JANUARY 2011 | Celebrating The Performing Arts in San Francisco and Beyond!
[THE PERFORMERS]
PAULA WEST = The Rrazz Room
THE BOBS
= Freight & Salvage
LIZ & ANN CALLAWAY = Napa Valley Opera House
[THE SHOWS]
CLUE
= Boxcar Theatre
CLYBOURNE PARK
= American Conservatory Theater
GREASE
= Broadway San Jose
[THE LATEST]
KAREN ZIEMBA MADS TOLLING MONOTONIX MAREK JANOWSKI MORTIFIED SWEET APPLE YAELISA
+
MORE LIFE! SF SKETCHFEST [THE COVER]
Tony Winner Alice Ripley Still Lives
NEXT TO NORMAL
= ORPHEUM THEATRE
ALSO: LEFT COAST CHAMBER ENSEMBLE | PATTON OSWALT | JOSHUA REDMAN
editor ROBERT SOKOL editor@baystages.com publisher RON WILLIS publisher@baystages.com design VIA MEDIA design@viamedia.net
THE STAGES ACAPELLA | The Bobs........................................................2 DANCE | GUSH....................................................................3
contributing writers KEN BULLOCK GRIER COOPER ANDREW GILBERT COLM LARKIN LIZA MOCK STEVE MURRAY JAMES J. SIEGEL ROBERT SOKOL RON WILLIS
STRING | Mads Tolling.......................................................4 MYSTERY | Clue..................................................................5 JAZZ | Paula West..............................................................6 TOURING | Next To Normal................................................7 COMEDY | SF Sketchfest....................................................8 SALON | John Kander Salon..............................................9 PLAY | Clybourne Park.................................................... 10 FLAMENCO | Yaelisa........................................................ 11
contributing photographers PAT JOHNSON ROBERT SOKOL STEVEN UNDERHILL
CLASSICAL | Marek Janowski........................................ 12 FAMILY | Boom!............................................................... 13 DAILY | January Events................................................... 14 CHAMBER | Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.................. 15
All other photos are provided by the artists or venues and credits are noted where available.
MUSICAL | Grease........................................................... 17 TELLING | Mortified......................................................... 19
cover image ALICE RIPLEY
ROCK | Monotonix........................................................... 21
image: craig shwartz
PUBLISHED | Patton Oswalt............................................ 23 INDIE | Sweet Apple........................................................ 25
advertising sales RON WILLIS SHAUN PERRY 415.552.8040 advertise@baystages.com
EXHIBIT | More Life!........................................................ 27 BACK | Behind the Scenes & After the Show............... 28 Copyright © 2011 by Caselli Partners LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in California. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form without written permission is prohibited. BAY STAGES is published monthly by VIA MEDIA, a division of Caselli Partners LLC. All content not attributed to an author is compiled by BAY STAGES staff from press releases and other sources. No guarantee is given for the validity of this data. Information is subject to change without notice.
Press releases and promotional materials may be sent to: image: courtesy photo
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO January 18-19 | 8:00 & 10:00 PM Yoshi’s | 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland $25 | 510.238.9200 | yoshis.com Grammy-winning a cappella group showcasing South African music and dance traditions with vocals and choreography.
distribution JUAN RAMIREZ
thisjustin@baystages.com or mailed to:
BAY STAGES 780 sutter street san francisco, ca 94109 p: 415.552.8040 f: 415.869.3700 Writers may submit resumes and samples to editor@baystages.com for consideration. Minor errors discovered after printing have been corrected in this digital edition.
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ACAPELLA
THE BOBS
celebrating 30 years of note(s) by andrew gilbert Now celebrating three decades of musical mayhem, The Bobs continue to ply a trademark style combining astounding vocal agility, deliciously ridiculous original pieces, wildly imaginative arrangements of tunes by the likes of The Doors, Kurt Weill and The Beatles, and off-the-cuff stage antics that give every performance the edge of stand-up comedy. While mostly based in Seattle, the a cappella quartet first came together in San Francisco in 1981 when Matthew Stull and Gunnar Madsen lost their jobs delivering singing telegrams. Unwilling to give up the glamorous show biz lifestyle, they placed a want ad for a bass singer, and hooked up with Richard “Bob” Greene, who was also a songwriter and recording engineer. After rehearsing together as a trio for months, they debuted at an open mike contest at a
Cuban restaurant and won, wowing the audience with a killer version of the Talking Heads “Psycho Killer.” At the time there was virtually no a cappella scene, so they pretty much cornered the market as the world’s only new wave a cappella band, and despite personnel changes over the years the quartet has retained its singular sound (Amy “Bob” Engelhardt and Dan “Bob” Schumacher round out the quartet with Stull and Greene). “Our stage show is very loose and interactive,” Greene says. “We like to play off each other and the audience.” THE BOBS January 30 | 8:00 pm Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison Avenue, Berkeley $28.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org
The Bobs are Richard “Bob” Greene, founding member Matthew “Bob” Stull, Amy “Bob” Engelhardt, and Dan “Tallest Bob Ever” Schumacher.
image: courtesy photo
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by grier cooper GUSH, a dance-theater collaborative series curated by Joe Goode, speaks about the human condition and our perceptions of the way the world works. Goode, a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, and internationally acclaimed innovator of contemporary dance theater, has gathered a select group of artists known for evoking perceptual change. For three consecutive weekends, performances will cross through several styles of dance and sociopolitical commentary to challenge onlookers to reevaluate the way they see the world. The series includes performances by Joe Goode Performance Group, in his signature 29 Effeminate Gestures, about gender, in a synthesis of dance, song and visual imagery. Goode’s award-winning piece for AXIS Dance Company, an ensemble of dancers with and without physical disabilities, challenges the way viewers think about dance and
the potential of the human body. Ledoh/ Salt Farm’s COLORMEAMERICA takes viewers on a multimedia cultural exploration through the integration of choreography, video projection, original electronic scores, choreography and mobile set design.
DANCE
gush
joe goode curates dance theatre
GUSH January 13 to 29 | 8:00 pm Brava Theater 2781 24th Street, San Francisco $15 to $35 | 415.641.7657 brava.org
image: rj muna
Melecio Estrella (left) and Marit Brook-Kothlow of Joe Goode Performance Group
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STRING
Mads tolling a tribute to jean-luc ponty by andrew gilbert What could be more natural than for one of jazz’s most formidable young violinists to pay tribute to Jean-Luc Ponty, the powerhouse fiddler who put the instrument back in the jazz spotlight during the 1970s fusion era? But for Danish-born violin master Mads Tolling, raising a bow for Ponty isn’t just an artistic statement, it’s deeply personal.
