PALM BEACH GARDENS – Mainstreet at Midtown, based at the Borland Center for the Performing Arts, has launched the county’s first festival of “swede” films and is now accepting entries.

A “swede” is an intentionally awful remake of an established film, and since 2008, festivals of the parodistic shorts have taken place in Fresno, Calif., and Tampa Bay. SwedeFest Palm Beach will take place at the Borland Center on July 27.

Anyone is eligible to submit a swede, and the following rules apply: All films must be less than 3 minutes long and PG-13 in content, regardless of the source material. Films must be submitted on a DVD; the deadline is July 13. The festival’s website offers further details as well as examples of swedes (this is the promotional video: http://vimeo.com/41039000)

Would-be filmmakers are asked to email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to call dibs on the film they want to swede, so that duplications are avoided. Audience members will vote on the films at the festival and awards will be given in under-18 and over-18 categories. The festival’s emcee will be Palm Beach Post entertainment writer Leslie Gray Streeter.

For more information, visit www.swedefestpalmbeach.com, visit swedefestpalmbeach on Facebook, or call Belle at 561-282-4623.

BOCA RATON – The Lynn Philharmonia, having been rained out of Mizner Park this past weekend for a free outdoor concert, will perform instead tonight at the Wold Performing Arts Center on the campus of Lynn University.

The program is called A Symphonic Tribute to Jazz, and will be led by conservatory dean Jon Robertson. The music will include popular symphonic and jazz selections, and include tributes to Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

The concert is set for 6 p.m. Open seating is available, but reservations are required. Call 237-9000 or visit this link.

TEQUESTA – The Lighthouse ArtCenter has added two new members to its board of directors, the museum and art school said last week.

Joining the board are Jane O’Neill and Roseanne Williams. O’Neill, a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, has been an educator for four decades and volunteers at the ArtCenter, Norton Museum and other organizations. She and her husband, Patrick, will chair the Beaux Arts Ball in 2013.

Williams, who was a human-resources professional for 20 years, is an artist who studied at the Cincinnati Academy of Art and in Florence, Italy, with Alvaro Baragli. An exhibiting member of the ArtCenter’s Artists’ Guild, Williams has exhibited in Italy and the United States, and her paintings have joined corporate and private collections in the U.S. and Europe.

For more information about the Lighthouse ArtCenter, call 561-746-3101 or visit www.lighthousearts.org.

PALM BEACH – The Society for the Four Arts has extended its current exhibit, Recapturing the Real West: The Collections of William I. Koch, for a second time following an unprecedented response from the public.

The Koch exhibit will remain open at the Society’s Esther O’Keeffe Gallery through May 13, officials said this week. More than 20,000 people have seen the exhibit since it opened Feb. 4, making it the most successful art installation at the Society since its founding in 1936. It had been scheduled to close April 15.

Society officials also have added five more curatorial talks from a member of Koch’s team. The talks are set for 2:30 p.m. May 1, 2, 8, and 10, and 10:30 a.m. and noon May 5. Reservations are now being accepted.

One of the prize features of the exhibit is the only known image of the outlaw Billy the Kid, taken in 1879 or 1880. Koch paid $2.3 million for the ferrotype in an auction last year.

Admission to the exhibit is $5. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 561-655-7226 or visit www.fourarts.org.

Palm Beach Opera names Hirsch managing director

WEST PALM BEACH – Veteran lighting designer and production chief Greg Hirsch was appointed the managing director of the Palm Beach Opera this week, officials said.

Hirsch, 66, who served as production director in the just-concluded season, will be responsible for the company’s daily operations as well as all production aspects of the West Palm Beach-based opera company’s shows. The appointment is effective immediately.

Appointing a managing director will allow General Director Daniel Biaggi to concentrate on long-term strategy for the company as well as fundraising, according to a news release.

Hirsch, who worked as a lighting designer at Palm Beach Opera in the 1970s, has worked on almost 400 different productions in the course of his career, and has served as production director at the Portland, San Diego, Dallas and Tulsa operas. He is the winner of awards from Drama-Logue awards and the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle.

The Palm Beach Opera’s 2012-13 season will include Verdi’s La Traviata in January, Rossini’s La Cenerentola (with Vivica Genaux) in February, and Richard Strauss’ Salome (with Erika Sunngårdh) in March. A Young Artists production of Britten’s Turn of the Screw is scheduled for April.

For more information, call 833-7888 or visit www.pbopera.org.

