Art: This is the first weekend for three art exhibits that opened Thursday at the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta. The shows – Landscapes 2011; Fong Choo: The Artful Teapot Invitational; and the annual faculty exhibition – will run through the end of the year at the center. Choo, a master of the miniature teapot, is a Louisville, Ky.-based potter whose works emulate the Yixing style of pottery, which dates to the 15th century and was the style most familiar for brewing tea. Choo will be on hand Dec. 9-10 to run workshops for interested potters, and the show includes works by artists from the United Kingdom as well as four states.
The other two exhibits offer landscapes and faculty art in a wide range of media, including work by the ArtsPaper’s own Pat Crowley. This is one of those gatherings of art that is a good one to check out not only because it acquaints you with the Lighthouse ArtCenter, but also because it will show you the breadth of artistic talent working hereabouts. The museum’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call 561-746-3101 for more information.
Film: Very reminiscent of the spelling bee documentary Spellbound and the crossword puzzle film Wordplay comes Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story, everything you always wanted to know about the Depression-era board game and more. Like those other movies, director/co-producer Kevin Tostado fills us in on the history of the properties-and-land-development game, its pop culture pervasiveness and the merchandising that has sprung up around the game that is now played around the world in over 100 countries. This is all preface to the 2009 world championships in Las Vegas and, even though Monopoly is not very cinematic, you will probably find yourself getting involved in the competition’s outcome. OK, so you could see the film as one long product placement for Hasbro, but if it only attracts those who have ever played Monopoly, this doc should be quite a hit. Opening at Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park on Friday.
Theater: Plantation’s Mosaic Theatre has brought the surprise hit of the past season in New York, Eric Simonson’s Lombardi, the story of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi and his wife Marie, to South Florida. As further proof of the company’s growing strength, it has roped in television’s Ray Abruzzi (The Sopranos, The Practice) to play the inspiring, “winning-is-the-only-thing” football Hall of Famer. Carbonell Award winner Laura Turnbull is featured as Marie, with Antonio Amadeo as a reporter on assignment to find out the secret of Lombardi’s winning ways. According to reviewers, the play is involving enough that you do not need to be a football fan to enjoy it, but that probably helps. Runs through Sunday, Dec. 4. Tickets are $39.50, available by calling 954-577-8243.
Music: In addition to this weekend’s Master Chorale of South Florida performances (previewed elsewhere here), choral singing is in the spotlight Sunday with the Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches. Carl P. Ashley’s chorus devotes the afternoon program to the music of Britain’s John Rutter, whose melodic, straightforward writing has made his work a great favorite with vocal ensembles. The chief work on the program is Rutter’s Mass of the Children, in which the chorus will be joined by the Lower School Children’s Chorus at Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s School, and the King’s Academy Chorus. This marks the first time in many years that Masterworks has collaborated with another singing ensemble; also on the program are Rutter songs such as For the Beauty of the Earth and Angel’s Carol. The concert is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at Lake Osborne Presbyterian Church in Lake Worth. Tickets are $20; call 561-845-9696 or visit www.masterworkschorusofthepalmbeaches.com.
Also Sunday, it’s another musical travelogue from Camerata del Re, the Baroque ensemble at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach. This time, Keith Paulson-Thorp has fielded a nine-member version of the group to tackle music by major and little-known Baroque-era composers including Fiorentio Maschera (a canzon for strings), Biagio Marini (a passacaglia a quattro), Cristiano Lidarti (trio for two flutes and cello) and Anna Bon de Venezia (a harpsichord sonata in B-flat), a woman composer who worked for a Prussian margrave and who disappears from history after her marriage in 1767. Soprano Karen Neal will sing cantatas by Riccio, Mancini, and Vivaldi, and Paulson-Thorp himself will play a sonata by Attilio Ariosti for viola d’amore. The group also will perform Il Gran Mogul, a flute concerto by Antonio Vivaldi that was lost in 1759 and only rediscovered last year in Scotland by a musicologist; this performance marks its Florida premiere. The concert starts at 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s; tickets are $15 and $20. Call 278-6003 or visit www.stpaulsdelray.org.