A prodigy who performed for the European Parliament in Copenhagen at the age of 10, Tolling won a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and by the time he graduated Summa Cum Laude he had attracted the Ponty’s notice. The veteran violinist recommended Tolling to Stanley Clarke, and he spent six years touring with the great electric bassist and film composer. Tolling landed in the Bay Area when the Turtle Island String Quartet recruited him to fill the band’s viola chair, and he contributed to two consecutive Grammy-winning
TISQ albums, “4+Four” and “A Love Supreme - The Legacy of John Coltrane.” In recent years, he’s moved to Turtle Island’s second violin chair and tackled the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix on their recent release “Have You Ever Been…?” In many ways Hendrix provides the ideal preparation for exploring Ponty‘s underappreciated tunes. “His compositions, to me, draw a lot more from classical music than I used to think,” Tolling says. “To me they are creations of a perfect fusion between jazz, classical and rock ‘n’ roll.” MADS Tolling January 5 | 8:00 pm The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko 222 Mason Street, San Francisco $25 | 415.394.1189 therrazzroom.com
Mads Tolling, Mike Abraham, Eric Garland and George Ban-Weiss.
image: stuart brinin
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by robert sokol It’s been a board game, a television show, a musical, a book series and now – springboarding from their near reverence for the flop film derived from its rulebook – Clue comes to the stage of the Boxcar Theatre courtesy of an adaptation by Artistic Directors Peter Matthews and Nick Olivero. “We’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” says Olivero. “The question was how, because we’re not fans of the whole unit set concept with multiple rooms, and we don’t have the capacity for a turntable.” It was Matthews who suggested making the stage a life-size board game. Olivero took it a step further and placed the seating on all four sides like game players and then raised them onto platforms so the audience looks down on the action. This also allows for movement through the game’s trademark secret passages that flow right under the onlookers. “Our whole approach has been to craft the experience for people like us who know and love the movie and would want to come see the show more than once,” says Olivero. “This isn’t necessarily for the Boxcar audience, it’s for the Clue audience.” With that as a guide, screening the movie – and more than once – is encouraged prior to picking up your tickets. “It’s a satire. It’s an homage. We’re
trying to put our own twist on it while still getting as much of the subtlety and nuance of the film onto the stage and also make informed choices about where we depart from it.” The stage presentation will be self-aware. “We do some commentary on things like the editing of the film and some of the inconsistencies there. We also comment on the actual experience of playing the game. We’ve tried to do as much as we can, realizing that this is a play and not a film, so some of the nuances just don’t carry forward.”
MYSTERY
CLUE
not just a board game (or even a movie) anymore
So will it likely be Mrs. Peacock or Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe or the rope in the library or the ballroom? Come to the Boxcar and find out! CLUE January 7 to February 5 Boxcar Theatre 505 Natoma Street, San Francisco $15 to $45 | 415.776.174 boxcartheatre.org
image: peter liu
Sarah Savage, Nick A. Olivero, Michelle Ianiro, Linnea George, Peter Matthews, Adam Simpson, Brian Martin, J. Conrad Frank, Justin Liszanckie and Stephanie Desnoyers are the suspects in Clue.
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JAZZ
Paula west
& the george mesterhazy quartet by steve murray
Jazz stylist Paula West, the first act to play San Francisco’s Rrazz Room back in 2008, returns for an extraordinary eight-week engagement - the longest run in the room’s history.
You might hear Dylan, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Webb alongside Porter, Coleman and the Gershwins. Singing with smooth rhythm and multiple tempos, West wisely utilizes the brilliant arrangements of musical director/
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Paula West January 18 to March 13 The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko 222 Mason Street, San Francisco $35 to $45 | 415.394.1189 therrazzroom.com
image: gary brewster
Choosing exciting works by her favorite composers, West is solidly jazz but can infuse an original material’s intent into her unique style, be it country, folk, zydeco or pop. “I like to surprise people and take them through a range of emotions”, she says. “The musicians I work with, they can take a song to places even I didn’t imagine. I choose lyrics with humor, romance, and social commentary.“
pianist George Mesterhazy and his quartet. West has been wowing audiences and critics across the country since starting her career in the late ‘80s. The Rrazz Room is San Francisco’s crown jewel of cabaret venues. Elegant and intimate with incredible sound, it’s a great place to see your favorite musicians or check out somebody new. West says she “looks forward to an exciting run, working with my favorite musicians.”
by ron willis Twelve arduous years in the making, the back-story of Next to Normal’s development is a testament to authentic collaboration, critical re-examination and faith in the power of story. Writer and lyricist Brian Yorkey and composer and singer Tom Kitt could not have imagined that their 10-minute musical, written in 1998 as an assignment in a mentorship program for young artists in New York, would ultimately become a Pulitzer Prize-winning emotional powerhouse on Broadway. It did, and now it’s ours to experience, San Francisco.
image: craig shwartz
Next to Normal represents a seismic departure from the dumbing-down trend of almost all things 42nd Street this decade. Boldly confronting one of the last taboos of our time, Next to Normal pulls us with irresistible force into the grey ambiguity of mental illness. Alternating between heady delight and crushing emotional emptiness, the play brings us face to face with the brutal reality of living with bipolar disorder. Kitt’s effervescent rock score combined with Yorkey’s brilliant lyrics and book transform the audience from passive observer to virtual participant in the unfolding drama.
The greatest gift to San Francisco in this stunning, beautifully crafted package is its star. Alice Ripley reprises her acclaimed Tony-winning performance as Diana, the loving-but-conflicted wife and mother at the center of the piece. It is a role she has been refining since the show’s 2006 workshop.
TOURING
NEXT TO NORMAL
tony winner alice ripley comes to san francisco
About doing the national tour of the musical after her rigorous Broadway experience, Ripley told the Los Angeles Times last year: “Playing Diana feels like I’m walking out into traffic. You know that the bus is going to hit you, but you just have to step out in front of it anyway.” NEXT TO NORMAL January 25 to February 20 Curran Theatre 445 Geary Street, San Francisco $30 to $99 | 888.746.1799 shnsf.com
Emma Hunton struggles to accept her mother Alice Ripley and how she chooses to deal with her bipolar disorder. JANUARY 2011 |
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COMEDY
sf sketchfest
a decade of har-dee-har-har by ron willis
Just ten years ago David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney - each of them accomplished comedians in their own right - created SF Sketchfest as a showcase for six local sketch comedy groups. The next decade would see their modest concept flourish, blossoming into a three-week long extravaganza featuring some of the most sought after comedians in the world.
Dan Aykroyd
Starting out at the diminutive Shelton Theatre the festival now makes the Eureka Theatre its home base and boasts seven additional major venues in San Francisco ranging from the obvious (Cobb’s, The Punch Line, and The Purple Onion) to the grand (Marine’s Memorial and Castro Theatres and Yoshi’s).
Gary Shandling
Neil Patrick Harris
In additional to live sketch comedy this year’s festival includes a ten-year reunion of the acts featured in the first Sketchfest, films, interviews, and tributes (including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of It’s Gary Shandling’s Show, and nods to the film Airplane! and the hit TV show Murphy Brown).
Among the major headliners this year: Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, David Byrne, James L. Brooks, Neil Patrick Harris, Cloris Leachman,
Mike Birbiglia
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Some of the dozens of shows include Characters Only, Porchlight: A Storytelling Series, Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Hour, White Noise Radio Theatre, Citizen Radio Live, Smug Shift, Thrilling Adventure Hour, Monsters of Podcasting, Killing My Lobster, and Viva Variety, plus multiple iterations of The SF Sketchfest Dozen, Whose Live Anyway and even more. Given the nature of showbiz careers and the huge scope of this festival, be prepared for changes in the schedule… last year a number of booked celebrities were unable to participate. That said, clear you deck and get plenty of rest while you can to prepare for the marathon of laughter coming your way. 10TH ANNUAL SF SKETCHFEST January 13 to February 5 Various Venues San Francisco Ticket Range: $15 to $60 sfsketchfest.com
images: courtesy photos
Despite the participation of iconic comedy legends, Owen, Stratton and Varney have kept the festival true to its humble roots by continuing to showcase up-and-coming talent and Bay Area comedic faves.