Maltz puts special engagements on sale May 7

JUPITER – The Maltz Jupiter Theatre will begin selling tickets May 7 for its limited engagements and special shows, which will include a student production of The Laramie Project and appearances by Roger McGuinn and John Pizzarelli.

The coming season will mark the Maltz’s 10^th anniversary, and in honor of that, officials are bringing back limited-engagement shows that have had sold-out audiences, including jazz guitarist Pizzarelli (March 27), the Celtic Tenors (March 18), and a New Year’s Eve show from the Washington, D.C., parody troupe the Capitol Steps.

Also included in the list of special engagements is a Nov. 16 benefit concert from the Stan Kenton Tribute Orchestra, directed by Dennis Noday, which will perform the big-band classics associated with the hard-driving Kenton, whose career flourished in the 1940s.

A high school production of Moises Kaufman’s The Laramie Project is planned for Sept. 8, and on Oct. 12, the company will present a family musical production of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. Other theatrical specials include Defending the Caveman (Jan. 14), Late Nite Catechism (Jan. 20) and an appearance by Second City (March 10).

Tickets for the upcoming shows go on sale May 7. Call 561-575-2223 or visit www.jupitertheatre.org.

The 2012-13 season of mainstage productions at the Maltz consists of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus (Oct. 30-Nov. 11); Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (Nov. 27-Dec. 16); Singin’ in the Rain (Jan. 8-27); John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (Feb. 5-17); and Jeanine Tesori’s Thoroughly Modern Millie (March 5-24).

Seraphic Fire to bring back ‘Dido,’ ‘Messiah’ in 11^th season

MIAMI – Seraphic Fire, the professional concert choir that was nominated for two Grammy awards earlier this year, will be bringing back presentations of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah for its 11^th season.

The choir founded by Patrick Dupré Quigley in 2002 also will be returning for another season to its new Palm Beach County venue, St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, and will present its Christmas concert for the first time in Palm Beach Gardens, when it appears Dec. 8 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

Dido and Aeneas will be performed Feb. 22-24 (Feb. 24 in Boca Raton), and Messiah will be presented Dec. 21-23 (Dec. 21 in Boca). The 11^th season will open with American choral works (Oct. 17-21), followed Nov. 14-18 by a program devoted to settings of the Psalms by J.S. Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Pachelbel (Jauchzet dem Herrn) and Virgil Thomson (My Shepherd Will Supply My Need).

The group’s Candlelight Christmas concerts, which will feature Franz Gruber’s Silent Night as a centerpiece, will be presented Dec. 12-16, and the new year will open with a program of Gregorian chant devoted to the Virgin Mary (Jan. 16-20).

Soprano Kathryn Mueller, a regular member of the choir, will be the featured soloist March 20-24 in an all-Vivaldi program of cantatas, and the choir marks the 500^th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s arrival in Florida with a concert of music from Spain’s Golden Age (April 10-14).

The 2013 season will conclude with a concert of “cathedral classics,” in which concertgoers will get to decide which help decide part of the program, which will include the Miserere of Gregorio Allegri and the Alleluia of American composer Randall Thompson (May 8-12, 2013).

For more information, call 305-285-9060, or visit www. seraphic fire.org.

The choir concludes its current season May 9-13 with Treasures of the Mission Road, a concert of music from the Baroque era in Latin America. The concert at St. Gregory’s is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10.

As the 17^th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival approaches, the countywide movie event seems now what it was when it started in 1996.

It hovers perpetually on the verge of becoming worth our time and attention, but is has yet to get there.

Sure, in the 16 previous festivals, there have been films worthy of this exalted showcase. Think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (the independent box office dynamo that nearly every ethnic romantic comedy since has likened itself to), the well-crafted immigrant experience drama The Golden Door, the soaring documentary Winged Migration, the emotionally powerful Alzheimer’s tale Away From Her, and last year’s wryly comic Win Win, to name just a few.

But these are the exceptions. With each festival bringing in over 100 films -- features, shorts and documentaries -- most will go directly to video, if they go anywhere, and rightly so.

If you measure film festivals by the star power of awards honorees -- and I hope you don’t -- the Palm Beach fest looks more impressive. Over the years, it has featured the likes of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Adrien Brody fresh from his Oscar win for The Pianist, Fay Wray, Ben Gazzara, Peter Boyle, Louise Fletcher, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Rooney, Lou Gossett Jr., Dennis Hopper, local favorite Burt Reynolds and that cinematic legend, Sylvester Stallone.

