baystages | 2011.01 - january
DESCRIPTION
Celebrating the performing arts in San Francisco and beyond!TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 2011 | Celebrating The Performing Arts in San Francisco and Beyond!
NEXT TO NORMAL= ORPHEUM THEATRE
[THE SHOWS]CLUE= Boxcar Theatre
CLYBOURNE PARK= American Conservatory Theater
GREASE= Broadway San Jose
[THE PERFORMERS]PAULA WEST= The Rrazz Room
THE BOBS= Freight & Salvage
LIZ & ANN CALLAWAY= Napa Valley Opera House
ALSO: LEFT COAST CHAMBER ENSEMBLE | PATTON OSWALT | JOSHUA REDMAN
[THE LATEST]KAREN ZIEMBAMADS TOLLINGMONOTONIXMAREK JANOWSKIMORTIFIEDSWEET APPLEYAELISA
+MORE LIFE!SF SKETCHFEST
[THE COVER] Tony Winner Alice Ripley Still Lives
JANUARY 2011 | | 1
editorROBERT [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
contributing writersKEN BULLOCKGRIER COOPERANDREW GILBERTCOLM LARKINLIZA MOCKSTEVE MURRAYJAMES J. SIEGELROBERT SOKOLRON WILLIS
contributing photographersPAT JOHNSONROBERT SOKOLSTEVEN UNDERHILL
All other photos are provided by the artists or venues and credits are noted where available.
cover imageALICE RIPLEY image: craig shwartz
advertising salesRON WILLISSHAUN [email protected]
distributionJUAN RAMIREZ
Press releases and promotional materials may be sent to:
[email protected] mailed to:
BAY STAGES780 sutter streetsan francisco, ca 94109p: 415.552.8040 f: 415.869.3700
Writers may submit resumes and samples to [email protected] for consideration.
Minor errors discovered after printing have been corrected in this digital edition.
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.
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO January 18-19 | 8:00 & 10:00 PMYoshi’s | 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland$25 | 510.238.9200 | yoshis.comGrammy-winning a cappella group showcasing South African music and dance traditions with vocals and choreography.
THE STAGES
ACAPELLA | The Bobs .......................................................2DANCE | GUSH ...................................................................3STRING | Mads Tolling ......................................................4MYSTERY | Clue .................................................................5JAZZ | Paula West .............................................................6TOURING | Next To Normal ...............................................7COMEDY | SF Sketchfest ...................................................8SALON | John Kander Salon .............................................9PLAY | Clybourne Park ................................................... 10FLAMENCO | Yaelisa ....................................................... 11CLASSICAL | Marek Janowski ....................................... 12FAMILY | Boom! .............................................................. 13DAILY | January Events .................................................. 14CHAMBER | Left Coast Chamber Ensemble ................. 15MUSICAL | Grease .......................................................... 17TELLING | Mortified ........................................................ 19ROCK | Monotonix .......................................................... 21PUBLISHED | Patton Oswalt ........................................... 23INDIE | Sweet Apple ....................................................... 25EXHIBIT | More Life! ....................................................... 27BACK | Behind the Scenes & After the Show .............. 28
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2 | | JANUARY 2011
Now celebrating three decades of musical mayhem, The Bobs continue to ply a trademark style combining astounding vocal agility, deliciously ridiculous original pieces, wildly imaginative arrangements of tunes by the likes of The Doors, Kurt Weill and The Beatles, and off-the-cuff stage antics that give every performance the edge of stand-up comedy.
While mostly based in Seattle, the a cappella quartet first came together in San Francisco in 1981 when Matthew Stull and Gunnar Madsen lost their jobs delivering singing telegrams. Unwilling to give up the glamorous show biz lifestyle, they placed a want ad for a bass singer, and hooked up with Richard “Bob” Greene, who was also a songwriter and recording engineer.
After rehearsing together as a trio for months, they debuted at an open mike contest at a
Cuban restaurant and won, wowing the audience with a killer version of the Talking Heads “Psycho Killer.” At the time there was virtually no a cappella scene, so they pretty much cornered the market as the world’s only new wave a cappella band, and despite personnel changes over the years the quartet has retained its singular sound (Amy “Bob” Engelhardt and Dan “Bob” Schumacher round out the quartet with Stull and Greene). “Our stage show is very loose and interactive,” Greene says. “We like to play off each other and the audience.”
