[ calendar ] B Y J O H N T H O M A S O N
Top 5
Jog at a zoo to save tigers, witness Louis Armstrong reborn, and enjoy an endless supply of craft brews.
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Dom Irrera
Save the Tiger 5K Run
“Satchmo at the Waldorf”
Where: Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach When: May 19 About: For a rambunctious teenager, growing up under the same roof as your Italian mother, grandmother, sister, uncles and cousins can provide fodder for one of two things: a decade in therapy or a residency at the local Chuckle Hut. Thankfully, Dom Irrera chose the latter, plumbing from his colorful life experience with his bustling extended family to launch a comedy career in the early ‘80s. He’s since become a stalwart road warrior at the most revered comedy clubs in North America, mixing pungent observations about life with self-deprecating confessionals. Minor roles on “Seinfeld”—where he played a notorious prop comic—and “King of Queens” followed, along with award-winning cable specials and podcasts. His friendly, easygoing delivery often clashes with material scabrous enough to make Tony Soprano wince, so consider this your warning: Expect a bluer, more scatological set than his PG-13 cameos on late-night talk shows. As far as therapy goes, Irrera’s comic muse serves that function, too; after all, he made 11 squiggly appearances, as himself, on Comedy Central’s cult cartoon “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist.” Cost: $45-$65 Contact: 561/243-7922, oldschool.org
Where: Palm Beach Zoo, 1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach When: May 14 About: There are numerous runs this season in South Florida, but this is the only one whose proceeds benefit tigers in a Malaysian rainforest. The tigers that need saving are Malayan tigers, the most endangered of the five remaining tiger species, with fewer than 250 left in the wild. For the past three years, this Palm Beach Zoo event has raised nearly $15,000, proceeds that go directly into the zoo’s budget line for support of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s breeding programs in Malaysia’s EndauRompin National Park. For the fourth annual run, zoo organizers are hoping to attract a record 600 participants ranging from competitive sprinters to casual strollers and their families—and why not, with a view to match the irresistible cause? Runners begin at the Tiger River habitat and loop around Dreher Park, passing wallabies, fennec foxes, ocelets and siamangs, and finishing at the zoo’s Interactive Fountain to cool off. The ticket price includes zoo admission for the day, a post-race massage, post-race fruit and bagels, and a raffle drawing. Cost: $40 adults, $25 students under 18 Contact: 561/547-9453, palmbeachzoo.org
Where: Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach When: May 13-June 12 About: At first glance, “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” which takes place in 1971 on the night of Louis Armstrong’s final performance, seems like the latest in a parade of one-person bio-musicals set during the twilight of the entertainment gods. Shows like “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grille” and “The Devil’s Music,” about Bessie Smith, come to mind. But “Satchmo,” penned by Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout, is something else: It’s not a musical, instead capturing a wheezing, staggering Armstrong in his dressing room after his swan song at New York’s Waldorf Astoria. And while the show is a tour de force for one actor, he plays three parts, from the gravelly voiced, highspirited title trumpeter; to Satchmo’s controlling, mafia-connected Jewish manager Joe Glaser; to Miles Davis, presented as an upstart jazz hipster scornful of Satchmo’s perceived pandering to white concertgoers. Race, indeed, plays a significant role in Teachout’s complex drama; he has Armstrong compare his audience to “a carton of eggs.” “Satchmo at the Waldorf ” will hopefully resonate with the same timeless power as the music that inspired a life. Cost: $64-$79 Contact: 561/514-4042, palmbeachdramaworks.org
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delray beach magazine
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may/june 2016
3/31/16 4:55 PM