of life and energy. Although the iconic photos from the Depression are well-known, the paintings, drawings and etchings seen here (there are more than 100 of them in this exhibit) are far less familiar. A good opportunity, then, to see an important part of American art history. The museum in Mizner Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for students with ID. Call 392-2500 or visit www.bocamuseum.org.
Music: John Rzeznik founded the Goo Goo Dolls in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., back in 1986, originally inspired by Paul Westerberg’s iconic band The Replacements. But the Dolls have held on a lot longer, writing major hits such as Iris and Slide. The trio’s on a long summer tour, and arrives tonight at the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre, with guests Michelle Branch and the rising Charlottesville, Va.-based quintet Parachute. Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert range from $36-$46, and can be had through Live Nation.