New Season, New Look

The Culture Edit, September 29th-October 12th

Author

Susan Bannon
September 28, 2025

The wait is over, people! This week, New World Symphony officially kicks off Miami’s cultural season in grand style, with conductor Stéphane Denève leading the brand new cohort of New World Fellows in Beethoven’s majestic Eroica Symphony.

Also this week, we have a Scottish myth-inspired dance work, a nationally-recognized incarcerated journalist, and one of my favorite art events in town, the Progressive Art Brunch. After those slow summer months, it’s great to have a packed calendar again!

So what’s this new look? Well, it’s an experiment: for this issue, I’ve organized events by discipline (dance, music, etc.) instead of by date. I’m still covering arts happenings over the next two weeks, plus a “Plan Ahead” section, it’s just arranged to make finding something you’ll love a little easier (hopefully).

Take a look and let me know what you think! You can reply to this email or leave a public comment by clicking the comment icon above (or through “Read Online” and scrolling to the bottom). I’ll give it two weeks and then decide whether to keep it this way. The squeaky wheel gets the oil here!

Let’s get planning…

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Music

New World Symphony Season Opener

New World Symphony kicks off its 38th season with a salute to revolutionaries! Artistic Director Stéphane Denève conducts the New World Fellows in works dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and Napoleon Bonaparte. The latter work is of course Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony (Symphony No. 3), one of classical music’s most celebrated works, and alas, an object lesson in how our idols let us down. (After Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven reportedly tore the dedication page of this work to pieces.) *Saturday’s performance will be projected for a free WALLCAST concert in adjacent Soundscape park.

October 4th-5th, 7:30pm Saturday, 2pm Sunday, New World Center, $40-$175

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Joe’s Pizza NYC | Drinks: Sweet Liberty, Water Lion at the Sagamore

The Best of Seraphic Fire

Seraphic Fire, Miami’s stunningly good vocal ensemble, opens the new season with a crowd-pleasing, audience-choice program of their greatest hits, including Ticheli’s Earth Song, Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, and Bermudez’ Padre Nuestro. If you haven’t gotten a chance to hear this group, make it a priority. It’s like an aural bath for the part of your brain that experiences awe.

Thursday, October 9th, 7:30pm, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, $45-$65

Neighborhood: The Roads

Saturday, October 11th, 7:30pm, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, $45-$65

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nu Deco Lounge: Psychedelic Symphony

Artistic Director Jacomo Bairos conducts Nu Deco Ensemble at the Citadel. Photo Credit: Alex Markow

Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami’s genre-bending contemporary orchestra, returns to the Citadel cabaret space for its intimate - and very popular - Nu Deco Lounge series. To kick off the season, the orchestra takes on the music of psychedelic rock legends The Grateful Dead and Talking Heads. If you’ve never experienced one of these concerts, they are very high energy, with a lot of audience participation. Note that general admission prices are for standing-room only. If you want a seat on the floor or the balcony, you’ll need a VIP ticket.

October 10th-11th, 7pm & 9:30pm both nights, the Citadel lounge, $45 or $85 VIP

Neighborhood: Little River

More Upcoming Music 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.

October 10th-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.

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

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Upcoming Theater:

  • October 7th-12th: The Arsht Center presents a newly choreographed revival of The Wiz, the 1970’s soul- and gospel-infused remake of The Wizard of Oz, as part of its “Broadway in Miami” series of touring shows.

Dance

SAXYN Dance Works: Seolh

New York-based SAXYN Dance Works presents Seolh, a contemporary dance-theater work based on Scottish tales of the “selkies” - mythical sea creatures, half woman, half seal - who can live for a while with a man on land, but eventually return to wildness and the sea. Set to an original score composed and sung by Bre Short, the work evokes haunting feelings of long-ago memories and identities lost.

October 3rd-5th, 7:30pm Fri-Sat, 3pm Sunday, The Moss Center, $47

Neighborhood: Cutler Bay

Nearby Eats: Not much! Grab dinner at Platea or Golden Rule Seafood on your way down there and have some rooftop cocktails at Ivy Rooftop or martinis at Fox’s on your way back.

Miami DanceMakers at PAMM

The Perez Art Museum Miami presents the culmination of Miami DanceMakers 2025, an annual program of new commissions inspired by art on view in the museum. Three early-career, local choreographers will perform their work in the galleries throughout PAMM. Bonus: you get to check out all of PAMM’s current exhibits and enjoy happy hour on the terrace beforehand. RSVP required.

Thursday, October 2nd, 7-8pm, and Saturday, October 4th, 12-3pm, Perez Art Museum Miami, Free with Museum Entry ($18)

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

More Upcoming Dance Performances:

  • Friday, October 3rd: Chile’s Ballet Folklórico Antumapu presents a free performance at the Miami Beach Bandshell, showcasing the traditional music and dance of Chile with over 20 dancers, at 8pm.

  • Thursday, October 9th: Pioneer Winter Collective presents In the Belly of the Bird: Godmother, a free poetic dance meditation honoring mothers, developed with community-sourced stories in partnership with the O, Miami Poetry Festival, at the Miami Beach Regional Library, at 6:30pm.

  • Saturday, October 11th: Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida opens their new season with a revival of Stravinsky’s powerful Firebird, choreographed by company Artistic Director Vladimir Issaev 25 years ago, now with gorgeous new sets and costumes, at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, at 7:30pm.

