The Bass Museum hosts free Third Thursday events each month.
High prices for nights out are keeping Americans at home, according to an unsurprising report this week in The Washington Post. Of course, we Miamians don’t need The Post to tell us that. After all, we’re now the most expensive major city in the U.S.
So if you’re considering filling your calendar with Netflix, I get it. But may I suggest some cheap thrills buried right here in this newsletter?
I’m talking about art openings, which are plentiful, mind-expanding, fun, and completely free. The galleries even throw in a complementary glass of wine, typically. Then consider that galleries are often in up-and-coming areas where you can find some cheap(er) eats and drinks.
Case in point: last Saturday, I took in the Gabriel Pozzo opening at Spinello in Allapattah, hit next-door Las Rosas for a beer, drove over to the Tunnel Projects opening in Little Havana, then got some of Miami’s best Thai food at Lung Yai. Total cost: $63.
But, of course, if you do have a culture budget to spend, you’ve got lots of options because our season is finally here! Gablestage kicks things off this Friday with the South Florida premiere of Weather Girl, a critically-acclaimed, unhinged comedy from the producers of Flea Bag. If they can make us laugh at the weather, it will be money well spent.
Let’s get planning…
Jump to: Music, Theater, Indie Cinema, Art Events, Book Talks, or Planning Ahead
If you love Culture Lush, please share it! If you’re new, you can subscribe by email or by text - or both!
Theater
Gablestage: Weather Girl
Gablestage comes blazing into the new season with Weather Girl, a day in the life of an oversexed, underpaid meteorologist whose daily diet of cocktails, teeth whitening and wildfires devolves into a true global climate catastrophe. Can she save us all? Named a Best Play of 2025 by the New York Times, this blistering one-woman show from the producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer is going to be fire. Learn more.
September 25th-October 18th, 7:30pm evenings, 2pm matinees, Gablestage at the Biltmore, $60-$75
Neighborhood: Coral Gables
Nearby Eats: Zitz Sum, Buccan, Luca Osteria | Drinks: Bar Zorro, Sospiro Wine Bar
Arsht Broadway in Miami: Buena Vista Social Club
The Arsht Center presents the Broadway touring production of Buena Vista Social Club, the hit musical based on the 1996 Havana recording that took the world by storm. With choreography by Justin Peck and former Miami City Ballet principal Patricia Delgado, and iconic music performed live on stage by award-winning musicians, the plot hardly matters, am I right? But for what it’s worth, it’s about a former salsa queen who disappeared after the Revolution being coaxed back into the studio to reckon with her past. ¡Bailemos! Get tickets.
September 29th-October 4th, Ziff Ballet Opera House at Arsht, $53-$228
Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District
Nearby Eats: Cafe Fenicia, Bunbury, Giotto | Drinks: El Vecino Cigar Bar, Kaona Room
More Upcoming Theater:
Tuesday, September 22nd: Sanctuary of the Arts presents Soirée des Arts, an evening of aerial acrobatics, music, and storytelling, at 7:30pm.
September 24th-26th: Teatro de la Plaza’s Hamlet has been earning praise across Europe, Latin America, and the US for its thought-provoking staging, cast entirely with people with Down Syndrome. Performed in Spanish with English super-titles.
Music
Take 6 with the Frost Mancini Orchestra
The dapper gentlemen of Take 6, photographed by John Abbott.
UM’s Frost School of Music welcomes legendary a cappella group Take 6 for a unforgettable collaboration with the school’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. Winner of 10 Grammy Awards, and celebrated worldwide for their unmatched vocal artistry, Take 6 will lead the orchestra through their repertoire, seamlessly integrating gospel, R&B, jazz, and pop. Learn more.
September 25th-26th, 7:30pm both nights, Gusman Concert Hall at UM, $40-$65
Neighborhood: UM / Coral Gables
Nearby Eats: Pla-Tu Sushi Thai, Mamey, Daniel’s | Drinks: Fox’s Lounge, Titanic (of course!)
Thundercat at The Bandshell
Virtuoso bassist, singer, and multi-Grammy Award winner Thundercat (a.k.a. Stephen Bruner) brings his singular blend of jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and psychedelic soul to the Miami Beach Bandshell as part of his "Distracted AF" Tour. Known for his incredible talent, unmistakable falsetto, and offbeat charisma, Thundercat has collaborated with many top-tier acts, including Tame Impala, Gorillaz, Silk Sonic, and Haim. Get tickets.
