Music: Veteran songwriter and bandleader Tom Petty returns to his home state tonight with a concert at the Cruzan Amphitheatre with his longtime band, the Heartbreakers; he’ll be joined by the British pop icon Steve Winwood, who has played with Petty for years. Petty has created a durable collection of tunes that are not only an indelible part of the soundtrack of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he has continued to keep writing new material; the Heartbreakers’ newest album, Hypnotic Eye, which was released in July, is the first of his records to reach the top spot on the Billboard chart. A few lawn seats remain in the $50 range, but after that the tickets inside start at around $272 and top out at $1,290. Now that’s a popular show, but well worth it for a musician who has remained relevant for new audiences even as he rewins the hearts of his older fans. Visit cruzanamphitheatre.net for more information.
Film: Although he is in his mid-70s, playwright Israel Horovitz makes a very promising debut as a film director, bringing to the screen his internationally produced stage work, My Old Lady. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he was able to attract Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott Thomas to star in the movie. They could make any neophyte filmmaker look good. Kline plays a much-divorced down-and-out New Yorker who flies to Paris to sell a large apartment he has just inherited. But he finds Smith and Thomas residing there and, because of a quirk of French real estate law, he cannot take possession of the place until the 90-ish old lady dies. So he moves in with them and – more curious French law – Kline has to pay them rent. Just go along with it and watch how three pros manage to make us care. Opening this weekend at the Living Room Theaters in Boca Raton, where it is likely to prove popular and be extended.
Theater: Another veteran playwriting pro, Terrence McNally, copped a Tony Award nomination this past season for the very topical Mothers & Sons. Based on an earlier teleplay, Andre’s Mother, about a closed-minded Midwest mom who comes to New York for the funeral of her AIDS-ravaged son, the play has been updated to focus on Andre’s surviving partner, now in a gay marriage. GableStage’s Joseph Adler was quick to grab the performance rights to the play, which he produces and directs in its Florida premiere, beginning this weekend. Angie Radosh plays the set-in-her-ways still-grieving mother, who invades the Manhattan apartment of Michael McKeever and Jeremiah Musgrove. Continuing through Oct. 19. Call (305) 445-1119 for tickets.
Art: It’s a little surprising, and dispiriting, that the environmental consciousness of the average South Floridian is so low-profile when it comes to standing up against attacks on this state’s unique and irreplaceable biota. It is a sad state of affairs, but for those of us who revere this place, we always have Clyde Butcher. A singular photographer who has made large-format black-and-white photos of the Everglades and Florida’s undisturbed areas for five decades, he remains unmatchable, as much for his technical precision as for his wonderful subject. The man himself was in town at the Coral Springs Museum of Art last week to open a new exhibit of his work that will run at the Broward County museum until Nov. 22. Preserving Eden presents 36 new photos, which is a good way for newcomers to his work to understand a little bit more of what Florida is really supposed to be about. The Coral Springs Museum is at 2855 Coral Springs Drive. Hours are Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 per person, free for members. Call 954-340-5000 or visit CoralSpringsMuseum.org.