THE BOBSJanuary 30 | 8:00 pmFreight & Salvage2020 Addison Avenue, Berkeley$28.50 | 510.644.2020thefreight.org
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THE BOBS by andrew gi lbertcelebrating 30 years of note(s)
image: courtesy photo
The Bobs are Richard “Bob” Greene, founding member Matthew “Bob” Stull, Amy “Bob” Engelhardt, and Dan “Tallest Bob Ever” Schumacher.
JANUARY 2011 | | 3
GUSH
GUSH, a dance-theater collaborative series curated by Joe Goode, speaks about the human condition and our perceptions of the way the world works. Goode, a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, and internationally acclaimed innovator of contemporary dance theater, has gathered a select group of artists known for evoking perceptual change.
For three consecutive weekends, performances will cross through several styles of dance and sociopolitical commentary to challenge onlookers to reevaluate the way they see the world. The series includes performances by Joe Goode Performance Group, in his signature 29 Effeminate Gestures, about gender, in a synthesis of dance, song and visual imagery. Goode’s award-winning piece for AXIS Dance Company, an ensemble of dancers with and without physical disabilities, challenges the way viewers think about dance and
the potential of the human body. Ledoh/Salt Farm’s COLORMEAMERICA takes viewers on a multimedia cultural exploration through the integration of choreography, video projection, original electronic scores, choreography and mobile set design.
GUSHJanuary 13 to 29 | 8:00 pmBrava Theater2781 24th Street, San Francisco$15 to $35 | 415.641.7657brava.org
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joe goode curates dance theatre
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Melecio Estrella (left) and Marit Brook-Kothlow of Joe Goode Performance Group
4 | | JANUARY 2011
What could be more natural than for one of jazz’s most formidable young violinists to pay tribute to Jean-Luc Ponty, the powerhouse fiddler who put the instrument back in the jazz spotlight during the 1970s fusion era? But for Danish-born violin master Mads Tolling, raising a bow for Ponty isn’t just an artistic statement, it’s deeply personal.
A prodigy who performed for the European Parliament in Copenhagen at the age of 10, Tolling won a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and by the time he graduated Summa Cum Laude he had attracted the Ponty’s notice. The veteran
violinist recommended Tolling to Stanley Clarke, and he spent six years touring with the great electric bassist and film composer. Tolling landed in the Bay Area when the Turtle Island String Quartet recruited him to fill the band’s viola chair, and he contributed to two consecutive Grammy-winning
TISQ albums, “4+Four” and “A Love Supreme - The Legacy of John Coltrane.”
In recent years, he’s moved to Turtle Island’s second violin chair and tackled the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix on their recent release “Have You Ever Been…?” In many ways Hendrix provides the ideal preparation for exploring Ponty‘s underappreciated tunes. “His compositions, to me, draw a lot more from classical music than I used to think,” Tolling says. “To me they are creations of a perfect fusion between jazz, classical and rock ‘n’ roll.”
MADS TOLLINGJanuary 5 | 8:00 pmThe Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko222 Mason Street, San Francisco$25 | 415.394.1189therrazzroom.com
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MADS TOLLINGby andrew gi lberta tribute to jean-luc ponty
image: stuart brinin
Mads Tolling, Mike Abraham, Eric Garland and George Ban-Weiss.
JANUARY 2011 | | 5
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It’s been a board game, a television show, a musical, a book series and now – springboarding from their near reverence for the flop film derived from its rulebook – Clue comes to the stage of the Boxcar Theatre courtesy of an adaptation by Artistic Directors Peter Matthews and Nick Olivero.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” says Olivero. “The question was how, because we’re not fans of the whole unit set concept with multiple rooms, and we don’t have the capacity for a turntable.”
It was Matthews who suggested making the stage a life-size board game. Olivero took it a step further and placed the seating on all four sides like game players and then raised them onto platforms so the audience looks down on the action. This also allows for movement through the game’s trademark secret passages that flow right under the onlookers.
“Our whole approach has been to craft the experience for people like us who know and love the movie and would want to come see the show more than once,” says Olivero. “This isn’t necessarily for the Boxcar audience, it’s for the Clue audience.”
With that as a guide, screening the movie – and more than once – is encouraged prior to picking up your tickets. “It’s a satire. It’s an homage. We’re
trying to put our own twist on it while still getting as much of the subtlety and nuance of the film onto the stage and also make informed choices about where we depart from it.”
The stage presentation will be self-aware. “We do some commentary on things like the editing of the film and some of the inconsistencies there. We also comment on the actual experience of playing the game. We’ve tried to do as much as we can, realizing that this is a play and not a film, so some of the nuances just don’t carry forward.”
