Theater: Twenty years ago, Miami’s City Theatre began an annual festival of one-act plays, roughly 10 minutes in length. Over time, Summer Shorts has grown into one of the region’s most anticipated stage institutions. This year’s edition seems purposely downsized – only nine plays, performed by a versatile cast of six – but for once there is not a clunker in the bunch, either among the material or the personnel. Artistic director John Manzelli keeps the emphasis on comedy, but many of the skits are genuinely funny, with an actual point to make and occasionally an emotional tug. In a strong ensemble, Beth Dimon and Shorts newbie Karen Stephens are standouts. At Miami’s Arsht Center Studio Theater through Sun., June 28. Call 305-949-6722 for tickets.
Film: The output of Pixar studios is the main reason why there is now an Oscar for best feature animation and there is every likelihood that this Disney division’s latest, Inside Out, will pick up the statuette early next year. Highly imaginative, with great visuals and Pixar’s signature emphasis on powerful storytelling, this look inside the brain of an 11-year-old girl, Riley Anderson, will transform the way you think about your own emotions. Director Pete Docter envisions a crowded control desk populated by Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness, all jockeying for control of Riley’s core memories and personality. She is a happy, well-adjusted kid until her family relocates from Minnesota to San Francisco and Joy starts to lose the battle. Heading the voice talent roster are Amy Poehler as Joy, hot-headed Lewis Black as Anger and Richard Kind as Riley’s almost forgotten imaginary friend. Opening wide in theaters this weekend.
Music: If you’ve got to head south for Father’s Day, and you’re looking for something really different to take Dad to, you can catch the closing of the Mainly Mozart Festival in Miami, which as has become customary over the past two seasons, ends with a multidisciplinary extravaganza. This time, in honor of the 700th anniversary of the publication of Dante’s Inferno, the festival will present a two-piano version, with soloist and chorus, of Franz Liszt’s Dante Symphony, an 1856 work that covers the entire Divine Comedy. Pianists Marina Radiushina and Grace Fong handle Liszt’s own transcription, and soprano Maria Aleida is joined by the Miami Children’s Chorus headed by Timothy Sharp. Adriana Pierce, a Miami City Ballet corps member, will present a ballet featuring MCB dancers to accompany three sections of the music, and the whole thing will be backed by a film featuring images from Gustav Doré’s Divine Comedy illustrations and narration by the beloved musicologist Frank Cooper. Fong and Radiushina also will perform Edvard Grieg’s two-piano arrangement of Mozart’s C major sonata (K. 545), and Aleida will sing songs by Mozart and Grieg. Last year’s finale drew 1,800 people to the Knight Concert Hall in downtown Miami, and this year likely will do every bit as well if not better. The concert starts at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Knight, which is in Miami’s Arsht Center on Biscayne Boulevard downtown. Tickets are $30. Call 786-556-1715 or visit www.mainlymozart.com.
Art: Away up on the border with Martin County, the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta is hosting a summer exhibition featuring work from 13 art associations in Palm Beach and Martin counties, such as the Lake Worth Art League and the Hobe Sound Fine Arts League. The fifth annual Art of Association exhibit offers work by more than 100 area artists, ranging from painting to photography to sculpture. A glance at the center’s website will give you a gallery of the kinds of art you can find at this cozy home for creativity, and also appreciation for the great number of excellent artists we have working among us. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $5 for nonmembers, but free for all on Saturdays. Call (561) 746-3101 for more information or visit www.lighthousearts.org.