In many respects, that ability to attract stars has been part of PBIFF’s problem. For much of its history, the focus has been on bringing in attention-getting names -- as a way to attract media attention and corporate sponsors -- instead of where the focus should be, on finding, acquiring and screening interesting, offbeat films of quality.

Recently announced is this year’s lifetime achievement award winner, June Lockhart, to be celebrated at a low-key Sunday brunch. Now Lockhart is a perfectly charming lady and a show biz icon for her work in three TV series -- Lassie, Lost in Space and Petticoat Junction. But her film career is frankly minor and unlikely to gain in stature based on the film she brings to the festival -- the world premiere of Zombie Hamlet. (No, really, we’re not making this stuff up.)

If you are grading the festival, give it a B+ for its celebrities, but a C- for its films. That misguided emphasis was glaringly obvious with the opening night selection of the 11^th Palm Beach festival in 2006, a wince-inducing item called Rain -- something about a young woman with family secrets, who takes refuge with wealthy relatives -- whose only possible rationale for such a prominent slot was the promised appearance of its star, Faye Dunaway. (P.S. Dunaway never showed that night, though she did manage to glide in to pick up an award as film legend at the gala two nights later.)

You see, for most of the festival’s history, if you happened to be willing to part with an excess $1,000, the ticket price for the galas that used to be the centerpiece of the festival, you could be in the same room with a Salma Hayek, a Rod Steiger or a Daryl Hannah. Those with a more modest entertainment budget were stuck with the option of seeing the movies.

Or of staying home. Getting attendance figures for the festival is a perpetual challenge, but from anecdotal observation, all but the evening and weekend screenings of films with familiar cast members are sparsely attended. Again it is anecdotal, but for more of those past 16 years, I spoke often to public groups of avid film fans and would make a point of asking who had ever attended the Palm Beach International Film Festival. I never saw more than a handful of raised hands.

Each year, it seems, the festival leadership talks about gaining visibility for the event, an unlikely occurrence in these post-recessionary times when the marketing budget for the festival has dwindled. Without good attendance numbers to boast about, PBIFF’s founding chairman, Burt Aaronson, would often remind naysayers that the true beneficiaries of the festival was “the kids,” the county’s film training students whose departments received some of the proceeds from the festival.

Such worthy target recipients make the Palm Beach festival as controversial as mom or apple pie, but one does wonder, if film studies are so valued, why the county doesn’t simply fund these programs instead of laundering the money through an under-performing film festival?

These days, of course, there seems to be a film festival in every major city of the country -- and a lot of minor ones -- so I suppose Palm Beach County might as well have one, too. In fact, we have several, including the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, the Women’s Film Festival, the African-American Film Festival and the Delray Beach Film Festival (which drifted down to Boca Raton last year).

Expectations should not be too high for the Palm Beach International Film Festival, since it competes for product -- at least in filmmakers’ minds -- with the festivals of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. We might be more understanding of the PBIFF if only it looked like the event were moving closer to getting it right.

In an attempt to find the best venue strategy, the festival has moved around the county, alternately spreading its nets wide, then consolidating into just a few locations. No wonder the audience is confused.

It was a long time before there was any competitive recognition for films here. That valuable involvement factor was added in the eighth year, but the festival still seems to be searching for a winning format of award categories and judges.

Another holy grail goal has been turning PBIFF into a marketplace festival, where distributors seek out and bid on new, unsigned product. But with so many more established festivals with better films, it seems unlikely that we could ever become a place where true, previously undiscovered gems emerge in sufficient numbers to keep distributors interested.

Seventeen years ago, there was a greater need for a film festival here. Palm Beach County was a cultural backwater in 1996 when it came to foreign, independent and alternative films. Then, West Palm Beach’s Carefree Theatre was really the only game around. Today, there are the Living Room Theatres in Boca Raton, Emerging Cinemas in Lake Worth and Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park bringing a steady supply of non-studio fare to the area.

Naturally, there is room for more art house films here and the more that arrives here, the larger the appetite for these movies grows. So we might as well cross our fingers and hope that this is the year that the festival films make a quantum leap in quality. And if that is not the case, we can always enjoy the latest batch of celebrities hawking their new movies or stopping by to scoop up an award.

Editor’s note: This is the calendar from the print version of Palm Beach ArtsPaper, out today. Through an inadvertent error in the production process, the calendar in the print paper is an incomplete version of the March calendar. The correct April calendar is posted here.)

Events are listed through May 4 and were current as of March 30. Please check with the presenting agency for any changes. Ticket prices are single sales. Most of the presenting organizations offer subscription plans.

