BAYSTAGES | 2011.03 - March

MARCH 2011 | Celebrating Live Performing Arts in San Francisco and Beyond!

[THE PERFORMERS]

JAMES JUDD

= EXIT Theatre

ODC/ DANCE DOWNTOWN = Novellus Theatre

[THE SHOWS]

ROCK OF AGES

[THE COVER]

Three Years of

RRAZZLE DAZZLE = THE RRAZZ ROOM

= Curran Theatre

RUINED

= Berkeley Rep

THE HOMECOMING = American Conservatory Theater

THE NORTH POOL = TheatreWorks

[THE LATEST]

THE BLACK BROTHERS MERCE CUNNINGHAM LOUISE PITRE THE CAVE SINGERS MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO JAPAN NIGHT

+

OTHER MINDS COPPÉLIA SF JAZZ ALSO: ABSOLUTELY SAN FRANCISCO | BEEKEEPER | THE OLDEST PROFESSION

the

room At H o t e l N i k k o S f

SAN frANciSco’S Premier NigHtclub

800-380-3095 • www.TheRrazzRoom.com 222 mason Street, San francisco, cA 94102

throuGh March 13

PAULA WEST

anD the GeorGe Mesterhazy Quartet annual rrazz rooM resiDency - 8 weeks!

March 18 - 20

aManda McBRooM

sonG noir “The FinesT CabareT PerFormer oF her GeneraTion” –Variety

March 24 - 27

Jon Secada

“Just another Day” 2 tiMe GraMMy awarD winner!

March 13 & 14

LindA PURL & Kevin SPiRTAS rhapsoDy in two

March 18 & 19

cece PEniSTon

anD Full BanD

classic ‘90s hits ... anD More!

“Finally” “keep on walkin”

March 29 - april 3

ASHFoRd & SiMPSon the real thinG!

Grand Piano courtesy of Baldwin

editor ROBERT SOKOL editor@baystages.com publisher RON WILLIS publisher@baystages.com

THE STAGES NIGHTCLUB | Rrazziversary......................................................... 2 MUSIC | Other Minds 16............................................................... 4 JAZZ | SFJAZZ Spring Season..................................................... 5 DAILY | Event & Performance Listings........................................ 6 CLASSIC | The Homecoming....................................................... 7 TOURING | Rock of Ages.............................................................. 9 IRISH | The Black Brothers.........................................................11 PURPLE | Meshell Ndegeocello.................................................13 RETURN | 7 Sins...One More Time.............................................15 BALLET | Coppélia.......................................................................17 PLAY | Beekeeper........................................................................19 GLOBAL | Ruined........................................................................21 FOLK | The Cave Singers............................................................23 DRAMA | The North Pool............................................................25 DANCE | Merce Cunningham Dance Company........................27 SCREENING | Kiss Me, Kate......................................................29 PLAY | The Oldest Profession.....................................................31 DANCE | ODC/Dance Downtown................................................33 MUSICAL | Absolutely San Francisco.......................................35 MUSIC | Japan Night 2011.........................................................37 BACK | Behind The Scenes With

...........................44

design VIA MEDIA design@viamedia.net contributing writers KEN BULLOCK GRIER COOPER NICOLE DIAL ANDREW GILBERT COLM LARKIN STEVE MURRAY CHRIS RENÉ WILL SCHMID JAMES J. SIEGEL ROBERT SOKOL JIM VAN BUSKIRK Writers may submit resumes and samples to editor@baystages.com for consideration.

contributing photographers ROBERT SOKOL STEVEN UNDERHILL All other photos are provided by the artists or venues and credits are noted where provided.

cover image THE RRAZZ ROOM

image: pat johnson photography 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.

MARY WILSON March 29 to 30 | 8:00 pm Yoshi’s 1330 Fillmore Street, San Francisco $35 | 415.655.5600 yoshis.com

advertising sales KEAKA RIETOW THOM WARD RON WILLIS 415.552.8040 advertise@baystages.com distribution JUAN RAMIREZ If you need additional copies or would like to become a distribution point for BAY STAGES please call our office.

PDF copies of individual articles are available upon request. Press releases and promotional materials may be sent to:

thisjustin@baystages.com

image: courtesy photo

or mailed to:

BAY STAGES 780 sutter street san francisco, ca 94109 p: 415.552.8040 f: 415.869.3700

MARCH 2011 |

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keeping the music playing by chris rené

Sometimes a year can pass in the blink of an eye and other times it can feel like an eon. For nightclub proprietors Rory Paull and Robert Kotonly, the last 525,600 minutes in the life of The Rrazz Room have measured in seasons of love and pride.

This month marks the club’s third anniversary and, as has become their annual custom, the event will be celebrated by a gala evening featuring the starry roster of ladies shown to the left. Proceeds from the guaranteed to sell out evening again benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The room has played host to an extraordinarily wide range of artists covering every possible genre from crooners and divas to comedy, theatre, and jazz. The lineup is as variable as Bay Area weather. Don’t fancy the act on Tuesday? Chances are you will have a different option by Friday. “Patrons have stated that they never know what to expect when they check our website for show announcements,” says Kotonly.

The proof is in the programming. Take a deep breath and read aloud just a sampling of the acts in 2010: Florence Henderson, Melba Moore, Eva Marie Saint, Tyne Daly, Pete Escovedo, Freda Payne, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Julia Migenes, Sally Kellerman, Sam Harris, Kenny G, L’il Kim, Angela Bofill, Vonda Shepard, Taylor Hicks, Franc D’Ambrosio, Cheryl Bentyne, Leslie Jordan, Mary Wilson, Janis Paige, Stefanie Powers, Cleo Laine, Dianne Schuur, David Campbell and Eddie Money.

That doesn’t begin to tap into the equally extensive roster of current (and a few formerly) local artists like Faith Winthrop, Carly Ozard, Connie Champagne, Russ Lorenson, Kim Nalley, Sharon McNight, Denise Perrier, Amanda King, Tim Hockenberry, Matthew Martin, Veronica Klaus and Terese Genecco.

If all that isn’t quite enough, owners Kotonly and Paull also book bigger venues in town for evenings with the likes of Dionne Warwick, Jennifer Holliday and Joan Rivers.

“I approach every year as an empty canvas,” says Kotonly.

“We honor the legends who have paved the way and nurture new talent that needs to be showcased in the most upscale, professional manner available. My challenge is to fill the calendar with the most interesting, intelligent, quality performances as I can because the Bay Area deserves no less.”

THE RRAZZ ROOM 3RD ANNIVERSARY March 17 | 8:00 pm 222 Mason Street, San Francisco $75 to $175 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com

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Sarah Dash, Joyce DeWitt, Sally Kellerman, Florence LaRue, Gloria Loring, Deana Martin, Melba Moore, Kim Nalley, Ce Ce Peniston, Martha Reeves, Paula West, Pia Zadora and Edna Wright & Honey Cone.

images: alan mercer (kellerman), bader howar (loring), pat whitacre (martin), bobby quillard (moore), jenny risher (reeves), pat johnson phototgraphy (west), greg gorman (zadora), all others - courtesy photos

nightclub

rrazziversary

view from the editor If what is now called the benefit circuit had existed alongside the Orpheum circuit, Rose Hovick might have sung: “Some people got it and make it pay, some people care and they give it away.” Irving Berlin might have penned “There’s no people like show people, they give all that they can.”

So the next time you start to recycle that invite to some gala fund-raiser event, pause and consider all the donated time and effort behind the scenes that is given to make the event possible and do some good. By comparison your job is the easy one. All you have to do is buy the ticket. Say yes!

Brother, can you spare a song? A joke? A dance?

Spring is upon us and music festivals abound including Other Minds and the SFJAZZ Spring Season. The Bay Area says goodbye to Merce Cunningham’s legendary dance troupe but celebrates Brenda Way’s stillthriving and innovative ODC on their 40th anniversary.

Powerful new plays by Lynn Nottage and Rajiv Joseph bow in the East and South Bay.

From animal shelters and arts preservation to the fight against AIDS, breast cancer and a host of other causes, performers - world famous or just starting out - are constantly called upon to give of their time and talent to shore up a special project or help ease a national, sometimes global need.

Do people really take three days out of their life, pack a tux or a gown and fly across the country (often in coach) to come and sing one song at a benefit and then go home? In over a decade of producing charitable events with the Actors Fund in Los Angeles, San Francisco’s Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation and others causes, the answer is: People do! Otherwise, as my friend Carole Cook warns: “You’ll never work for free in this town again!”

The ones I know, like the men gathered below, seem always ready to help. The same is true of the line-up of ladies who will congregate this month to celebrate the third anniversary of The Rrazz Room, San Francisco’s premiere entertainment nightclub, and raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

At BAY STAGES, we now bring you SPOTLIGHT, our new digital newsletter sent once a week to keep you posted on all the updates that happen between issues of our magazine. It’s free and you can subscribe at our website.

As always, we welcome your feedback on how we can further enhance your enjoyment of live performance around the Bay. Until April, see you at the show!

ROBERT SOKOL, editor

image: via media

Shawn Ryan, Jonathan Poretz, Tom Orr, Jason Brock, Alec Mathieson, John Ainsworth, Russ Lorenson, Wally Schnalley, Daniel Fabricant, David Dean Bottrell, Kelly Park, David Michael Wilson and Roy Cruz just moments before a benefit performance of Streep Tease at the Great American Music Hall. Proceeds from the event went to Ryan and Ainsworth’s Young Actors’ Theatre Camp, a training program for youth aged 8 to 18. (campyatc.org)

MARCH 2011 |

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music

I Wayan Balawan

Agata Zubel

OTHER MINDS 16 the best of global new music by ken bullock

“We focus on living composers trying to extend the boundaries of their medium in a profoundly beautiful way,” said Charles Amirkhanian, cofounder and artistic director of Other Minds Festival. “Young and old, from different musical traditions, including jazz and ethnic musics-a lot of variety. We spend all year searching globally. In May, I was in Bali, where I met I Wayan Balawan, guitarist and vocalist, who’ll make his first American appearance--he’s like the Frank Zappa of Indonesia!

Then in the fall, I was in Finland, Norway, Denmark ... “

Jason Moran

Louis Andriessen

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| MARCH 2011

This year the eclectic line-up includes Balawan, Janice Giteck (whose piece Ishi: Yahi for ‘man,’ honors the Native American “last of his tribe,” who lived at UC Berkeley), Dutch jazzman Han Bennick (with guitarist Fred Frith), Louis Andriesson (from the Netherlands), Kyle Gann, Agata Zubel (vocalist-composer from Poland with a setting of Samuel Beckett’s Cascando), jazz pianist Jason Moran (recently made a MacArthur Fellow, with the world premiere of Slang)-and David Jaffe, who will utilize

Other Minds was founded in 1992; the name came from an obituary for composer John Cage, who “composed music in other people’s minds. ”The festival will open with Hymn, a minute, eight-second tape composition by Oakland composer Anthony Gnazzo, long a wry presence in the Bay Area scene. For the American Bicentennial, Gnazzo “went around with a portable recorder, got people to sing The StarSpangled Banner, then edited it in chunks. It’s totally chaotic; never in the same key--or voice!

It modulates erratically ... I resuscitated the tape, found in a box in my closet, so we can get everybody to stand up and call it a celebration.” Amirkhanian notes it’ll be in honor of Gnazzo’s 75th birthday, “whether he likes it or not.”

OTHER MINDS March 3 to 5 Jewish Community Center 3200 California Street, SF $20 to $40 | 415.292.1233 Festival Passes: $51 to $102 otherminds.org NOTE: Sound archives of past Other Minds festivals are available via the website. “Music from Other Minds” broadcasts every Friday, 11:00 pm to midnight, on KALW-fm (91.7).

images: tomasz kulak (zubel), all others - courtesy photos (andriessen, balawan, moran)

Past festival guest composers include such notables as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and Terry Riley; film composer David Raksin (the music to Laura--and many film noir soundtracks), 20th century avant-gardists Lou Harrison and Ned Rorem; jazz masters Randy Weston and Sam Rivers; and performance artistcomposer Laurie Anderson.

the newly-robotized percussion collection of the late maverick composer Henry Brant (including chimes suspended over the audience, flanked by twin string quartets) in the world premiere of The Space Between Us.

four months of notes and notables by andrew gilbert

Talk about a moveable musical feast. Running through June 25, SFJAZZ’s Spring Season presents a global array of jazz and world music at venues around San Francisco. The series kicks off with South African trumpet legend Hugh Masekela, who’s still going strong at 71.

Originally inspired by the hard-bop approach of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Masekela heeded Dizzy Gillespie’s advice and developed a highly personal sound blending the rhythms and songs of his township youth with American jazz and R&B. His phenomenal performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival catapulted him into the national spotlight, and he never relinquished it, scoring a chart-topping hit with 1968’s “Grazing In the Grass” and spearheading the acclaimed musical Sarafina! which brought the anti-apartheid movement to Broadway.

Masekela’s latest album - 2009’s “Phola” - is an introspective meditation on life, love, politics and social consciousness, though his new band reflects the bristling energy of a rising generation of Cape Town jazz musicians.

SFJAZZ’s rich seasonal repast continues with a dazzling array of keyboard talent, including veteran master Kenny Werner, whose prodigious quintet features the blazing trumpeter Randy Brecker and

Puerto Rican tenor sax star David Sanchez (March 5, Herbst Theatre), and 26-year-old Gerald Clayton, a rapidly rising star who leads a powerhouse trio (March 6, Florence Gould Theatre), and the capaciously gifted Marcus Roberts, whose trio with drummer Jason Marsalis encompasses a century of jazz piano tradition (March 17, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum).

JAZZ

SFJAZZ SPRING SEASON

But perhaps the season’s most eagerly anticipated event is the return of the SFJAZZ Collective, the all-star octet that explores a mix of new original pieces and arrangements of compositions by a canonical composer (March 11, Herbst Theatre). In the past they’ve delved into the music of Coltrane, Monk, Shorter and Tyner. This year Stevie Wonder gets the Collective treatment.

SFJAZZ SPRING SEASON March 4 to June 25 Various Venues San Francisco 866.920.5299 | sfjazz.org

image: courtesy photo

Hugh Masekela

MARCH 2011 |

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CLOSING SHOWS

DAILY The following listings are compiled from a wide variety of sources including press releases and venue websites, which are subject to change without notice. Please be sure to verify performance times and dates when making your ticket purchases.

Shows with multiple performances are listed in DAILY STAGES as of their opening night. Some shows offer preview performances prior to opening. Please consult their websites.

CLOSING SHOWS are listed in the featured columns to the left with the date of the final scheduled performance noted next to the title. ONGOING SHOWS are listed in the features columns to the left and offer regularly scheduled performance throughout the month. Closing and ongoing shows are not included in the daily listings that follow.

5 | Harper Regan sfplayhouse.org | 415.677.9596 SF Playhouse On a startlingly bright autumn night Harper Regan walked away from her home, her husband and her daughter.