So will it likely be Mrs. Peacock or Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe or the rope in the library or the ballroom? Come to the Boxcar and find out!
CLUEJanuary 7 to February 5Boxcar Theatre505 Natoma Street, San Francisco$15 to $45 | 415.776.174boxcartheatre.org
CLUEby robert sokol
not just a board game (or even a movie) anymore
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Sarah Savage, Nick A. Olivero, Michelle Ianiro, Linnea George, Peter Matthews, Adam Simpson, Brian Martin, J. Conrad Frank, Justin Liszanckie and Stephanie Desnoyers are the suspects in Clue.
6 | | JANUARY 2011
Jazz stylist Paula West, the first act to play San Francisco’s Rrazz Room back in 2008, returns for an extraordinary eight-week engagement - the longest run in the room’s history.
Choosing exciting works by her favorite composers, West is solidly jazz but can infuse an original material’s intent into her unique style, be it country, folk, zydeco or pop. “I like to surprise people and take them through a range of emotions”, she says. “The musicians I work with, they can take a song to places even I didn’t imagine. I choose lyrics with humor, romance, and social commentary.“
You might hear Dylan, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Webb alongside Porter, Coleman and the Gershwins. Singing with smooth rhythm and multiple tempos, West wisely utilizes the brilliant arrangements of musical director/
pianist George Mesterhazy and his quartet. West has been wowing audiences and critics across the country since starting her career in the late ‘80s. The Rrazz Room is San Francisco’s crown jewel of cabaret venues. Elegant and intimate with incredible sound, it’s a great place to see your favorite musicians or check out somebody new. West says she “looks forward to an exciting run, working with my favorite musicians.”
PAULA WEST January 18 to March 13The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko222 Mason Street, San Francisco$35 to $45 | 415.394.1189therrazzroom.com
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PAULA WESTby steve murray& the george mesterhazy quartet
image: gary brew
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JANUARY 2011 | | 7
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Twelve arduous years in the making, the back-story of Next to Normal’s development is a testament to authentic collaboration, critical re-examination and faith in the power of story. Writer and lyricist Brian Yorkey and composer and singer Tom Kitt could not have imagined that their 10-minute musical, written in 1998 as an assignment in a mentorship program for young artists in New York, would ultimately become a Pulitzer Prize-winning emotional powerhouse on Broadway. It did, and now it’s ours to experience, San Francisco.
Next to Normal represents a seismic departure from the dumbing-down trend of almost all things 42nd Street this decade. Boldly confronting one of the last taboos of our time, Next to Normal pulls us with irresistible force into the grey ambiguity of mental illness. Alternating between heady delight and crushing emotional emptiness, the play brings us face to face with the brutal reality of living with bipolar disorder. Kitt’s effervescent rock score combined with Yorkey’s brilliant lyrics and book transform the audience from passive observer to virtual participant in the unfolding drama.
The greatest gift to San Francisco in this stunning, beautifully crafted package is its star. Alice Ripley reprises her acclaimed Tony-winning performance as Diana, the loving-but-conflicted wife and mother at the center of the piece. It is a role she has been refining since the show’s 2006 workshop.
About doing the national tour of the musical after her rigorous Broadway experience, Ripley told the Los Angeles Times last year: “Playing Diana feels like I’m walking out into traffic. You know that the bus is going to hit you, but you just have to step out in front of it anyway.”
NEXT TO NORMALJanuary 25 to February 20Curran Theatre445 Geary Street, San Francisco$30 to $99 | 888.746.1799shnsf.com
NEXT TO NORMALby ron wi l l is
tony winner alice ripley comes to san francisco
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Emma Hunton struggles to accept her mother Alice Ripley and how she chooses to deal with her bipolar disorder.
8 | | JANUARY 2011
Just ten years ago David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney - each of them accomplished comedians in their own right - created SF Sketchfest as a showcase for six local sketch comedy groups. The next decade would see their modest concept flourish, blossoming into a three-week long extravaganza featuring
some of the most sought after comedians in the world.
Starting out at the diminutive Shelton Theatre the festival now makes the Eureka Theatre its home base and boasts seven additional major venues in San Francisco ranging from the obvious (Cobb’s, The Punch Line, and The Purple Onion) to the grand (Marine’s Memorial and Castro Theatres and Yoshi’s).