Art Exhibits

Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens: The Curious World of Austin Manchester, paintings by the American artist now living in France, whose works have a soft, dreamy Seurat-influenced style. Through April 29. Artist’s reception, 6-8 pm April 11. Galleries are open from 10 am-4 pm Wednesday through Sunday. Admission: $7. Call 561-832-5328 or visit www.ansg.org.

Boca Raton Museum of Art: Through May 20: Will Barnet at 100: Eight Decades of Painting and Printmaking, a retrospective of the work of this fine American artist, still painting a century after his birth; Muted Imprints, an installation by the Japanese-American sculptor Misako Inaoka; films (all at 2 pm): April 15, 18 and 21: Will Barnet: Tracing the Soul of the Work (2010). Admission: $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 students. Hours: 10 am-5 pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 am-9 pm Wednesday; 12 pm-5 pm Saturday and Sunday. Closed Mondays and holidays. Call 561-392-2500, or visit www.bocamuseum.org.

Cornell Museum of Art and American Culture: Through April 15: Diana Nicosia: The World of Color, paintings featuring scenes from Brazil, Kuwait, Italy and other places; Burlini: Pop Pluralist, surreal paintings by Christopher J. Burlini. At Old School Square, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-4 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays; 1-4:30 pm Sundays; closed Mondays. Tickets: $10, $6 seniors and $4 students; $2 ages 4-12; free for children 3 and younger. Call 561-243-7922 or visit www.oldschool.org for more information.

Flagler Museum: Through April 22: A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, a look at artwork created by Driscoll and her female team for the Tiffany Studios in the early 20th century. Regular ticket prices: Adults: $18; $10 for youth ages 13-18; $3 for children ages 6-12; and children under 6 admitted free. For more information, call 561-655-2833 or visit www.flaglermuseum.us.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens: Through May 6: Old Techniques, New Interpretations: Japanese Prints from the Paul and Christine Meehan Collection, an exhibit of 75 prints by sosaku hanga masters; and Mariko Kusumoto: Unfolding Stories, intricate metal sculptures by the contemporary Japanese artist. Tickets: $12, $11 for seniors, $8 for children and college students. Open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Call 495-0233 or visit www.morikami.org.

Norton Museum of Art: Through May 6: Tacita Dean, artwork by the young British artist; through May 27: Beth Lipman: A Still Life Installation, a new work for blown glass by Lipman, installed in the European galleries. Ongoing: Rubens to Corot: The Delacorte Gift. Admission: $12 adults; $5 ages 13-21. Hours: 10 am-5 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays except Thursday 10 am-9 pm; 1 am-5 pm Sundays; closed Mondays. For more information, call 561-832-5196 or visit www.norton.org.

Palm Beach Photographic Centre: Through June 9: Wynn Bullock: Insights and Surprises, a collection of 44 prints by the American master photographer. Best-known for his black-and-white work, he also did a number of color abstractions, featured here. Admission is free. Hours: 10 am-6 pm Monday through Thursday; 10 am-5 pm Friday and Saturday. Call 561-253-2600 or visit www.workshop.org.

Society of the Four Arts: Through April 29: Recapturing the Real West: The Collections of William I. Koch, a hugely popular, stuffed-to-the-rafters collection of rare memorabilia from the Old West, including the only known image of Billy the Kid. At the Esther O’Keeffe Gallery. Tickets: $5. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday, 2 p.m. to 5 pm. Call 561-655-7226 or visit www.fourarts.org.

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale: Through April 8: Offering of the Angels: Old Master Paintings and Tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery, a collection of 45 pictures from the great Florentine gallery, featuring works by Botticelli, Parmigianino and Giordano. Through May 27, Primordial: Paintings and Sculpture by Isabel de Obaldia, 1985-2011, works by the self-described Panamanian “primitive”; through Oct. 2, 2012: All in the Family: Paintings and Works on Paper by Members of the Glackens Family, art by Glackens and the numerous members of his clan who also were artists. Hours: Open daily from 11 am-6 pm, except open until 8 pm Thursdays and 12-5 pm Sundays. Closed Mondays. Admission: $10 adults, $7 seniors, military members, children 6-17. For more information, call 954-525-5500 or visit www.moafl.org.

Books

Monday, April 16

A.J. Jacobs: The “immersion journalist” discusses Drop Dead Healthy, the story of his quest tfor maximal health from head to toe. 8 pm, Books and Books, Coral Gables. Call 305-442-4408.

