Night + Day: Eight Things to Do in Broward and Palm Beach This Week

Thursday, August 13

There's a good reason the image of the starving artist persists — it's a hard way to make a living. Most artists are forced to work day jobs to make ends meet, toiling away at their passion in their off hours. Family and friends refer to their "hobbies" and resent time and money spent on them. Even for those whose talent is clear to everyone, making a success of it can still be elusive. After all, there's no handbook on how to succeed. That's why the Girls' Club Collection has put together the Dog Days of Summer Seminars, a three-part series designed to introduce local artists to the more mundane, practical side the art world. This short, informal series of lectures, workshops, and group discussions seeks to impart the tools and skills necessary for success, from self-promotion and writing a CV to how to handle invoices. Led by gallery director Sarah Michelle Rupert, the seminars will take place at noon over the course of three Thursdays. This week, "Presentation Time" will tackle how to present one's work to prospective buyers and galleries. Students should bring copies of their current CVs, artist statements, invoices, photos, and any other promotional materials they're currently using. On August 20, learn how to transition from academia to the real world with "Artists After School," and, finally, on August 27, "Social Media Mania" will discuss self-promotion and networking on internet-based platforms.

Each two-hour seminar is free, but advance registration at girlsclubcollection.org is requested. The Girls' Club Collection is located at 117 NE Second St. in Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-828-9151. 

Fresh in from a stop in Denver, comedian John Caparulo will take the stage at Fort Lauderdale Improv this weekend. This tour is a bit of a return to the road for Caparulo, after a 12-week hiatus at home with his wife and new baby — which you can hear all about if you subscribe to the Caparulo family podcast, Domestic Disputes, when Caparulo and wife Jamie are just their funny selves, now with baby Madden cooing in the background. No need to worry that Cap has gotten rusty. Not only as he been keeping his wits sharp sparring with his wife for iTunes audiences but he is a comedian with plenty of jokes under his belt. The Ohio native cut his teeth at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival back in 2003 and headlined his first one-hour comedy special, Meet Cap, which premiered on Comedy Central in 2009. He was a frequent Chelsey Lately guest and has appeared on the Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, the Tonight Show, and Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Next Generation, hosted by Bill Engvall. He was one of the comedians documented on Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Tour, and he even hosted Mobile Home Disaster on Country Music Television.

Catch John Caparulo Thursday to Sunday at the Fort Lauderdale Improv, 5700 Seminole Way, Fort Lauderdale. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $17. Visit ftl.improv.com. 

Friday, August 14

You may have fallen asleep during Greek and Roman mythology in high school, but Cirque du Soleil's Varekai will be something you won't be able to keep your eyes off of. Full of impressive acrobatics and imagery, Cirque du Soleil is a unique experience that may leave you yearning for more. From its inception of 20 street performers in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has truly expanded, with 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performing artists from about 50 countries. One of the central themes of Varekai is the story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wings of feathers and wax. Directed by Dominic Champagne, it is said to pay tribute to the wandering soul as well as to the art and spirit of the circus tradition. This is fitting, considering that "Varekai" means "wherever" in the Romany Gypsy language.

There are 15 performances until August 23. Tickets cost $40 to $100 with service fees, and children's tickets cost $25 for select performances. The shows are at 7:30 p.m. at the BB&T Center, located at 1 Panther Parkway in Sunrise. Visit thebbtcenter.com. 

How can one enjoy his Friday night with a little LGBT stage humor in Broward County? With Shorts Gone Wild 3, a series of short plays brought to you by a Fort Lauderdale performance theater troupe with roots in the city's tight-knit LGBT community. Presented by the Island City Stage and City Theatre, the award-winning series of six actors, eight playwrights, four directors, and a design team takes the realities of the LGBT community and wraps them in eight funny and thought-provoking snack-sized plays. It's a little bit of theater that goes a long way, opening the LGBT community to the wider world and bringing audiences in for an intimate peek.

The series runs at Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale until September 6. You can get your fill of the show Friday starting at 8 p.m. at Empire Stage, located at 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale. Cost for the performance is $30. Call 954-678-1496, or visit islandcitystage.org. 

