Theater: This weekend, the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairy tale mash-up, Into the Woods, joins a stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, in repertory at Boca Raton’s Florida Atlantic University for its 2017 Festival Rep, the 20th annual showcase of the drama department’s graduate student pool. Bruce Linser, a local Sondheim maven, directs the sophisticated exploration of “happily ever after” and Jean-Louis Baldet delves into the 19th century comedy of manners about the Dashwood sisters and their search for romance, or at least for husbands. At the Studio One Theatre, in rotation through July 30. Call 800-564-9539 for tickets.
Film: Unheralded in the crowded field of superhero movies is a hip, original heist picture called Baby Driver. Baby is the nickname of a baby-faced getaway driver (played slyly by Ansel Elgort, who you probably saw but didn’t notice in the Divergent movies). Director/writer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) not only knows how to film a car chase, but how to marry it to a soundtrack of rock oldies that Baby is listening to on his earbuds. He has just paid off his long-time debt to mob boss Kevin Spacey when Baby agrees to one more job. Uh-oh. Complicating things further, he has just met a diner waitress (the luscious Lily James) and agreed to drive away with her after his final heist. Uh-oh. Add in heist team members Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx and you have a recipe for a satisfying, surprise hit.
Art: Those of us who are a certain age can remember the gee-whiz factor that came along with a Polaroid camera. Just press the button, and a few seconds later, a photo came out, reeking of chemicals and changing colors as it did, but still, an almost instantaneous photo. While our smartphones have made that a quaint story from the distant past, Polaroid’s technology is still with us, and John Reuter, who worked for the company beginning in the late 1970s, became a master of the large-format Polaroid, which produced much-prized 20 x 24 images. Later, he created even larger images — 42 x 54 — and while in Singapore in 2009 and 2011, began taking large-format infrared photos. The Palm Beach Photographic Centre in downtown West Palm Beach is currently exhibiting pictures from Reuter’s work in a free show that runs through Aug. 5. Call 253-2600 for more information or visit www.workshop.org or www.fotofusion.org.
Music: There are more ways than grilling hot dogs and watching parades to celebrate July Fourth, and that includes music. Starting tonight at Arts Garage, it’s three straight nights of jazz by younger practitioners of the form, starting with Haitian trumpeter Jean Caze, who won the Trumpet Guild Jazz Competition a few years back. On Saturday night, it’s steel pan wizard Leon Foster Thomas and vibraphonist Drew Tucker, returning to the venue where he once ran youth programs. And on Sunday, drummer Ahmad Johnson performs with his trio, which is doing a national tour of music from a new album called Legends of the Swing. So as we head for the big day, take some time to luxuriate in a great American art form at a place that’s been a much-needed home for this music for some years now. Call 450-6357 or visit artsgarage.org.