Theater: OK, you’ve procrastinated long enough. This is the final weekend for the world premiere production of Stuff at Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theatre. This cautionary tale of two eccentrically wasted lives, wealthy Harlem hermits Homer and Langley Collyer, is not only Davie playwright Michael McKeever’s best script in quite a while, but he gives a remarkably accomplished performance as figuratively and literally blind brother Homer. Despite the story’s tragic underpinnings, McKeever is able to mine it for darkly comic potential. Also worth the ticket price is the wily performance of Angie Radosh as the Collyer matriarch, wielding a genteel, but iron fist in raising her boys. Through Sunday. Call: (561) 241-7432 or (877) 245-7432 for tickets.
Film: We know how romantic comedies go these days. They are painfully predictable and fueled by bodily fluid jokes. So when a movie like Crazy, Stupid Love comes along with some genuine plot surprises and an adult outlook on the world, it feel like a summer oasis. Steve Carell, Hollywood’s current schlemiel of choice, plays a long-married suburban dad whose wife dumps him and, out of sheer pity, ladies’ man Ryan Gosling coaches him in how to pick up women in bars and start his life over. Yes, emotional mayhem ensues, but Dan Fogelman’s screenplay takes that theme to unexpected places. And the captivating Emma Stone (Easy A, next month’s The Help) again shows why she is an emerging star to be reckoned with.
Music: Somewhere in the middle of World War I, Igor Stravinsky discovered jazz, and America’s hot new music left its mark on Stravinsky’s style, giving him the impetus to leave the Rimsky-Korsakov tradition behind for good. Tonight and through Sunday, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival closes its 20th anniversary season with a reprise of L’Histoire du Soldat, 14 seasons after it performed it the first time. The same cast is on hand – actors Barbara Bradshaw, Joe Gillie and Randolph Dellago – all performing Stravinsky and C.F. Ramuz’s story of a soldier who encounters the Devil while on two weeks’ leave. Also on the program is the big E-flat Piano Quintet (Op. 44) of Robert Schumann, featuring Lynn University-based pianist Yang Shen. Tickets for the concert are $25. Call 800-330-6874 or visit www.pbcmf.org.
The Vans Warped Tour, now in its 16th year, rolls into the Cruzan Amphitheatre this weekend with a host of hot bands including Paramore and Florida favorites Less Than Jake. What began as a way to sell more skateboards and the extreme sporting life has turned into a major venue for folks who like their rock with a hard, aggressive edge, and some of the newer bands on view this time are sure to make a wider mark in years to come. Tickets are $43 through Ticketmaster; doors open at 11:30 a.m.
On Tuesday, the Cruzan plays host to Lil Wayne, the New Orleans rapper (Lollipop, I Am Not a Human Being) whose next, and possibly last, album, The Carter IV, is due out next month. Wayne will be joined by Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Far East Movement, and Lloyd in this stop on a tour that’s been one of the biggest of the summer, and may continue for additional dates. Tickets are $29.75 and available through Ticketmaster.
Dance: Touring dance master Christopher Fleming created a baseball-based ballet in 1999 featuring various diamond moves set to familiar classical selections, and tomorrow night and Sunday, the Boca Ballet Theatre offers Fleming’s tribute to the 1940s boys of summer. Play Ball is the chief work on the Boca Ballet’s All-American Summer program, set for 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at FAU’s University Theatre. Checking it out might be a good way to avoid the heat and celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary. Tickets are $35. Call 995-0709 or visit www.bocaballet.org.