She kept walking. ($40-$50) 5 | Hobo Grunt Cycle theexit.org | 800.838.3006 EXIT on Taylor A war and peace epic colliding connections between wounded soldiers, illegal dog fighting, and the hierarchies of circus performers and military personnel. ($15-$25) 5 | The Drowsy Chaperone diablotheatre.org | 925.943.7469 Lesher Center for the Arts The Drowsy Chaperone pays homage to American musicals of the Jazz Age. ($17-$48)

6 | Collapse auroratheatre.org | 510.843.4822 Aurora Theatre Jessica Heidt directs this comedy about surviving and transcending. ($10-$55) 6 | License to Kiss II: A Sweet Conspiracy love.zinzanni.org | 415.438.2668 Teatro ZinZanni The beautiful spiegeltent turns into a den for intrigue, espionage and the ultimate candy-coated collusion. ($117-$145)

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1 | Jackson Browne Wells Fargo Center | Santa Rosa $21-$76 | 707.546.3600 wellsfargocenterarts.org From “Doctor My Eyes” to “Running on Empty” to “The Pretender,” Jackson Browne has created some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music.

1 | Patti LuPone Palace of Fine Arts | San Francisco $20 | 415.392.4400 cityboxoffice.com Broadway legend in conversation and song, hosted by Steven Winn. Presented

by City Arts & Lectures with Bay Area Cabaret.

1 | Swans The Regency Ballroom | San Francisco $30-$34 | 415.673.5716 theregencyballroom.com With Wooden Wand.

2 | Ruined Berkeley Rep | Berkeley $29-$73 | 510.647.2949 berkeleyrep.org See article on Page 21.

2 | An Evening with Eve Ensler Jewish Community Center | San Francisco $20 | 415.292.1200 jccsf.org Playwright Eve Ensler is the founder of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

2 | BYU Folk Dance Ensemble Spreckels Center | Rohnert Park $20 | 707.588.3400 Using vibrant costumes true to

the cultures represented, exciting choreography, and great music from their live band, enjoy an around the world celebration.

2 | Chris Hardwick Punch Line | San Francisco $15 | 415.397.7573 punchlinecomedyclub.com With Alex Koll and Kellen Erskine.

2 | Eric Clapton HP Pavilion | San Jose $49.50-$149.50 | 408.287.9200 hppsj.com Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and one of the world’s most gifted guitarists.

2 | Missing Persons Yoshi’s | San Francisco $18 | 415.655.5600 yoshis.com Dale Bozzio, one-half of the original New Wave and electronic pop rock band, keeps the music coming with her band.

2 | On the Waterfront San Jose Stage Company | San Jose $14-$40 | 408.283.7142 sjstage.com This stunning and newly released stage adaptation by the original screenplay author departs from cinematic realism to provide a piece of dockside expressionism.

2 | Words First CounterPULSE | San Francisco $12-$15 | 415.626.2060 counterpulse.org A monthly solo performance showcase, this month featuring Sarah Weidman, Vanessa Khaleel, Ericka Lutz and Howard Petrick.

3 | Al Saiyid Hastings Studio Theater | San Francisco Free | 415.749.2ACT act-sf.org ACT’s MFA Class of 2013 present this thrilling adventure about passion, duty and honor, inspired by Corneille’s 17th century Le Cid.

image: jessica palopoli (harper regan - hafen, damilano)

5 | William Blake Sings the Blues actorstheatresf.org | 415.345.1287 Actors Theatre of SF Two academics, good friends, from widely different backgrounds have been thrust into competition with each other for the position of chairman of the English department of a small liberal arts college. ($38)

1 | Fat Tuesday Band Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $15 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com Presenting the great funky vibe of New Orleans’ best music from groups like The Meters, The Neville Brothers, Fats Domino, and Satchmo.

rené augesen celebrates pinter by robert sokol

René Augesen is a chameleon. With every role you see a fascinating new creation that solidifies her reputation as one of the Bay Area’s leading actors. She spent the month of February rehearsing Harold Pinter’s drama The Homecoming by day and playing two very distinct characters in the Bruce Norris comedy Clybourne Park by night.

Such diversity - some might call it schizophrenia - is the life of a repertory actor and Augesen has been leading that life to great success for the last decade at American Conservatory Theater.

Late last year Augesen was selected as one of ten theatre artists nationwide - Mark Harelik and Austin Pendleton also made the cut - to participate in the 2011 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program. “I am so excited about it,” she says of the week-long program coming in July. “I’m just going to soak up as much as I can from being in the room with that really amazing group of actors.”

plays are moments in time that are so alive with possibilities and provocations. If it’s done right it’s electric.”

She adds - if you haven’t already guessed - that “he’s one of my favorite writers. I could happily do Pinter and Shakespeare and Chekov for the rest of my life!”

CLASSIC

THE HOMECOMING

the homecoming March 9 to 27 American Conservatory Theater 405 Geary Street, San Francisco $20 to $83 | 415.749.2228 act-sf.org

For The Homecoming, Augesen gets to be the only girl in the room - not counting director and former Pinter colleague Carey Perloff of course, whom Augesen is quick to note “is a very large presence in the piece.”

image: kevin berne

Augesen’s role is a juicy one. She plays Ruth, who travels to the north of England to be surrounded by her husband’s exclusively XY chromosome family - father, uncle and brothers - and the various longstanding tensions between them. “It is a really juicy part and I have not completely figured it out yet,” says Augesen. “She’s chameleon-like. She’s dangerous at times. She’s scared at times. She’s also manipulative and naive. There are so many unanswered question in Pinter. You just have to accept a given set of circumstances and say the past does not really matter as much as what is happening in this room right now.”

Danger and sexuality are the elements that draw Augesen into Pinter’s work. “There’s so much unknown and anything could happen.

Violence. Sex. Anything!” she says. “There also exists the possibility that when you leave an evening of Pinter you will have questions not answered [in the play]. You can answer them yourself or even come up with new questions. Pinter MARCH 2011 |

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CLOSING SHOWS 6 | What We’re Up Against magictheatre.org | 415.441.8822 Magic Theatre at Fort Mason What happens when a group of architects are under the gun to design a new mall–but can’t figure out where to place the air ducts? ($20-$50)

DAILY 3 | Alan Iglesias Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $16 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com Iglesias presents his soulful tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

3 | Cirque Noveau Brava! Theater | San Francisco $26 | 415.647.2822 brava.org Cirque Noveau presents Devil/Fish, a story of love featuring world-class, contemporary, aerial and acrobatic circus performance and cinematic visual effect.

3 | A Flea in her Ear Caldwell Theatre | Mill Valley $12 | 415.380.3535 ctetam.org Presented by the Conservatory Theatre Ensemble at Tamalpais High School.

3 | Corned Beef Boxcar Theatre Studio | San Francisco $16 | catchynametheatre.org A post-modern comedy of art with mistaken identity, triangular love and much popping in and out of doors, featuring a woman who picks up men to introduce to her shy intellectual roommate.

6 | Working foothillmusicals.com | 650.949.7360 Lohman Theatre at Foothill College Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers and featuring songs from a stellar list of composers. ($13-$26) 13 | Bat Boy: The Musical trivalleyrep.org | 925.462.2121 Tri-Valley Rep / Studio Theatre Pleasanton Ripped from the headlines of The Weekly World News, Bat Boy tells the amazing story of a strange boy with pointy ears, his struggle to find a place in a world that shuns him, and the love that can create both miracles and madness. ($25)

13 | Paula West therrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095 Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko San Francisco’s own divinely soulful Paula West continues her incredible eight-week run at the gorgeous Rrazz Room. ($35-$45)

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Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco $15-$140 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter offers a selection of Scandinavian songs by Grieg, Sibelius, and others.

MTT conducting.

3 | Aries Spears Cobb’s Comedy Club | San Francisco $17.50-$20.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedy.com Acclaimed comedian from Fox’s Mad TV brings on his ferociously aggressive style of comedy.

3 | Beth Custer Ensemble Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $22.50-$24.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org Composer, performer, vocalist, bass clarinetist and bandleader Beth Custer and ensemble enchant us with an evening of original jazz/funk/Latin/rock fusion.

3 | BYU Folk Dance Ensemble Center for the Performing Arts | San Jose $11-$26 | 408.792.4111 sjtix.com Using vibrant costumes true to the cultures represented, exciting choreography, and great music from their live band, enjoy an around the world celebration.

3 | Deathtrap Olinder Theatre | San Jose $20 | 408.288.7820 northsidetheatre.com Ira Levin’s thrillingly hysterical account of a Broadway playwright’s struggle to get beyond a writer’s block.

3 | Fabulation Southside Theater | San Francisco $25-$50 | 415.345.3980 lhtsf.org Or The Re-Education of Undine. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s 30th season culminates with the Obie Award-winning Fabulation by Lynn Nottage, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for her latest play, Ruined.

3 | Hermes: A Play EXIT Stage Left | San Francisco $12-$25’$25 | 800.838.3006 theexit.org The world premiere of Bennett Fisher’s new play about four derivative traders seeking to benefit from the Greek financial meltdown.

image: karen santos (working - shojaee), mats backer (von otter)

13 | Big River ccct.org | 510.524.9132 Contra Costa Civic Theatre | El Cerrito The irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their hilarious, heartwarming adventures bring to life the novel’s colorful characters in a brilliant celebration of pure Americana. ($24)

3 | Anne Sofie von Otter

3 | Eurydice Harbor Theatre | Suisun City $20 | 707.864.7100 solanocollegetheatre.org Presented by Solano College Theatre.

On the day Eurydice is to marry her true love Orpheus, a tragic misstep sends her plummeting to the surreal depths of the underworld. Eurydice must decide between her father or her earthly love, between life and death.

by will schmid Break out your disposable lighters, start waving your arms and rock to the journey of a small town girl living in a lonely world. Better yet, make that Journey, and then add Styx, Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, Twisted Sister and a dash of Poison and you get Rock of Ages, one of the more successful jukebox musicals since Mamma Mia! The hair is big and the sound is loud in this live music video that actually managed to snag five Tony Award nominations, including one for lead player Constantine Maroulis, who brings the ‘80s back to the Curran with the national Tour this month.

image: winslow townson

Maroulis, a semi-finalist on American Idol in 2005, had appeared in the usual spate of regional rock musicals and was a replacement in The Wedding Singer on Broadway before getting to Rock. For the tour he’s playing opposite Bermuda-born Rebecca Faulkenberry as Sherrie, his Sunset Strip angel.

The vibe is 1987. Wall Street and Moonstruck won Oscars, Roseanne and Cheers were the top sitcoms and Les Misérables was brand new on Broadway.

The basic boy-meets-girl story - still playing in New York - has been deemed a guilty pleasure by many and is bolstered by such period hits as “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” “I Wanna Know What Love Is,” “Here I Go Again,” “Don’t Stop Believin’” and many more.

touring

ROCK OF AGES

the music that goes on and on and on and on

ROCK OF AGES March 8 to April 9 Curran Theatre 445 Geary Street, San Francisco $30 to $99 | 888.746.1799 shnsf.com

Rebecca Faulkenberry Constantine Maroulis MARCH 2011 |

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CLOSING SHOWS 19 | The Glass Menagerie thtc.org | 925.283 1557 Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette Against the backdrop of 1930s St. Louis a family struggles with questions of loyalty and expectation, loss and hope. ($22.50-$29.50) 20 | Death of a Salesman thepear.org | 650.254.1148 Pear Avenue Theatre Mountain View Arthur Miller’s iconic and moving work is the heartbreaking story of an ordinary man with extraordinary, and ultimately self-destructive, expectations. ($20-$30) 20 | Private Lives dmtonline.org | 510.881.6777 Douglas Morrisson Theatre, Hayward Noel Coward’s masterpiece of marital mayhem. ($15-$24) 26 | 40 Pounds in 12 Weeks: A Love Story themarsh.org | 800.838.3006 The Marsh SF - Studio Theater Pidge Meade stars in her own riveting tale that refuses pat answers to the hard questions about how and why we eat our hearts out. ($15-$35) 26 | Don Reed’s East 14th themarsh.org | 800.838.3006 The Marsh Berkeley True tale of a young man raised by his mother and ultra-strict stepfather as a middle class, straight A, God-fearing church boy who wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn’t know Dad was a pimp. ($20-$50)

DAILY 3 | Hope Mohr Dance Z Space | San Francisco $18-$25 | 800.838.3006 hopemohr.org Their 4th home season, featuring The Unsayable, a performance project bringing together dancers and war veterans, by Hope Mohr in collaboration with composer Paul Haas, and she dreams in code, a new work by Liz Gerring Dance Company.

3 | Merce Cunningham Dance Company Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $22-$56 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu See article on Page 27.

3 | Nana’s Naughty Knickers El Campanil Theatre | Antioch $15 | 925.757.9500 elcampaniltheatre.com When Bridget moved in with her grandmother little did show know that Nana was running an illegal boutique selling naughty nickers to seniors!

3 | Eddie Neon Blues Band George’s Night Club | San Rafael $10 | 877.568.2726 georgesnightclub.com One of the Bay Area’s longest-running blues bands, they’ve shared the stage with Elvin Bishop, Etta James and Bonnie Bramlett.

26 | More Life!: Angels In America at Twenty mpdsf.org | 415.255.4800 Museum of Performance & Design Immersing visitors in the magical world of the play, tracing it from its earliest development in Kushner’s notebooks to its SF premiere and beyond.

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4 | Devotion ODC Theater | San Francisco $15-$18 | 415.863.9834 odctheater.org Choreographer Sarah Michelson and playwright Richard Maxwell team up to create a provocative narrative ballet unlike any Swan Lake for Michelson’s company of dancers and Maxwell’s veteran actors.

4 | Diablo Ballet Shadeland Arts Center | Walnut Creek 925.943.1775 diabloballet.org Presenting the premiere of Christopher Stowell’s “Pas de Deux” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kelly Teo’s Dancing Miles, ODC’s KT Nelson’s Making Love with Your Socks On, and Tina Kay Bohnstedt’s Tango Tchak and The Mirror.

4 | Jerry Seinfeld Wells Fargo Center | Santa Rosa $72-$92 | 707.546.3600 wellsfargocenterarts.org By popular demand, America’s premier comedian is hitting the road in a return to his first love—stand-up comedy.

4 | Al Di Meola Yoshi’s | Oakland $28 | 510.238.9200 yoshis.com Highly celebrated jazz guitarist and composer brings his Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody Tour to Yoshi’s with special guest Mingo Lewis.

4 | Joey Arias/Sherry Vine Rrazz Room | San Francisco $27.50 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Presenting Cherchez La Femme drag divas Arias and Vine bring their sizzling mature-audiences-only show to the Rrazz Room.

image: courtesy photo (de meola)

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4 | Crystal Castles The Warfield | San Francisco $26-$28 | 800.745.3000 thewarfieldtheatre.com This due fuses low-res electronic noise and pop hooks so effortlessly that it can seem accidental. With Suuns.

4 | Garlochi Montalvo Arts Center | Saratoga $20 | 408.961.5858 montalvoarts.org Bay Area flamenco dancer Fanny Ara has choreographed an evening of flamenco and Spanish classical dance that pushes the boundaries of tradition.

