Starlight Blossom, by Elle Schorr, at the Ross Gallery of Art.Art: West Palm Beach’s newest art gallery debuts tonight as Guy Chaifetz transforms part of the building that houses The Edit Centre, his video editing and duplication service, into Ross Gallery of Art. Painting, sculptures and photographs will be featured by recognized artists such as Dennis Aufiery, Devlynne Dawn, Elodia Fanjul, TD Gillispie, Gail Gold, Jackie Gorissen, Richard Hager, Melodie Janis, Karen Knight, Regina Latella, Ann Lawtey, Natalie Levine, Pamela Melvin, Nini Motta, Sandy Meyer, Deborah Neuhaus, Leena Pilcher, Joseph Pilcher, Bill Sabino, Elle Schorr, Robert Vail and George Wells. The opening is from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. today at 2900 S. Dixie Highway, three blocks south of Belvedere Road. For more information, call (561) 659-8361.
A print by Isabel Gouveia, at the Armory Art Center.Also opening tonight are two shows at the Armory Arts Center: the annual Palm Beach County Schools K-12 Exhibition and the Fibers and Printmaking Studio Exhibition. It’s refreshing and inspiring to see how imaginative and talented the students are from the area schools, as well as interesting to see how children’s motor skills, thought processes and creativity evolves through the grades. Armory instructors Marsha Christo, Isabel Gouveia and Leora Klaymer Stewart display their fiber and print works, along with visiting master Artists Anna Tomczak and their students. The opening reception admission is free to Armory members and $5 for nonmembers. For more information, call (561) 832-1776, or visit www.armoryart.org.
A raku-fired ceramic teapot with a found-wood handleby Marcia DiSylvester, at the Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery.
Also opening tonight is a peace-themed exhibition recalling the 1960s at the Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery, a 28-artist co-op at 605 Lake Ave. For more information, call 561-588-8344 or visit www.Clayglassmetalstone.com. – K. Deits
Pouya Hosseini, Arash Farazmand, Ashkan Koshanejadand Negar Shaghaghi in No One Knows About Persian Cats.
Film: Chances are most moviegoers will head to Shrek Forever After this weekend to see a newly plumped Puss-in-Boots, but the feline that deserves your attention is a powerful Iranian film, No One Knows About Persian Cats. Written and directed by Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses), it is the saga of two Iranian rock musicians, newly released from prison, who prowl the underground music scene at their peril, since making music is outlawed in the repressive fundamentalist state. Their eye-opening journey throughout the city eventually gains a new goal when they learn of a possible gig for them in London, if they can secure black market passports. Playing this week at Emerging Cinemas in Lake Worth and Mos’art Theatre in Lake Park.
Theater: Give Caldwell Theatre artistic director Clive Cholerton credit for initiating a musical theater concert series geared to the shows he wants his audience to hear and enjoy, even if he cannot afford to produce them fully. And then give him credit for focusing on the works of the brilliant composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim – Sunday in the Park with George last fall and Into the Woods this weekend, Friday through Sunday. With playwright James Lapine, he interwove several familiar Grimm’s fairy tales and one of their own devising, into a complex narrative about being careful what you wish for and the importance of community in times of crisis.
All of South Florida’s finest singing performers clamor to do Sondheim, so Cholerton had little trouble assembling a cast that includes Wayne LeGette, Melissa Minyard, Jim Ballard, Beth Dimon and many others. Call (561) 241-7432 or (877) 245-7432 for reservations.
Quiz extended: We’ve had few takers for our Sondheim quiz, so we’re trying again. We’re new at this and we didn’t realize that offering a prize of South Florida tickets would so tick off our readers in Sweden (land of A Little Night Music). So we are extending the deadline through Sunday morning, offering an Amazon gift card of $25 if you cannot make the Caldwell show and – hint – at this point, it would not take a lot of correct answers to win. – H. Erstein
Franz Schubert (1797-1828).Music: Franz Schubert contributed masterworks to virtually every genre of music during his brief 31 years on earth, and that includes sacred pieces. He wrote seven masses, several of them in the missa brevis short format. That includes his shortest mass, the Mass in G, D. 167, which dates from 1815. It’s a lovely work, ideally suited for devotional purposes in the parish church in the Viennese suburbs for which Schubert wrote it.
This Sunday, the St. Peter’s Catholic Church parish choir in Jupiter presents this mass in a concert beginning at 2:30 p.m. at the church. It may not be a professional choir, but it’s exactly the kind of ensemble for which Schubert originally wrote this beautiful little piece. Admission is free; call 575-0837 for more information. – G. Stepanich
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.Dance: Aficionados of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will want to make the trip to Miami this weekend to see the Ailey troupe pay tribute to Judith Jamison, who has led the pioneering company for 20 years and is stepping down next year. Her successor, Robert Battle, grew up in Liberty City, so this is a homecoming for him as the company revisits some of the most memorable pieces from the 20 years of Jamison’s stewardship (she took over after Ailey died of AIDS in 1989).
On the programs this weekend are emblematic dances such as Revelations, Uptown, Suite Otis, and Hymn. Performances are set for 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Ziff Ballet Opera House on the campus of the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami. Tickets: $25-$120. Call 305-949-6722 or visit www.arshtcenter.org.