Culture Break for Stone Crabs

The Culture Edit, October 20th-November 2nd

Author

Susan Bannon
October 19, 2025

Stone crab season is here! And that means the South Beach Seafood Festival is back, too, with a four-day seafood bacchanal on the sands of Miami Beach, starting Wednesday. This year’s fest features two nights of new tasting dinners, plus fan favorite events like the “VIP Chef Showdown” on Friday and the all-inclusive “Seafood Slam” finale on Saturday, where guests sample the dishes from 40+ restaurants and vote for the Best of the Fest.

Of course, we do have plenty of culture to choose from this week, with a lot of music and cinema (including a 50th anniversary screening of Rocky Horror), and two great theater productions in their final weeks.

Also on my radar: a multi-sensory immersive dinner coming up on October 28th with artist Edison Peñafiel. Hosted by Locust Projects Executive Director Lorie Mertes to support Peñafiel’s upcoming “underwater” installation at LP, guests will join a conversation with Mertes and the artist as they enter his visual universe, then dine mise-en-scène.

Let’s get planning…

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Music

The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight

After mesmerizing audiences across Europe, The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight lands at the Arsht Center with a 90-minute spectacle of iconic rock and metal anthems. The classical arrangements of your favorites from Metallica, The Cranberries, My Chemical Romance, No Doubt, et al, by an electrified 14-piece chamber orchestra are set against a moody backdrop of steampunk costumes, ethereal lighting, fog, and yes, lots of candles! You can check out their version of The Cranberries’ Zombie here.

Friday, October 24th, 8pm, Arsht Center, $60-$130

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

NuDeco: A Haunted Symphony

NuDeco Ensemble, our genre-bending contemporary orchestra, returns to The Citadel lounge space for a thrilling Halloween celebration, featuring world-renowned multi-instrumentalist Munir Hossn. Headlining the program is Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, a piece forever etched into our brains thanks to this iconic Fantasia sequence, plus John Carpenter’s spine-tingling Halloween theme, and an orchestral reimagination of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Oct. 31st & Nov. 1st, 8:30pm both nights, the Citadel lounge, $35 or $85 VIP

Neighborhood: Little River

More Upcoming Music Events:

Indie Cinema

Doppelgängers3 with Director Q&A

O Cinema South Beach welcomes director and star Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stéphanian for a screening and post-show discussion of her new film, Doppelgängers3. The movie follows Hayoun-Stéphanian and her doppelgängers as they meet with scientists, visionaries, and cultural inventors to envision a future human diaspora beyond Earth. Oh, and there’s also a pre-show drag performance. Sounds like an interesting night!

Monday, October 20th, 7pm, O Cinema South Beach, $14

Neighborhood: South Beach

Rosemead: Screening and Q&A with Lucy Liu

Lawrence Shou and Lucy Liu star in the upcoming film 'Rosemead.'

The main Miami Film Festival is in April, but each fall, MFF presents GEMS, a “mini-fest” of films that are expected to make waves in the upcoming awards season, weeks or months before we would typically get a chance to see them in theaters. This year’s GEMS fest has expanded to eight days of Oscar contenders, including this screening of Lucy Liu’s new film, Rosemead, a searing portrait of an ailing woman racing against time to heal her son’s violent obsessions, plus a post-show Q&A with the actress herself.

Saturday, October 25th, 6:30pm, Silverspot Cinema, $33

Neighborhood: Downtown

More Upcoming Indie Cinema:

  • Friday, October 24th: director Carlos Beltran and NBA Star Greivis Vasquez visit Coral Gables Art Cinema for a screening of All I Ever Wanted, the story of Vasquez’s struggles with injury and life after basketball, and a post-show Q&A, at 7pm.

  • Sunday, October 26th: 50 years of Rocky Horror gets a fitting celebration with O Cinema’s raucous outdoor showing at the Miami Beach Bandshell, hosted by Queen Mother of Drag TP Lords, with pre- and post-show DJ sets to continue the party, at 7pm.

  • Wednesday, October 29th: FilmGate Miami presents its annual horror festival, a selection of short, scary films from local filmmakers, at the Silverspot Cinema at 6:30pm.

  • Thursday, October 30th: PAMM hosts a free outdoor showing of the original 1988 Beetlejuice on a 60-foot floating screen by their waterfront terrace, with happy hour drink specials at Verde, at 7pm.

Book Talks

Toxic Grit: An Evening with Amanda Goetz

Books & Books welcomes author Amanda Goetz to discuss her new book Toxic Grit: How to have it all and (actually) love what you have, a takedown of “Lean In” culture that helps women reframe ambition and recenter joy and pleasure in their lives. Sounds pretty good!

