Slow Summer Days are Here

The Culture Edit, May 26th-June 8th

Author

Susan Bannon
May 25, 2025

“Fat Ham” is playing at Gablestage through June 15th.

Memorial Day means summer has officially arrived! The weather may be appalling, cultural events are slowing down, and half the population is streaming toward the exits, but it feels pretty nice to have some breathing room in the calendar, doesn’t it?

This week, we still have two great end-of-season theater productions running - Fat Ham at Gablestage and The Girl on the Train at Actors’ Playhouse - plus the annual Mainly Mozart Festival. But once we get into June, the events get pretty thin, as you can see in the “next week” section.

So I’ll be back next Sunday with a “June Highlights” issue and then stick to a monthly format until the season starts back up again in September. Time to hit the beach!

Let’s get planning...

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Ongoing Theater

Actors’ Playhouse: The Girl on the Train

Actors‘ Playhouse presents The Girl on the Train, a new play based on Paula Hawkins’ internationally bestselling novel that will keep audiences guessing until the final moment (unless, of course, they’ve already read the book or seen the movie). The story revolves around Rachel Watson, a troubled woman entangled in a web of intrigue and deceit as she becomes intertwined with the lives of strangers she observes during her daily train commute.

Performances through June 8th, Actors’ Playhouse, $50

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Gablestage: Fat Ham

Gablestage presents the South Florida premiere of Fat Ham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play that relocates the story of Hamlet from a windswept Danish castle to a fly-swatting North Carolina BBQ pit. The familiar storyline follows Juicy, a queer Black kid with a lot on his plate already before his father’s ghost shows up, demanding vengeance. Called “hilarious yet profound” by The New York Times, James Ijames’ play was a hit on Broadway after winning the Pulitzer in 2022.

Performances through June 15th, Gablestage, $40-$50

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day)

Jaws Screening + BBQ

Coral Gables Art Cinema invites you to kick off your summer with the classics: hotdogs, beer, and total carnage in the waters of the fictional Amity, NY. Instilling terror in children and adults alike since 1975, Jaws combines a simple man vs. beast story and Spielberg’s impeccable filmmaking, with top notch acting and the most iconic horror score of all time. Crowd-favorite local brewery Tripping Animals will provide a complimentary craft beer tasting.

BBQ on the Plaza 1pm, Screening 2pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $15

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Drinks (since you just had hotdogs and popcorn): Bay 13 Brewery, Cebada Rooftop, Maíz y Agave

Tuesday, May 27th

An Immigration Education with Felipe Torres Medina

Books & Books presents an evening with comedy writer and author Felipe Torres Medina, discussing his new book, America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story. Torres’ writing for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has earned him five Emmy nominations and now he’s turned his comedic eye on the seemingly not-very-funny U.S. Immigration system. He’ll be in conversation with award-winning author and playwright Carmen Pelaez.

7pm, Books & Books, Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Wednesday, May 28th

FilmGate Documentary Festival

FilmGate Miami presents their 2025 Documentary Festival, featuring 9 short works by local documentarians. These are hyper-local stories by all Florida-based filmmakers, as evidenced by the subject matter of the shorts, including Test of Time: The Big Cheese, about the beloved South Miami pizza joint and it’s late owner, Bill Archer.

6:30pm, Silverspot Cinema, $16 pre-sale, $20 door (use code INSIDER for 10% off)

Neighborhood: Downtown

Nearby Eats: Mr. Omakase, NIU Kitchen, Mangrove | Drinks: Margot, Over Under

Also on May 28th:

  • O Cinema presents a one-night-only screening of Maya and the Wave, about one woman’s quest to surf the biggest wave in the world, followed by a virtual Q&A with producer Rashida Jones, surfer Maya Gabeira, and director Stephanie Johnes.

Thursday, May 29th

Mainly Mozart Festival: Echoes in Motion

The Mainly Mozart Festival continues with this innovative blend of chamber music and contemporary dance at Sanctuary of the Arts. Four dancers and choreographers from the San Francisco Ballet have created work to chamber pieces including Dvořák, Liszt, and Brahms. Accompanying them will be four celebrated musicians, featuring soprano Maria Aledia and cellist Jonah Kim.

8pm, Sanctuary of the Arts, $13-$38

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Also on May 29th:

Friday, May 30th

Yandel: Sinfónico USA Tour

Puerto Rican reggaeton icon Yandel was in the vanguard of the genre’s takeover of global music in the 2010’s as one half of Wisin y Yandel (Me Estás Tentando, Rakata), then went on to a successful solo career with hits like Nunca Me Olvides and collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Gloria Estefan. Now he’s taking the stage with a full symphony orchestra for his global Sinfónico Tour, reimagining his biggest hits for an unforgettable live performance. (Gotta say, the orchestral version of Nunca Me Olvides sounds pretty great.)