Remember the summer of '69? Depending on your age, there's a chance you weren't even a glimmer in your parents' eyes at the time. If you were there, we'll wager it was probably the highlight of your life — hopefully. Those days are long gone and the world has changed dramatically, but the summer of '15 is attempting to bring back a small taste of the old glory with Hippie­fest. On its seventh tour in ten years, the Flower Power-fueled festival is journeying across the United States. Taking place at the Broward Center on the exact weekend of the historic Woodstock concert, some of the best bands from the 1960s are heading to South Florida for a three-and-a-half-hour show. The Family Stone, with original founding members Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, and Greg Errico, is headlining. Also slated to play are Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, and Badfinger featuring Joey.

The cost to attend is $19.69 to $79.49. The fest starts Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, located at 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-462-0222, or visit browardcenter.org. 

Saturday, August 15

Inspired by the Action Painting movement of the 1950s that was defined by paintings created in one brief time frame, often in front of others, to showcase art as an act of alacrity rather than one of precision and tightly controlled brushstrokes, Impulse Art by Pontet will take over this month's edition of the Downtown Hollywood Artwalk. The night of live performance art aims to demonstrate the adage that no one piece of art is ever created in a vacuum. In Daniel Pontet's paintings, he trades in paintbrushes for his feet, slaps paint onto his pads, and taps into and interacts with his immediate surrounding influences, including everything from passersby to the rhythms in the air of the busy downtown streets. During the art walk, Pontet will be joined by percussionists Jeff Lee, Evan Kline, and Adrian Jones and will follow their rhythms as he creates a work of art. Attendees are encouraged to bring a drum and join in a percussion circle sponsored by Resurrection Drums.

The walk is between 2014 and 2020 Harrison St. and includes visits into surrounding art galleries and shops. Downtown Hollywood Artwalk runs from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday and is sponsored by the Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency. Call 954-924-2980, or visithollywoodfl.org. 

Medical bills, prescriptions, unintended hospital sleepovers that somehow cost way more than the ritziest five-star hotels, and the very basic need of keeping a roof over your head — these may be the expenses that come to mind when you think of living with a long-term illness. But what about the smaller expenses in between, including the essentials of everyday life, like what food you will eat to nourish and fuel that powerful illness-fighting machine that is your body? In its 25th year, Poverello's Bowl-a-Thon to Fight Hunger has taken care of this need for 2,600 Broward County men, women, and youth living with HIV/AIDS who are at poverty level. Operating one of the oldest specialty food pantries in the area, Poverello is able to provide more than 1 million meals a year, largely thanks to dedicated volunteers, generous donations, and their yearly bowling party.

The bowl-a-thon is back again this Saturday, and if last year's sold-out event is any indication, registration is strongly recommended. Registration costs $30 a person or $150 for a team of five. The bowl-a-thon will be held at 11 a.m. at Sawgrass Lanes, 8501 N. University Drive in Tamarac. Call 954-566-7868, or visit poverello.org.

Sunday, August 16

Most of the country mourns the dog days of summer. For the majority of the Northern Hemisphere, the end of summer signals the slow decline into the death and decay of winter. Down in South Florida, however, fall signals a sigh of relief from the oppressive heat and humidity that consumes us on a daily basis. On Sunday afternoon, Funky Buddha Brewery is bidding the wet season an anticipatory adieu with an End of Summer Pig Roast. Hosted by the brewery's Craft Food Counter & Kitchen along with Sidecar Kitchen, the cookout features an à la carte pig-pickin' menu. That means there's no need for tickets. Platters cost $14 apiece. Each one comes with a choice of one side as well as OP Porter Bacon-Jalapeño cornbread and island-spiced vinegar slaw. Entrée choices include chopped and pulled Doc Brown Ale slow-roasted pig, on-the-bone Floridian marinated smoked jerk chicken quarters, Sidecar crab cakes with Key lime tartar sauce, Southern tomato pie with local greens, and No Crust peanut vinaigrette. For sides, there's roasted corn and poblano mac 'n' cheese as well as Southern fried rice with baby corn, black-eyed peas, green tomatoes, green pepper, jalapeño, and egg. Porcine-free cornbread is also available. A condiment table features craft barbecue and hot sauces. To finish it off, there's bread pudding with rum sauce for an additional $5.

The event takes place Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Funky Buddha Brewery is located at 1201 NE 38th St. in Oakland Park. Call 954-440-0046, or visit funkybuddhabrewery.com.