Saturday, October 25th, 7pm, Books & Books Coral Gables, Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Sra. Martinez, Bulla, Salumeria 104 | Drinks: Books & Books Café, Cebada Rooftop

The Fashion of Clueless with Mona May

Books & Books and the Miami Film Festival welcome costume designer Mona May to discuss her new book, The Fashion of Clueless, a behind-the-scenes look at how she created an iconic on-screen world where teenagers casually rock Gaultier suits at school. One of the defining cultural artifacts of the 90’s (a decade that seems to be everywhere right now), Clueless is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, but its fashion will never get old. As if!

Sunday, November 2nd, 11am, Books & Books Coral Gables, Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Books & Books Café, Barista Café, Maman | Drinks: Books & Books Café, Cebada Rooftop

More Literary Events:

  • Thursday, October 30th: former Knight Foundation and Miami Herald leader Alberto Ibargüen joins longtime local arts journalist Elisa Turner to discuss her new book, Miami’s Art Boom, at the Coral Gables Congregational Church, followed by a reception, at 7pm.

Dance

Rennie Harris Puremovement

Street dance legend and award-winning choreographer Rennie Harris returns to the Arsht Center with his crew, the indefatigable dancers of Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater. Harris’ three laws of hip-hop - individuality, creativity and innovation - will be on full display for a mix of moves from B-boying to house.

October 30th & November 1st, 7:30pm, Arsht Center, $70

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Art Openings & Events

Dan Attoe, “Sweet Days,” oil on panel, 2025

Andrew Reed Gallery celebrates the opening of a solo show of new work by modern landscape painter Dan Attoe. Using Old Masters painting techniques and formal compositions, Attoe infuses the subjects in his modern settings with a haunting isolation.

Saturday, October 25th, Opening Reception 6-8pm, Andrew Reed Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

More Upcoming Art Events:

Theater

Gablestage: Harry Clarke

Gablestage opens its season with Harry Clarke, a wickedly funny, sexually charged one man show by Obie Award-winning playwright David Cale. Stage veteran Mark H. Dold (whom Gablestage audiences will recognize from last year’s Lehman Trilogy and Appropriate) delivers a mesmerizing, shape-shifting performance as shy Midwesterner Philip Brugglestein, who reinvents himself as the seductive, cocky Londoner Harry Clarke, moving to New York and charming his way into a wealthy family’s life.

Through November 12th, 7:30pm evenings, 2pm matinees, Gablestage at the Biltmore, $40-$60

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Actors’ Playhouse: The Spitfire Grill

Actor’s Playhouse opens its 38th season with The Spitfire Grill, a heartwarming musical based on the 1996 film about a young parolee who follows a page from an old travel book to a small town in Wisconsin in search of a fresh start. Featuring a gorgeous, soulful score that blends folk and Americana, The Spitfire Grill explores themes of community and second chances among the denizens of the titular diner.

Through November 2nd, 8pm evenings, 3pm Sunday matinees, Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, $40

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Upcoming Theater:

  • Through October 26th: Kassandra, a modern adaptation of the ancient Greek story that imagines the prophetess as a transgender immigrant on the margins of society, plays at the Westchester Cultural Arts Center, at 8pm.

  • Through November 2nd: Miami Lakes’ Main Street Players present Here, Chew-Chew, a new psychological horror play written by Miami playwright Armando Santana.

  • October 23rd-24th: acclaimed playwright Sergio Blanco presents his one-man show, Momento Mori, a meditation on death with backdrops by Uruguayan photographer Matilde Campodónico, at the Westchester Cultural Arts Center at 8pm.

Planning Ahead

Miami's most anticipated events sell out and those new restaurants you want to try book up. For the ultimate plan-ahead guide, you have my complete Highlights of the Fall Season, but if that’s too much trouble, you can just plan for these two…

November 13th-December 7th

Here There Are Blueberries

Miami New Drama opens its season with Here There Are Blueberries, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist written by Miami New Drama co-founder Moisés Kaufman with playwright Amanda Gronich. Named one of the “10 Best Plays of 2024” by The Wall Street Journal, the play follows the true story of a mysterious album containing Nazi-era photographs that found its way to the U.S. Holocaust Museum archives in 2007. As curators unravel the shocking truth behind the images, the album soon makes headlines and ignites a debate that reverberates far beyond the museum walls.

Various times, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $45-$95

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

November 15th-18th

Silent Night

The Minnesota Opera performing “Silent Night,” 2018. Photo: Don Norman

Florida Grand Opera opens its season with Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night, a moving and tragic retelling of the spontaneous Christmas Eve ceasefire between Scottish, French, and German troops during World War I. Composer Kevin Puts’s sweeping score blends everything from simple folk tunes to grand, cinematic orchestration, capturing the raw emotion of both battle and brotherhood. *If you plan to attend the Saturday premiere, be aware people get really dressed up. So if you’re looking for an excuse to break out the tux or ballgown, this is it!

Various times, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $30-$250

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

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