Well here we are, with the first issue of Culture Lush Miami! Big thanks to all of you for bearing with me through the technical challenges around the name change. (If you missed the story of why I had to bid farewell to Cultured Miami, I refer you to last week’s issue.)

Coming up this week, we have the opening of the OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival at Miami Beach Botanical Garden and the last full week of events from our O, Miami Poetry Festival, including a tattoo poetry workshop and a mangrove trash clean-up + limerick workshop with Auntie Maim, the “Drag Queen of Talking Trash.” (Now that’s how Miami does a poetry festival.)

Also, I’m not the only one starting fresh this month. Pan American Art Projects has returned with a new space in Allapattah (increasingly Miami’s go-to art neighborhood), and the owners of South Beach mediterranean spot Paya have switched up to something completely different - Chō Asian Bistro. I’ll be rooting for them, especially since they’re conveniently walkable to the Colony Theatre.

Lastly, I saw that The Underline is hosting a giant potluck dinner for the whole city on Friday, May 1st to kick off the 10 Days of Connection initiative. They only ask that you bring a dish and come on time (who are they kidding, this is Miami!). But honestly, what a great idea.

Let’s get planning…

Jump to: Music, Theater, Literary Events, Dance, Indie Cinema, or Art Events

Adele Myers and Dancers presents a world gone FABULOUS, a new evening-length dance theater work commissioned by Miami Light Project, described as “a live quest for a sexy future.” (I’ll admit, a “sexy future” sounds better than most predictions I’ve read.) Featuring AMD’s signature athletic, theatrical style, a world gone FABULOUS digs into what we cherish and extrapolates from there to a better tomorrow.

April 24th-25th, 8pm, Miami Theater Center, $23-$44

Neighborhood: Miami Shores

Nearby(ish) Eats: The Citadel Food Hall, Pastamarket | Drinks: Bar Kaiju, Magie | Dessert: MELI Frozen Yogurt

For their 2025-26 season finale, Miami City Ballet serves up summer vibes with ¡Vamos! To the Beach, a celebration of sun and style. Three high-energy ballets are on the program: Twyla Tharpe’s Deuce Coupe, set to The Beach Boys; Paul Taylor’s Company B, set to the iconic Andrews Sisters tune; and the world premiere of Durante Verzola’s Grand Glittering Gershwin.

May 1st-3rd, Ziff Ballet Opera House at Arsht, $35-$309

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Aoko, Klaw, Bunbury | Drinks: Casadonna, ViceVersa

More Upcoming Dance:

The OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the lovechild of two separate film fests from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, so a lot of the showings are up there, but the opening night screening and celebration is here in Miami at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. The film is the buzz-worthy Spanish flick La Cena, following one Maître d’ Genaro, who must orchestrate a victory banquet for Franco’s aggressively anti-gay regime using Republican chefs “borrowed” from death row.

Thursday, April 23rd, 7:30pm, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, $75 (includes party!)

Neighborhood: South Beach

Nearby Eats: Las’ Lap, Barceloneta, Blue Ribbon Sushi | Drinks: Brother’s Keeper, Sweet Liberty

New World Symphony loans their state-of-the-art WALLCAST tech for a free, outdoor presentation of We Chose to Go to the Moon, an immersive performance recorded at Carnegie Hall just a few weeks ago that brings together history, film, and music to explore the hopes and dreams of America’s moonshot in 1969. Historian John Monsky and Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) recreate the era’s promise with a cast of top Broadway vocalists and a full orchestra.

Saturday, April 25th, 8pm, Soundscape Park next to New World Center, Free

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Chō Asian Bistro (new!), Lucali, Tropezón | Drinks: Water Lion at the Sagamore, Medium Cool

More Indie Cinema:

The Arsht Center presents Mexican songstress Natalia Fourcade, one of the most influential artists of her generation, for two nights at the Knight Concert Hall. I apologize to everyone for not putting this concert in sooner, because the first night is already sold out and the second is selling out fast! If you’re not familiar with Fourcade’s chill, poetic songs and ethereal voice, have a listen here.

Tickets available for Saturday, April 25th, 8pm, Knight Concert Hall at Arsht, $70-$350

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Klaw, Yamashiro, Bunbury | Drinks: Casadonna, ViceVersa

Artistic Director and conductor Stéphane Denève’s final performance of the season with the New World Fellows features Jean-Yves Thibaudet, one of the world’s finest pianists and a recording overachiever (he appears on more than 70 albums and 6 film scores!). The two Frenchmen will join forces for Gershwin’s American in Paris reverie and Bernstein’s all-too-relatable Age of Anxiety symphony. *Saturday’s concert will be broadcast as a free byo-blanket WALLCAST in adjacent Soundscape Park.