Art Openings & Events

Light Tensions: Francisco Montes & Julia Retz

“Expansão territorial - Patrimônio Histórico,” Julia Retz, natural rubber and cotton thread, 2024

Tomas Redrado Gallery celebrates the opening of Light Tensions, a two-artist exhibition curated by Natalia Sosa Molina. The show brings together the practices of Julia Retz (São Paulo) and Francisco Montes (Buenos Aires), whose works establish a dialogue around memory, matter, and the shifting relationships between body, materiality, and perception.

Saturday, October 4th, Opening reception 6-8pm, Tomas Redrado Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Little River

Nearby Eats: Bar Bucce, La Natural, Sunny’s | Drinks: Bar Kaiju, Magie

Progressive Art Brunch

The Progressive Art Brunch is one of my favorite art events in town: part bar crawl, part art crash course, part scavenger hunt. You have five hours (11am-4pm) to see the current exhibits at fourteen local galleries sprinkled throughout Allapattah, Little River and Little Haiti. Typically, some type of sparkling wine is available at each stop, which can get a bit messy if you don’t take time to stop for lunch. Galleries usually aren’t open on the weekends, and the PAB isn’t a monthly event (it comes around when the galleries decide it’s time), so you don’t want to miss it.

Sunday, October 5th, 11am-4pm, Various Galleries, Free

Neighborhoods: Allapattah, Little River, Little Haiti

Nearby Eats: Hometown BBQ (Allapattah), the Citadel (Little River), Walrus Rodeo (Little Haiti) | Drinks: Imperial Moto (Coffee), Off Site Nano Brewery 

Shimmering Geometries: Carol Prusa

Bernice Steinbaum Gallery celebrates the opening of Shimmering Geometries, a solo show of work by artist Carol Prusa. Prusa is known for revitalizing the centuries-old drawing medium of silverpoint to model natural “emergent behaviors,” as scientists would model the crystallization of a snowflake or an expanding star, but entirely by hand at large scale.

Saturday, October 11th, Opening Reception 4-7pm, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Coconut Grove

More Upcoming Art Events:

Indie Cinema

Can’t Let It Go: Screening with Director & Star

Coral Gables Art Cinema hosts a special screening of Can’t Let It Go, a new political comedy set in New York on the eve of the 2016 election, followed by a Q&A with director Roy Szuper and star Mario Cantone! Told in five interconnected vignettes, the story follows five zany New York characters in the lead up to and aftermath of Donald Trump’s surprise victory. You can check out the trailer here. Arrive early for a pre-show wine reception!

Thursday, October 2nd, 6:15pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $16

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

National Theatre Live: Inter Alia

Coral Gables Art Cinema presents a National Theatre Live recording of Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Saltburn) in Inter Alia, the hit play currently running on the London stage. Pike plays Jessica, a loving wife, mother, and smart Crown Court Judge at the top of her career. When an unforeseen event threatens to upend her life, can she hold it all together? You can check out the trailer here.

Sunday, October 5th, 2pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $20

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Upcoming Indie Cinema:

Book Talks

An Evening with John J. Lennon & Andrew Boryga

Books & Books hosts a conversation between award-winning author Andrew Boryga and incarcerated journalist John J. Lennon, who will be dialing in from prison to discuss his new book, The Tragedy of True Crime. Convicted of killing a man on a Brooklyn street in 2001, and sentenced to 28 years to life, Lennon became an nationally recognized journalist behind bars. His new book is a first-person journalistic account of the lives of four other men convicted of murder. Moderator Boryga is a Bronx-born, Miami-based author whose debut novel, Victim, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice pick for 2024.

Thursday, October 2nd, 7pm, Books & Books Coral Gables, Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

War Games: An Evening with Alan Gratz

Coral Gables Congregational Church and Books & Books welcome Alan Gratz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee and Heroes, to discuss his new book, War Games, a heart-pounding, high-stakes take on the 1936 Berlin Olympics, also known as the “Nazi Olympics.” The story follows an American gymnast who gets pulled into a plot to steal Nazi gold, taking her deep into a Berlin in the grip of growing Nazi terror. Ticket price includes one book copy.

Wednesday, October 8th, 7pm, Coral Gables Congregational Church, $19

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby(ish) Eats: MIKA, Frenchie’s Diner, Bulla | Drinks: Bulla, Sospiro Wine Bar

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…

October 17th-19th

Miami City Ballet Dances Peck

Miami City Ballet dancers performing “Heatscape” by Justin Peck, 2015.

All eyes are on Miami City Ballet for their 40th season, the first under new Artistic Director Gonzalo Garcia. Like Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez before him, Garcia comes to us from New York City Ballet, steeped in everything Balanchine. And while there’s plenty of Balanchine on the menu this season, their opening program is a high-octane celebration of Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck, including Heatscape, Peck’s love letter to Wynwood, with “graffiti” backdrops by artist Shepard Fairey.

7:30pm Fri. & Sat., 2pm Sat. & Sun., Ziff Ballet Opera House, $35

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

October 29th-November 5th

Miami Film Festival GEMS

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 in the main categories and multiple international submissions, plus talks, parties, and some retrospective screenings. The schedule comes out this week, so keep your eye on the GEMS announcement page here.

Multiple theaters, but often Silverspot Cinema

Neighborhood: Downtown

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