Gary Shandling, David and Jerry Zucker, plus Mario Cantone, Jennifer Coolidge, Will Forte, Rachael Harris, Maya Rudolph and Fred Willard in the New York smash hit Celebrity Autobiography, and over two hundred other acts!
image: courtesy photo
by robert sokol
SALON
Karen ziemba
celebrating john kander and all that jazz
Composer John Kander’s music – and lyrics! – were first heard on Broadway in the short lived A Family Affair in 1962. The same year he met lyricist Fred Ebb and the rest really is musical theatre history. Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman are only some of their creations. Ebb died in 2004 and Kander has been shepherding their remaining - some partially unfinished - projects to the public. Curtains was on Broadway in 2007 and The Scottsboro Boys was produced last year. 42nd Street Moon pays tribute to Kander and his music this month with a salon evening at the Alcazar. Bringing a special, first-hand perspective to the proceedings are Noah Racey and Karen Ziemba, co-stars of Curtains. Ziemba can think of many reasons to celebrate Kander and Ebb. Her relationship with them goes back to And The World Goes ‘Round, a 1991 revue of their work to that point that also starred Karen Mason and Robert Cuccioli. She sums up her feelings in one story. “I was fairly young when I auditioned for the show. I remember walking into the room and singing my song and afterward, John Kander stood up from the worktable
where he was sitting and walked toward me and introduced himself.” “He makes you feel like you are the most important person in the room and that’s not how you usually feel when you audition. I wondered why he was being so nice to me and I came to learn that that’s just who he is, and that he’s the same with everyone no matter who you are. He’s rather extraordinary that way.” They would work together often and the role of Rita Racine in 1997’s Steel Pier was written for her. She looks forward to reliving a few Curtains moments with Racey. “John actually wrote the lyrics for many of the songs that ended up in the final version of Curtains. He said he was channeling Fred.” And All That Jazz: A John Kander Salon Evening January 27 | 7:00 pm Alcazar Theatre 650 Geary Street, San Francisco $70 | 415.255.8207 42ndstmoon.org JANUARY 2011 |
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PLAY
CLYBOURNE PARK
it’s not just black and white for manoel felciano by robert sokol
image: courtesy photo
In Clybourne Park, playwright Bruce Norris takes the events fueling the plot of Lorraine Hansbury’s A Raisin in the Sun – a black family buys a house in a white neighborhood in 1950s Chicago – and bookends them with his own events, just before and a half-century later, to thought-provoking result. The play recently won London’s Evening Standard Award for Best Play and makes its West Coast premiere as part of A.C.T.’s 2010-2011 season. The production marks the A.C.T. mainstage debut of director Jonathan Moscone - longtime artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater - and features a cast of eight including native San Franciscan and A.C.T. company member Manoel Felciano. The 2006 Tony nominee - best supporting actor in the musical revival of Sweeney Todd - took a few moments out from rehearsal to consider Clybourne’s précis and how it speaks to the question of race in the still-new millennium. “The play is very, very funny,” he says, “in the way that it makes people laugh and makes people squirm. The squirming can be about very serious
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things, but the only way to get the expression out is through laughter.“ Felciano relates how initially it is easy to distance oneself from the unenlightened attitudes of the characters in the first act, set in 1959. “When you get to 2009 [in Act Two], the mirror is really held up to who we are now and how much is still a case of good intentions gone awry.” “What was once insensitivity has been replaced by an over-sensitivity,” he suggests, “which in itself becomes a kind of insensitivity. It’s a bizarre paradox.” CLYBOURNE PARK January 20 to February 13 American Conservatory Theater 415 Geary Street, San Francisco $10 to $82 | 415.749.2228 act-sf.org
by ken bullock “When I was just four years old,” said Yaelisa of Caminos Flamencos dance company, “I danced in the old Casa Madrid, on Broadway in North Beach. I couldn’t help it! My mother was a dancer. It was all about Mom being a flamenco! So dancing was pretty much survival.” Yaelisa’s mother, the late Isa Mura, danced and later sang in that lively San Francisco cabaret scene, featuring the performance style of singing, dancing and guitar music associated with the Roma (“Gypsy”) people of Spain. After Las Cuevas opened in The Old Spaghetti Factory on Green Street in 1958, North Beach became the focal point for flamenco in Northern California for over a quarter century.
FLAMENCO
Yaelisa
flamenco around the bay
Now, Yaelisa and others have brought the excitement of flamenco back to its old North Beach stomping grounds - and elsewhere in the city and around the Bay. The biggest show this month is by Theatre Flamenco - at 45 years of age, the second oldest local dance troupe after the San Francisco Ballet - in Mountain View. Caminos Flamencos performs ongoing shows at Mohito in North Beach and at B44 downtown. Peña Pachamama in North Beach features shows some Sundays, and Thirsty Bear, South of Market, holds regular Sunday shows in its Flamenco Room. UNA NOTA FLAMENCA January 8 | 8:00 pm Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts 500 Castro Street, Mountain View $36 to $41 | 650.903.6000 theatreflamenco.org Caminos Flamencos @ B44 Alternate Thursdays | Call For Schedule 44 Belden Place, San Francisco 415.986.6287 | caminosflamencos.com
image: courtesy photo
Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. Sundays | 7:15 & 8:30 pm 661 Howard Street, San Francisco 415.974.0905 | thirstybear.com Peña PachaMama Restaurant Thursdays and Sundays | Call For Schedule 1630 Powell Street, San Francisco 415.646.0018 | pachamamacenter.org JANUARY 2011 |
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CLASSICAL
marek Janowski
conducts beethoven with the sf symphony by liza mock Hearing the San Francisco Symphony is a treat. Hearing the Symphony perform Beethoven, conducted by Marek Janowski, is more like a ten-course feast. Janowski was born in Poland in 1939, but grew up in Germany. He has been the chief conductor of the world renowned Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2002 and has a lifetime contract with the company. In 2005 he also became the Musical Director of Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, but will be retiring from the post after the 2011-2012 season.
Until the ‘90s, the majority of Janowski’s repertoire was opera. He traveled the world performing as guest conductor in every opera house of note, but for the last 20 years he has been conducting mostly symphonic music. His reputation is built upon his unique choice of repertoire as well as his ability to make the most familiar pieces bright and exciting. On his upcoming visit to San
Marek Janowski San Francisco Symphony January 20 to 23 Davies Symphony Hall 201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco $15 to $140 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org
image: courtesy photo
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Francisco he will be conducting Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 4,” his “Piano Concerto No. 3” and, as a nod to his opera roots, “Overture No. 3” from Beethoven’s only opera, Leonore, which upon its first performance and after it was rewritten, came to be called Fidelio.
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by robert sokol
Before iPods and downloads did you wait for your favorite songs on the radio? Do you try to remember the way you were? Did you just recognize references to four hit songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s? If so, you are sure to enjoy an evening with sisters Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway when they present Boom! at the Napa Valley Opera House.
image: courtesy photo
“Sometimes songs have an expiration date on them,” says Ann, “but because they’re attached to a period full of associations and history and memories they will always have a nostalgia factor. Then there are the classic songs that capture universal feelings in a conversational but poetic way, and I think we’ve chosen a lot of those for the show.” Liz remembers how certain songs and recordings drew a dotted line between their often very different musical tastes while growing up in Chicago. “Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ did that,” she says. “So did The Beatles. Otherwise I was very Fifth Dimension and Ann was very Joni Mitchell. It’s not true for me of all
FAMILY
BOOM!