In additional to live sketch comedy this year’s festival includes a ten-year reunion of the acts featured in the first Sketchfest, films, interviews, and tributes (including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of It’s Gary Shandling’s Show, and nods to the film Airplane! and the hit TV show Murphy Brown).
Despite the participation of iconic comedy legends, Owen, Stratton and Varney have kept the festival true to its humble roots by continuing to showcase up-and-coming talent and Bay Area comedic faves.
Among the major headliners this year: Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, David Byrne, James L. Brooks, Neil Patrick Harris, Cloris Leachman,
Gary Shandling, David and Jerry Zucker, plus Mario Cantone, Jennifer Coolidge, Will Forte, Rachael Harris, Maya Rudolph and Fred Willard in the New York smash hit Celebrity Autobiography, and over two hundred other acts!
Some of the dozens of shows include Characters Only, Porchlight: A Storytelling Series, Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Hour, White Noise Radio Theatre, Citizen Radio Live, Smug Shift, Thrilling Adventure Hour, Monsters of Podcasting, Killing My Lobster, and Viva Variety, plus multiple iterations of The SF Sketchfest Dozen, Whose Live Anyway and even more.
Given the nature of showbiz careers and the huge scope of this festival, be prepared for changes in the schedule… last year a number of booked celebrities were unable to participate. That said, clear you deck and get plenty of rest while you can to prepare for the marathon of laughter coming your way.
10TH ANNUAL SF SKETCHFESTJanuary 13 to February 5Various Venues San FranciscoTicket Range: $15 to $60sfsketchfest.com
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Dan Aykroyd
Gary Shandling
Mike Birbiglia
Neil Patrick Harris
SF SKETCHFESTby ron wi l l isa decade of har-dee-har-har
images: courtesy photos
JANUARY 2011 | | 9
Composer John Kander’s music – and lyrics! – were first heard on Broadway in the short lived A Family Affair in 1962. The same year he met lyricist Fred Ebb and the rest really is musical theatre history. Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman are only some of their creations.
Ebb died in 2004 and Kander has been shepherding their remaining - some partially unfinished - projects to the public. Curtains was on Broadway in 2007 and The Scottsboro Boys was produced last year.
42nd Street Moon pays tribute to Kander and his music this month with a salon evening at the Alcazar. Bringing a special, first-hand perspective to the proceedings are Noah Racey and Karen Ziemba, co-stars of Curtains.
Ziemba can think of many reasons to celebrate Kander and Ebb. Her relationship with them goes back to And The World Goes ‘Round, a 1991 revue of their work to that point that also starred Karen Mason and Robert Cuccioli.
She sums up her feelings in one story. “I was fairly young when I auditioned for the show. I remember walking into the room and singing my song and afterward, John Kander stood up from the worktable
where he was sitting and walked toward me and introduced himself.”
“He makes you feel like you are the most important person in the room and that’s not how you usually feel when you audition. I wondered why he was being so nice to me and I came to learn that that’s just who he is, and that he’s the same with everyone no matter who you are. He’s rather extraordinary that way.”
They would work together often and the role of Rita Racine in 1997’s Steel Pier was written for her. She looks forward to reliving a few Curtains moments with Racey.
“John actually wrote the lyrics for many of the songs that ended up in the final version of Curtains. He said he was channeling Fred.”
AND ALL THAT JAZZ: A JOHN KANDER SALON EvENINGJanuary 27 | 7:00 pm Alcazar Theatre650 Geary Street, San Francisco$70 | 415.255.820742ndstmoon.org
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by robert sokolcelebrating john kander and all that jazz
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CLYBOURNE PARKby robert sokolit’s not just black and white for manoel felciano
In Clybourne Park, playwright Bruce Norris takes the events fueling the plot of Lorraine Hansbury’s A Raisin in the Sun – a black family buys a house in a white neighborhood in 1950s Chicago – and bookends them with his own events, just before and a half-century later, to thought-provoking result.
The play recently won London’s Evening Standard Award for Best Play and makes its West Coast premiere as part of A.C.T.’s 2010-2011 season. The production marks the A.C.T. mainstage debut of director Jonathan Moscone - longtime artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater - and features a cast of eight including native San Franciscan and A.C.T. company member Manoel Felciano.
The 2006 Tony nominee - best supporting actor in the musical revival of Sweeney Todd - took a few moments out from rehearsal to consider Clybourne’s précis and how it speaks to the question of race in the still-new millennium.
