Film: Its expansion delayed for a couple of weeks to maximize its impact and exposure for Oscar consideration is a small, but powerful film, Spotlight, certainly one of the year’s 10 best and a sure competitor for Best Picture honors. Spotlight is the name of the Boston Globe’s small, elite investigative team, which launches a major project to look into the city’s child-molesting priests and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that looks the other way. With newspapers in such economic trouble these days, investigative journalism like this is rapidly disappearing, so there is a sense of admiration and regret for this team and their work, particularly in a city that is so vastly Catholic. Michael Keaton stars as the head of the Spotlight team, supported by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian D’Arcy James. Most importantly, the film was directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) delivering his best film yet. Opening this weekend in area theaters.
Theater: It sounded like outlandish, gimmick casting, but Lee Roy Reams is sensational as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! at The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton. The role of the meddlesome, manipulative matchmaker who sets her own sights on a Yonkers merchant and half-millionaire has long been owned by Carol Channing, who always seemed like a man in drag anyway. Reams, who also directs the production, reveals the character’s masculine side, while showing off his feminine side. As a result, even though the production is otherwise quite conventional, Reams is reason enough to see this Tony Award-laden show you have probably already seen. Through Sunday, Dec. 6. $70-$80. Call: 561-995-2333.
Art: Charleston has been in the news for tragic reasons of late, but the South Carolina city has seen many momentous events in its long and rich history. Some of its elegant high-society past can be seen starting Saturday at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, which is opening an exhibit of about 100 objects from the city’s origins to the advent of the Civil War. Called An Eye for Opulence: Colonial to Antebellum Charleston, the show draws from the Rivers Collection, founded by a man whose family has lived in the city since 1670. Expect to see beautiful furniture, silver, artworks and other objects that speak of a wealthy society fueled by slave labor but proud of its gentility and its appreciation for art. The display runs through Jan. 10 at the intimate O’Keeffe Gallery on the Four Arts campus. Admission is still only $5, one of the best deals in the area. Call 655-7226 or visit www.fourarts.org.
Music: Two British titans of progressive guitar playing, fusion master Allan Holdsworth and Jethro Tull alum Martin Barre, play south county this weekend. Barre’s show at the Arts Garage on Saturday night sold out, and so the Delray venue has added a second show Sunday at 7 p.m. as Barre and his band head out on tour. Holdsworth plays the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center on Saturday night with two shows, one at 8 p.m., the other at 9:30 p.m. These are formidable musicians with devoted fan bases, and their appearances provide a rare opportunity to hear these veteran players in music that remains scandalously underappreciated by the culture at large. For Holdsworth’s shows, call 561-405-4254; for Barre’s Sunday show, call 561-450-6357.