Music: Dean Peterson, a fine operatic bass with world-class credits (Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, etc.) whose work is familiar to South Florida audiences — most recently as Bluebeard in Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle for his new Opera Fusion company — is the subject of a fundraiser this Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Delray Beach. Peterson has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and many of his friends from the vocal world have come together to give a benefit to help him with his medical expenses. Close to 20 singers, pianists and other musicians will be on hand at 4 p.m. for the Peterson benefit, and the effort is also taking donations at www.gofundme.com/v4v3c3w. It’s worth remembering that our artists are a precious part of our community, and many of them work without much of a safety net, simply to make our lives better. If you’ve ever enjoyed Peterson’s work, or the work of any local singer or musician, here’s your chance to turn that appreciation into concrete help.
Theater: When people say “they don’t write ’em like they used to,” they are referring to plays like The Royal Family, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s comic take on a theatrical dynasty, recognizably based on the Barrymores, who ruled the American stage around 1927, the year The Royal Family premiered on Broadway. In the ’20s, playwrights did not have to limit the size of their casts to get produced, and Kaufman and Ferber clearly did not, which means that a revival of their sprawling, stylish comedy is all too rare. Fortunately, Florida Atlantic University does not pay its actors in its Festival Rep, now in its 17th year, so director Jean Louis Baldet has not had to cut corners on its production, opening this weekend and continuing through July 26 in the Studio One Theatre on the Boca Raton campus, in rotating repertory with the Bock and Harnick musical She Loves Me. Tickets are $20, available by calling 1-800-564-9539.
Film: With a title guaranteed to keep the crowds away, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl still managed to win an audience favorite award at Sundance and is bound to win over discerning moviegoers already tired of superhero and disaster movies this summer. The “me” of the title is a high school senior named Greg (Thomas Mann), content to make short parody movies (like Senior Citizen Kane) with his pal Earl (RJ Cyler). But his mother insists he spend time with a neighbor girl, Rachel (Olivia Cooke), recently diagnosed with leukemia. Reluctantly, Greg does, initiating a profound friendship with potentially tragic consequences. Written and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Me and Earl is an oasis of intelligence in the effects-driven season. At area theaters now.
Art: The 20th century was a miraculous age for machines, and an exhibit opening this weekend at the Norton Museum of Art makes that point with more than 200 drawings that illustrate the form and function of the transportation vehicles of the mid-20th century. Going Places, which is on view through Jan. 10, is drawn from the collection of Frederic and Jean Sharf, part-time Palm Beach residents. It features more than 200 designs, posters and other renderings of trains, planes and automobiles, as well as models. Curated by Matthew Bird of the Rhode Island School of Design, who brought us the masterful Barbie/Matchbox exhibit last year, is augmented with newsreels and TV ads, all of it, as the Norton says, examining “how we got here.” This summer, the Norton has resumed its free Thursdays for Florida residents program, and each Saturday for the next two years is free for Palm Beach County residents. Call 832-5196 for more information or visit www.norton.org.