liz and ann hampton callaway
‘60s music, but a lot of the songs – particularly the cheery ones – just feel like me.” Say Ann: “It was a very fertile time in history for singer-songwriters to try and make very powerful statements and challenge some of the ideas and the moods of the status quo and make the world better, more just, more beautiful. There was a lot of idealism going on and a lot of interesting escapism and we try to find the balance between the two in this show.” BOOM! Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway January 28 | 8:00 pm Napa Valley Opera House 1310 Main Street, Napa $30 to $40 | 707.226.7372 nvoh.org
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CLOSING SHOWS 9 | Forever Tango marinesmemorialtheatre.tix.com Created/directed by Luis Bravo and featuring a world-renowned cast of passionate dancers and musicians. ($45-$100) 9 | Candid sweetcanproductions.com Combining traditional circus with stunning physical theater, dance and live music performance. ($15-$60) 15 | The Composer Is Dead berkeleyrep.org | 510.647.2949 The show must go on? But the actor is mute, the director is crying, the dancer is lazy—and the composer is dead! By Lemony Snicket. ($34-$73)
DAILY 1 | Kim Nalley therrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095 Let the Good Times Roll is Nalley’s latest jazz/blues show. Just try and sit still as she works the standards with charm, wit and charisma. ($35) 1 | Three Viewings theatreanew.com Become immersed in the setting of the play - once inside the chapel you become a witness to three different viewings each with a tale to tell. ($30)
6 | Ben Bailey cobbscomedy.com | 415.928.4320 Host of Cash Cab and Cash Cab: After Dark on Discovery, Bailey is an acclaimed stand-up. ($17.50-$20.50)
15 | The Lion in Winter actorstheatresf.org | 415.345.1287 Electric play about late-12th-Century palace intrigue in the English Court. ($18-$38)
2 | Edgar Winter yoshis.com | 415.655.5600 Acclaimed singer-songwriter with an innovative, rock/blues style. ($38) 3 | Double Trouble sfchamberorchestra.org | 415.392.4400 SF Chamber Orchestra presents this program of concerts for two instruments. (Free)
6 | Lost In Yonkers jccsf.org | 415.292.1200 Neil Simon’s sweet coming-of-age story about two young brothers left in the care of their formidable immigrant grandmother. ($20-$39)
15 | Coraline sfplayhouse.org | 415.677.9596 Bored and lonely, Coraline discovers a parallel world where she thinks she could never be happier, then… ($30-$50) 16 | Dirty Little Showtunes nctcsf.org | 415.861.8972 A brand new edition of the popular bawdy Broadway parody revue with Tom Orr’s ingenious lyrical spin. ($24-$36) 16 | The Salt Plays: Of the Earth shotgunplayers.org | 510.841.6500 Gripping drama about war and coming home. ($17-$30) 23 | Woody Guthrie’s American Song cinnabartheater.org | 707.763.8920 Stirring musical journey uses his own words to follow legendary singersongwriter Woody Guthrie. ($35)
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6 | Hélène Grimaud sfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000 Kirill Karabits conducts an enthralling program of three deeply impassioned works, featuring Grimaud’s extraordinary piano talents. ($15-$140)
4 | Franc D’Ambrosio therrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095 D’Ambrosio presents I’ll Be Seeing YOUZ: A Bronx Boy’s Musical Perspective of World War II, to be recorded live for his upcoming CD. ($40) 5 | the OHIO PLAYERS yoshis.com | 415.655.5600 A great funk band, with hits like “Funky Worm,” “Love Rollercoaster,” and “Who’d She Coo.” ($25-$35) 5 | Tom Rhodes punchlinecomedyclub.com | 415.397.7573 Globe-trotting comedian brings his standup act back to San Francisco. ($15)
6 | Strange Travel themarsh.org | 800.838.3006 An improvised monologue inspired by the joys of wanderlust. ($15-$50) 6 | True West bayareastage.org | 707.649.1053 Missouri Street Theatre, Fairfield. Sam Shepard American classic about what happens when brothers, sons of a desert dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer, clash. ($5-$15) 7 | Art 6thstreetplayhouse.com | 707.523.4185 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa. Three friends in Paris find their previously solid friendship on shaky ground when one buys an expensive painting. ($20-$25)
images: jessica palopoli (coraline), ken friedman (lost in yonkers), all others - courtesy photos (edgar winter, franc d’ambrosio, ben bailey, hélène grimaud)
15 | Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class willowstheatre.com | 925.798.1300 Starring a lead cast member from the past 25 years of Nunsense. ($22-$32)
left coast music by liza mock
The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble is a phenomenon that could only happen on the easy going left coast. The ensemble is simultaneously casual and serious. It was started in 1992 by a group of friends who simply enjoyed each other’s company and found they loved playing chamber music together.
CHAMBER
Root causes
Currently in their sixteenth season, the dozen members - a unique number for a chamber ensemble - play pieces spanning the decades and often like to combine old and new. It is clear that the project still pleases after all these years. Root Causes is a concert which is as diverse as the musicians themselves and pays homage to the roots that often inspire musical creation. Antonin Dvorák’s “Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello,” inspired by European and North American folk music, is played alongside John Musto’s jazz-influenced trio for the same instruments. Also part of the program are a sacred Yom Kippur melody by Ernest Bloch, and the world premiere of new arrangements of popular songs by Kurt Rhode, who is a Left Coast member. The composers range over a wide time period from as early as 1841 to the present. The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble January 20 | 8:00 pm 142 Throckmorton Theatre 142 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley $15 to $20 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.com
image: lydia chen
January 24 | 8:00 pm Green Room 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco $15 to $20 | 415.642.8054 leftcoastensemble.org
Members of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble include (top to bottom) Kurt Rohde, Michael Goldberg, Phyllis Kamrin, Leighton Fong, Anna Presler, Eric Zivian, Tanya Tomkins, Jerome Simas, Michel Taddei and Stacey Pelinka.
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DAILY 7 | George Winston nvoh.org | 707.226.7372 Thirty years on and Winston’s melodic folk piano style continues to inspire. ($37-$39)
7 | Poncho Sanchez yoshis.com | 510.238.9200 Wildly popular Latin Jazz band led by Chicano conguero Poncho Sanchez. ($24) 7 | Wise Up! mccsf.org | 415.794.7746 Wayne Self and Stephanie Smith present a fractured, faeried and thoroughly modern re-telling of the gift of the Magi story. ($15-$20)
8 | Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings georgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726 Musician and producer Rogers is one of the premier slide guitarists performing today. ($15) 9 | Dia de Los Reyes corohispano.org | 415.431.4234 Hailed as America’s premiere Latin chorus, the Coro-Hispano has been pleasing audiences for 35 years. ($20) 9 | Soyeon Lee sfperformances.org | 415.398.6449 Winner of the 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition ($25)
9 | Willie Nelson thefillmore.com | 415.346.6000 Icon, legend, superstar, Willie Nelson still thrills audiences with his talent and charisma. ($55)
8 | Arturo Sandoval sfjazz.org | 866.920.5299 SFJAZZ presents one of the world’s most gifted trumpet players for one night only. ($30-$75)
10 | Songs of the Redhead emanuelsf.org | 800.838.3006 Don Croll wrote and stars in this engaging one-man show featuring tunes made famous by Danny Kaye. ($25)
8 | BLVD theindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421 Live electronica trio know for their signature electro-rock style. With Pink Mammoth. ($15) 8 | E.C. Scott biscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583 Scott possesses a warm, inviting voice and a delivery that can be smooth and sultry one minute but sassy and sexy the next. ($20) 8 | Los Lobos thefillmore.com | 415.346.6000 After over thirty years of music making the men of Los Lobos are still hot, receiving two Grammy nominations for their latest album. ($50)
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11 | Martha Reeves therrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095 The Queen of Motown and lead of Martha and the Vandellas, Reeves brings her distinctive style to the Rrazz Room. ($40-$45)
images: ashley ingram (el deoro), all others - courtesy photos (poncho sanchez, roy rogers, willie nelson, martha reeves)
8 | 77 El Deora cafedunord.com | 415.861.5016 Smart, original, neo-noir honky tonk in the classic rhythms and themes of western America. With The Whisky Richards and others. ($11-$13)
by robert sokol
image: joan marcus
Matt Nolan and Alyssa Herrera (center), and the Grease company.
