Film: No, it will never be confused for art, or even much of a story line, but if you could use a few laughs these days, you have got to see Seth MacFarlane’s feature film directing debut, Ted. MacFarlane voices the title character, John’s (Mark Wahlberg) foul-mouthed teddy bear, and everything he says is as funny as it is crude. Ted is getting in the way of Wahlberg’s relationship with sloe-eyed Mila Kunis, particularly as she yearns for a serious commitment from him. Chances are some doctoral thesis will explain one day that Ted is really John’s unleashed subconscious, but go see this summer gift from the creator of TV’s The Family Guy anyway. In theaters beginning this weekend.
Theater: Since 1959, the ultimate teenage angst musical has been Charles Strouse and Lee Adams’ Bye Bye Birdie, the tale of a young girl from Sweet Apple, Ohio, whose life is disrupted when she is chosen to receive the final televised kiss from hip-swiveling rock ’n’ roller, Conrad Birdie, before he goes into the Army. More than 50 years later, the show still works, even if you have no frame of reference of Elvis Presley. The musical has been a staple of high schools and it now gets the Maltz Jupiter Theatre treatment as the culmination of its Conservatory of Performing Arts’ senior summer camp, Friday and Saturday nights only. Tickets are $20 ($15 for children). Call (561) 575-2223.
Art: Rolando Chang Barrero is making waves in the southern Palm Beach County art world at his ActivistArtistA Gallery on West Industrial Avenue, where Thursday he opened Symbolism: Pushing Boundaries, which is designed to “highlight traditional imagery in works done on non-traditional surfaces,” as the gallery’s press material says.
Featured in the exhibit, which runs through Aug. 9, are pieces by Cesar Garcia, Juan E. Gonzalez, Debbie Lee Mostel, Nikki Saraiva (aka Detour Butterfly) and Karla Walter. Barrero is one of the resident artists of what is now considered the Arts District of Boynton Beach, and this exhibit, which features work by well-known area creators, should further advance the area’s self-image as a welcoming home for artistic endeavor.
For more information about the exhibit, call 786-521-1199; the gallery is situated at 422 W. Industrial Ave. in Boynton Beach.