“The play is very, very funny,” he says, “in the way that it makes people laugh and makes people squirm. The squirming can be about very serious
things, but the only way to get the expression out is through laughter.“
Felciano relates how initially it is easy to distance oneself from the unenlightened attitudes of the characters in the first act, set in 1959. “When you get to 2009 [in Act Two], the mirror is really held up to who we are now and how much is still a case of good intentions gone awry.”
“What was once insensitivity has been replaced by an over-sensitivity,” he suggests, “which in itself becomes a kind of insensitivity. It’s a bizarre paradox.”
CLYBOURNE PARKJanuary 20 to February 13American Conservatory Theater415 Geary Street, San Francisco$10 to $82 | 415.749.2228act-sf.org
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JANUARY 2011 | | 11
“When I was just four years old,” said Yaelisa of Caminos Flamencos dance company, “I danced in the old Casa Madrid, on Broadway in North Beach. I couldn’t help it! My mother was a dancer. It was all about Mom being a flamenco! So dancing was pretty much survival.”
Yaelisa’s mother, the late Isa Mura, danced and later sang in that lively San Francisco cabaret scene, featuring the performance style of singing, dancing and guitar music associated with the Roma (“Gypsy”) people of Spain. After Las Cuevas opened in The Old Spaghetti Factory on Green Street in 1958, North Beach became the focal point for flamenco in Northern California for over a quarter century.
Now, Yaelisa and others have brought the excitement of flamenco back to its old North Beach stomping grounds - and elsewhere in the city and around the Bay.
The biggest show this month is by Theatre Flamenco - at 45 years of age, the second oldest local dance troupe after the San Francisco Ballet - in Mountain View. Caminos Flamencos performs ongoing shows at Mohito in North Beach and at B44 downtown. Peña Pachamama in North Beach features shows some Sundays, and Thirsty Bear, South of Market, holds regular Sunday shows in its Flamenco Room.
UNA NOTA FLAMENCAJanuary 8 | 8:00 pm Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts500 Castro Street, Mountain View$36 to $41 | 650.903.6000theatreflamenco.org
CAMINOS FLAMENCOS @ B44 Alternate Thursdays | Call For Schedule44 Belden Place, San Francisco415.986.6287 | caminosflamencos.com
THIRSTY BEAR BREWING CO.Sundays | 7:15 & 8:30 pm661 Howard Street, San Francisco 415.974.0905 | thirstybear.com
PEñA PACHAMAMA RESTAURANTThursdays and Sundays | Call For Schedule1630 Powell Street, San Francisco415.646.0018 | pachamamacenter.org
FLA
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YAELISAby ken bul lock
flamenco around the bay
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12 | | JANUARY 2011
Hearing the San Francisco Symphony is a treat. Hearing the Symphony perform Beethoven, conducted by Marek Janowski, is more like a ten-course feast. Janowski was born in Poland in 1939, but grew up in Germany. He has been the chief conductor of the world renowned Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2002 and has a lifetime contract with the company. In 2005 he also became the Musical Director of Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, but will be retiring from the post after the 2011-2012 season.
Until the ‘90s, the majority of Janowski’s repertoire was opera. He traveled the world performing as guest conductor in every opera house of note, but for the last 20 years he has been conducting mostly symphonic music. His reputation is built upon his unique choice of repertoire as well
as his ability to make the most familiar pieces bright and exciting. On his upcoming visit to San
Francisco he will be conducting Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 4,” his “Piano Concerto No. 3” and, as a nod to his opera roots, “Overture No. 3” from Beethoven’s only opera, Leonore, which upon its first performance and after it was re-written, came to be called Fidelio.
MAREK JANOWSKI SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONYJanuary 20 to 23Davies Symphony Hall201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco$15 to $140 | 415.864.6000sfsymphony.org
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MAREK JANOWSKIby l iza mockconducts beethoven with the sf symphony
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JANUARY 2011 | | 13
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ILYBOOM!
by robert sokolliz and ann hampton callaway
Before iPods and downloads did you wait for your favorite songs on the radio? Do you try to remember the way you were? Did you just recognize references to four hit songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s? If so, you are sure to enjoy an evening with sisters Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway when they present Boom! at the Napa Valley Opera House.
“Sometimes songs have an expiration date on them,” says Ann, “but because they’re attached to a period full of associations and history and memories they will always have a nostalgia factor. Then there are the classic songs that capture universal feelings in a conversational but poetic way, and I think we’ve chosen a lot of those for the show.”
