South Florida Jazz wraps its 2012-13 season this Saturday night with an appearance by the jazz singer Kurt Elling, who made his mark at Chicago’s legendary Green Mill while studying the philosophy of religion as a grad student during the day. A Grammy winner and a regular audience favorite, Elling has a flexible voice and style more akin to Al Jarreau than to Johnny Hartman, and it allows him to try a wide variety of different approaches in standards such as Nature Boy. Elling appears with his quartet at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie. Tickets are $45 for non-members of South Florida Jazz, $30 for members. Call 954-462-0222 for ticket information or visit southfloridajazz.org.
One of the pleasures of having a music conservatory in your town is that you can follow the work of young players as they make their way into the wider world. This Sunday, three Lynn Conservatory alums, pianist Valeriya Polunina, violinist Valentin Mansurov and cellist Aziz Sapaev, aka the Palm Piano Trio, play an all-Russian concert for Keith Paulson-Thorp’s Music at St. Paul’s series. On the program are trios by Shostakovich and the big Trio in A minor (Op. 50) of Tchaikovsky, both of which no doubt will get youthfully passionate performances. The concert is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s in Delray Beach. Tickets are $15-$20. Call 278-6003 or visit www.stpaulsdelray.org for more information.
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Film: Most summer comedies are broad, lowest-common-denominator fare, and then there is The English Teacher, a wry morality tale about repressed middle-aged schoolmarm Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore), whose enthusiasm for the talents of a former student gets her in deep trouble. When Jason (Michael Angarano) returns to town from New York having failed as a playwright there, Linda decides to produce his magnum opus at school, directed by drama teacher Nathan Lane. Linda’s good intentions take her on downward spiral, reminiscent of Alexander Payne’s Election, where Matthew Broderick was destroyed trying to help Reese Witherspoon get a lesson in civics. Score one for rookie director Craig Zisk, producer of such TV shows as Weeds and Larry Sanders. At area theaters.
Theater: Have you got a short attention span? Then you are the target audience for City Theatre’s Summer Shorts, a string of 12 playlets of 10 minutes or so duration, a South Florida tradition now in its 18th year, As usual, some of the area’s best actors are drawn to the exercise in versatility, this year including Irene Adjan, Ken Clement, Todd Allen Durkin and Renata Eastlick, with an equally impressive list of directors. City Theatre has access to the nation’s best scripts, this year including nationally known writers like Paul Rudnick and Leslie Ayvazian and local favorite Susan Westfall. Opening this weekend, playing through June 30 at the Arsht Center’s Studio Theatre in Miami. Call (305) 949-6722 for tickets.
Art: The Art of Association, a collaborative exhibition showcasing the artwork of talented artists from nine local art associations in Palm Beach and Martin counties, is now on display at the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta. The art associations featured in the exhibition are Artists Association of Jupiter, Art Associates of Martin County, Ceramic League of the Palm Beaches, Lighthouse ArtCenter Artists’ Guild, North County Art Association, Palm Beach County Art Teachers Association, Palm City Art Association, Plein Air Painters of Delray, and Wellington Art Society. The exhibition, which runs through Aug. 5, includes watercolor and oil paintings, photographs, sculptures, pastel drawings and mixed media works of art. Tickets are $5. Admission is free on Saturdays. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, visit LighthouseArts.org.