May 2nd-3rd, New World Center, $25-$160

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Chō Asian Bistro (new!), Casa Tua, Pauline | Drinks: Little Torch, Brother’s Keeper

More Upcoming Music Events:

For 11 years now, our annual O, Miami Poetry Festival and WLRN have invited Miami residents to submit a poem about their zip code, using the numbers as the structure (meaning if your zip code is 33133, your poem has 3 words on the first line, 3 on the second, 1 on the third… you get the picture). This year’s ZipOdes Finale, hosted by Vizcaya, will feature poetry readings, interactive activations, and the chance to craft your own ZipOde - plus light bites and wine.

Wednesday, April 29th, 6-9pm, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, $15

Neighborhood: Coconut Grove / Brickell

Nearby(ish) Eats: head north to Edge Brasserie or LPM, or south to Bayshore Club or Regatta Grove (those places should have you covered for drinks, as well).

Books & Books welcomes Life of Pi author Yann Martel to discuss his career and his new novel, Son of Nobody. This new work follows a Canadian classics scholar who unearths an unknown ancient Greek epic by Psoas, a humble goatherd’s son drafted into the Trojan War. Echoing reimaginings of the classics from the female perspective (see Circe, A Thousand Ships, The Silence of the Girls, The Penelopiad), this one aims to do the same from the point of view of a regular guy (i.e. not a demigod).

Thursday, April 30th, 7pm, Books & Books Coral Gables, $35 (incl. two tickets + one book copy)

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Luca Osteria, Zitz Sum, Rò Steakhouse | Drinks: Sospiro Wine Bar, Books & Books Café

More Literary Events:

Miami New Drama presents The Zionists, a highly anticipated new play by acclaimed playwright, choreographer, and director S. Asher Gelman, whose play Afterglow, had an extended run Off-Broadway and a sold-out run in London. The Zionists follows a prominent Jewish family having a fragile reunion on a Caribbean island after the politics around October 7th had driven them apart. The fragile peace is shattered by a “sudden hurricane,” which pales in force to the storm that erupts inside as the power goes out.

Through May 10th, Colony Theatre, $40-$90

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Mimi Chinese, Tropezón, Uchiko | Drinks: Brother’s Keeper, MILA

Zoetic Stage caps off its 2025-26 season with the Southeastern premiere of Moses, a one-man play about faith by award-winning playwright (and “rabbi whisperer”) Michele Lowe. The story follows a man in the Bronx, who, over the course of one night, loses everyone and everything he loves. Filled with grief and remorse, he turns away from God. But God has other plans.

April 30th-May 17th, Carnival Studio Theater at Arsht, $67-$73

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: ViceVersa, Klaw, Bunbury | Drinks: Casadonna, Kaona Tiki Room

Locust Projects hosts an artists’ social with Kelly Breez and Patty Gone to celebrate Lost Shaker of Salt, their queer, anticolonial reimagining of Margaritaville. Where else can you linger in the shade of a 12-foot spilled margarita or enter a tropical library through the fly of a giant pair of cargo shorts? On view through July 18th.

Tuesday, April 21st, Artists’ Social 5-8pm, Locust Projects, Free

Neighborhood: Little Haiti / Little River

Nearby Eats: Sunny’s Steakhouse, Bar Bucce, La Natural | Drinks: Magie, No Seasons

Nina Johnson Gallery celebrates the opening of Good Dog, Seth Cameron’s fourth solo show with the gallery. Good Dog presents three distinct bodies of painting, including the Stranger/Chrysanthemums series pictured. The gallery will be opening two other shows the same night, by artists Eamon Monaghan and Katelyn Eichwald.

Thursday, April 23rd, Opening Reception 6-8pm, Nina Johnson Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Little Haiti / Little River

Nearby Eats: Walrus Rodeo, Bar Bucce, Fooq’s | Drinks: Conventillo, Mi Chini at Phuc Yea

More Art Events:

Thanks for reading! If you know a friend that would like this newsletter, please forward it. Thank you!

If someone forwarded it to you, you can subscribe here.

Any feedback? Or tips on events or restaurants? I'd love to hear from you! Hit reply and it will come directly to me.