MUSICAL
Grease
still rockin’ at rydell high
Lightning may not strike twice, but Grease Lightning – the show’s original title – seems to be a hit over and over again. Originally developed in Chicago in 1971, the Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey musical about fictional Rydell High seems to always be playing somewhere in the world. The show enjoyed an eight-year life on Broadway moving through four different theatres before closing in 1980 as the then longest-running musical ever. The original cast included emerging talents Adrienne Barbeau, Barry Bostwick, a pre-Manhattan Transfer Alan Paul, and Jeff Conaway as the male understudy for all the guy roles before taking over as Danny Zuko. Over the years Peter Gallagher, Marilu Henner, John Travolta, Treat Williams and Adrian Zmed did time at Rydell. Zmed starred in the film Grease 2, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, and Travolta, of course, made the top-grossing original film version with Olivia Newton-John. The soundtrack to that film became a multi-million seller and leads the pack of well over
100 recordings of the score, including translations into most world languages. The show is regularly revived, and was notably on Broadway in 1994 with star turns by Brooke Shields, Rosie O’Donnell, Lucy Lawless and Sally Struthers. A 2007 revival was cast from a primetime reality show competition. For Broadway San Jose, Tony-nominee Eddie Mekka – once known as Carmine Ragusa on Laverne & Shirley – stars as DJ Vince Fontaine and leads an energetic cast including Alyssa Herrera and Matt Nolan as lovebirds Sandy and Danny. GREASE January 18 to 23 San Jose Center for the Performing Arts 255 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose $20 to $79 | 408.792.4111 broadwaysanjose.com
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DAILY 13 | SF BLUEGRASS SHOW cafedunord.com | 415.861.5016 Benefit for the SF Bluegrass & OldTime Festival, which runs Feb 11-20 at 20+ venues around the Bay. ($10-$20)
11 | Mike Daisey berkeleyrep.org | 510.647.2949 Master storyteller and monologuist presents two shows: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs and The Last Cargo Cult. ($29-$73) 12 | The A.W.A.R.D. Show! odctheater.org | 415.863.9834 Twelve dance artists, four nights of performances, one award of $10,000, one vote - you be the judge! ($18)
12 | Will Durst georgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726 Five-time Emmy nominee, seven-time nominee for the American Comedy Awards Stand Up of the Year. ($10)
13 | Yan Pascal Tortelier sfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000 Featuring Mussorgsky’s “Dawn Over the River Moscow,” Khachaturian’s “Violin Concerto” and scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. ($15-$140) 14 | A Hand in Desire emspacedance.org Viracocha riffs on the themes and images in A Streetcar Named Desire, and considers what it means to take on an iconic piece of theater. ($20) 14 | All Shook Up diablotheatre.org | 925.943.7469 Los Lomas High School presents a tangled tale of romance, comedy, and rock n’ roll set to Elvis tunes. ($12-$15)
13 | Angels In America: Millennium Approaches busbarn.org | 650.941.0551 A startling new version of Kushner’s brilliant play through an innovative new program supporting young stage directors. ($15)
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13 | Annie solanocollegetheatre.org | 707.864.7100 This Broadway classic tells the story of how one little girl wins the heart of a New York City tycoon and changes the course of a nation. ($20)
14 | Bone to Pick / Diadem cuttingball.com | 415.419.3584 Two one-woman shows about the classical myth of Ariadne, written by Eugenie Chan. ($15-$50)
13 | Huun Huur Tu gamh.com | 888.233.0449 The Throat Singers of Tuva bring their radically representational music which imitates or aesthetically represents the sounds of nature. ($26)
14 | Chaka Khan thewarfieldtheatre.com | 800.745.3000 There’s only one Chaka, possessed of a powerhouse, unforgettably distinctive trademark vocal style. With Chrisette Michele. ($45-$82)
images: stan barouh (mike daisey), eye for talent (huun huur tu), rob melrose (bone to pick/diadem), all others - courtesy photos (chaka khan)
12 | The Family Stone yoshis.com | 415.655.5600 True to their original raw funk groove, these “Everyday People” will leave you “Taken Higher.” ($20-$26)
13 | Women on the Way ftloose.org | 415.289.2000 Shotwell Studios and The Garage. Produced by Mary Alice Fry, three weeks of comedy, music, dance and theater. ($15-$20)
by liza mock It’s wonderful when we as human beings find something in common. It makes us feel connected and somehow whole. Among the many other things that we two-leggeds share is the voyeuristic desire to know as many deep, dark and humiliating secrets about each other as possible. Perhaps it is because we all have them ourselves and hope to find that other people’s are somehow more gruesome than ours. Mortified is a phenomenal project that allows anyone to have either a voyeuristic or a cathartic experience by telling or listening to the most excruciatingly embarrassing secrets as read, sung or simply told onstage by the humiliated person.
participate other than the fact that they must be willing to share, have unedited and unaltered materials such as writing or art which they created before turning 21, and are willing to present it themselves. All participants are selected at open calls.
TELLING
Mortified sf
public (self-)humiliation as performance
Mortified SF January 14 to 15 | 8:00 pm Make Out Room 3225 22nd Street, San Francisco $12 to $15 | 415.647.2888 getmortified.com/live
image: ed pingol
Mortified was founded by Dave Nadelberg in the late 1990s. The inspiration was a particularly humiliating love letter from his early years that Nadelberg came across and began sharing with friends. With the help of co-producer Neil Katcher, Mortified became official in 2002. There are no particular requirements for those who choose to
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Mystery! Mayhem! Mirth!
See How They Run
“Breathless show, fast tempo, plenty of laughs.” —Variety
DAILY 14 | No Good Deed thepear.org | 650.254.1148 A stunning new play by Paul Braverman that is told with a classic film noir feel. ($20-$30)
16 | Youth Orchestra sfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000 Six Bay Area youth orchestras celebrate with proceeds benefitting underserved, homeless youth. ($30-$60)
14 | Norm MacDonald thefillmore.com | 415.346.6000 Actor, writer and SNL alum, in his hilarious stand-up show. ($25)
16 | Cowboy Mouth slims-sf.com | 415.255.0333 16th Annual Rock ‘n Roll Mardi Gras Tour. With Dash Rip Rock. ($22)
14 | PUBLIC ENEMY yoshis.com | 415.655.5600 Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, DJ Lord & S1W’s. ($40)
16 | Symphony Parnassus symphonyparnassus.org | 415.728.5997 Stephen Paulson conducts his own Bassoon Concerto, plus Mozart and Richard Strauss. ($25-$25)
Performances at
14 | Ring of Fire 6thstreetplayhouse.com | 707.523.4185 The music of Johnny Cash in an uplifting story about the triumph of human talent and spirit. ($28-$39)