26 | Loveland themarsh.org | 800.838.3006 The Marsh SF Irreverent, hilarious and deeply human one-woman show. ($20-$50)

26 | Sex and Death A Night with Pinter offbroadwaywest.org | 415.407.3214 The Phoenix Theatre In the existential twilight of an escapist, or the ethical purgatory of an assassin, there is always a status quo. What happens when the desire for change outweighs the fear of repercussion? ($17.50-$35)

4 | Charley’s Aunt Rio Nido Lodge | Russian River $20 | 707.583.2343 pegasustheater.com Debuting over 100 years ago in England, Brandon Thomas’ classic farce continues to thrill audiences.

michael and shay sing ‘round the bay by andrew gilbert

In that quintessentially American process that transmutes sacred holidays into secular celebrations, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved from a festival honoring Ireland’s patron saint into an event that knits together the vast Irish diaspora. Besides the love of a good party, the draw is often traditional Irish music, with its spinning terpsichorean rhythms, hauntingly beautiful melodies and evocative lyrics in English and Gaelic that conjure images of the Emerald Isle, passionate love, sorrowful partings, and good times in the midst of hardship.

In the Bay Area, the approach of St. Patrick’s Day is a certain harbinger of a Black Brothers reunion. Part of Ireland’s most illustrious musical family, Michael and Shay Black perform a series of gigs around the region, including San Francisco’s 3300 Club and Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage. With Michael on banjo and Shay on guitar (and both on vocals), the Black Brothers perform reels, jigs and traditional ballads, as well as tunes by contemporary Celtic songwriters.

While the Irish presence in Northern California dates back to the Gold Rush, the Black clan’s ties to the region stem from a change in U.S. immigration policy in the mid-1980s. Among the new Irish wave was Shay, who works at a child abuse prevention agency in Oakland, and Michael, who came to the Bay Area in 1984 to study sociology at the

University of California, Berkeley, eventually earning a Ph.D. They brought with them their deep musical bonds, forged in family singalongs some four decades ago when they were growing up in Dublin.

IRISH

THE BLACK BROTHERS

“There were always informal get-togethers (hoolies, as we call them in Ireland) after the pub,” Michael says. “My dad would bring back all his friends, and my mother would make sandwiches and we’d sing songs that would go on ‘til the wee hours of the morning.”

THE BLACK BROTHERS March 12 | 12:00 pm 3300 Club 3300 Mission Street, San Francisco Free | 415.826.6886 3300club.com March 17 | 8:00 pm Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley $22.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org

image: courtesy photo

Michael Black Shay Black

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ONGOING SHOWS

DAILY 4 | Les Miserables 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $18-$30 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org 142’s Youth Program presents the legendary musical about the struggle against adversity in 19th century France.

4 | Pacific Guitar Ensemble Old First Church | San Francisco $17 | 415.474.1608 oldfirstconcerts.org A diverse program featuring Dowland, Brahms, Bach, Reynolds, Assad and Rossini.

Beach Blanket Babylon beachblanketbabylon.com Club Fugazi Steve Silver’s ever-evolving creation is packed with hilarious spoofs of pop culture and politics. ($25-$80) Big City Improv bigcityimprov.com | 510.595.5597 Shelton Theater Big City Improv’s shows are fast-paced, un-scripted and created on the spot using audience suggestions and participation. ($20) Magic at The Rex magicattherex.com | 415.273.9790 Hotel Rex In this intimate cocktail lounge setting you will be up close and personal with every flick of the wrist and wave of the hand. ($25) Marga’s Funny Mondays themarsh.org | 800.838.3006 The Marsh Berkeley - Cabaret Marga Gomez hosts a comedy & variety showcase with rising stars, comedy big shots, contests, prizes every Monday night. ($10) Mark Pitta & Friends 142throckmortontheatre.org 415.383.9600 142 Throckmorton Theatre Stand-up comedy every Tuesday - a premier comedy showcase for rising comedians and established headliners. ($15-$25)

OBSCURA: A MAGIC SHOW theexit.org | 800.838.3006 EXIT Studio Christian Cagigal weaves magic, fairy tales and dark fables into an intimate evening fraught with wonder, mystery and imagination. ($15-$25)

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4 | Stephen Petronio Novellus Theater | San Francisco $30-$50 | 415.398.6449 sfperformances.org Dance doesn’t get more physical than I Drink the Air Before Me, part of this company’s 25th season.

4 | STRANGELOVE Café du Nord | San Francisco $10 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com Depeche Mode tribute supergroup. Also Erasure-Esque and Sanity Assassins.

4 | Super Scene Bayfront Theater | San Francisco $17-$20 | 415.474.6776 improv.org A fun, fast-paced, and entertaining theater competition featuring five directors spinning five unique improvised stories. Each story unfolds scene by scene.

4 | Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) Nick Rodriguez Theater | Antioch $15-$35 | 925.219.8545 Campbell Theatre | Martinez $15-$35 | 925.798.1300 hapgoodtheatre.org Hapgood Theatre presents this irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s works.Join these madcap men in tights as they weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and histories in 97 minutes!

4 | The Final Scene Sixth Street Playhouse | Santa Rosa $25-$32 | 707.523.4185

4 | Tiny Godzilla Stage Werx | San Francisco $16 | 800.838.3006 tinygodzilla.com Tiny Godzilla’s Six Characters in Search of an Exit creates completely improvised stories in the style of black-and-white Twilight Zone episodes.

4 | Trio Voce Campbell Hall at Stanford | Palo Alto $28 | 650.725.2787 stanford.edu Marina Hoover, cello, Jasmine Lin, violin and Patricia Tao, piano present the U.S. premiere of Memory Slips.

4 | FOLLIES IN CONCERT Tabard Theatre | San Jose $10-$35 | 800.838.3006 tabardtheatre.org See article on Page 34.

4 | Zheng Cao Herbst Theatre | San Francisco $30-$90 | 415.252.1288 philharmonia.org Mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao will perform in the U.S. premiere of Into the Bright Lights, a cycle of three songs composed

by Nathaniel Stookey, with lyrics by Frederica von Stade. Also in Berkeley, Atherton & Walnut Creek.

4 | Detective Story College of Marin | Kentfield $20 | 415.485.9385 A Play Noir, this play is the script upon which the 1951 Oscar-winning film was based. Set in a busy New York City police squad room and office, the play takes us through the busy workings of the precinct during the course of one day - and what a day it is!

5 | Frank Olivier’s Comedy Thrill Show 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $20-$23 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org With special guests genius puppeteer Bob Hartman, and beat-box juggler Bronkar Lee and his Circus of Sound.

5 | Annie Get Your Gun Center for the Arts | Mountain View $22 | 650.903.6000 mountainview.gov/mvcpa/ Peninsula Youth Theatre presents this enchanting Broadway classic.

image: rick markovich (beach blanket babylon)

Night at the Black Hawk sfrecoverytheatre.org 415.643.6011 Martuni’s Piano Bar Witness the continuing evolution of this work-in-progress; two one-act plays set in the famous Tenderloin jazz club. ($4-$5)

4 | Robert Dubac TheaterStage | Berkeley $15-$50 | 800.838.3006 themarsh.org Combining theater with stand-up Dubac buckles us up for a fast paced joy ride over the pot-holed highways of cultural hypocrisy.

6thstreetplayhouse.com World Premiere Comedy by Gene Abravaya about the filming of the final episode of a long-running soap opera.

princely passions

by andrew

A long time Princephile, Meshell Ndegeocello has often said her dream is to be the Purple One’s bass player. Maybe she got tired of waiting around for a phone call, ‘cause she’s put together a project investigating Prince’s vast and varied songbook.

image: 60 cycle media

Like Prince, Ndegeocello has explored a multiplicity of genres, constantly shifting her sound and stance, from background supplier of a supple bass pulse to frontwoman crooning her confessional lyrics to jam session overseer keeping a wild and woolly ensemble tethered to the beat. For her Prince project Gett Off, Ndegeocello reunites with guitarist Chris Bruce, drummer Deantoni Parks and bassist Mark Kelley, the hard-grooving cast featured on her acclaimed 2009 album “Devil’s Halo” (Downtown).

Trying on Prince’s lithe funk crown is just her latest bandstand persona since the protean Ndegeocello emerged from the Washington D.C. scene in the early 1990s as the first female artist signed to Madonna’s Maverick Records. She’s been a genrebusting whirlwind ever since, fanning the flames of several musical movements and then quickly spinning away to develop a new sound.

Indeed, change is about the only constant in Ndegeocello’s world, besides a teasing soulfulness that often peaks through her earnest paeans to unity,

gilbert

PURPLE

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

peace and love. A few years ago she immersed herself in funk/rock fusion with her Spirit Music Jamia project. On 2005’s “Dance of the Infidel,” she reveled in the lean, ostinato grooves pioneered by trumpet legend Miles Davis during the “Bitches Brew” era, circa 1969. “He’s responsible for so much of what we all hold onto and try to grow from,” she says. The new sound confounded her label, however, and Verve eventually decided to pass on the project, selling her back the masters. In a familiar music biz twist, Verve’s sibling label Universal France released “Dance” in Europe, while stateside it came out on Shanachie and introduced her to a whole new audience.

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO March 12 | 9:30 pm The New Parish 579 18th Street, Oakland $25 | 510.444.7474 thenewparish.com March 13 | 8:00 pm The Independent 628 Divisadero Street, San Francisco $25 | 415.771.1422 theindependentsf.com

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ONGOING SHOWS Party of 2 partyof2themusical.com | 800.838.3006 Shelton Theater Comic and touching songs about independent types who meet, mate, move in and grapple with issues of love and proximity. ($27-$29)

DAILY 5 | Big Sean Live Center for the Arts | San Jose $25-$45 | 408.792.4111 sjtix.com Detroit rapper and producer Big Sean has established a web presence in the multimillions with his trilogy of Finally Famous mixtapes, and his non-stop string of selfproduced videos have gone viral.

5 | Escape The Fate Regency Ballroom | San Francisco $18-50-$20 | 415.673.5716 theregencyballroom.com With Alesana, Motionless in White, Get Scared and Drive A.

Pearls Over Shanghai thrillpeddlers.com | 800.838.3006 Hypnodrome Comic mock-operetta about white slavery and miscegenation set in the colorful world of 1937 Shanghai. ($30-$35)

5 | Geezer The Marsh SF | San Francisco $20-$50 | 800.838.3006 themarsh.org Geoff Hoyle’s hysterical tour-de-force about what it is like to grow old.

UPTOWN DOWNTOWN MOTOWN MADNESS www.jlachic.com | 800.595.4849 Imperial Palace A musical journey starting from the early days of Motown. ($20-$59)

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5 | REGRETS ONLY Decker Theatre | San Francisco $215-$20 | 415.749.2228 nctcsf.org See article on Page 22.

5 | Grandfather’s Journey First Congregational Church | Oakland $15 | 510.444.4755 stagebridge.org Presented by Stagebridge. Taiko drummers, puppets, haiku and an original musical score bring to life a story of longing for two countries.

5 | Greensky Bluegrass Slim’s | San Francisco $16 | 415.255.0333 slims-sf.com This 5-piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and uses them to create original songs and soundscapes.

5 | The Unauthorized Rolling Stones Fox Theatre | Redwood City $13-$15 | 650.369.7770 foxrwc.com Wildly popular tribute band who bring the intensity and rock ‘n’ roll raunchiness of the Rolling Stones up close.

5 | Tuck and Patti Firehouse Arts Center | Pleasanton $12-$35 | 925.931.4848 firehousearts.org Acclaimed jazz duo bring their soulful stylings to Pleasanton.

5 | We Won’t Pay! Eureka Theatre | San Francisco $20 | 510.568.4118 eastenders.org Nobel laureate Dario Fo is a master of the political farce, truly the people’s jester.

His internationally acclaimed political satires target subjects like capitalism, imperialism and governmental corruption.

images: david wilson (pearls over shanghai), lois tema photography (regrets only)

Tony and Tina’s Wedding tonyandtinasanfrancisco.com Imperial Palace Come mambo Italiano at this long-running dinner comedy. ($88.50-$115.50)

5 | Litter Zeum Theater | San Francisco $15-$20 | 415.749.2228 act-sf.org See article on Page 22.

5 | The 5 Browns Marin Center | San Rafael $25-$40 | 415.499.6800 ticketmaster.com A youthful, all-American quintet of brothers and sisters, each a virtuoso concert pianist.

Secret Improv Society improvsociety.com | 866.777.8932 Shelton Theater A raucous blend of sketches and songs: in a fast-paced, interactive improvisational revue. Saturdays at 10PM. ($15)

Sunday’s A Drag harrydenton.com | 415.395.8595 Harry Denton’s Starlight Room A revival of the spirit of the drag show, picking up where the legendary Finocchio’s left off. ($44.95)

5 | Kenya Safari Acrobats Lincoln Theater | Yountville $25 | 707.944.9900 lincolntheater.com Hailing from the heart of Africa, this awe-inspiring and dynamic dance troupe takes acrobatics to exhilarating extremes.

5 | Spontaneous Broadway Bayfront Theater | San Francisco $17-$20 | 415.345.3980 improv.org BATS Improv presents this hugely entertaining night of improvised musical theatre.

Peter Morrison sanfranciscomagictheater.com 877.624.4264 Marrakech Magic Theater San Francisco magician Peter Morrison will charm you with captivating sleight-ofhand magic and intrigue you with feats of mentalism through this energetic one hour and fifteen minute show. ($38)

Shopping! The Musical shoppingthemusical.com | 415.713.6486 Shelton Theater A hilarious, fast-paced revue of original songs and sketches about shopping. ($27-$29)

5 | John Lee Hooker Jr. Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $22 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com Contemporary Bluesman and son of a legend, Hooker presents cuts from his album “All Odds Against Me,” and more.

james judd is unrepentant by james j. siegel

James Judd is sinning. Again. After a successful run of his one-man show 7 Sins, Judd is ready to bring the production back to San Francisco as 7 Sins…One More Time.

Envy, greed, gluttony, pride, lust, sloth and wrath are the topics, and Judd takes audience members through a hysterical journey as he encounters those deadly sins in his own life. This includes a string of failed career choices, a disastrous 5th grade book report on “My Search for Patty Hearst,” and the time his mother paid him to watch and reenact The Young and Restless. The latest incarnation of 7 Sins includes those original stories plus new ones.

RETURN

7 sins...one more time

“There’s a piece about the wedding to my partner Eric in September of 2008 at San Francisco City Hall before Prop. 8 was passed,” says Judd, “a camel ride in Egypt gone horribly awry, and a few surprises.”

Some of those surprises can be attributed to seeing Liberace at the age of five. Judd said his parents took him to the show and the opening act was a burlesque performer.“She started whipping off pieces of clothing and asking the audience, ‘More? More?’ It was a G-rated show but I was five. I didn’t know that,” he said. “I finally jumped on a chair and began screaming, ‘No!’ It’s a component to my tales of being unable to avoid an opportunity to step into the spotlight no matter how many times it ends in disaster.”

That disaster is part of four animated features in 7 Sins that are interspersed throughout the performance. He’s also hired his own burlesque dancer for the night as well as big name collaborators, including David Lober, who was the stage manager for Wicked, and Ed Goldfarb, the music director of Beach Blanket Babylon.

image: allison roberts

“Every time I walk onstage I am trying to raise the bar on what a solo performance can and should be and how much bang for the buck San Francisco audiences deserve,” he said.