Liz remembers how certain songs and recordings drew a dotted line between their often very different musical tastes while growing up in Chicago. “Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ did that,” she says. “So did The Beatles. Otherwise I was very Fifth Dimension and Ann was very Joni Mitchell. It’s not true for me of all
‘60s music, but a lot of the songs – particularly the cheery ones – just feel like me.”
Say Ann: “It was a very fertile time in history for singer-songwriters to try and make very powerful statements and challenge some of the ideas and the moods of the status quo and make the world better, more just, more beautiful. There was a lot of idealism going on and a lot of interesting escapism and we try to find the balance between the two in this show.”
BOOM!Liz and Ann Hampton CallawayJanuary 28 | 8:00 pmNapa Valley Opera House1310 Main Street, Napa$30 to $40 | 707.226.7372nvoh.org
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1 | KIM NALLEYtherrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095Let the Good Times Roll is Nalley’s latest jazz/blues show. Just try and sit still as she works the standards with charm, wit and charisma. ($35)
1 | THREE vIEWINGStheatreanew.comBecome immersed in the setting of the play - once inside the chapel you become a witness to three different viewings each with a tale to tell. ($30)
2 | EDGAR WINTERyoshis.com | 415.655.5600Acclaimed singer-songwriter with an innovative, rock/blues style. ($38)
3 | DOUBLE TROUBLEsfchamberorchestra.org | 415.392.4400SF Chamber Orchestra presents this program of concerts for two instruments. (Free)
4 | FRANC D’AMBROSIOtherrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095D’Ambrosio presents I’ll Be Seeing YOUZ: A Bronx Boy’s Musical Perspective of World War II, to be recorded live for his upcoming CD. ($40)
5 | THE OHIO PLAYERSyoshis.com | 415.655.5600A great funk band, with hits like “Funky Worm,” “Love Rollercoaster,” and “Who’d She Coo.” ($25-$35)
5 | TOM RHODESpunchlinecomedyclub.com | 415.397.7573Globe-trotting comedian brings his stand-up act back to San Francisco. ($15)
6 | BEN BAILEYcobbscomedy.com | 415.928.4320Host of Cash Cab and Cash Cab: After Dark on Discovery, Bailey is an acclaimed stand-up. ($17.50-$20.50)
6 | HéLèNE GRIMAUDsfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000Kirill Karabits conducts an enthralling program of three deeply impassioned works, featuring Grimaud’s extraordinary piano talents. ($15-$140)
6 | LOST IN YONKERSjccsf.org | 415.292.1200Neil Simon’s sweet coming-of-age story about two young brothers left in the care of their formidable immigrant grandmother. ($20-$39)
6 | STRANGE TRAvELthemarsh.org | 800.838.3006An improvised monologue inspired by the joys of wanderlust. ($15-$50)
6 | TRUE WESTbayareastage.org | 707.649.1053Missouri Street Theatre, Fairfield. Sam Shepard American classic about what happens when brothers, sons of a desert dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer, clash. ($5-$15)
7 | ART6thstreetplayhouse.com | 707.523.41856th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa. Three friends in Paris find their previously solid friendship on shaky ground when one buys an expensive painting. ($20-$25)
9 | FOREvER TANGOmarinesmemorialtheatre.tix.com Created/directed by Luis Bravo and featuring a world-renowned cast of passionate dancers and musicians. ($45-$100)
9 | CANDIDsweetcanproductions.comCombining traditional circus with stunning physical theater, dance and live music performance. ($15-$60)
15 | THE COMPOSER IS DEADberkeleyrep.org | 510.647.2949The show must go on? But the actor is mute, the director is crying, the dancer is lazy—and the composer is dead! By Lemony Snicket. ($34-$73)
15 | SISTER ROBERT ANNE’S CABARET CLASSwillowstheatre.com | 925.798.1300Starring a lead cast member from the past 25 years of Nunsense. ($22-$32)
15 | THE LION IN WINTERactorstheatresf.org | 415.345.1287Electric play about late-12th-Century palace intrigue in the English Court. ($18-$38)
15 | CORALINEsfplayhouse.org | 415.677.9596Bored and lonely, Coraline discovers a parallel world where she thinks she could never be happier, then… ($30-$50)
16 | DIRTY LITTLE SHOWTUNESnctcsf.org | 415.861.8972A brand new edition of the popular bawdy Broadway parody revue with Tom Orr’s ingenious lyrical spin. ($24-$36)
16 | THE SALT PLAYS: OF THE EARTHshotgunplayers.org | 510.841.6500Gripping drama about war and coming home. ($17-$30)
23 | WOODY GUTHRIE’S AMERICAN SONGcinnabartheater.org | 707.763.8920Stirring musical journey uses his own words to follow legendary singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie. ($35)
CLOSING SHOWS DAILYim
ages: jessica palopoli (coraline), ken friedman (lost in yonkers), all others - courtesy photos (edgar w
inter, franc d’ambrosio, ben bailey, hélène grim
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JANUARY 2011 | | 15
The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble is a phenomenon that could only happen on the easy going left coast.
