Fall Arts Preview

Next The Stage

Our fall arts preview

BY Lou Fancher

Fall brings more than just a chill to the East Bay air—it also brings a raft of world-class performers to local stages. With Covid in mind, many performing arts organizations are stepping up their safety protocols and carrying on with their seasons—though this is always subject to change. Though by no means exhaustive, what follows is a healthy harvest of the many performances on o er in the East Bay this Fall.

CAL Performances

A person could fill an entire fall arts calendar at CAL Performances alone—but please resist the urge, if only to spread support to other East Bay arts organizations in addition to the venerable UC Berkeley-based presenter! With music, dance and theatrical productions in the 2021-22 season, highlights coming in October feature jazz trumpeter, singer and songwriter Bria Skonberg, a master horn blaster with a richly resonant voice; songwriting that displays a terrific sense of humor and supreme sensitivity to human conditions, such as love and longing and lust; and a top-tier band.

A few weeks later, Pilobolus celebrates its 50th anniversary, entrancing audiences worldwide with endless and otherworldly shape-shifting dance theater. Next on tap; pick up Afropop star and four-time Grammy Awardwinner Angélique Kidjo in late October as she partners with producer Jeff Bhasker (Rihanna, Kanye West, Drake, Jay-Z) to reimagine Talking Heads’ 1980 album Remain in Light. There’s no way to sit still at this show: Kidjo is all vibe and compelling rhythm. Another show: Manual Cinema’s Frankenstein, a Cal Performances co-commission that has the blended company building a marvelously spooky scene combining live music, animated film, actors and puppets in Mary Shelley’s classical tale. November brings Ballet Hispánico, Aaron Diehl Trio, Vienna Boys Choir, Kronos Quartet, Vân-Ánh Võ and Blood Moon Orchestra … and so very much more.

calperformances.org

California Shakespeare Theater

For nearly a full year, California Shakespeare Theater put their usual productions on hiatus and shared their homebase outdoor Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda with other Bay Area arts and cultural institutions in a Season of Shared Light. In September, Artistic Director Eric Ting and the company plan to make a triumphal return with The Winter’s Tale, a contemporary adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare created by Ting and company Dramaturg Philippa Kelly. The story » traverses a rigorous landscape: jealousy, brokenness, grief,

REPRISE Vocalist and trumpeter Bria Skonberg returns to the Cal Performances this Fall.

LIGHT Cal Performances’ 2021–22 season artist-inresidence Angélique Kidjo performs Remain in Light in October. « death, human strife and wildlife—yes, bears—but also forgiveness, humor, exaggeration, wit and hope. A rare-for-Shakespeare happy ending and Cal Shakes’ unlimited capacity for surprise and innovation make this the perfect fall romp—and a welcome respite from the woes and worries of the ongoing pandemic and its variants.

calshakes.org

Oakland Museum of California

The Oakland Museum of California exhibit, “Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism,” is surely this fall’s not-to-be-missed art museum event. The exhibit offers a vast perspective as artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers project the past, present and future of Black expression. Access the imaginative realms of author Octavia E. Butler, avantgarde jazz musician Sun Ra and filmmaker Kahlil. See up close a Dora Milaje costume from the movie Black Panther, along with photography and other historical objects from the groundbreaking film. Experience musician » George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic’s Afrofuturistic

SEE ‘Potentiality, Edification Series’ by artist Alun Be, 2017 (reproduction). « mothership vessel and more. Afrofuturism is part of everyday life, especially when visiting OMCA. While you’re there, check out the newly-renovated cafe featuring restaurateur Tanya Holland’s Town Fare cuisine, and explore the more ADAaccessible exterior spaces of the downtown museum’s newly renovated gardens and campus.

museumca.org

Alameda Comedy Club

The Delta variant pushed comedy fans back outside after a gradual, laddered return to the club’s indoor main stage in April. Even so, the outdoor patio showroom is a terrific place for laughs—along with surprisingly sophisticated food and beverages, especially when compared to the limited pizza-and-burgers menus and bottled generic beers at other comedy venues. Along with the weekly Drag Yourself To Brunch that features drag performers and a prix fixe menu—a deluxe waffle platter with bacon, sausage, salmon and fresh fruit and choice of a mimosa, Bloody Mary or non-alcoholic drink—as » well as Open Mic Thursdays and Open Mic Music

STAND-UP Comedian Ngaio Bealum is currently the cannabis expert on the Netflix show ‘Cooking on High.’ « Wednesdays, upcoming shows include standup stars such as NPR/Spotify/Pandora 10-million-hits comedian Jackie Kashian’s Netflix show Cooking on High’s cannabis expert Ngaio Bealum; Eddie Brill, the 17-year warm-up comic for The Late Show with David Letterman in the club’s one-year anniversary special; and others TBA.

www.alamedacomedy.com

Big Wrap-up Finale:

With the regular fall arts season subject to the wayward Delta Virus Variant— purposely written in caps here because the original Covid-19’s evil twin is playing out like a surreal evil character in a fall season—we’re beginning to feel as if we’re trapped forever, in a too-long, dystopian sci-fi horror flick. That said, East Bay Magazine offers cautionary recommendations to check out the calendars of the following highly-regarded venues before making definite plans. State and county guidelines for indoor public gatherings shift rapidly and organizations take various precautions to protect the safety of the artists, staff and audiences. The good news is that after 2020, many arts organizations are nimble and able to rapidly convert an in-person production to a live-streamed event. Here is a by-no-means-comprehensive list of suggestions:

Yoshi’s Oakland (www.yoshis. com); Litquake (San Francisco’s Virtual 2021 Literary Festival: https://tinyurl.com/kckhbfsp); Berkeley Repertory Theatre (www.berkeleyrep.org); Shotgun Players (www.shotgunplayers. org); AuroraTheatre Company (www.auroratheatre. org); TheatreFIRST (www. theatrefirst.com); Oakland Theater Project (www. oaklandtheaterproject.org); Oakland Symphony (www.oaklandsymphony.org); Berkeley Symphony (www. berkeleysymphony.org); UC Taube Theatre (www.theuctheatre. org) and your favorite galleries, clubs, literary hubs, independent bookstores, restaurants and public libraries and performance halls located throughout the Bay Area. ❤

2 0 21 - 22 S E A SON H I GH LIG H T S W E ILL HALL | S CH ROE D ER H AL L

Madeleine Peyroux & Paula Cole

Th u r, O c t 14, 2 0 2 1 at 7: 3 0 P.M .

Mary Chapin Carpenter Marc Cohn, & Shawn Colvin

F r i , D e c 1 0 , 2 0 2 1 a t 7: 3 0 P.M .

Juilliard String Quartet

Sun, N o v 2 1 , 2 0 2 1 at 3 P.M .

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Th u r, F e b 1 7, 2 0 22 a t 7: 3 0 P.M .

Vienna Boys Choir

Christmas in Vienna

Sun, N o v 28 , 2 0 2 1 a t 3 P.M .

Jordi Savall & Le Concert Des Nations

Tous Les Matins Du Monde

Th u r, M ar 3 , 2 0 22 a t 7: 3 0 P.M .

SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! | SINGLE TICKETS AVAILABLE BEGINNING AUG 31

Coming Soon to Oakland’s Toler Heights

Solar Powered Townhomes • Within Minutes of Downtown Oakland 70 Miles of Hiking, Biking and Walking Trails • Endless Array of San Francisco Amenities BlossomHill@CityVentures.com | CityVenturesOakland.com