7 sins...one more time March 12 to April 9 EXIT Theatre 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco $25 | 415.931.1094 theexit.org

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DAILY 5 | Yemen Blues Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $25.50-$30.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org Ravid Kahalani and his ensemble showcase a mix of Yemeni-Israeli musical heritage with blues, jazz, and West African grooves.

5 | Zigaboo Modeliste Café du Nord | San Francisco $20 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com Master drummer, rhythm-innovator, percussionist, and New Orleans legend.

6 | A Musical Journey with the SF Sinfonietta Marines’ Memorial Theatre | San Francisco $42 | 415.771.6900 marinesmemorialtheatre.com A family concert featuring maestro Urs Leonhardt Steiner on an exploration of some of the most popular classical music of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

6 | Angela Au Lincoln Theater | Yountville $25 | 707.944.9900 lincolntheater.com Piano virtuoso Angela Au astonishes audiences at every concert with her incredible musical gift.

6 | Bale Foclorico da Bahia Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $22-$52 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu 38-member troupe of dancers, musicians, and singers performs a mix of choreography from African and South American traditions.

6 | California Symphony Lesher Center | Walnut Creek 925.943.7469 californiasymphony.org California Symphony unveils a world premiere by internationally-recognized composer Cindy Cox. The new work is an orchestral piece for the entire symphony with extra timpani, entitled En Espiral.

6 | Elixer of Love Berkeley Hillside Club | Berkeley $37 | 415.972.8930 pocketopera.org After the story of Tristan and Isolda turns up surprisingly in an Italian village, love runs rampant, and with the (presumed) help of Dr. Dulcamara’s miraculous formula, the shy hero wins the hard-toget beauty that he has long sighed for.

6 | John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Dinkelspiel Aud./Stanford | Palo Alto

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$38-$42 | 650.725.2787 stanford.edu Joined on the bandstand by 20 top New York musicians, Hollenbeck re-envisions big-band jazz for a new era.

6 | Music of Stevie Wonder Napa Valley Opera House | Napa $30-$35 | 707.226.7372 nvoh.org The SFJAZZ Collective presents a superb show exploring the compositions of the incomparable Stevie Wonder.

7 | Diamond Rings Rickshaw Stop | San Francisco 415.861.2011 rickshawstop.com Following head-turning performances at SXSW and CMJ last year, Diamond Rings has gained widespread critical praise since the release of his debut full-length Special Affections in October.

7 | Russian Chamber Orchestra Temple Emanu-El | San Francisco $25 | 800.838.3006 emanuelsf.org Ensemble of accomplished musicians out of Russia’s great conservatories playing Bach, Borodin, Mozart and Shostakovich.

7 | The Virgin Play Series Jewish Community Center | San Francisco $15 | 415.292.1233 jccsf.org/arts Magic Theatre presents four readings of scripts-in-progress, read by the playwrights, every Monday in March.

8 | Janine and Emily’s Girl Talk Punch Line | San Francisco $15 | 415.397.7573 punchlinecomedyclub.com A night of unladylike stand-up comedy.

8 | Meanwhile, Back at Café du Monde…

Rrazz Room | San Francisco $40 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com See article on Page 42.

8 | The Dream in Which I’m Dying The Marsh SF | San Francisco 415.262.0240 jumptheatre.org Jump! Theatre Company presents this reading of a play that explores one soldier’s experience in Iraq and the moral questions he must confront upon his return.

COPPÉLIA

balanchine’s living doll by nicole dial

BALLET

Though there may be strange life-like dolls in SF Ballet’s premiere of Coppélia, there’s nothing mechanical about the performance.

This comedic ballet, choreographed by the prominent George Balanchine, centers around a young couple, an inventor and a mysterious girl, set in a peasant village. When Franz lays eyes on Coppélia on the inventor’s balcony, he falls head over heels in love, much to the dismay of his current girlfriend, Swanilda. But the clever Swanilda and her friends sneak into the inventor’s workshop only to discover the girl, Coppélia, is really a doll invented by the secretive Dr. Coppelius.

With some quick thinking, Swanilda plays a trick on her wayward boyfriend and the inventor by switching places with the doll and causing mischief. The couple eventually find their happily ever after, culminating in a lavish wedding celebration.

Coppélia is an often overlooked ballet besides other ballets due to its humorous nature and setting in a peasant village. This ballet follows in the wake of another wildly popular pastoral ballet recently performed by the San Francisco Ballet, Giselle. The story of Coppélia stems from a dark and sinister short story by E.T.A. Hoffman, the same author of “The Nutcracker and The Mouse King,” from which the famous ballet is derived. But the ballet of Coppélia reimagines itself into a romantic comedy.

“It’s a lighter ballet even though it’s full length.

The audience can expect to laugh.” Madison Keesler, a soloist in the ballet, commented.

image: erik tomasson

Along with the classical music and the dancing, there is also plenty of pantomime and physical humor to garner amusement from the crowds. And though the ballet is over a century old, the modern choreography of Balanchine features a large number of dancers in this opulent production. The three acts of love, fantasy and disguises are sure to enchant an audience of all ages.

COPPÉLIA March 19 to 27 War Memorial Opera House 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco $48 to $265 | 415.865.2000 sfballet.org

Vanessa Zahorian Vitor Luiz

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MUSIC CLUBS The following is a partial list of music clubs in the Bay Area with wide and lengthy lists of bands and other entertainment. If you enjoy the independent music scene, we recommend you call or check the websites for these clubs to get the latest performance schedules and information about ticket prices, age limits and minimum charges (if any).

Bottom of the Hill Potrero Hill bottomofthehill.com | 415.621.4455

Café du Nord

Upper Market cafedunord.com | 415.861.5016

Freight & Salvage

DAILY 8 | Yann Tiersen The Regency Ballroom San Francisco $23-$25 | 415.673.5716 theregencyballroom.com Yann Tiersen is a French musician and composer known internationally for composing the score to the Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie Amelie.

8 | Zigaboo Modeliste Fox Theatre | Redwood City $12-$15 | 650.369.7770 foxrwc.com Master drummer, rhythm-innovator, percussionist, and New Orleans legend.

Berkeley freightandsalvage.org | 510.644.2020

George’s

San Rafael georgesnightclub.com | 415.226.0262

Tenderloin gamh.com | 888.233.0449

Polk Gulch hemlocktavern.com | No Calls

The Independent

Alamo Square theindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421 Union Square johnnyfoleys.com | 415.954.0777

Peña Pachamama

The Regency Ballroom

Civic Center theregencyballroom.com | 800.745.3000

Rickshaw Stop

Civic Center rickshawstop.com | 415.861.2011

Slim’s

SOMA slims-sf.com | 888.233.0449

The Warfield

Mid-Market thewarfieldtheatre.com | 800.745.3000

Thee Parkside

Potrero Hill theeparkside.com | 415.252.1330

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8 | Rock of Ages Curran Theatre | San Francisco $30-$99 | 888.746.1799 www.shnsf.com See article on page 9.

9 | David Grisman FolkJazz Trio Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $30.50-$32.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org A brilliant mandolinist famous for forging his own musical path, Grisman is joined by his son, bassist Samson, and guitarist Jim Hurst.

9 | Felipe Esparza Punch Line | San Francisco $15 | 415.397.7573 punchlinecomedyclub.com Winner of Last Comic Standing.

9 | Puppet Peepshow Stage Werx | San Francisco $15 | 800.838.3006

9 | Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner Premier Theater/Letterman Center| SF $15 | 415.255.4800 mpdsf.org Screening of the film that examines the personal, political and artistic lives of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. See advertisement on Page 20.

10 | Atlacualo (The Ceasing of Water) YBCA Forum | San Francisco $25 | 415.978.2787 ybca.org Performance artist Violeta Luna and dancer/choreographer José Navarrete address pressing ecological issues around water rights and shortages in the premiere of their first collaborative piece.

10 | Jim Norton Cobb’s Comedy Club | San Francisco $20.50-$23.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedy.com See article on Page 38.

images: rick markovich (beach blanket babylon), winslow townson (rock of ages - molina, lenk)

9 | The North Pool Lucie Stern Theatre | Palo Alto 650.463.1960 theatreworks.org See article on Page 25.

Johnny Foley’s

Marin ranchonicasio.com | 415.662.2219

9 | The Dears Slim’s | San Francisco 415.255.0333 slims-sf.com Canadian alt rockers touring their fifth album “Degeneration Street,” released in February.

9 | The Islanders Z Space | San Francisco $15-$40 | 415.626.0453 zspace.org See article on Page 28.

Hemlock Tavern

Rancho Nicasio

9 | Terry McMillan 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $20-$28 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org An A List Conversation with acclaimed author of Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and more.

9 | The Homecoming AmericanConservatoryTheater|SanFrancisco $20-$83 | 415.749.2ACT act-sf.org See article on Page 7.

Great American Music Hall

North Beach pachamamacenter.org | 415.646.0018

stagewerx.org The ladies of Circus Finelli bring you a mature-audiences variety show featuring the finest in puppets, music, and puppets playing music.

image: laura lundy-paine

by ken bullock

Play

BEEKEEPER

virago is buzzing in alameda

Melissa Keith Kit Asa-Hauser

“When I first read about Colony Collapse Disorder,” said Jennifer Lynne Roberts, talking about her new play Beekeeper which Virago Theater Company premieres this month, “I was fascinated.

The bees were disappearing! The more I thought about it, though, I saw it as a metaphor: they leave the hive, but maybe they’re off somewhere, regrouping. Nature might be preparing the bees for something completely different - a metaphor for society, for the family, creating new ways of being.”

The play Roberts wrote, inspired by the phenomenon of bees disappearing - a young woman, Oleta, raised by her father, a reclusive beekeeper, and the accident which destroys the hive, for which Oleta’s blamed - appealed to Laura and Robert Lundy-Paine, two of the founders of Virago. (Robert Lundy-Paine directed a staged reading of Roberts’ play Reunion in San Francisco last month.)

“We thought it was a phenomenal script,” said Laura Lundy-Paine, director of Beekeeper. “It flashes back and forth between past and present. Oleta leaves home but is haunted by the past. She comes back to pick up the pieces after her father dies - and encounters the reflection of her childhood self. She can’t change what happened, only come to terms with it.”

Traviata, and also has a commitment to new plays by local playwrights.

The Lundy-Paines and Virago co-founder Angela Dant first met Roberts when she volunteered for the company in Alameda, where she makes her home.

Roberts, who “came to play writing by accident,” while studying creative nonfiction and personal memoir at Otterbein College near Columbus, Ohio, “now can see first-hand what Ben Yalom, my mentor at California College of Arts, meant when he pounded it into me that the playwright’s a collaborator. Everyone comes in and makes it their own. Now the next layer - the audience, with each person deepening what’s been done so far.”

Beekeeper is Roberts’ first fully produced play. “It’s been a fantastic ride,” she said, “seeing how theater works - thrilling to have it premiered in my second home.”

BEEKEEPER March 18 to April 7 Rhythmix Cultural Works 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda $10 to $40 | 510.865.6237 viragotheatre.org

Virago, founded in 2005, has fielded spunky productions of Threepenny Opera and Candide; intimate, contemporary stagings of operas like La MARCH 2011 |

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DAILY 10 | Joey Cape Thee Parkside | San Francisco $10 | 415.252.1330 theeparkside.com Singer/songwriter Cape has drawn inspiration from the candle lit emotion of Elliott Smith and an upbringing steeped in Simon & Garfunkel and Cat Stevens.

10 | Kurt Masur conducts Mendelssohn Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco $35-$140 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org The Symphony performs an allMendelssohn program led by Kurt Masur, one of history’s foremost interpreters of Mendelssohn’s music.

10 | McCoy Tyner Yoshi’s | San Francisco $35 | 415.655.5600 yoshis.com Jazz piano legend McCoy Tyner is joined by his trio and special guest alto saxophonist Gary Bartz.

10 | Randy Rutherford The Marsh Cabaret | Berkeley $15-$50 | 800.838.3006 themarsh.org Presenting his Singing at the Edge of the World Rutherford inspires with his musical memoir of a musician dealing with profound hearing loss.

10 | Remember Me Wells Fargo Center | Santa Rosa $15-$45 | 707.546.3600 wellsfargocenterarts.org Parsons Dance and East Village Opera Company present a high-energy mix of contemporary American dance, opera and rock music, video projection, complex digital lighting and visual effects.

10 | The Cave Singers Great American Music Hall | San Francisco 888.233.0449 gamh.com See article on Page23.

11 | LADY GREY...

EXIT on Taylor | San Francisco $15-$50 | 800.838.3006 theexit.org See article on Page 28.

11 | 7 Sins…One More Time!

EXIT Theatre | San Francisco $25 | 800.838.3006 theexit.org See article on Page 15.

11 | A Little Crazy Stage Werx | San Francisco

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$12-$15 | 800.838.3006 stagewerx.org Debut performance - improvised short scenes and one long-form play inspired by the audience.

11 | Absolutely San Francisco The Alcove Theater | San Francisco $32-$50 | 415.992.8168 absolutelysanfrancisco.com See article on Page 35.

11 | Al Stewart Firehouse Arts Center | Pleasanton 925.931.4848 firehousearts.org Singer, songwriter and folk musician with more than 20 albums to his credit including “The Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages.”

11 | Albita Yoshi’s | Oakland $30 | 510.238.9200 yoshis.com Famed Cuban-born Albita has won both the Grammy and the Emmy for her electrifying and mesmerizing performances of Cuban music.

11 | Branford Marsalis Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $28-$60 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu Jazz great saxophonist Marsalis is joined by fellow Grammy-winner Terence Blanchard on trumpet.

11 | Hot Tuna Blues Marin Center | San Rafael $25-$45 | 415.499.6800 ticketmaster.com An exciting evening of electric and acoustic blues from music legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady.

11 | In My Life Lincoln Theater | Yountville $29-$39 | 707.944.9900 lincolntheater.com A Musical Theatre Tribute to The Beatles - the award-winning musical biography of The Beatles as seen through the eyes of their manager Brian Epstein.

11 | John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey Napa Valley Opera House | Napa $40-$45 | 707.226.7372 nvoh.org World-renowned jazz guitarist and singer Pizzarelli is joined onstage by his wife, singer/actress Jessica Molaskey in their show Lost and Found.

by robert sokol A stage actor at heart, Tonye Patano is grateful for the three seasons she spent playing older than her years as marijuana wholesaler Heylia James on Showtime’s series Weeds. “Jenji Kohan, the creator, was able see that the essence of the character was more important than anything else,” says Patano, “so I got to do something on television that I would normally only get to do on stage.”

Patano has created another powerful and compelling character in Lynn Nottage’s Ruined.

As Mama Nadi, keeper of a brothel, she negotiates and nurtures safety and, more importantly, humanity among both the working women she oversees and their customers caught in the crossfire of the Congo’s civil war.

“It’s an extremely layered piece - emotionally, intellectually, politically - and well deserving of the Pulitzer regardless of whether it is a specifically American piece or not,” says Patano, referencing how some have criticized the play’s award as being inconsistent with published Pulitzer guidelines.

The play reveals the military and tribal conflicts over minerals, land and other desires through the experiences of the women afflicted both directly and circumstantially by the situation.