29. N. San Pedro St.
14 | Steve Tyrell nvoh.org | 707.226.7372 Grammy-winner Tyrell has reinvented and re-popularized classic pop standards for a modern-day audience. ($35-$45)
Tickets: $10-$24
Jan. 28 – Feb. 20
Downtown San Jose
(800) 838-3006
www.tabardtheatre.org
14 | The English Beat bimbos365club.com | 877.435.9849 Fusing ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, with lyrics that deal with love, unity and sociopolitical topics. ($22-$25) 14 | Titanic: In Concert stage1theatre.org | 510.791.0287 The musical based on the tragedy of the Titanic, in concert. ($10-$20)
16 | Twice As Good biscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583 Native American father and son duo, awarded Best New Blues Band 2010 by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. ($15) 17 | velvetwinos cafedunord.com | 415.861.5016 CD release party for two Bay Area singer/songwriters whose multifaceted music is driven by electronica, rock, metal & folk. ($10) 18 | Snoop Dogg thefillmore.com | 415.346.6000 Rap and hip-hop legend, record producer, and actor, with a personality as big as his talent. ($37.50)
15 | Lavay Smith biscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583 With her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Smith takes her audience back to the 40’s & 50’s with her impeccable Jazz and Blues offerings. ($20) 15 | Ouroboros renegadetheatre.com | 408.493.0783 Tom Jacobson’s amazing palindrome play about two couples visiting Italy. ($28.50)
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15 | The Aristocats berkeleyplayhouse.org | 510.845.8542 Berkeley Playhouse Conservatory’s KidStage Program presents a live version of the Disney favorite. ($20)
19 | Clarinet Thing sfperformances.org | 415.398.6449 A chamber quartet of jazz clarinetists, featuring uncommon arrangements and original compositions using the entire family of clarinets. ($20)
15 | The Budos Band theindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421 Staten Island instrumental afro-soul is the way the group describes their singular instrumental-only style. ($20)
19 | The 39 Steps theatreworks.org | 650.463.1960 A hilarious, high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s silver-screen classic. ($27-$42)
image: courtesy photo (the companion piece)
15 | Idylls & Dances symphonysiliconvalley.org | 415.286.2600 Featuring Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll plus Liszt and Rachmaninov. ($39-$75)
18 | The Companion Piece zspace.org | 415.626.0453 A funny, moving, theatrically provocative new work from some of the Bay Area’s most adventurous experimental theater makers. ($40)
monotonix
from tel aviv, with love
by colm larkin
ROCK
The most recent San Francisco performance by Israeli garage rockers Monotonix was at this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival. But if you were looking at the actual stage during the allotted show time you wouldn’t have seen much. As is their want, the trio of band members – drummer included – performed the entire show in the midst of and on top of the assembled crowd. If you appreciate unpredictability as a vital element of a live experience, you have to see Monotonix. Formed in November 2005, the band’s early shows were so outrageous it is now banned from the majority of venues in its hometown of Tel Aviv. At a Monotonix gathering crowd surfing is encouraged, spitting is frequent, and at Treasure Island dreadlocked lead singer Ami Shalev emptied trash bags over the audience. Yet the overwhelming spirit is one of mischievous peace and love rather than malevolent violence. Monotonix’s music is a potent Stooges-style garage rock but, more importantly, the pulsating rhythms and fiery guitars fuel the entertaining antics of the performance. With a new album entitled “Not Yet” due out this month, Shalev and his anarchic cohorts should be fired up for another night of unmissable mayhem.
image: giles smith
Monotonix Rickshaw Stop 2170 Market Street, SF January 28 | 8:30 pm $10-$12 | 415.861.2011 rickshawstop.com
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ONGOING SHOWS Shopping! The Musical shoppingthemusical.com | 415.713.6486 A hilarious, fast-paced revue of original songs and sketches about shopping. ($27-$29)
DAILY 20 | Audition theexit.org | 800.838.3006 A play that tries to occupy that space between real life and theater, the domain of the unreal-and-yet-true. 20 | Compleat Female Stage Beauty cltc.org | 408.295.4200 A famous portrayer of female roles in 17th-century London and the law that leads to his ruin. ($15-$28)
Beach Blanket Babylon beachblanketbabylon.com Steve Silver’s ever-evolving creation is packed with hilarious spoofs of pop culture & politics. ($25-$80) Party of 2 partyof2themusical.com | 800.838.3006 Comic and touching songs about independent types who meet, mate, move in and grapple with issues of love and proximity ($27-$29) More Life!: Angels In America at Twenty mpdsf.org | 415.255.4800 Museum of Performance & Design. Immersing visitors in the magical world of Kushner’s brilliant play.
License to Kiss II, A Sweet Conspiracy love.zinzanni.org | 415.438.2668 The beautiful spiegeltent turns into a den for intrigue, espionage & the ultimate candy-coated collusion. ($117-$145) Sunday’s A Drag harrydenton.com | 415.395.8595 A revival of the spirit of the drag show, picking up where the legendary Finocchio’s left off. ($44.95) Tony and Tina’s Wedding tonyandtinasanfrancisco.com You are invited to the world’s #1 dinner comedy show. ($88.50-$115.50) Magic at The Rex magicattherex.com | 415.273.9790 In this intimate cocktail lounge setting you will be up close and personal with every flick of the wrist and wave of a hand. ($25)
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21 | ODC Unplugged odctheater.org | 415.863.9834 A first look at Kimi Okada’s I Stare Vacantly at the Pacific…Though Regret which will be part of Dance Downtown in March. ($18) 21 | Papa Grows Funk slims-sf.com | 415.255.0333 Classic New Orleans funk band. With AllofaSudden. ($20-$25) 21 | David Daniels philharmonia.org | 415.252.1288 David Daniels in a program of baroque music. Also in Berkeley [1/15-16] and Atherton [1/18]. ($30-$90)
20 | Ledisi yoshis.com | 510.238.9200 2010 Grammy Nominee Ledisi brings her soul/rock stylings to Yoshi’s. ($24-$28) 20 | Mac Miller slims-sf.com | 415.255.0333 Hip-hop artist Mac Miller began rhyming at the age of nine. ($14-$16) 20 | Raw-Dios missionculturalcenter.org | 415.643.2785 When a DJ of a popular morning-drive crew publicly questions the buildup to war, he is forced to choose between prestige and principle. ($15) 20 | The Wailers theindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421 Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold over 250 million albums worldwide. Traditional Reggae at its best. ($25) 21 | Cabaret pcrtproductions.org Pacific Coast Rep’s production of Kander & Ebb’s brilliant musical. ($15-$35) 21 | Heartbreak House aeofberkeley.org | 510.649.5999 Actors Ensemble of Berkeley presents George Bernard Shaw’s tragicomic, eternal classic. 21 | I Do, I Do broadwaywest.org | 510.683.9218 An intimate and charming musical with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. ($15-$22)
21 | Princess Ida stanford.edu The Stanford Savoyards present this play depicting a battle of the sexes that involves more than the traditional pigtails in inkwells. 21 | Private Eyes dragonproductions.net | 800.838.3006 Steven Dietz’ dramatic-comedy explores a tangled web of love and lust with more than a few twists and turns of its own. ($16-$30) 21 | Shadowlands paplayers.org | 650.329.0891 Palo Alto Players’ present C.S. Lewis’ autobiographical story of an unexpected, deeply intimate relationship. ($21-$32) 21 | The Full Monty pinoleplayers.org | 510.724.9844 David Yazbek and Terrence McNally’s delightful musical about out of work miners giving their all. ($20) 21 | The Lion in Winter danvilletheatre.com | 925.314.3400 With political machinations and sibling rivalry, this royal family puts the fun in dysfunction. ($15-$25) 21 | Riley Project & Aura Fischbeck Dance counterpulse.org | 415.626.2060 Investigating the human condition through social politics, misbehavior, and love, with some of San Francisco’s finest dance artists. ($10-$20) 21 | Treefall nctcsf.org | 415.861.8972 New Conservatory Theatre Center
images: rick markovich (beach blanket babylon), all others - courtesy photos (ledisi)
Pearls Over Shanghai thrillpeddlers.com | 800.838.3006 Comic mock-operetta about white slavery & miscegenation set in the colorful world of 1937 Shanghai. ($30-$35)
20 | Jonathan Coulton gamh.com | 888.233.0449 Well crafted geek folk-pop with the Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science. With Paul and Storm. ($25)
21 | Navitas Ensemble oldfirstconcerts.org | 415.474.1608 Hannah Addario-Berry, cello; Elizabeth Choi, violin; Jodi Levitz, viola on Bartók, Schulhoff, Schnittke and Dohnányi. ($17)
image: courtesy photo
by james j. siegel
PUBLISHED
Patton oswalt
explores a zombie spaceship wasteland
Some people may know Patton Oswalt as Kevin James’ sidekick on the hit TV show The King of Queens. Or maybe they know him as Remy the Rat in the Pixar film Ratatouille. But fans who have been following Oswalt’s stand-up career since the mid-1990s know him as the take-no-prisons comic skewering everything from George Lucas and his Stars Wars prequels to “hipster” T-shirts.