Friday, October 2nd, 8pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $75
Neighborhood: North Beach
Nearby Eats: Ezio’s, Kuromon Sushi, Sumak | Drinks: Norman’s Tavern, Conventillo
New World Season Opener with Anne Akiko Myers
Multi- Grammy-winner Anne Akiko Myers headlines the New World Symphony’s season opener.
New World Symphony kicks off its 2026-27 season with an evening of Iberian fantasies, including Ravel’s iconic Boléro and Márquez’s Fandango. Artistic Director Stéphane Denève conducts, with legendary violinist Anne Akiko Myers joining for the latter work. In fact, Meyers won two Latin Grammy’s for her recording of the Márquez, and now she’ll be sharing it with us, live. Get tickets.
October 3rd-4th, 7:30pm Saturday, 2pm Sunday, New World Center, $50-$170
Neighborhood: Lincoln Road
Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Pauline | Drinks: Sweet Liberty, Water Lion at the Sagamore
More Upcoming Music:
Saturday, September 26th: Miami Chamber Music’s Sound & Word series continues, with author and violinist Yasa Poletaeva, and pianist Darren Matias, at the Betsy Hotel at 4:30pm.
Saturday, September 26th: The brand new crop of New World Fellows tackle Shostakovich and Stravinsky in this pre-season pay-what-you-wish concert, at New World Center at 7:30pm.
Sunday, September 27th: Rhythm Foundation presents Latin Grammy-winning Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada, described as “the Gen Z, Latin American answer to Joni Mitchell,” live at the Miami Beach Bandshell at 8pm. Check out her Tiny Desk Concert here.
Thursday, October 1st: UM’s Frost School of Music presents Telegraph Quartet, an award-winning ensemble that has recorded and performed around the world, at 7:30pm.
Art Events
Paloma Teppa at The Kampong
Paloma Teppa’s “Spanish Moss Sanctuary” stole the show at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024.
Visionary artist, plant designer, and Plant the Future founder Paloma Teppa will debut Eden: A Return to Wonder, a multi-space immersive installation transforming The Kampong, botanist David Fairchild’s former home, into a place of mystical discovery and renewed connection to the natural world. You can check out some of Teppa’s recent installations here - pretty stunning. On view through January. Get tickets.
Opening Reception Thursday, October 1st, 6-8:30pm, The Kampong, $10
Neighborhood: Miami Beach
Nearby Eats: Krüs Kitchen, Amal, Midorie | Drinks: Magie Coconut Grove, Mae’s Room, bartaco, Level 6
More Art Events:
Thursday, September 24th: Pan American Art Projects celebrates the opening of Chromophilia, a group show of work by artists across geographies and time, including Canary Islands artist Carlos Nicanor, reception 5-8pm in their new Allapattah space.
Thursday, September 24th: PAMM hosts prolific songwriter and producer Suzi Analogue for a DJ set on the terrace at 7pm. Admission after 5pm is free on Thursdays.
Saturday, September 26th: Artist Pablo Matute discusses Load Bearing, his current exhibit at Mahara + Co, with Coral Gables Museum Curator Yuneikys Villalonga, at 3pm at Mahara on 29th St.
Saturday, September 26th: Dimensions Variable celebrates the opening of Field of Convergence, a solo project by artist Karla Kantorovich, whose practice explores the beauty of disintegration by assembling worn and frayed objects. Opening reception 6-9pm at DV.
Book Talks
An Evening with Richard Osman
Miami Book Fair and Books & Books team up to welcome international bestselling author Richard Osman, whose lighthearted murder mysteries are just about everyone’s cup of tea. His Thursday Murder Club series was adapted by Netflix with some heavy-hitting talent: Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and Ben Kingsley. Osman will be discussing We Chase Shadows, his latest novel in the We Solve Murders series, with true crime novelist and editor Dwyer Murphy. Learn more.
Tuesday, September 22nd, 7pm, MDC Wolfson Campus, $36 (for 1 or 2 guests with one book copy)
Neighborhood: Downtown
Nearby Eats: Tâm Tâm, Mangrove, NIU Kitchen | Drinks: Lost Boy Dry Goods, Over Under
@The Hub: Experts on Parenting, Love, and Looking Hot
The Hub at Temple Beth Am welcomes an interesting triumvirate of influential experts on relationships and wellness. Dr. Shefali Tsabary - clinical psychologist, bestselling author, and founder of the Conscious Parenting movement - will be discussing her latest books: Raising Conscious Daughters and Raising Conscious Sons. “Dr. Shefali” will be in conversation with New York Times bestselling author, relationship coach, and podcaster Jillian Turecki; and with trainer to the stars and fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson. Learn more.