The ensemble is simultaneously casual and serious. It was started in 1992 by a group of friends who simply enjoyed each other’s company and found they loved playing chamber music together.
Currently in their sixteenth season, the dozen members - a unique number for a chamber ensemble - play pieces spanning the decades and often like to combine old and new. It is clear that the project still pleases after all these years.
Root Causes is a concert which is as diverse as the musicians themselves and pays homage to the roots that often inspire musical creation.
Antonin Dvorák’s “Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello,” inspired by European and North American folk music, is played alongside John Musto’s jazz-influenced trio for the same instruments. Also part of the program are a sacred Yom Kippur melody by Ernest Bloch, and the world premiere of new arrangements of popular songs by Kurt Rhode, who is a Left Coast member. The composers range over a wide time period from as early as 1841 to the present.
THE LEFT COAST CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
January 20 | 8:00 pm142 Throckmorton Theatre142 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley$15 to $20 | 415.383.9600142throckmortontheatre.com
January 24 | 8:00 pmGreen Room401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco$15 to $20 | 415.642.8054leftcoastensemble.org
CH
AM
BER
ROOT CAUSESby l iza mock
left coast music
imag
e: ly
dia
chen
Members of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble include (top to bottom)Kurt Rohde, Michael Goldberg, Phyllis Kamrin, Leighton Fong, Anna Presler,
Eric Zivian, Tanya Tomkins, Jerome Simas, Michel Taddei and Stacey Pelinka.
16 | | JANUARY 2011
7 | GEORGE WINSTONnvoh.org | 707.226.7372Thirty years on and Winston’s melodic folk piano style continues to inspire. ($37-$39)
7 | PONCHO SANCHEZyoshis.com | 510.238.9200Wildly popular Latin Jazz band led by Chicano conguero Poncho Sanchez. ($24)
7 | WISE UP!mccsf.org | 415.794.7746Wayne Self and Stephanie Smith present a fractured, faeried and thoroughly modern re-telling of the gift of the Magi story. ($15-$20)
8 | 77 EL DEORAcafedunord.com | 415.861.5016Smart, original, neo-noir honky tonk in the classic rhythms and themes of western America. With The Whisky Richards and others. ($11-$13)
8 | ARTURO SANDOvALsfjazz.org | 866.920.5299SFJAZZ presents one of the world’s most gifted trumpet players for one night only. ($30-$75)
8 | BLvDtheindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421Live electronica trio know for their signature electro-rock style. With Pink Mammoth. ($15)
8 | E.C. SCOTTbiscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583Scott possesses a warm, inviting voice and a delivery that can be smooth and sultry one minute but sassy and sexy the next. ($20)
8 | LOS LOBOSthefillmore.com | 415.346.6000After over thirty years of music making the men of Los Lobos are still hot, receiving two Grammy nominations for their latest album. ($50)
8 | ROY ROGERS & THE DELTA RHYTHM KINGSgeorgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726Musician and producer Rogers is one of the premier slide guitarists performing today. ($15)
9 | DIA DE LOS REYEScorohispano.org | 415.431.4234Hailed as America’s premiere Latin chorus, the Coro-Hispano has been pleasing audiences for 35 years. ($20)
9 | SOYEON LEEsfperformances.org | 415.398.6449Winner of the 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition ($25)
9 | WILLIE NELSONthefillmore.com | 415.346.6000Icon, legend, superstar, Willie Nelson still thrills audiences with his talent and charisma. ($55)
10 | SONGS OF THE REDHEADemanuelsf.org | 800.838.3006Don Croll wrote and stars in this engaging one-man show featuring tunes made famous by Danny Kaye. ($25)
11 | MARTHA REEvEStherrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095The Queen of Motown and lead of Martha and the Vandellas, Reeves brings her distinctive style to the Rrazz Room. ($40-$45)
DAILYim
ages: ashley ingram (el deoro), all others - courtesy photos (poncho sanchez, roy rogers, w
illie nelson, martha reeves)
JANUARY 2011 | | 17
MU
SIC
AL
GREASEby robert sokol
still rockin’ at rydell high
Lightning may not strike twice, but Grease Lightning – the show’s original title – seems to be a hit over and over again. Originally developed in Chicago in 1971, the Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey musical about fictional Rydell High seems to always be playing somewhere in the world.