Friday, April 20
Michael Lister: The former North Florida prison chaplain turned noir novelist signs copies of his latest book, Burnt Offerings. 7 pm. Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach. Call 561-279-7790 or visit www.murderonthebeach.com.
Sunday, April 29
Rhonda Pollero: The South Florida resident introduces her fourth Finley Tanner mystery, Slightly Irregular. 7 pm. Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach. Call 561-279-7790 or visit www.murderonthebeach.com.

Cabaret

Tuesday, April 3-Saturday, April 14
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.: The couple who broke into pop success as members of the Fifth Dimension in the 1960s. 8:30 pm, Royal Room, Colony Hotel, Palm Beach. $60 cover charge for the show Tuesday-Thursday, $60 for Friday-Saturday. Call 561-659-8100 or visit www.thecolonypalmbeach.com.

Tuesday, April 10

David Osborne: The “pianist to the presidents” offers his usual variety package of everything from classical to jazz, pop and Broadway. 7:30 pm, Wold Center for the Performing Arts, Lynn University, Boca Raton. Tickets: $45-$60. Call 561-237-9000 or visit www.lynn.edu/tickets.

Thursday, April 19-Friday, April 20
Lee Lessack: The singer offers a tribute to the Great French Songbook, with music of Charles Aznavour and Michel Legrand. 7:30 pm, Kravis Center, Persson Hall Cabaret. Tickets: $35. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Classical Music

Tuesday, April 10

Palm Beach Symphony: Conductor Jahja Ling and pianist Lola Astanova join the Palm Beachers for a gala benefit concert. Astanova will play the durable Piano Concerto No. 1 (in B-flat minor, Op. 23) of Tchaikovsky, and Ling will lead the band in Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony (in G, Op. 88). Tickets start at $30. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Wednesday, April 18

Chanticleer: The brilliant San Francisco-based all-male choir makes its Broward Center debut with music by Sebastian de Vivanco, Richard Strauss (Drei Mannerchore), Maurice Durufle, Steven Sametz, Eric Whitacre, and the world premiere of a piece by Steven Paulus. 8 pm, Parker Playhouse. Tickets: $29.50-$39.50. Calll 954-462-0222 or visit www.browardcenter.org.

Wednesday, April 18-Sunday, April 22
Firebird Chamber Orchestra: Patrick Dupre Quigley leads the Seraphic Fire orchestral project in music from the New World: John Adams’ Shaker Loops, Alberto Ginastera’s Concerto for Strings, and the Hoedown from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo. 7:30 pm Wednesday through Friday; 8 pm Saturday; 4 pm Sunday. At St. Jude Melkite Church in Miami on Wednesday; St. Gregory’s Episcopal in Boca on Thursday; First United Methodist in Coral Gables on Friday; at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday; at Miami Beach Community Church in Miami Beach on Sunday. Tickets: $35. Call 305-285-9060 or visit www.seraphicfire.org.

Sunday, April 22

Vitali String Quartet: This foursome of Mexican musicians returns to the St. Paul’s series for music by Mozart and Brahms, plus two major 20^th-century Mexican composers: Manuel Ponce and Silvestre Revueltas. 3 pm, St. Paul’s, Delray Beach. Tickets: $15-$20. Call 561-278-6003 or visit www.stpaulsdelray.org.

Jonah Kim: The fine young South Korea-born cellist gives a solo recital at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. 7 pm. Tickets: $15-$20. Call 561-450-6357 or visit www.artsgarage.org.

Sunday, April 22, Friday, April 27

Sunday, April 29

Delray String Quartet: The quartet is joined by pianist Tao Lin for the Piano Quartet (in E-flat, Op. 44) of Schumann, and the Trout Quintet (in A, D. 667) of Schubert. The quartet also plays an arrangement of the Adagietto movement from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. 4 pm April 22, Colony Hotel, Delray Beach; 8 pm April 27, All Saints Episcopal Church, Fort Lauderdale; 4 pm April 29, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Coconut Grove; Tickets: $35, Delray; $20, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Call 213-4138 or visit www.delraystringquartet.com.

Saturday, April 28

Lynn Philharmonia: The conservatory orchestra presents a free concert of classical music and jazz at the Mizner Park Amphitheatre. 7:30 pm. Call 561-237-9000 or visit www.lynn.edu/tickets.

Sunday, April 29

Kemal Gekic and Misha Dacic: Two well-known South Florida pianists from the former Yugoslavia (Croatia and Serbia) team for a dual recital to close the Miami International Piano Festival’s Aventura Cultural Series. Music by Rachmaninov, Liszt and Ravel are among the composers planned. 4 pm, Aventural Arts and Cultural Center. Tickets: $30. Call 954-462-0222 or visit www.browardcenter.org.