“Women are the center of family and culture and the play shows how this kind of situation can devastate a people. It’s not family in the traditional sense that we as Western people might think about, but it’s about people. It’s about the insidious, heinous crimes that we allow to happen for our benefit because we turn a blind eye to it or don’t know because we are just now aware of it.”

GLOBAL

RUINED

nottage industry

“The thing that is most shocking to people,” Patano concludes, “is the realization that what they are seeing on stage is happening as we speak. It’s not something that was written about the past or something that could happen.

This is happening now...daily.”

RUINED March 2 to April 10 Berkeley Rep 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley $29 to $73 | 510.647.2949 berkeleyrep.org

image: kevinberne.com

Tonye Patano Jason Bowen Pascale Armand

MARCH 2011 |

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 11 | Joshua Radin Great American Music Hall San Francisco $20-$22 | 888.233.0449 gamh.com Singer/songwriter Radin shares the stage with Cary Brothers and Laura Jansen.

LITTER March 5 to 19 Zeum Theatre 221 Fourth Street, SF $15 to $20 | 415.749.2228 act-sf.org

REGRETS ONLY March 5 to April 3 Decker Theatre - NCTC 25 Van Ness Avenue, SF $15 to $20 | 415.749.2228 nctcsf.org

Paul Rudnick’s Manhattan comedy of manners questions marriage, friendship, and the privileged elite - in this case a powerhouse Park Avenue attorney, his deliriously social wife, and their closest friend, one of the world’s most staggeringly successful gay fashion designers.

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11 | Separate Tables Hillbarn Theatre | Foster City $30-$34 | 650.349.6411 hillbarntheatre.org Set in a shabby genteel hotel on England’s south coast where the residents, for the most part, dine alone— at separate tables, this comedy is about sexual repression, understanding and forgiveness.

11 | Lightning Strikes Anonymous ODC Theater | San Francisco $15-$18 | 415.863.9834 odctheater.org In this new collaborative work, choreographer Jenny McAllister, writer Kim Green, and visual designer Michael Oesch explore the mysterious power of electricity. With companion piece Under the (Periodic) Table.

11 | ODC/Dance Downtown Novellus Theater at YBCA San Francisco $15-$60 | 415.863.9834 odctheater.org See article on Page 33.

11 | Simian Mobile Disco Fox Theater | Oakland 800.745.3000 ticketmaster.com UK dance band, best known for the song “We Are Your Friends.”

11 | Super Diamond Bimbo’s 365 Club | San Francisco $22 | 877.435.9849 bimbos365club.com Thirty years of solid gold hits created by Neil Diamond. With The Sun Kings.

11 | Tainted Love Fox Theatre | Redwood City

11 | The Importance of Being Earnest Rivera Theatre/City College | SF 415.239.3100 ccsf.edu Oscar Wilde’s most well-loved comedy.

Filled with wit and pungent aphorisms, Earnest lampoons the mores and affectations of late Victorian England.

11 | The Unauthorized Rolling Stones George’s Night Club | San Rafael $10-$15 | 877.568.2726 georgesnightclub.com Wildly popular tribute band who bring the intensity and rock ‘n’ roll raunchiness of the Rolling Stones up close.

11 | Trial by Jury & Engaged Lesher Center | Walnut Creek $18-$43 | 925.943.7469 lamplighters.org Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical one-act Trial by Jury in a double feature with Gilbert’s humorous farce about a man engaged to three women at once.

11 | ZOFO: Sushi-Fondue Old First Church | San Francisco $17 | 415.474.1608 oldfirstconcerts.org Duet of swiss-born Eva-Maria Zimmermann and Japanese-born Keisuke Nakagoshi explore music inspired by the countries of origin.

12 | AC/Dshe Slim’s | San Francisco $15 | 415.255.0333 slims-sf.com The original all-girl AC/DC tribute band doing Bon-era songs.

12 | THE BLACK BROTHERS 3300 Club | San Francisco Free | 415.826.6886 3300club.com See article on Page 11.

12 | Always…Patsy Cline Uptown Theatre | Napa $25 | 800.745.3000 uptowntheatrenapa.com This entertaining musical tribute to the legendary country singer is being presented for one night only by Heritage Music Theatre, featuring Mary GannonGraham as Patsy Cline.

images: lois tema photography (regrets only), all others - courtesy photos (litter - nachtrieb)

Created with and tailored to the dynamic talents of the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2011, this irresistible new play by Bay Area writer Peter Sinn Nachtrieb takes a sharp, entertaining, and darkly comic look at the frenzy surrounding multiple births. After twelve siblings are born simultaneously during a greedy corporation’s experimental procedure, their exploitative handlers propel them to instant stardom as the Framingham Dodecatuplets, a pop sensation. But now that they are in their 20s and their cute act has lapsed into a cheap gimmick, how will this modern “family” navigate the world together—or apart?

11 | Gypsy Napa Valley College | Napa $20 | 707.256.7500 napavalleytheater.org Gypsy is the ultimate story about an aggressive stage mother. Join Rose, June and Louise in their trip across the United States during the 1920s, when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born.

$20-$25 | 650.369.7770 foxrwc.com Highly stylized, nonstop ‘80s show, Tainted Love offers a refreshing change from the usual party bands with enough energy and excitement to dance all night.

out of hibernation

image: courtesy photo

by colm larkin

folk

THE CAVE SINGERS

Pete Quirk Derek Fudesco Marty Lund

“We were not guys who knew all the obscure folk music,” says Marty Lund, drummer with The Cave Singers. When the Seattle-based trio released its debut album “Invitation Songs” in 2007, it was hailed as part of the nu-folk revival. But rather than a deliberate decision to join the burgeoning folk scene of northwest bands like Fleet Foxes, Lund feels the Cave Singers’ traditional sound developed more naturally.

“There are lots of scenes in Seattle, though we’re kind of in our own little world. But your surroundings are always going to seep into your music, so I’m sure that the natural beauty around us influences the way we write songs.”

This natural sense is again evident on the Cave Singers’ newly released third album “No Witch,” thought there is also progression from the band’s familiar stripped back sound. Working with producer Randall Dunn, a number of songs feature a wider range of instrumentation, including strings and a gospel choir.

“It’s more ambitious and sonically much bigger sounding,” says Lund, “we wanted to go for

something more similar to how we sound live, where even some of our quieter songs have more power to them. This is what we wanted to capture, something a little different that still sounds like us.”

This signature sound will be a feature of the upcoming live shows, as the band will play as a trio without any of the new record’s additional musicians. Lund is excited about the tour and especially about getting to San Francisco and a headline date at the Great American Music Hall.

“It’s one of my favorite cities and we’ve always done well there. Plus you get to go to the Mission and get a burrito.” It’s the traditional end to a great night out in San Francisco.”

THE CAVE SINGERS March 20 | 8:00 pm Great American Music Hall 859 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco $15 | 888.233.0449 gamh.com

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RECOMMENDED

DAILY 12 | Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $20 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com Diverse and enthusiastic band brings passion to their blues, rock and soul numbers.

12 | Captain 9’s & the Knickerbocker Trio Thee Parkside | San Francisco $8 | 415.252.1330 theeparkside.com Reunion show for Pennsylvania band first formed in 1983. With Kepi Ghoulie and The Meat Sluts.

AMANDA McBROOM March 18 to 20 | 7:30 pm The Rrazz Room 220 Mason Street, SF $35 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com It’s a busy time for Amanda McBroom. The writer of such elegant story-telling songs as “Errol Flynn” and “Dance” - not to mention, of course, “The Rose” - is seeing a long-term project take its next steps, recently produced a new CD of Jacques Brel songs and is planning for her annual music workshop in Tuscany.

She makes her Rrazz Room debut having just completed five weeks of seeing her new musical Dangerous Beauty unfold at the Pasadena Playhouse. McBroom’s lyrics in the show are set to music

by Michele Brourman, her longtime writing partner and her accompanist for her concert gigs.

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12 | Trial by Jury & Engaged Presentation Theater at YBCA San Francisco $15-$40 | 925.943.7469 lamplighters.org Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical one-act Trial by Jury in a double feature with Gilbert’s humorous farce about a man engaged to three women at once.

12 | Clay Aiken The Warfield | San Francisco $31-$49.50 | 800.745.3000 thewarfieldtheatre.com Seven years after his career-launching turn on American Idol, Aikin brings his Tried and True collection of ‘50s and ‘60s hits to the stage.

12 | David Burnham Willows Mainstage | Concord $50 | 925.798.1300 willowstheatre.com Celebrate the grand re-opening of the Willows Mainstage with David Burnham, star of Wicked and The Light in the Piazza.

12 | Joan Rivers Castro Theatre | San Francisco $35-$76 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Uncensored, unscripted and unpredictable, the inimitable comedian returns to the historic Castro Theatre.

With Edna Wright and The Honey Cone.

12 | Louis Lortie Herbst Theatre | San Francisco $34-$44 | 415.759.1756 chambermusicsf.org Celebrated for his polished technique and deep musicality, pianist Lortie plays the complete Chopin Etudes.

12 | Meshell Ndegeocello The New Parish | Oakland thenewparish.com See article on Page 13.

12 | Oldest Profession Brava Theater | San Francisco $10-$25 | 415.647.2822 brava.org See article on Page 31.

12 | Ron Thompson Rancho Nicasio Marin County $12 | 415.662.2219

12 | Narnia Julia Morgan Center | Berkeley $33 | 510.845.8542 berkeleyplayhouse.org The first story in The Chronicles of Narnia has become an exciting musical play!

12 | Zoo Station Café du Nord | San Francisco $15 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com Tribute band presents The Complete U2 Experience. With The Minks and Bang-On. 13 | Eos Ensemble Old First Church | San Francisco $17 | 415.474.1608 oldfirstconcerts.org String ensemble is joined by SF Opera’s principal clarinetist, Jose Gonzalez Granero, performing works by Brahms, von Weber and Wolf.

13 | From Broadway to Hollywood and Back!

Osher Marin JCC | San Rafael $26 | 415.444.8000 marinjcc.org Join in with a professional cast of musicians and vocalists to sing the hits of Broadway that moved on to the big screen.

image: courtesy photos (mcbroom, narnia)

“We’re callin’ it Noir,” she says of the new cabaret show she launched in New York and will bring here. It will include some Brel, a lot of moody standards and some of her own work. “It’s the usual McBroom Mixed Bag,” she laughs, noting the bag include some trunk songs resurrected by Brourman. “I was sort of ‘Well..okay...’ When Michelle suggested them. Then I thought maybe it was time to bring out the ones that were a little personal, a little uncomfortable and the crowd went nuts in New York, so I guess we really have something here.”

ranchonicasio.com With his blues/rock band The Resistors.

by jim van buskirk

A world premiere is cause for celebration, especially when it’s TheatreWorks, one of our most consistently rewarding local companies, that is producing The North Pool. Also because the work of Rajiv Joseph, currently touted as one of the country’s hottest young (he’s 37) playwrights, has not yet been seen in the Bay Area.

Well, that’s not quite true. A reading of The North Pool at TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival in 2009 was an unqualified hit, leading to this production being directed by Giovanna Sardelli, a long-time collaborator of Joseph’s, who previously directed his The Leopard and The Fox, Huck & Holden, Animals Out of Paper and All This Intimacy.

image: mark kitaoka

Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, directed

by Moisés Kaufman, will see its Broadway premiere this month starring Robin Williams, and Gruesome Playground Injuries opens Off-Broadway concurrently.

The North Pool is described as the kind of suspense thriller we’re used to seeing on television and in movies, but rarely in theater. The play traverses the minefields of ethnic profiling in a suburban community focused on political correctness. Syria-born teenager

drama

THE NORTH POOL

rajiv joseph chooses the deep end

Khadim (played by Adam Poss) is new to America and his parents, traveling in Saudi Arabia, have left him with complete freedom and ulterior motives. The Sheffield High Vice Principal (Remi Sandri) is a “bythe-book” authoritarian who is keeping a close eye on Khadim. Haunting them both are secrets, tucked in hidden lockers and concealed on high-tech phones, waiting to spill out. As the two-person drama takes place in real time, our assumptions of who to believe are constantly challenged.

Says Joseph, a finalist for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize last year, who has also written for the television series Nurse Jackie, “The need to tell a very interesting and compelling story makes certain then that my plays are not in the least bit autobiographical.”

THE NORTH POOL March 12 to April 3 Lucie Stern Theatre 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto $24 to $67 | 650.463.1960 theatreworks.org

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 13 | John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey Venetian Room | San Francisco $45 | 415.392.4400 bayareacabaret.org See article on Page 40.

13 | Jonas Kaufmann Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $40-$100 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu See article on Page 32.

13 | Leor Maltinski, David Kim & Angela Lee Holy Innocents Church | San Francisco $18 | 415.648.5236 nvcm.org Noe Valley Chamber Music presents a transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string trio with this bracing combination of talent.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF March 15 to 20 Broadway San Jose 225 Almaden Boulevard, SJ $20 to $76 | 408.792.4111 broadwaysanjose.com Based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof is a timeless and classic music that bears repeat viewings. The score by Sheldon Harnick and the recently deceased Jerry Bock is a treasure trove of golden Broadway tunes like “Sunrise, Sunset,” “To Life,” “Tradition,” and “If I Were a Rich Man.”

Tevye the milkman is back on the road. This time his prayer shawl is worn by John Preece, an actor well-familiar with the show, having appeared in over 3,000 performances and half of those as Tevye. “There are so many facets to this man,” says Preece. “It’s the best written role in musical theater.”

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13 | Marin Symphony Marin Center | San Francisco $29-$70 | 415.499.6800 ticketmaster.com Cross Currents & Vocal Splendor, a concert that runs the gamut from infectious dancing to love, sex and soaps.

13 | Pianist Şahan Arzruni First Congregational Church | Berkeley $20-$50 | 800.838.3006 otherminds.org See article on Page 40.

12 | Meshell Ndegeocello The Independent | San Francisco $25 | 415.771.1422 theindependentsf.com See article on Page 13.

13 | The Capitol Steps Jewish Community Center | San Francisco $50-$55 | 415.292.1200 jccsf.org The nation’s premier political satirists take no prisoners as they tackle immigration reform, financial bail outs, Tea Parties…and whatever shenanigans Washington comes up with.

13 | The Music of Mary Poppins Walt Disney Family Museum | San Francisco 415.345.6800 waltdisney.org Richard Sherman, Disney legend and

14 | Louis Lortie Oshman Family JCC | Palo Alto 650.305.1111 chambermusicsf.org Celebrated for his polished technique and deep musicality, pianist Lortie plays the complete Chopin Etudes.

14 | 6th Street Playhouse Improv 6th Street Playhouse | Santa Rosa $14 | 707.523.4185 6thstreetplayhouse.com March’s installment in this monthly improv series in an improvised musical.

15 | An Irish Hooley Wells Fargo Center | Santa Rosa $15-$35 | 707.546.3600 wellsfargocenterarts.org Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with music, song, dance and irresistible merriment from the Emerald Isle.

15 | Emily Bergl Rrazz Room | San Francisco $30 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Star of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and TNT’s Southland brings Kidding on the Square, a theatrical cabaret, to the Rrazz.