The event is part of the organization’s 826 Valencia series, which is geared towards a younger audience and features more contemporary authors, such as Amy Sedaris and Ira Glass. A portion of the proceeds will benefit 826 Valencia, a program that helps students ages 6 to 18 develop their writing skills.
Now Oswalt has written his first book, “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.” He will discuss the book as part of the City Arts & Lectures series at Herbst Theatre. Writer Andrew Leland will field questions to Oswalt about the book, which is part memoir, part humorous essays.
Patton Oswalt In conversation with Andrew Leland City Arts & Lectures January 4 | 8:00 pm Herbst Theatre 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco $20 | 415.392.4400 cityboxoffice.com
According to Amanda Marlow of City Arts & Lectures, the audience will also have the opportunity to join the conversation.“There will be a conversation on stage, and it is set up living room style,” she said. “There will be a 50-minute conversation and then Q&A to the audience for 20 minutes.”
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RECOMMENDED
DAILY 22 | Hemispheres 142throckmortontheatre.org Blending African, Middle Eastern, Asian and South American instruments with more traditional Jazz instrumentation. ($18-$25) 22 | My Fair Lady symphonysiliconvalley.org California Theatre offers a concert version of Lerner and Loewe’s classic retelling of Shaw’s Pygmalion. ($39-$75)
JOSHUA REDMAN January 22 | 8:00 pm Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley $22 to $50 | 510.642.9988
22 | New Pickle Circus tickets.jccsf.org | 415.292.1200 This perennial JCCSF favorite matches clowns, acrobats and contortionists with jugglers, aerialists and more. ($17-$25)
Though the musicians have all performed together in various configurations, it’s a debut for this particular quartet, a setting ideally calibrated to showcase Redman’s melodic inventiveness and newfound confidence on the soprano sax. - Andrew Gilbert
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24 | WAR yoshis.com | 415.655.5600 One of the most popular funk groups of the ‘70s and still going strong. ($40) 25 | Harper Regan sfplayhouse.org | 415.677.9596 On a startlingly bright autumn night Harper Regan walked away from her home, her husband and her daughter.
26 | Offensive Women 142throckmortontheatre.org Comedy with Julie Goldman, Betsy Salkind & Andre the Wonderwoman. ($18-$23) 22 | Rubber Souldiers slims-sf.com | 888.233.0449 This Beatles’ tribute band brings a rockabilly/jam-band revision of all your favorites from the Fab Four! ($15)
27 | Holes hillbarntheatre.org | 650.349.6411 A modern, grown-up fairy tale with a charming ending that comes full circle after many perambulations. ($22-$36) 27 | Seagull marintheatre.org | 415.388.5208 A sleek, sexy production of Chekov’s classic in a world premiere adaptation by Libby Appel. ($32-$53) 27 | Sylvia busbarn.org | 650.941.0551 Bus Barn Stage presents an endearing romantic comedy about a marriage and a winsome canine. ($24-$30)
22 | Tim Hockenberry georgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726 Hockenberry expresses a voice and musical sensibility of irresistible power and harsh beauty. ($15-$20) 23 | Viva Vivaldi! philharmonia.org | 415.252.1288 Three sonatas from Vivaldi’s “Opus 1” set of 1705, along with several other of Vivaldi’s works for strings. ($25) 23 | Suzanne Vega nvoh.org | 707.226.7372 Come see IDOL NV 2009 winner Olivia Jasmine open for acclaimed singersongwriter Suzanne Vega. ($30-$40)
27 | The Dresser sjrep.com | 408.367.7255 A touching and poignant tribute to theatre, friendship and the human spirit that proves that the show must go on. ($35-$79) 28 | Boeing Boeing centerrep.org | 925.943.7469 High-flying Tony-winning comedy of a man living in Paris with his three flight attendant fiancees. ($36-$41) 28 | BROKEN COLUMN enricolabayen.com | 415.273.4633 Exploring love, heartbreak, greed, ambition, intrigue, gender, the environment and the manufacturing of emotions. ($25)
images: imn (joshua redman), all others - courtesy photos (rubber souldiers, tim hockenberry)
Stateside he’s been on the road with James Farm, an indie rockinspired jazz quartet, and he’s performing widely in a duo with piano star Brad Mehldau. But for his Cal Performances gig, Redman has assembled a fascinating cast of players who share deep ties, including New Orleans bassist Reginald Veal (best known for his long association with Wynton Marsalis), pianist Aaron Goldberg, a supremely fluent improviser with an abiding passion for Brazilian music, and drummer Greg Hutchinson, who’s played a key role in just about every phase of Redman’s career.
24 | Emily Albrink emanuelsf.org | 800.838.3006 Soprano Albrink presents works by American composers. ($25)
25 | Veronica Klaus therrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095 Presenting her show Lady Luck with The Tammy Hall Trio. ($25)
A hometown gig for Berkeleyraised Joshua Redman is always something special. Since giving up his gig as artistic director of SFJAZZ’s Spring Season concert series in 2007, the saxophonist spends most of his life as a performer on the road with an array of ensembles. There’s his harmonically unfettered, stripped down bass-and-drums trio featuring a revolving cast of superlative rhythm sections. His unlikely double trio, a lineup with two bassists and two drummers that he introduced on his acclaimed 2009 album “Compass” (Nonesuch), then proceeded to turn into a working band for European tours.
23 | William Wellborn oldfirstconcerts.org | 415.474.1608 Pianist, teacher and lecturer, Wellborn presents his celebration of the bicentennial of Franz Liszt. ($17)
finding creativity in loss by colm larkin
Sweet Apple has been labeled an indie rock supergroup, even though of the band’s four members, only Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis could be considered an alternative star. Besides, the story behind the band’s formation is far more compelling than the mere presence of an indie guitar god. Following the death of his mother, a distraught John Petkovic – lead singer of Cleveland band Cobra Verde – found himself driving through Vermont, an unplanned 400 miles from home. A chance phone call from his friend and Green Mountain State resident Dave Sweetapple led to a meeting between the pair and Mascis, with whom Sweetapple played in the band Witch.
image: timothy herzog
The trio resolved to form a band and Petkovic wrote a number of songs on his long drive home. Far from the fuzzy, mumbling music of Dinosaur Jr., Sweet Apple’s debut album “Love And Desperation,”
wears its road trip influences in the form of a classic rock sound.