Comedy

Friday, April 20-Sunday, April 22

Elayne Boosler: A familiar face on TV and the comedy circuit, Boosler first began doing her standup act in the 1970s. 8 pm and 10:30 pm Friday; 7 pm and 9:45 pm Saturday; 7 pm Sunday. Tickets: $20. At the Palm Beach Improv in West Palm Beach. Call 833-1812 or visit www.palmbeachimprov.com.
Tuesday, April 27

Billy Gardell: The plump star of CBS’ Mike and Molly offers his standup act. 8 pm, Hard Rock Live, Hollywood. Tickets: $49-$69. Call 800-745-3000 or visit www.hardrockliveollywoodfl.com.

Dance

Friday, April 6-Sunday, April 8

FestOval of Dance: Jerry Opdenaker’s O Dance company presents a program of contemporary dance that includes performances by Reach Dance Company, Surfscape Contemporary Dance Theatre, and Houston’s Infinite Moment Ever Evolving. 7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, Kravis Center. Tickets: $35. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Friday, April 13-Sunday, April 15

Miami City Ballet: The company closes its season with Leo Delibes’ Coppelia, the classic 1870 story of a man who falls hopelessly in love with a mechanical doll. 8 pm Friday, pm and 8 pm Saturday, 1 pm Sunday, Kravis Center. Tickets: $19 and up. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Film

Friday, April 6
A Man Called Horse: Elliot Silverstein’s 1970 film about an English aristocrat captured by the Sioux who goes native. With Richard Harris, Judith Anderson. 2:30 and 8 pm, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach. Tickets: $5. Call 655-7227 or visit www.fourarts.org.
Jeremiah Johnson: Sydney Pollack’s 1972 film about a Mexican War veteran who retreats to the mountains to live off the land. With Robert Redford and Will Geer. 5:15 pm, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach. Tickets: $5. Call 655-7227 or visit www.fourarts.org.

Friday, April 20
High Noon: One of the greatest of all Westerns, Fred Zinneman’s 1952 story tracks the tale of a retiring marshal left to defend his town against a returning gang himself. With Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges and Grace Kelly. 2:30 and 8 pm, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach. Tickets: $5. Call 655-7227 or visit www.fourarts.org.
The Salt of Life: Gianni Di Gregorio’s 2012 film about a man in middle age (played by Di Gregorio himself) who wants to get back into the romance game. With Valeria de Franciscis, Teresa Di Gregorio. In Italian with English subtitles. At Living Room Theaters, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. Call 561-549-2600 for showtimes.

Friday, April 27

Monsieur Lazhar: Philippe Falardeau’s 2012 film about an Algerian teacher living in Montreal who takes over a class whose teacher has committed suicide. With Mohammed Said Fellag, Sophie Nelisse and Emilien Neron. In French with English subtitles. At Living Room Theaters, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. Call 561-549-2600 for showtimes.

Jazz

Friday, April 13

Harry Allen Quartet: The saxophonist has recorded with luminaries of the jazz and pop worlds, and for his show in the Gold Coast Jazz Society series he welcomes special guest guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. 7:45 pm, Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets: $40. Call 954-462-0222 or visit www.browardcenter.org.

Saturday, April 14

Othello Molineaux: The jazz master of the steel drum, celebrated for his work in the 1970s backing bassist Jaco Pastorius. 9 pm, Arts Garage, 180 N.E. 1st St., Delray Beach. Tickets: $20-$25. Call 450-6357 or visit www.delraybeacharts.org.

Tuesday, April 24

Angela Hagenbach: The Kansas City-born jazz singer-songwriter’s newest disc is The Way They Make Me Feel. Part of the Jazz Arts Music Society’s current season. 8 pm, Harriet Himmel Theater, CityPlace. Tickets: $35. Call 877-722-2820 or visit www.jamsociety.org.

Nostalgia

Tuesday, April 10

Liza Minelli: The durable singer and actress performs her one-woman show.8 pm, Hard Rock Live, Hollywood. Tickets: $49-$79. Call 800-745-3000 (Ticketmaster) or visit www.hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com.