15 | Fiddler on the Roof Center for the Arts | San Jose $20-$79 | 408.792.4111 sjtix.com See article on this page.

16 | Ragnar Bohlin conducts Bach’s B minor Mass Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco $15-$140 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org See article on Page 32.

16 | Schick Machine Z Space | San Francisco $10-$20 | 415.626.0453 zspace.org In The Paul Dresher Ensemble’s SCHICK MACHINE, virtuoso percussionist Steven Schick inhabits a sonic playground in which every object and surface is ‘alive.’

16 | Warpaint The Independent | San Francisco 415.771.1421 theindependentsf.com Highly regarded LA art rock four-piece.

image: carol rosegg (fiddler on the roof - preece)

A few years shy of its golden birthday, the original Fiddler starring Zero Mostel was the longest running show on Broadway for a decade. It has been revived there four times to date, first with Mostel reprising his Tony-winning role in 1976 and then with Hershel Bernardi (1981), Topol (1990) who starred in the 1971 film adaptation, and Alfred Molina (2004) who was then succeeded by Harvey Fierstein, who brought a tour to San Francisco last year.

13 | Linda Purl & Kevin Spirtas Rrazz Room | San Francisco $35-$40 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com See article on Page 30.

songwriter, will play the piano, sing, and discuss what it was like to work on the Mary Poppins score.

final tour of the famed troupe

image: tony dougherty

by grier cooper

DANCE

merce cunningham DANCE COMPANY

Merce Cunningham Dance Company comes to Berkeley as a part of the Legacy Tour, the company’s final two-year worldwide tour, which began in 2010, following Cunningham’s death. MCDC will travel to 40 cities worldwide, showcasing a collection of seminal works spanning the choreographer’s 70 year career, performed by the company he personally trained, after which the company will permanently disband.

Silas Riener, an MCDC dancer since 2007, remarks, “It’s a mixed feeling knowing that this will never be done again. There is a lot more meaningful pressure with each performance. Everyone has the same commitment to Merce because we all knew him. He was an innovator even here - he never did anything halfway.”

The program includes revivals of Pond Way, a dreamy nature study set to music by Brian Eno; Sound Dance, an exhilarating rush of activity set to music by David Tudor with décor by John Lancaster; and Antic Meet, a vaudevillian comedy set to music

by John Cage with décor by Robert Rauschenberg.

The final evening is a Bay Area premiere of the fulllength work Roaratorio, one of the most celebrated collaborations between Cunningham and Cage.

The choreography exemplifies Irish dances, such as jigs and reels and other folk dances, set to a score

based on traditional Irish music, layered with sound recordings from places in Ireland.

Cunningham was known as a leader of the avantgarde, an innovator of movement. “His use of the DanceForms computer program (which he helped develop) allowed him to see new possibilities for movement with an unrestricted human form. He was doing things I’ve never seen anywhere else,” says Riener.

Cunningham expanded the frontiers of dance and visual and performing arts through his renowned collaborations with artists from all creative disciplines, including Robert Rauschenberg and life partner John Cage - the latter arriving in a Volkswagen bus with the company for their first Bay Area appearance in 1962.

MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY March 3 to 5 | 8:00 pm Zellerbach Hall University of California, Berkeley $22 to $56 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 16 | Eurydice Sonoma County Repertory | Sebastopol $25 | 707.823.0177 the-rep.com Experience the luminous retelling of the classic myth of Orpheus told through the eyes of its heroine. Enjoy this inexpressibly moving theatrical fable from the writer of last year’s smash hit Dead Man’s Cell Phone.

LADY GREY (IN EVER LOWER LIGHT) March 11 to April 10 Cutting Ball Theater 277 Taylor Street, SF $15 to $35 | 800.838.3006 cuttingball.com

THE ISLANDERS March 11 to 12 Z Space 450 Florida Street, SF $15 to $40 | 415.626.0453 zspace.org

Andrew Sean Greer has written a prickly and humorous story of the bonds of friendship and love for Word for Word. Cat and Maddy reunite for a trip to Ireland, where the beauty, mystery and danger lead to a deeper understanding of their lifelong connection.

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17 | The Changer Storefront - TBD | San Rafael $25 | 415.454.2787 altertheater.org AlterTheater presents: Robert Ernst brings his music-infused vision to a San Rafael storefront. The Changer explores how a man trapped by circumstances creates his own reality and ultimately transforms into hero or villain.

17 | BISS Me, I’m Irish Café du Nord | San Francisco $10 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com St. Patrick’s Day party featuring La Gente, Ziva, The Anita Lofton Project and Cassandra Farrar.

17 | Coser y cantar Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts | SF $11 | 415.643.2785 missionculturalcenter.org Dramatizes the multiplicity of identities that Latin American women negotiate to thrive as immigrants in the US. The play feature two characters: She and Ella - two selves of the same woman in a New York City apartment.

17 | Rrazziversary Gala Rrazz Room | San Francisco $75-$175 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com See article on Page 2.

17 | The Whole Megillah The Jewish Theatre | San Francisco $20 | 415.292.1233 jccsf.org/arts Local sketch-comedy troupe Killing My Lobster joins with SFJCC’s The Hub to bring you a show inspired by the craziest of all Jewish holidays - Purim.

17 | Todd Barry Punch Line | San Francisco $15-$21 | 415.397.7573 punchlinecomedyclub.com With Jason Wheeler and Kevin O’Shea.

18 | Amanda McBroom Rrazz Room | San Francisco $35 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com See article on Page 24.

18 | Beautiful Loser George’s Night Club | San Rafael $10-$15 | 877.568.2726 georgesnightclub.com Diverse and innovative ethnic musical influences define and set the band apart.

With The Tres Mojo Band and Gabby Lala.

17 | THE BLACK BROTHERS Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $22.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org See article on Page 11.

17 | Crass Slim’s | San Francisco 415.255.0333 slims-sf.com Underground anarcho-punks from the UK with a new generation of avid followers.

18 | Beekeeper Rhythmix Cultural Works | Alameda $20-$25 | 510.865.6237 viragotheatre.org See article on Page 19.

images: rob melrose (lady gray - o’hare), mark leialoha (the islander - hunt), laura lundy-paine (beekeeper)

Will Eno returns for the Bay Area premieres of his Lady Grey (in ever lower light), Intermission and Mr. Theatre Comes Home Different. Lady Grey relives a painful memory of show-and-tell in the classroom when she was a little girl. In Intermission the audience watches another audience during the intermission of a mysterious play. Finally, in his brief time on the world’s stage, Mr. Theatre lives out the seven ages of man in a playful manner that echoes Shakespeare as much as it does Beckett.

17 | Equus City Lights Theater | San Jose $25-$35 | 408.295.4200 cltc.org In this epic play, Dr. Martin Dysart is confronted with a strange, young boy who has violently blinded six horses. The crime remains a mystery, and to Dysart, it is a psychological puzzle that ultimately leads to a perplexing and dramatic confrontation.

17 | Paul Mooney Cobb’s Comedy Club | San Francisco $20.50-$23.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedy.com Brilliant writer / comedian Mooney has written for Richard Prior, Redd Foxx, In Living Color and more, a recently starred on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show.

SCREENING

KISS ME, KATE

patricia morison’s hallmark role by robert sokol There’s a long history of theatre artists being passed over when their roles are committed to film. Carol Channing saw Dolly Gallagher Levi go to Barbra Streisand. Mary Martin saw Maria von Trapp go to Julie Andrews, who had just seen Eliza Dolittle go to Audrey Hepburn.

“Another problem was that the orchestra was in another studio so they placed monitors under the furniture [on the set] where we were playing and the sound came in at different times, slightly off. They also cut a lot of things out I though should have been kept in.”

So it was for Patricia Morison and Alfred Drake who saw their roles go to reigning musical movie stars Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel when Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate got the feature film treatment. The play within a play about the bickering-but-in-love Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi performing Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew also picked up Ann Miller and a young Bob Fosse on the road to Hollywood in 1953.

The fiery Kate continued to appear in Morison’s repertoire for decades. All the original cast principals re-recorded their parts for a stereo recording in 1959, Morison starred in 1965 productions in Seattle and at New York City Center, and - a full 30 years after she originated the role - in a British production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1978.

A major Broadway hit in 1949, Kate won five Tony Awards including musical, book and score. It was a huge success for Morison who, after failing to ignite a major film career at Paramount in the ‘40s, won the role at Porter’s insistence over the objections of the producers. Morison went on to star in the London production in 1951 without Drake.

She even made a second television version, this time for the BBC and, ironically, opposite Howard Keel. “I couldn’t compare them,” Morison says with a sweet finality, heading off the inevitable question. (vaimusic.com)

Five years after the MGM version was released, Morison and Drake would reunite for a Hallmark Hall of Fame television version that was slightly abridged from the original text and score. The adaptation also featured Julie Wilson, recreating her London performance as Lois/Bianca, Bill Hayes as Bill/Lucentio, and Harvey Lembeck and Jack Klugman as the gangsters who “brush up” their Shakespeare.

image: courtesy photo

First shown on November 20, 1958 the production was filmed in color for later broadcast rather than going live due to a pending network shutdown. The color source seems to be lost forever and all that remains is a restored kinescope shot during the broadcast.

“We shot it in Astoria and the NBC strike was due at midnight,” recalls Morison, who turns 96 this month. ”There were about fifteen minutes or so left and we were shooting the final scene where I leave Fred.

A stagehand walked across the scene which, given that it was a ‘backstage’ musical would not have been a bad thing, except that he looked at the camera and went: ‘Ohmigod!’ which meant we had to reshoot the entire scene.”

Patricia Morison Alfred Drake MARCH 2011 |

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RECOMMENDED

DAILY 18 | CeCe Peniston Rrazz Room | San Francisco $35-$45 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Peniston brings a full band to highlight her mesmerizing, sultry, soulful vocal stylings.

18 | Christopher Maltman Herbst Theatre | San Francisco $35-$60 | 415.398.6449 sfperformances.org Acclaimed English baritone is accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau in a diverse program.

18 | Devo The Warfield | San Francisco $37.50-$99.50 | 800.745.3000 thewarfieldtheatre.com Twenty years since their last studio album, Devo is back!

18 | Hairspray Lesher Center | Walnut Creek $40-$45 | 925.943.7469 lesherartscenter.org See article on Page 34.

LINDA PURL KEVIN SPIRTAS March 13 | 3:00 pm March 14 | 8:00 pm The Rrazz Room 220 Mason Street, SF $35 to $40 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com

Spirtas scrubbed-up on soaps like Days of Our Lives and One Life to Live, and made spooky film appearances (Apt Pupil and the Friday the 13th franchise). He stood by but never went on for Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz and is active in producing projects when not performing.

Purl made her biggest mark on television in Matlock, Happy Days and a few dozen made-for-television films. These days, in addition to producing an theatre festival in Southern California, she’s being seen on Desperate Housewives and as Pam’s mother on The Office.

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18 | Quilters Barn Theatre | Ross $20-$30 | 415-456-9555 rossvalleyplayers.com Presented by Ross Valley Players. The story of a family of pioneer women through their working on a series of quilt blocks that reflect their history and experiences on the frontier.

19 | Company C Contemporary Ballet Center for the Arts | Mountain View $21-$43 | 650.903.6000 mountainview.gov/mvcpa/ Two emotionally-charged world premieres, Indoor Fireworks and Ominous Rumblings of Discontent kick off Company C Contemporary Ballet’s ninth season.

18 | Oakland East Bay Symphony Paramount Theatre | Oakland $58-$65 | 510.465.6400 paramounttheatre.com Presenting More Notes from Persia with selections from Ranjbaran, Beethoven and Pejman.

18 | RAWdance ODC Theater | San Francisco $15-$18 | 415.863.9834 odctheater.org Hiding in the Spaces Between asks, “What does authenticity look like in the internet age?” With slick, athletic contemporary dance set in a multimedia milieu.

19 | Lily Tomlin Uptown Theatre | Napa $70-$85 | 800.745.3000 uptowntheatrenapa.com The one-and-only, brilliant, winner of too many awards to count, comedian brings her simultaneously hysterical and intimate show to Napa.

18 | 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Altarena Playhouse | Alameda $22 | 510.523.1553 altarena.org This witty, Tony Award-winning musical follows six bright young misfits struggling to simultaneously fit in and stand out in our competitive, elimination-tournament culture

19 | Man of La Mancha California Theatre | San Jose $39-$75 | 408.286.2600 symphonysiliconvalley.org Symphony Silicon Valley’s Broadway in Concert series presents this play-withina-play, based on Cervantes’ Don Quixote.

images: leslie bohm (spirtas), via media (tomlin), all others - courtesy photos (purl)

It’s a double dose of beauty, glamour and style with Linda Purl and Kevin Spirtas serving up Rhapsody in Two, an elegant assortment of music by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and the Brothers Gershwin. Both stars are recording, television, film and Broadway veterans with extensive résumés.

18 | Nederlands Dans Theater Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $34-$72 | 510.642.9988 calperfs.berkeley.edu One of the world’s most prominent and innovative contemporary dance companies, performing a challenging repertoire of modern masterworks.

18 | The Ticking Clock Project Sixth Street Playhouse | Santa Rosa $20-$25 | 707.523.4185 6thstreetplayhouse.com A humorous, moving and timely play that draws inspiration from a series of true stories. Each character reflects upon the impact her own biological clock has had on her life’s choices.

women working women by james j. siegel

“You’re never too old to be a whore.” That is the tagline for Brava Theater’s upcoming production of The Oldest Profession. The 1981 piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel takes a look at five women in their 70s working as prostitutes.

Brava, which is dedicated to producing plays that celebrate feminism and multiculturalism, chose the Vogel play to commemorate Women’s History Month.

According to Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Brava’s artistic director, Women’s History Month originally started in Sonoma County. “It is so exciting to do a play that is an honor to produce for women’s month and I love the writing of Paula Vogel,” she said.

Evren Odcikin is directing the piece, which he says examines not only issues of feminism, but sexuality, aging and economics.

“According to popular culture, a woman’s sexuality goes away the moment she turns 55, which is ridiculous,” he said. “I think it’s brilliant that this show doesn’t buy into that stereotype. These women are sex workers and they love it. They are not apologetic about their lifestyle.”

but under Reagan’s reign, they can no longer sustain themselves,” said Odcikin. “The rich get richer and the country is thriving, but the poor are left behind.”

PLAY

THE OLDEST PROFESSION

Odcikin also thinks that The Oldest Profession is a great production for older actresses.

“Most of these actresses do not get offered these sorts of roles anymore,” he said. “You settle into playing mothers and grandmothers and when a chance like this comes up, it’s a unique opportunity.”

Odcikin said his cast is beautiful, talented and stunningly sexy. “I know that they will teach the younger women in the audience a few things about sensuality.” the oldest profession March 14 to April 19 Brava Theater 2781 24th Street, San Francisco $10 to $25 | 415.647.2822 brava.org

The show takes place on Jan. 19, 1981, one day before Ronald Reagan is set to take office.

image: courtesy photo

“These women have been working all their lives,

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 19 | Only Men Aloud The Regency Ballroom | San Francisco $35-$38 | 415.673.5716 theregencyballroom.com Unafraid to tackle music not normally associated with male voice choirs, this Welsh group’s repertoire ranges from the 17th century to the present day.