INDIE
Sweet apple On stage Petkovic struts his stuff with renewed vigor, while Mascis continues to shred his guitar in his inimitable (and often immobile) fashion. Sweet Apple may not be a supergroup, but music this loud and raucous will appeal to any San Francisco rock fan. Sweet Apple January 14 | 8:30 pm Café du Nord 2170 Market Street, San Francisco $15 | 866.777.8932 cafedunord.com
J. Mascis, Dave Sweetapple, Tim Parnin and John Petkovic are Sweet Apple. JANUARY 2011 |
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RECOMMENDED
DAILY 29 | Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum southbaymt.com | 408.266.4734 Sondheim’s fast-paced, witty farce is one of the funniest musicals ever written. ($23-$30)
Blues at the Crossroads: The Robert Johnson Centennial Concert January 28 | 8:00 pm Regency Ballroom 1290 Sutter Street, SF $33 to $55.50 | 800.745.3000 theregencyballroom.com Robert Johnson lived hard, played the blues with a haunted intensity that’s still hair raising today, and died young, perhaps poisoned by a jealous husband.
Like many of his Delta peers, Johnson was an itinerant performer who made less than three-dozen recordings, scoring his biggest hit with “Terraplane Blues,” which sold about 5,000 copies during his life. But in the 1960s, British rockers like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton spoke with such passionate devotion for Johnson that they sparked a resurgence, and his long-unavailable music has been in print ever since. A century after his birth, his keening voice and jagged guitar work continues to fascinate and inspire musicians looking for the soul of the blues. - Andrew Gilbert
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28 | Glengarry Glen Ross pacificaspindriftplayers.org Mamet at his very best, the story of small-time, cutthroat real estate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land. ($20) 28 | Ian Hunter thefillmore.com | 415.346.6000 English rock legend. ($35) 28 | Resident Alien missionculturalcenter.org | 415.643.2786 Sins Invalid presents a multimedia performance that explores oppression, hospitalization, embodiment, sexuality and liberation. ($15)
29 | Daniel Tosh masonicauditorium.com | 800.745.3000 Star of Tosh.0 - the most popular show on Comedy Central since The Colbert Report. ($45) 29 | Giselle sfballet.org | 415.865.2000 Lavish scenery and costumes, soulful music, and beautiful choreography. ($48-$265) 29 | New Century Chamber Orchestra ncco.org | 415.392.4400 Featuring works by Wolf, Bartók, Piazzolla, and Tchaikovsky. ($29-$49)
28 | Robert Randolph & the Family Band theindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421 A powerful review of the last hundred years of African American music. ($25) 28 | See How They Run tabardtheatre.org | 800.838.3006 Philip King’s rib-tickling London hit that leaves audiences giddy from mirth. ($24) 28 | Grapes of Wrath theatrefirst.com | 510.436.5085 Tony-winning theatrical version of Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-winning novel. ($25-$30) 28 | Voice of the Prairie santarosa.edu | 707.527.4343 A theatrical folk tale of the early days of radio, when a single voice could hold an audience spellbound. ($10-$15) 28 | Yeoman of the Guard lamplighters.org | 925.943.7469 Love triangles abound in this tale of intrigue and betrayal set in the foreboding Tower of London. ($17-$50) 29 | ‘S Wonderful tickets.jccsf.org | 415.292.1200 An all-singing, all-dancing musical revue that celebrates the genius of George and Ira Gershwin. ($55-$60)
30 | The Blow gamh.com | 888.233.0449 Khaela Maricich, performance artist and pop musician, working under the name The Blow. (Free) 30 | Braggart Soldier cuttingball.com | 800.838.3006 Directed by Evren Odcikin and presented by Cutting Ball Theater’s Hidden Classics Reading Series. (Free) 30 | Underoath theregencyballroom.com | 800.745.3000 Florida’s Underoath has evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group. ($22-$24) 31 | Interpol thewarfieldtheatre.com | 800.745.3000 The four dapper dons of Interpol have jumped from being New York local favorites to a globally respected band. ($32.50-$39.50)
images: anthony scarlati (blues at the crossroads), sarah cass (deerhoof), melissa dyne (the blow)
In celebrating the blues legend’s centennial, Todd Park Mohr recorded a star-laden album “100 Years of Robert Johnson.” The associated 21-city tour kicks off in San Francisco featuring a stellar cast, including Howling Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin, the blues rock duo Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm, and 95-year-old blues survivor David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who knew Johnson and recalls being present the night that he drank the poisoned whiskey that killed him at the age of 27 in 1938.
28 | Deerhoof gamh.com | 888.233.0449 Innovative pop/rock band is joined onstage by Ben Butler & Mousepad and Nervous Cop. ($16)
29 | Chinese New Year sfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000 Ring in the Year of the Rabbit with Chinese and Western music and Chinese cultural traditions. ($25-$65)
by ron willis Twenty years ago an unlikely star was born in San Francisco. Eureka Theatre Company commissioned and premiered Tony Kushner’s breathtaking theatrical epic Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The production went on to Los Angeles and London before it dazzled Broadway in 1993, where it garnered the Pulitzer Prize, several Tony Awards and many other honors. Unlike anything the theatre had ever seen, the seven-hour, two-part blockbuster took audiences on a dizzying journey from New York to Heaven and everywhere in-between, following a group of unforgettable characters as they grappled with AIDS, identity, community, love, death, and transcendence in Reagan-era America. Thanks to the Museum of Performance and Design, the play has come home to San Francisco in the form of an exhilarating exhibition, More Life! Angels in America at Twenty. The exhibition brings together original costumes, props, manuscripts, video clips, photos, designs, and other rare memorabilia from key productions of Angels, as well as new audio and video interviews conducted especially for
the exhibition. On mounting the San Francisco exhibition Kushner, who was involved with the exhibition project from the beginning, said, “Though the play’s set almost entirely in New York, I’ve always been intensely aware of how much of its origins and spirit it owes to the miraculous city of San Francisco…”
EXHIBIT
More life!
angels in america at twenty
For those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience Angels live, Los Altos’ Bus Barn Stage is presenting a startling new version of the first half of the play January 13-14 through an innovative new program supporting young (as in high-school age!) stage directors. MORE LIFE! Through March 26 Wednesday - Saturday | 12:00 to 5:00 pm Museum of Performance & Design 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 415.255.4800 | mpdsf.org
image: joan marcus
Ellen McLaughlin and Stephen Spinella in the Broadway production.
JANUARY 2011 |
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BACK Jimmy Haslip, Michael Landau, Gary Novak and Robben Ford of Renegade Creation at Yoshi’s in Oakland
John Waters at the Roxie Theatre
image: via media
image: david magnusson
Eric Petersen (aka Shrek) at Union Square
David Campbell at the Rrazz Room
Dr. Kathleen McGuire and Kim Kuzma at the Castro Theatre
image: danielle taormina-keenan
image: pat johnson
image: steven underhill
Pete Escovedo and daughter Zina at Hotel Nikko
Margaret Cho at the Fairmont Hotel
Carly Ozard and Sean Harkness at Hotel Nikko
image: via media
image: via media
image: via media
Joe Wicht, Alpha Mulugeta, Tom Orr, Eric Brizee, David Bicha and Cameron Cummings of Dirty Little Showtunes! at NCTC
Debbie Gibson at Theatre 39
image: via media
image: steven underhill
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Clue
Clue - It's not just a game anymore... or a movie!
The Boxcar Theater Playhouse January 7 - February 5 Tickets $15 - $45 20% off for BAY STAGES readers with discount code: "Bay"
505 Natoma Street, San Francisco - 415.776.1747
www.boxcartheatre.org