8pm, Knight Concert Hall at Arsht Center, $74-$232 ($150 add-on for pre-show meet & greet with Yandel)

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on May 30th:

Saturday, May 31st

Don Quixote Suite

Since 2006, the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami has worked to preserve and further the world-renowned traditions and technique of the Cuban Classical style for exiled dancers outside of Cuba. For it’s season finale, the CCBM presents the Don Quixote Suite, along with Marius Petipa’s Esmerelda Pas de Six and Narcizo, an original work based on the story of Narcissus.

8pm, The Fillmore Miami Beach, $64

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Aviv, Blue Ribbon Sushi | Drinks: Greystone Bar, Water Lion at the Sagamore

Also on May 31st:

  • The Mainly Mozart Festival presents Twilight and Fire, featuring five celebrated artists performing Schumann’s Piano Quintet, at New World Center at 4pm.

  • Andrew Reed Gallery celebrates the opening of two new exhibits by artists Kyle Staver and Nicole Burko with a reception from 6-8pm.

  • Dimensions Variable celebrates the opening of Murmur, a solo show of new paintings by Onajide Shabaka, with a reception from 6-9pm.

Happening NEXT Week:

Because maybe your friends are busy this week. Or you're busy this week. Or this week just seems too soon to pull your act together and make a plan.

Wednesday, June 4th

Tall Tales at O Cinema

O Cinema presents an encore screening of Tall Tales, a unique collaboration between Radiohead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke, legendary producer Mark Pritchard, and visual artist Jonathan Zawada. A “fairy tale for the modern world,” this groundbreaking visual album takes viewers on a trippy journey through musical genres and narrative landscapes, touching on rising seas, AI, political power, and consumerism - all under iridescent skies.

7pm, O Cinema South Beach, $12-$14

Neighborhood: South Beach

Also on June 4th:

Friday, June 6th

Mainly Mozart Festival Finale

The 32nd annual Mainly Mozart Festival concludes with a celebration of the music of Vienna, featuring violinist Joshua Brown, a laureate of the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and pianist (and festival organizer) Marina Radiushina. Performed at UM’s gorgeous new Knight Center for Music Innovation, the program traces Vienna’s musical legacy from it’s Classical golden age through modernity, with pieces from Mozart, Schubert, Kreisler, and Brahms.

8pm, UM’s Knight Center for Music Innovation, $40 ($13 Students)

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Beauty & The Butcher, Recoveco, Fiola | Drinks: Fox’s, Ivy Rooftop at THesis

Also on June 6th:

  • LnS Gallery hosts its monthly gallery night, showing off its current exhibit - Postcards, a new series of tactile, layered collages by artist William Osorio, from 6-9pm.

  • Books & Books celebrates the opening of a new exhibit in its Coral Gables bookstore, a series of drawings, prints, and woven textiles by Cuban-born artist Raimundo Travieso, from 7-10pm.

Planning Ahead:

The cultural calendar is getting pretty thin as the season ends, but here are at least two events you can plan for…

Wednesday, June 18th

Faena Jazz Series: Something Else!

Faena Theatre is proud to close out its 7th Annual Jazz Series with jazz supergroup Something Else!, featuring legendary bandleader and alto saxophonist Vincent Herring. The band’s debut album, Soul Jazz, is a master class on the soul jazz genre (a crowd-pleasing mix of R&B and bebop), played by some of the best session musicians in the business. Seating at the Faena is two-by-two, and tables can be upgraded with fancy bottle service, so this is definitely a date-night booking.

8pm, Faena Theater, $65-$300

Neighborhood: Miami Beach

Nearby Eats & Drinks: Make it an all-Faena night, with dinner at Pao or Los Fuegos and drinks at Living Room or The Saxony Bar.

Thursday, June 26th

FUSION: #DRIFT

Filmgate Miami and Frost Science present FUSION: #DRIFT, an immersive space odyssey at the nexus of art, AI, and science. Mounted on an epic scale at the Frost Museum of Science planetarium with elements of live performance, this work by visionary artist, sound designer, and digital creator Frédéric Deslias takes us to “the future of storytelling.” Luckily, the future of storytelling includes pre-screening cocktails, and the ticket price gets you one drink ticket.

6pm, Frost Museum of Science Planetarium, $31 (use code INSIDER for 10% off)

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

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