RAGNAR BOHLIN March 16 to 20 Davies Symphony Hall 201 Van Ness Avenue, SF $15 to $140 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org

Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Mass in B Minor” epitomizes the composer’s supreme artistry. The Symphony’s performance of this colossal work features a cadre of rising stars including Ingela Bohlin, Abigail Nims, Kelley O’Connor, Nicholas Phan and Shenyang, led by SFS Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin.

19 | Peninsula Symphony Flint Center | Cupertino $38 | 650.259.2100 flintcenter.com Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony plus a concerto from Joan Tower’s Made in America.

19 | Duo Melis Herbst Theatre | San Francisco $41 | 415.392.4400 omniconcerts.com The Spanish Susana Prieto and the Greek Alexis Muzurakis made their debut as the Guitar Duo Melis in 1999 and promise an evening of guitar mastery.

19 | Jay and Silent Bob Get Old The Warfield | San Francisco $42.50-$59.50 | 800.745.3000 thewarfieldtheatre.com Featuring Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes.

19 | Jefferson Airplane/ Starship Reunion 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $45-$125 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org Celebrating Paul Kantner’s 70th birthday with founding members of Jefferson Airplane and Hall-of-Famers from four decades of Jefferson Starship incarnations

Don’t miss your opportunity to see the superstar tenor in his Bay Area debut, with Austrian pianist Helmut Deutsch. Kaufmann is known for his exceptionally diverse repertoire ranging from the major roles of Mozart and Wagner to those of Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Massenet and Berlioz.

With his recent series of international triumphs, both onstage and on disc, Jonas Kaufmann is the tenor that everyone is talking about.

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19 | The Sun Kings George’s Night Club | San Rafael $17-$20 | 877.568.2726 georgesnightclub.com Beatles tribute band shares their love and passion for the music of the Fab Four.

19 | Wirehead SF Playhouse | San Francisco $30-$70 | 415.677.9596 sfplayhouse.org Imagine that tomorrow anyone with the money could get a brain implant that would automatically make them a genius. How far would you go to get it?

How far would you go to stop it?

20 | Greg Brown Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $34.50-$37.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org Combining down home roots with a poet’s sensibilities, Brown fills his songs with gritty romanticism, sardonic humor, bluesy melodicism, and disarming honesty.

20 | Judy, Judy, Judy Firehouse Arts Center | Pleasanton 925.931.4848 firehousearts.org A cabaret tribute to the legacy of legendary singer and actress Judy Garland with Tielle Baker, Pamela Brooks, ML Parr and pianist Richard Nelson Hall.

19 | SF Ballet: Coppélia War Memorial Opera House | San Francisco $48-$265 | 415.865.2000 sfballet.org See article on Page 17.

20 | Louise Pitre Rrazz Room | San Francisco $30-$35 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com See article on Page 36.

19 | Symphony Music for Families Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco $15-$57 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org Hear the SF Symphony in kid-sized classical concerts designed for families—great music, fascinating musical discoveries, and priceless memories.

20 | The Odessa Trio Old First Church | San Francisco $17 | 415.474.1608 oldfirstconcerts.org Josephine Gandolfi, piano, Patti Niemi, percussion and Victoria Ehrlich, cello perform exciting music by mostly Bay Area composers.

19 | James Moseley Band Rancho Nicasio | Marin County $15 | 415.662.2219 ranchonicasio.com Hot soul music comes to the Rancho.

21 | Fujiya & Miyagi The Independent | San Francisco 415.771.1421 theindependentsf.com Electronic group from the UK. Part LCD Soundsystem, part Can. Promoting their new album “Ventriloquizzing.”

images: uli webber (kaufmann), all others - courtesy photos (bohlin)

JONAS KAUFMANN March 13 | 7:00 pm Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley Address, SF $40 to $100 | 415.864.3330 sfopera.com

19 | The Music of Joy Seventh Avenue Performances | SF $15-$20 | 800.838.3006 sevenperforms.org San Francisco Renaissance Voices presents the Early Music America 25th Anniversary Celebration Concert.

way’s to a 40 year movement by grier cooper

DANCE

ODC/Dance downtown ODC, one of the oldest and most revered contemporary dance troupes in America, celebrates its 40th anniversary with a special home season featuring new works by each of its three awardwinning female choreographers (and founding partners). “We all felt that we should launch our 40th year with explorations of something new,” says ODC founder Brenda Way. Opportunities for celebration abound with an opening night gala, and program opening parties such as “Martinis on The Balcony,” where patrons can sip pre-performance cocktails with the choreographic trio.

traces of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by musician and instrument-builder Dan Rathburn.

ODC’s Associate Choreographer and School Director Kimi Okada presents I look vacantly at the Pacific... through regret, a humorous exploration of the awkwardness of crosscultural understanding. “We are each risking something new,” says Way, “KT is collaborating and working in a more measured and reflective vein than is her custom, I am working with an extended palette of ODC and non-ODC dancers and Kimi Okada is working with text.”

Known for its athleticism, depth and passion, The Oberlin Dance Collective (ODC) now operates a 36,000 square-foot campus with a dance company, theater and school in San Francisco’s Mission District. ODC’s choreography continues to evolve around its core philosophies of adventure, irreverence, and the joy of movement. Way’s newest work, Speaking Volumes: Architecture of Light II will feature an original score by Jay Cloidt and lighting by Alexander V. Nichols. Listening Last, a collaboration between ODC Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson and acclaimed movement artist Shinichi Iova-Koga, explores the impact of urban living on our environment against an original soundscape of urban noises fused with

The program will also include four major remounts of some of its most dynamic repertory favorites: Way’s Waving Not Drowning (A Guide to Elegance), John Somebody and Investigating Grace, and KT Nelson’s Stomp A Waltz. odc/dance downtown March 11 to 26 Novellus Theater at YBCA 700 Howard Street, San Francisco $10 to $250 | 415.978.2787 odcdance.org

image: rj muna

Daniel Santos Anne Zivolich

MARCH 2011 |

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 22 | Coco Montoya Yoshi’s | San Francisco $18 | 415.655.5600 yoshis.com Over the course of his 30-year career, guitarist and vocalist Montoya’s explosive guitar playing and soul-driven voice have propelled him to the upper reaches of the blues-rock world.

FOLLIES - IN CONCERT March 4 to 27 Tabard Theatre 29 North San Pedro Street, SJ $10 to $35 | 800.838.3006 tabardtheatre.org

At a recent onstage interview composer Stephen Sondheim was asked which original production of one of his many shows would he love to resurrect intact. Without a moment’s hesitation he picked Follies, stating that the scope and scale of the legendary 1971 Broadway version could never be replicated. Spectacle aside, the score of Follies - songs include “I’m Still Here” and “Broadway Baby” is one of Sondheim’s best and lends itself well to concert presentation.

You just can’t stop the infectious beat of the ‘60s as heard through the Tony-winning book and score of Harvey Fierstein, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s Hairspray.

Sourced from a John Waters film, the Baltimore-set show sets up racism and bullying peer pressure to be dismantled through the universal languages of song and dance.

Presented by Contra Costa Musical Theatre and Center Rep.

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22 | M. Butterfly Custom Made Theatre | San Francisco $28 | 510.207.5774 custommade.org A French diplomat carried on a twentyyear affair with a Chinese actor and opera singer, not realizing that his partner was in fact a man masquerading as a woman.

23 | The Green Great American Music Hall | San Francisco $13 | 888.233.0449 gamh.com Hawaiian band blends roots reggae with traditional Hawaiian vibes. With Through the Roots and Thrive.

24 | Ain’t Misbehavin’ Wells Fargo Center | Santa Rosa $29.50-$44.50 | 707.546.3600 wellsfargocenterarts.org This New York production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ features Vivian Jett from the original Broadway production plus special guest artist, Martine Allard.

22 | Matthew Martin Rrazz Room | San Francisco $30 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com In All Singing, All Dancing, All Dead! theater chameleon Martin transforms into the legendary ladies of the silver screen in a non-stop musical showcase.

24 | Arabs Gone Wild Cobb’s Comedy Club | San Francisco $18.50-$22.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedy.com Top Arab-American comedians Dean Obeidallah, Aron Kader and Maysoon Zayid tackle everything from politics to pop culture to crazy Arab mother-in-laws.

23 | Acoustic Africa Napa Valley Opera House | Napa $35-$40 | 707.226.7372 nvoh.org A musical journey focused on the richness of the African guitar tradition featuring Habib Koite, Oliver Mtukudzi and Afel Bocoum.

24 | Blomstedt conducts Dvorák Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco $15-$150 | 415.864.6000 sfsymphony.org Former SFS music director Herbert Blomstedt returns to conduct Dvorák’s Ninth Symphony, From the New World.

23 | Beardo The Ashby Stage | Berkeley $17-$26 | 510.841.6500 www.shotgunplayers.org Playwright Jason Craig and composer Dave Malloy team up with Shotgun Players’ artistic director Patrick Dooley to delve into the world of Russia’s infamous bad boy mystic, Rasputin.

24 | Brahms German Requiem California Theatre | San Jose $39-$75 | 408.286.2600 symphonysiliconvalley.org Brahms called his visionary masterpiece a human requiem, conceived not as a mass for the dead but as comfort and consolation for the living.

23 | Debashish Bhattacharya Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $20.50-$22.50 | 510.644.2020 thefreight.org Passionate, improvisational Indian slide guitar artistry which reinvents the Hawaiian slide guitar into a new Indian classical instrument.

24 | Jon Secada Rrazz Room | San Francisco $45-$55 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Cuban-born singer/songwriter brings his smooth mix of R&B, pop, and Latin music to the Rrazz.

images: courtesy photos (follies, hairspray)

HAIRSPRAY March 18 to April 16 Lesher Center for the Arts 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek $40 to $45 | 925.943.7469 lesherartscenter.org

22 | Lady Gaga Oracle Arena | Oakland $49.50-$175 | 800.745.3000 ticketmaster.com The Monster Ball Tour starring Lady Gaga with special guests, Semiprecious Weapons.

23 | Luna Negra Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts | SF $7 | 415.643.2785 missionculturalcenter.org MCCLA’s annual showcase of the creative power of women, featuring some of the most dynamic women in the Bay Area perfoming theater, dance and song inspired by and for the Latin American diaspora.

a return trip with darlene popovic

image: courtesy photo

by steve murray

musical

ABSOLUTELY SAN FRANCISCO

image: courtesy photo

Anne Doherty’s critically acclaimed one-woman musical comedy Absolutely San Francisco reopens this month in a new performance space with award-winning musical actor Darlene Popovic stepping into the multiple character role. The show is a true labor of love for Doherty family, with husband John running the technical aspects, son Trevor assisting with the arrangements and daughter Lizzie providing the photographic backdrops. Created as a review, the show evolved into a poignant tome on lost love, impermanence and the uniqueness of our city by the Bay. Tourists and locals have taken an affinity to the show, which Doherty explains as “a great show for tourists to understand this city, and for locals to celebrate what we’ve got here”.

Darlene Popovic is no stranger to multi-character performances having played five characters in Mama Parmigiano and No Way To Treat A Lady, all four parts of a barbershop quartet, and seven roles in Jeffrey. In Absolutely San Francisco she’ll tackle the six roles (three male, three female) simply by a change of vocal inflection, body language and facial expressions. Popovic, a master at comic timing, looks forward to the challenges inherent in original musical material. She loves “the discovery of interpreting original music. No one’s heard

it before and there’s a development happening between performer and the creator (Doherty) and the audience. “ Doherty honed her songwriting craft as a protégé of Broadway legend and Funny Girl lyricist Bob Merrill.

Her main character is a homeless woman, a casualty of the 60s, and her interactions with such diverse characters as a hippie billionaire, an Indian engineer and a female African-American cable car operator.

How their stories intertwine through story and music makes for an engaging evening of entertainment that will both delight and move the audience.

Doherty is engaging a big, bold picture, just like the city she so admires. Star Popovic - in for a six week engagement - is more than capable of bringing this show to life. absolutely san francisco March 11 - Open Ended Run Alcove Theatre 414 Mason Street, San Francisco $32 to $50 | 415.992.8168 notquiteopera.org

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RECOMMENDED

DAILY 24 | Kris Delmhorst Café du Nord | San Francisco $18 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com Delmhorst’s unique voice delivers her own compositions with notes of both indie-rock and passionate folk.

24 | The Vagina Monologues Brava! Theater | San Francisco $22 | 415.647.2822 brava.org WOMAN Inc. presents Eve Ensler’s poignantly hysterical one-woman show.

24 | Los Lobos Uptown Theatre | Napa $37-$47 | 800.745.3000 uptowntheatrenapa.com Over 30 years since they recorded their first album Los Lobos still brings it home to their devoted fans.

24 | Women of Calypso African American Art & Culture | SF $25 | 415.292.1850 culturalodyssey.org Featuring Singing Sandra, Kizzie Ruiz, Shereen Caesar, direct from Trinidad, West Indies. Through their songs they sing about contemporary life in Trinidad.

All three have won hosts of awards and regularly place in the finals of Calypso competitions during Carnival and year round.

24 | Matt McBane & Build Montalvo Arts Center | Saratoga $20 | 408.961.5858 montalvoarts.org This Brooklyn-based indie-classical band’s tracks are regularly used as musical interludes on NPR’s All Things Considered.

LOUISE PITRE March 20 to 22 The Rrazz Room 220 Mason Street, SF $30 to $35 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Being in San Francisco holds special memories for Louise Pitre. It was from here that she launched a North American conquest with the musical juggernaut Mamma Mia! (She also conquered Broadway and got a Tony nomination for her efforts.)

24 | Milagro 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $15-$20 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org The Playwrights’ Lab presents a staged reading of Brad Erickson’s new play about three American couples in a rural Mexican resort.

| MARCH 2011

25 | Candye Kane Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $20 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com American singer / songwriter brings on the blues.

24 | Quidam by Cirque Du Soleil HP Pavilion | San Jose $43-$113 | 408.287.9200 hppsj.com Under the big top nothing is impossible: men and women fly and the dreams of a child can truly change the world. See advertisement on back cover.

25 | MEN Rickshaw Stop | San Francisco 415.861.2011 rickshawstop.com New band featuring JD Samson of Le Tigre.

25 | CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER Improv | San Jose $45 | 408.280.7475 improv.com See article on Page 38.

image: david leyes (pitre), dominique lemieux (quidam)

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25 | Acoustic Africa Paramount Theatre | Oakland $25-$100 | 510.465.6400 paramounttheatre.com A musical journey focused on the richness of the African guitar tradition featuring Habib Koite, Oliver Mtukudzi and Afel Bocoum.

25 | Auf den Tisch!

YBCA Forum | San Francisco $25 | 415.978.2787 ybca.org Audience-participation improvisation project by internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer Meg Stuart.

“We love your City so much - I could live there in a heartbeat - so it’s wonderful to be coming back for a couple of nights of music. We get to go back to our favorite restaurant, which is Fleur de Lys,” she notes before laughing incredulously at the news that the BAY STAGES office is directly across the street from that culinary landmark. “Oh, c’mon! How great is that?”

