Film: Scratch a proficient sketch comedian and you will usually find a performer capable of dramatic roles as well. Consider Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live fame who handle darker material with impressive skill in a new independent film, The Skeleton Twins. It has its amusing sequences – most of which are crammed into the promotional trailer – but the story of two sibling misfits with suicidal tendencies is heartbreakingly serious stuff. Busy battling depression, Maggie and Milo have not been in touch for a decade, but when he botches a wrist-slitting attempt, she puts down her fistful of pills and rescues him, bringing him into her home where she suffers through a miserable marriage to Luke Wilson. Wiig and Hader play off each other brilliantly, making us yearn for more dramatic work from them. The Skeleton Twins opens this weekend at the Living Room Theaters in Boca Raton.
Theater: Playing through Sunday is the Evening Star production of Frank D. Gilroy’s 1964 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Subject Was Roses, a kitchen table drama of an Irish family in the Bronx reuniting with its World War II veteran son, but the happiness proves fleeting as GI Timmy now sees his parents’ unhappy marriage through adult eyes. The three-member cast – Alan Gerstel and his real-life son, Evan, plus the nicely understated Elli Murray – are sufficient, but it is the play itself that does most of the work, still affecting 50 years later. At Sol Children’s Theatre in Boca Raton. Call (561) 447-8829 for tickets.
Music: The Arts Garage in Delray Beach has built up quite a string of jazz performances over the past two years, but Saturday night will count as something really special, because the great pianist Cyrus Chestnut will be in the house. The Baltimore-born musician has a fluid, dazzling technique and a deep knowledge of the American Songbook, and his long experience as a church musician make him a formidable, supremely tasteful accompanist for singers such as Kathleen Battle and Anita Baker. The season is just getting underway, but it’s already hit a high point for jazz fans, who shouldn’t miss this performance. Tonight at 8; tickets start at $25; call 450-6357 or visit www.artsgarage.com.
Art: Each year, the Florida Watercolor Society presents an exhibit of its members’ works at a museum somewhere in the state, and earlier this month, 43rd annual exhibition arrived at the Cornell Museum in Delray Beach for a stay until Nov. 16. Watercolors tend to be popular for part-time painters and people taking their first forays into art, but as with any medium, a great master of the form can make something spectacular happen. About 100 pieces are on display at the lovely old Cornell, and with an admission price of only $5, it’s a good way to get back into the viewing habit after a summer respite. Hours are 10 to 4:30 every day except Monday, when the museum is closed. Call 243-7922 or visit delraycenterforthearts.org.