Thursday, September 24th, 7pm, The Hub at Temple Beth Am, $38-$68 (incl. copies of one or both books)
Neighborhood: Pinecrest
Nearby Eats: Recoveco, Ghee Indian Kitchen, Beauty & The Butcher | Drinks: Fox’s Lounge, Ivy Rooftop
More Literary Events:
Wednesday, September 23rd: Books & Books and Mosaic Miami welcome Priya Parker, acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering, to discuss her latest work, The Art of Fighting, at Coral Gables Congregational Church at 7pm.
Saturday, October 3rd: Celebrated art historian Richard J. Powell visits ICA Miami to discuss his new book, Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect, about the powerful role of color in Black American painting, at 5pm.
Indie Cinema
The Searchers: 70th Anniversary in 70mm
John Wayne, giving the his career-best performance in 1956’s “The Searchers.”
One of the cinematic masterpieces of the 20th century, 1956’s The Searchers is simultaneously one of the greatest Westerns ever made and a complete subversion of the genre, with its complex anti-hero and disturbing exploration of racial hatred. Coral Gables Art Cinema celebrates the film’s 70th anniversary with a special screening on 70mm film, so you can see the groundbreaking cinematography (it was filmed in Technicolor in Monument Valley) as it was meant to be seen. Get tickets.
Sunday, September 27th, 2:30pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $25
Neighborhood: Coral Gables
Nearby Eats: Sra. Martinez, Luca Osteria, Eating House | Drinks: Bay 13 Brewery, Cebada Rooftop
More Indie Cinema:
September 18th-24th: O Cinema South Beach welcomes director Patrick Bresnan for screenings and Q&A’s for his documentary First They Came for My College, about his year embedded at New College of Florida after Gov. DeSantis decided to de-woke it.
Saturday, September 26th: Miami short Film Festival presents a Venezuelan edition of its Shorts & Beats series, featuring six short Venezuelan films and a live performance, at the Deering Estate Visitor Center from 7-9pm.
October 2nd-4th: Coral Gables Art Cinema bravely presents John Wilson’s new film, The History of Concrete, which asks, can he make a whole film about concrete? He did, and it’s apparently an absurdist masterpiece. Check out the trailer.
Sunday, October 4th: We Met in Miami teams up with Filmgate to present a screening of viral documentary Join or Die about declining community participation, with a community fair afterwards of organizations you can actually join. Great idea!
Planning Ahead
New World Symphony: Beethoven’s 9th
New World Symphony Artistic Director Stéphane Denève
New World Symphony gifts us with a true banger: Beethoven’s Ninth, alongside the massive Master Chorale of South Florida and a slate of internationally recognized vocalists, bringing the ecstatic Ode to Joy to New World’s Frank Gehry-designed home for the first time. Need I say more? Tickets will fly for this one, but if you miss out, there’s a free WALLCAST of Saturday’s performance in next-door Soundscape Park.
October 10th-11th, 7:30pm Saturday, 2pm Sunday, New World Center, $145-$275
Neighborhood: Lincoln Road
Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Pauline | Drinks: Sweet Liberty, Water Lion at the Sagamore
Actors’ Playhouse: Jekyll & Hyde
Actors’ Playhouse kicks off its 39th season with Jekyll & Hyde, the rocking gothic musical thriller inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless tale of ambition and obsession. Featuring musical theater showstoppers like This is the Moment and Someone Like You, the plot follows Dr. Jekyll, whose attempts to eradicate the evil in man instead unleash a super-id alter ego that rampages through London.
October 7th-November 1st, 8pm evenings, 3pm Sunday matinees, Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, $65-$100
Neighborhood: Coral Gables
Nearby Eats: Buccan, Francesco, Zitz Sum | Drinks: Armstrong Jazz House, Maíz y Agave
Thanks for reading, Culture Lushes! See you back here next week!
Subscribe to Culture Lush for the best of Miami culture, food, & nightlife.
Any feedback? Or tips on events or restaurants? I'd love to hear from you! Hit reply and it will come directly to me.