Opens Friday, April 13

Music! Music! Music!: A revue of popular music from the post-World War II era, including songs such as Glowworm, Mambo Italiano, Fever, and Sing, Sing, Sing. Through April 29. 7:30 pm Fridays and Saturdays, 2 pm Saturdays and Sundays. At the Plaza Theatre, Manalapan. Tickets: $42. Call 561-588-1820 or visit www.theplazatheatre.net.

Saturday, April 14

Carla DelVillagio: The Barbra Streisand tribute artist performs Back to Broadway, songs from Streisand’s career on the Great White Way. 2 pm and 8 pm, Aventura Arts and Cultural Center. Tickets: $31.50-$41.50. Call 954-462-0222 or visit www.browardcenter.org.

Saturday, April 14-Sunday, April 15
Mia Matthews: The Palm Beach resident stars in Thanks for the Memories, a survey by Barry Levitt of songs from Paramount Pictures productions. 1:30 and 7: 30 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Rinker Playhouse, Kravis Center. Tickets: $35. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Opera

Saturday, April 21, Tuesday, April 24

Friday, April 27, Sunday, April 29

Wednesday, May 2

Romeo et Juliette: Charles Gounod’s 1867 retelling of the classic Shakespeare story. With Maria Alejandres as Juliette and Sebastian Gueze as Romeo. Joseph Mechavich conducts this final opera of the Florida Grand Opera’s 71st season. 7 pm April 21, 8 pm April 24, 27, and May 2, 2 pm April 29, Ziff Ballet Opera House, Miami. Ziff Ballet Opera House, Miami. Tickets: $21 and up. Call 800-741-1010 or visit www.fgo.org.

Popular Music

Saturday, April 7

Pink Martini: The unclassifiably elegant pop band led by pianist Thomas Lauderdale and singer China Forbes. 8 pm, Kravis Center. Tickets: $20. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

Thursday, April 12

Los Lonely Boys: The Garza brothers of San Angelo, Texas, bring their Tex-Mex sound to South Florida. 8:30 pm, Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale. Tickets: $22, available through www.ticketma0ster.com.

Friday, April 20

Ray Manzarek and Roy Rodgers Band: The music man of The Doors teams with slide-guitar icon for a new blues-based project. 9 pm. Tickets: $32. Call 585-2583 or visit www.bambooroom.com.
Saturday, April 21-Sunday, April 22

Steel Pulse: The English reggae band has been raising consciousness since the mid-1970s. 8 pm, Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale. Tickets: $28, available through www.ticketmaster.com.

Wednesday, April 25
Elvis Costello: The English songwriter and singer of iconic songs such as Alison, Pump It Up and Watching the Detectives is joined by his longtime band, The Imposters. 7 pm, Hard Rock Live, Hollywood. Tickets: $49-$89. Call 800-745-3000 (Ticketmaster) or visit www.hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com.

Theater

Opens Friday, April 6

Master Harold and the Boys: Athol Fugard’s classic 1982 play about the relationship between three South Africans in the days of apartheid. Directed by William Hayes; with W. Paul Bodie, Jared McGuire and Summer Hill Seven. Through April 29. At the Donald and Ann Brown Theatre, West Palm Beach. See www.palmbeachdramaworks.org for showtimes. Tickets: $55. Call 514-4042, ext. 2.

Closes April 8

Woody Sez: A revue of the songs and sayings of Woodie Guthrie, born 100 years ago in Oklahoma. With David M. Lutken as the bard. The first production in the Theatre at Arts Garage series directed by Lou Tyrrell. 7:30 pm Friday, 6 pm Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. Tickets: $25-$35. Call 561-450-6357 or visit www.artsgarage.org.

Opens Thursday, April 12

The Music Man: Meredith Willson’s classic musical about River City, Iowa, in 1912, which is changed by the arrival of band salesman Harold Hill. Through April 29. Tickets: $26-$30. Call 586-6410 or visit www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.

Opens Sunday, April 15

Our Lady of Allapattah: Christopher-Demos Brown’s world premiere play about two detectives investigating the image of the Virgin Mary that has suddenly appeared on the side of a Miami strip mall. Through May 20. 8 pm Wednesday through Saturday; 2 pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; selected Tuesdays. Tickets: $27-$50. Call 561-241-7432 or visit www.caldwelltheatre.com.

-- Compiled by Greg Stepanich

Of all the jobs that computer-related technology has caused to disappear, one other may soon need to be added to the list:

Page turner.

Concertgoers are used to seeing a turner come on stage, trailing the pianist, then sit unobtrusively to his or her left, and rise to turn the pages of the music when the time comes.

It’s a job that is small but vital for musical continuity, but one musician has used today’s technology to do the work himself.