Pitre will be bringing an evening of songs mostly in French, her mothertongue. “There will be songs in English,” she adds, “but I will be doing a lot of Piaf and Brel. I find whenever I do an evening of French material that Anglophones just love to hear it. It constantly amazes me.

There’s something in the passion of it. I do make an effort to explain each one so people have some context and people tell me they know what I’m singing about even if they don’t understand the words!”

25 | 3 For All 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $22-$25 | 415.383.9600 3forall.com Rafe Chase, Tim Orr and Stephen Kearin are 3 For All, bringing you an evening of innovative, long-form improv.

by colm larkin San Francisco is a city in love with Japanese exports, from karaoke to sushi, and the annual Japan Nite means you can add rock’n’roll to that list. Japan Nite started in 1996, when promoters Hiroshi Asada and Audrey Benten staged a one-off event at SXSW in Austin.

“It was only two bands – Lolita No.18 and Pugs,” explains Benten, “but there was quite a line and a photo of Lolita No.18 singer Masayo was on the Austin Chronicle front cover the following morning. Japan Nite has been scheduled on Friday during SXSW week ever since.”

music

JAPAN NIGHT 2011

east comes west for music import

MO’SOME TONEBENDER

In 2003, Japan Nite moved beyond Austin and added dates across the U.S., finishing up each year in San Francisco, where it has had a regular home at the Independent since 2006.

image: courtesy photos (mo’some tonebender, lolita no. 18, hystoic vein, zukunasisters, josy)

“The Independent is one of the biggest shows, like the one at SXSW”, states Benton. “I love the club and audience.

It’s usually packed or sold out.” 2011 will be no exception with five of Japan’s most exciting bands scheduled to play, including one of the country’s biggest rock groups Mo’some Tonebender, and original Japan Nite alumni, all-girl group Lolita No.18.

Benten is particularly excited about a recent addition to the line-up JOSY, a band she describes as “young, energetic, guitar-less but funky. People should come early to see them”. The first 100 people through the door will get a Japan Nite sampler CD, while the show is a great opportunity for fans to buy imported CDs and merchandise and meet the band members in person.

Lolita No.18

Hystoic Vein

“People have told me that Japan Nite has one of the nicest vibes they’ve ever experienced,” says Benton, “and as it is the last day of the tour, we are going to do something special.”

San Francisco’s love affair with Japan is certain to continue. japan night 2011 March 27 | 8:00 pm The Independent 628 Divisadero Street, San Francisco $15 | 415.771.1421 theindependentsf.com

ZUKUNASISTERS

JOSY

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 25 | Paul Taylor Dance Company Napa Valley Opera House | Napa $20-$25 | 707.226.7372 nvoh.org Now in his 80th year, Paul Taylor is acclaimed for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his dances.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER March 25 to 26 Improv 62 S. Second Street, San Jose $45 | 408.280.7475 improv.com

Cedric Antonio Kyles takes a break from filmmaking to stand up in the South Bay. In addition to acting roles in the upcoming Tom HanksJulia Roberts comedy Larry Crowne and the musical Caught on Tape, The Entertainer is producer, director and star of the just-completed comedy Chicago Pulaski Jones.

25 | Stand By Your Man Cinnabar Theater | Petaluma $35 | 707.763.8920 cinnabartheater.org The Tammy Wynette story by Mark St. Germain. The woman behind the legend and the incredible songs that made her the first lady of country music leaps off the stage and into your heart.

25 | The Marriage of Bette and Boo Masquers Playhouse | Point Richmond $20 | 510.232.4031 masquers.org Delving deeply into the complex, confused and comic lives of two families plagued by death, alcoholism, Catholicism and other hardships.

25 | The Saw Doctors Slim’s | San Francisco $24 | 415.255.0333 slims-sf.com The Saw Doctors came together in the small western Irish Galway county of Tuam, in 1987, with the pairing of Davy Carton and Leo Moran.

25 | Ernest in Love Cinnabar Theater | Petaluma $35 | 707.763.8920 cinnabartheater.org Based on Oscar Wilde’s beloved comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, this delightful musical adaptation captures the mode and mood of the original, complete with tea dance-style orchestra, Wildean hi-jinks and laughs galore.

Jim Norton is listened to by millions of devoted fans on The Opie & Anthony Radio Show for Sirius/ XM Radio. When he isn’t touring the country and performing at wellknown comedy clubs, Norton is an admitted literature lover and an avid autograph and celebrity photo collector. In addition to radio, books, TV and touring, he has released two CD’s of his stand-up comedy.

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26 | Carousel Montgomery Theater | San Jose $11-$36 | 408.986.1455 lyrictheatre.org Lyric Theatre presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s favorite collaboration, Carousel was named the best musical of the 20th Century by Time magazine.

26 | A Year With Frog and Toad Freight & Salvage | Berkeley $18-$20 | 510.296.4433 bactheatre.org Bay Area Children’s Theatre presents this Tony-nominated play that follows outgoing Frog and reserved Toad through four seasons as they plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding, sing up a storm, and learn about the magic of friendship.

26 | Chanticleer Various Bay Area Venues $20-$44 | 415.392.4400 chanticleer.org See article on Page 42.

26 | Comedy Smack-Down Town Hall Theatre | Lafayette $20 | 925.283 1557 thtc.org Town Hall Comedy Series presents Crisis Hopkins vs. ComedySportz.

26 | Earl Thomas Biscuits & Blues | San Francisco $22 | 415.292.2583 biscuitsandblues.com Thomas and The Blues Ambassadors present his irresistible mix of blues and Broadway.

26 | Jonathan Poretz Rrazz Room | San Francisco $25 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Backed by his jazz and swing-infused trio, Poretz creates an intimate, afterhours atmosphere in his Night Beat at The Rrazz Room.

26 | Late Nite Catechism El Campanil Theatre | Antioch $25 | 925.757.9500 elcampaniltheatre.com Late Nite Catechism is an uproariously funny play that takes the audience back to their youth.

26 | Mark Twain Tonight!

Marin Center | San Francisco $25-$45 | 415.499.6800 ticketmaster.com For 50 years Hal Holbrook has enthralled audiences around the world with Mark Twain’s timeless observations on politics, culture and the world.

images: courtesy photos (cedric, norton)

JIM NORTON March 10 to 12 Cobb’s Comedy Club 915 Columbus Avenue, SF $20.50 to $23.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedyclub.com

25 | Legacy of Light San Jose Rep | San Jose $35-$79 | 408.367.7255 sjrep.com Two brilliant women, centuries apart, push the boundaries of science while grappling with motherhood in this theatrically adventurous comedy.

Julie and Carrie are mill workers in 1870’s New England who fall in love, one with carousel barker Billy and the other with fisherman Mr. Snow.

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SPOTLIGHT launches this month and to kick things off anyone who subscribes by March 31, 2011 will be entered in a drawing for a range of prizes including two tickets to a San Francisco performance of Cirque du Soleil’s QUIDAM in April. Additional prizes will be awarded including tickets to other shows and events in the Bay Area, and gift certificates for CDs, DVDs and other entertainment items.

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SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 26 | Mijo de la Palma Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts | SF $12-$15 | 415.643.2785 missionculturalcenter.org Mijo de la Palma present their unique blend of Puerto Rican jíbaro music and contemporary acoustic sounds.

26 | Volker Strifler Band Rancho Nicasio | Marin County $12-$15 | 415.662.2219 ranchonicasio.com Original blues and more.

JESSICA MOLASKEY & JOHN PIZZARELLI March 13 | 7:30 pm The Venetian Room 950 Mason Street, SF $40 to $45 | 415.392.4400 bayareacabaret.org

Peppered with hilarious anecdotes from his rich musical background and swathed in her captivating grace and theatricality, world-renowned jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and Broadway musical actress Jessica Molaskey’s Heart of Saturday Night is an evening of delights for music and theatre lovers of all walks.

26 | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Fox Theater | Oakland $29.50 | 800.745.3000 ticketmaster.com Coming off a successful European tour last fall, this is OMD’s first North American tour since 1988, including the classic line up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes.

26 | Ragazzi Boys Chorus First Congregational Church | Palo Alto $15-$25 | 650.342.8785 ragazzi.org A lively rondelay of folk songs, Southern ditties, and national favorites, MADE IN AMERICA celebrates the roots of American music.

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27 | Japan Nite 2011 The Independent | San Francisco 415.771.1421 theindependentsf.com See article on Page 37.

27 | New Century Chamber Orchestra Osher Marin JCC | San Rafael $29-$49 | 415.444.8000 marinjcc.org Bay Area soprano Melody Moore joins the orchestra in a presentation of favorite songs by Schubert.

27 | Ponticellos 142 Throckmorton Theatre | Mill Valley $18-$21 | 415.383.9600 142throckmortontheatre.org Presenting cellos like you’ve never heard them before.

26 | Shana Morrison George’s Night Club | San Rafael $10-$15 | 877.568.2726 georgesnightclub.com Van Morrison’s daughter has developed into a performer with strength and conviction and one who has a clear connection to American roots and soul.

28 | Americana: Into the West Temple Emanu-El | San Francisco $25 | 800.838.3006 emanuelsf.org Acclaimed eight-man classical a cappella ensemble Clerestory celebrate Pacific Coast composers.

28 | Crosby and Nash The Warfield | San Francisco $43.50-$60.50 | 800.745.3000 thewarfieldtheatre.com Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers bring their brilliant creative partnership to the stage.

images: bay area cabaret (molaskey-pizzarelli), front row photo (arzrunin), deidre fuller (morrison)

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26 | Naser Musa Ensemble Sunnyvale Theatre | Sunnyvale $28 | 418.733.6611 nasermusa.net Take a musical journey through the Middle East with virtuoso oud player and Arabic vocalist Naser Musa.

27 | Taj Mahal Uptown Theatre | Napa $37-$47 | 800.745.3000 uptowntheatrenapa.com Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music.

Şahan ArzruniN March 13 | 4:00 pm First Congregational Church Berkeley $20 to $50 | 800.838.3006 otherminds.org

The centennial of composer Alan Hovhaness will be celebrated in a concert by pianist Şahan Arzrunin including two world premieres. Once dubbed “the American Sibelius” Hovhaness forged his own artistic path, rejecting the trend of the times toward serialism and developing a compositional language increasingly influenced by his studies of mysticism and of Armenian and other cultures.

26 | Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven Thick House | San Francisco asianamericantheater.org A satirical play by the scathingly funny, award-winning Young Jean Lee, Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven takes the audience on a shockingly funny dissection of race.

SPOTLIGHTS

DAILY 29 | Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Zellerbach Hall | Berkeley $44-$58 | 510.642.9988 calperformances.org Alvin Ailey’s landmark Revelations enjoys its 50th anniversary performances, confirming its position as a defining masterwork of our time.

The Boy Whose Father Was God March 26 to April 1 Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco $20 to $44 | 415.392.4400 chanticleer.org

A musical re-telling of the whole life of Jesus, beginning with his childhood, is Chanticleer’s sacred offering this season. Dramatic new works by Roxanna Panufnik, Peter Michaelides and Ilyas Iliya have been commissioned to supplement evocative reflections by Arvo Part, Henryk Gorecki and Mason Bates.

29 | Ashford & Simpson Rrazz Room | San Francisco $47.50-$55.00 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com Singing/songwriting R&B duo showcase their brilliant repertoire in an intimate and inspiring show that will get you on your feet.

29 | Mary Wilson Yoshi’s | San Francisco $35 | 415.655.5600 yoshis.com The “First Lady of Motown” and one of the original Supremes, Wilson brings her engaging show to Yoshi’s.

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30 | Calder Quartet Dinkelspiel Aud/Stanford | Palo Alto $44-$50 | 650.725.2787 stanford.edu Grammy-winning pianist Gloria Cheng joins the acclaimed and fearless Calder Quartet.

30 | Paul Taylor Dance Company Novellus Theater | San Francisco $35-$60 | 415.398.6449 sfperformances.org Now in his 80th year, Paul Taylor is acclaimed for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his dances.

30 | Snow Falling on Cedars Center for the Arts | Mountain View $27-$42 | 650.463.1960 theatreworks.org Pride, prejudice, and the legacy of

31 | John Pinette Cobb’s Comedy Club | San Francisco $20.50-$23.50 | 415.928.4320 cobbscomedy.com Funnyman Pinette brings his latest standup act to Cobb’s. Also an actor, he played Edna Turnblad on Broadway in Hairspray.

31 | Jump ship mid way / Friend CounterPULSE | San Francisco $14-$17 | 800.838.3006 counterpulse.org CounterPULSE presents Artists in Residence Kegan Marling & Dandelion Dancetheater. Marling’s play imagines some of the unique paths to community acceptance navigated by gay men,while Friend is an homage to Sharon Mussen, who passed away recently. See advertisement on Page 16.

31 | Will Calhoun Yoshi’s | Oakland $12-$24 | 510.238.9200 yoshis.com Calhoun’s unique blend of improvisational and hard rock drumming is featured in this ensemble presentation of his Native Lands Experience.

images: courtesy photos (chanticleer, froncillo, pinette)

An evening of entertainment based on our second universal language: FOOD. It’s a unique new festive series of food monologues presented by celebrities, personalities and special guests.

Executive Chef Andrea Froncillo of the Stinking Rose, The Franciscan Crab Restaurant and five other of the company owned restaurants will be on stage sharing his story of food.

31 | Harlem Gospel Choir Montalvo Arts Center | Saratoga $45-$50 | 408.961.5858 montalvoarts.org One of the preeminent gospel choirs in the world, the choir is a gathering of the finest singers and musicians from various black churches in Harlem.

29 | David Choi Café du Nord | San Francisco $14 | 415.861.5016 cafedunord.com LA native Choi is a singer, songwriter and producer whose songs and tracks are often featured on television.

29 | Uh Huh Her Great American Music Hall | San Francisco $25 | 888.233.0449 gamh.com LA-based electro-pop duo Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey, who had a recurring role on Showtime’s The L Word. With Diamonds Under Fire.

MEANWHILE BACK AT CAFÉ DU MONDE March 8 | 7:30 pm The Rrazz Room 220 Mason Street, SF $40 | 800.380.3095 therrazzroom.com

forbidden love permeate the trial of a Japanese-American veteran charged in the death of a rival, rekindling memories of the wartime internment that once divided this remote community, and threatens its humanity still.

design publications websites

415.552.8040 780 sutter street san francisco, ca 94109

www.viamedia.net a division of Caselli Partners LLC

BACK Alex Rybeck, Ron Tierno, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway and Daniel Fabricant at the Napa Valley Opera House

Noah Racey and Karen Ziemba at the Alcazar Theatre

image: via media

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Christopher Titus at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre

Coco Peru at the Castro Theatre

Lesley Ann Warren and Marc Huestis at the Castro Theatre

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image: steven underhill

Amy “Bob” Engelhardt, Daniel “Bob” Schumacher, Matthew “Bob” Stull, Angie Doctor and Richard “Bob” Greene at Freight & Salvage

Cloris Leachman at the Castro Theatre

image: via media

image: steven underhill

Darren Williams at the Hotel Nikko

Kevin Pollak at the Cobb’s Comedy Club

Caleb Haven Draper and Bill Fahrner at the Eureka Theatre

image: via media

image: via media

image: via media

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