British pianist Sam Haywood, who’s currently touring with violinist Joshua Bell, has for about seven months now been putting all the scores he needs into his iPad2. He then props the iPad on the piano rack, and “turns” the scanned pages of those scores with a Bluetooth-enabled foot-pedal device.

“You’ve just got to make sure everything’s well-charged and that’s all, basically,” Haywood said last month. “It just sits there. There are two pedals, one for turning back, one for turning forward. And it’s great.”

Haywood, who’s in China this week for two recitals with Bell, also accompanied the violinist in a private concert for President Obama and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during Xi’s visit to the United States. He used the iPad setup for Bell’s recital at the Kravis Center at the end of January, two months after he first tried it out in New York.

“I guess the big psychological leap was using it in Carnegie Hall in November. I don’t think they’ve ever had anyone do that before. I guess it was just a statement of my belief in it,” he said.

Haywood loads his scores into his iPad2 using an app called forScore, which “has evolved amazingly over the past few years,” he said. “You can annotate there, you can write stuff – you can do anything practically you can with a paper score.” (Version 3.5 of the app, which came out Thursday, is available for $4.99).

“I’ve tried all the apps for preparing music on the iPad, and in my opinion, this one is leaps and bounds ahead of the others,” he said.

And it was while using forScore that he found the device that would let him turn pages himself without having to take his hands off the keyboard.

“It was on their website I noticed that there was this Bluetooth foot pedal which had just been invented. I thought, ‘Why not give it a go?’ So I ordered one. It’s been something I’ve been dreaming of for a long, long time, to be able to do this kind of thing,” Haywood said. “So I thought it was worth the risk, and it turned out to be great. It’s so neat, the whole thing. And I’m such a technophile, so to be able to use something like that on stage makes me very happy.”

The foot pedal is made by a Boulder, Colo.-based company called AirTurn Inc. The newest model of its BT-105 device, with comes with two ATFS-2 pedals, sells for $129.95. One of the founders of AirTurn is pianist and tech guru Hugh Sung, who has for years helped classical musicians integrate technology into their professional lives.

Haywood says it takes a little bit of time to scan long scores into the iPad, but it’s not onerous. And once everything’s in, it’s easier to concentrate on the music.

“I think there are real musical advantages as well, because there’s no interruption, there’s no kind of punctuation every few minutes of somebody getting up and turning a page. It’s much more seamless,” he said. “It allows you to see the music in a bigger chunk somehow psychologically. Also, there’s not this worry that [a page turner] might not do it when you want, or they might not do it at all in some cases.

“There’s all that worry taken out, and of course you need to be in the calmest state possible. Anything that can remove a degree of uncertainty is helpful,” Haywood said.

The same arrangement wouldn’t really work for Bell, though. “I think it might be more difficult for a violinist. As a pianist, you’re just sitting there, and it’s very easy to flick your left foot and operate it. But if you’re moving around a bit and you have to keep finding the pedal to stand on, I’m not sure I can see it working so well.”

Using the BT-105 adds icing to the cake of Haywood’s love of the iPad, the subject of which has him sounding like an Apple evangelist.

“The iPad is just the perfect traveling companion. I mean, you’ve got your books, you’ve got your videos, your scores which you can study on the plane. You can do your emails – just everything you’d want to do, you can do, and it’s such a neat, small device. You just pack it in your bag, and you don’t even notice it’s there,” said Haywood, who’s 39 and based in London.

“The battery life, too -- you can fly all the way from London to California and there’d be no problem at all. So all these things combined make it indispensable,” he said. “When I first got it, I didn’t really know what I was going to do with it, but now I just can’t imagine life without it.”

He even appreciates Apple’s focus on aesthetics.

“And it looks so wonderful, too. Sometimes when I’m in the wings, and I look out and see it sitting there, it’s aesthetically very pleasing,” he said.

As of early February, Haywood had used the foot pedal-iPad set up more than 50 times in concert, with nothing untoward happening. But he did run into a situation once when a page turner seemed crestfallen when told her services wouldn’t be needed.

“There was one case, and I forget where it was, but she looked so disappointed, she’d been so looking forward to doing it, that I didn’t have the heart to use the iPad,” Haywood said. “So she actually did it.”

***

Sam Haywood explains his iPad page-turning in this recent TEDx lecture in Asheville, N.C., which also contains performances of two works by Chopin: the Nocturne No. 8 (in D-flat, Op. 27, No. 2) and the Scherzo No. 1 (in B minor, Op. 20).