The show enjoyed an eight-year life on Broadway moving through four different theatres before closing in 1980 as the then longest-running musical ever. The original cast included emerging talents Adrienne Barbeau, Barry Bostwick, a pre-Manhattan Transfer Alan Paul, and Jeff Conaway as the male understudy for all the guy roles before taking over as Danny Zuko.
Over the years Peter Gallagher, Marilu Henner, John Travolta, Treat Williams and Adrian Zmed did time at Rydell. Zmed starred in the film Grease 2, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, and Travolta, of course, made the top-grossing original film version with Olivia Newton-John. The soundtrack to that film became a multi-million seller and leads the pack of well over
100 recordings of the score, including translations into most world languages.
The show is regularly revived, and was notably on Broadway in 1994 with star turns by Brooke Shields, Rosie O’Donnell, Lucy Lawless and Sally Struthers. A 2007 revival was cast from a primetime reality show competition.
For Broadway San Jose, Tony-nominee Eddie Mekka – once known as Carmine Ragusa on Laverne & Shirley – stars as DJ Vince Fontaine and leads an energetic cast including Alyssa Herrera and Matt Nolan as lovebirds Sandy and Danny.
GREASEJanuary 18 to 23San Jose Center for the Performing Arts255 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose$20 to $79 | 408.792.4111broadwaysanjose.com
imag
e: jo
an m
arcu
s
Matt Nolan and Alyssa Herrera (center), and the Grease company.
18 | | JANUARY 2011
11 | MIKE DAISEYberkeleyrep.org | 510.647.2949Master storyteller and monologuist presents two shows: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs and The Last Cargo Cult. ($29-$73)
12 | THE A.W.A.R.D. SHOW!odctheater.org | 415.863.9834Twelve dance artists, four nights of performances, one award of $10,000, one vote - you be the judge! ($18)
12 | THE FAMILY STONEyoshis.com | 415.655.5600True to their original raw funk groove, these “Everyday People” will leave you “Taken Higher.” ($20-$26)
12 | WILL DURSTgeorgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726Five-time Emmy nominee, seven-time nominee for the American Comedy Awards Stand Up of the Year. ($10)
13 | ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENNIUM APPROACHESbusbarn.org | 650.941.0551A startling new version of Kushner’s brilliant play through an innovative new program supporting young stage directors. ($15)
13 | ANNIEsolanocollegetheatre.org | 707.864.7100This Broadway classic tells the story of how one little girl wins the heart of a New York City tycoon and changes the course of a nation. ($20)
13 | HUUN HUUR TUgamh.com | 888.233.0449The Throat Singers of Tuva bring their radically representational music which imitates or aesthetically represents the sounds of nature. ($26)
13 | SF BLUEGRASS SHOWcafedunord.com | 415.861.5016Benefit for the SF Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival, which runs Feb 11-20 at 20+ venues around the Bay. ($10-$20)
13 | WOMEN ON THE WAYftloose.org | 415.289.2000Shotwell Studios and The Garage. Produced by Mary Alice Fry, three weeks of comedy, music, dance and theater. ($15-$20)
13 | YAN PASCAL TORTELIERsfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000Featuring Mussorgsky’s “Dawn Over the River Moscow,” Khachaturian’s “Violin Concerto” and scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. ($15-$140)
14 | A HAND IN DESIREemspacedance.orgViracocha riffs on the themes and images in A Streetcar Named Desire, and considers what it means to take on an iconic piece of theater. ($20)
14 | ALL SHOOK UPdiablotheatre.org | 925.943.7469Los Lomas High School presents a tangled tale of romance, comedy, and rock n’ roll set to Elvis tunes. ($12-$15)
14 | BONE TO PICK / DIADEMcuttingball.com | 415.419.3584Two one-woman shows about the classical myth of Ariadne, written by Eugenie Chan. ($15-$50)
14 | CHAKA KHANthewarfieldtheatre.com | 800.745.3000There’s only one Chaka, possessed of a powerhouse, unforgettably distinctive trademark vocal style. With Chrisette Michele. ($45-$82)
DAILYim
ages: stan barouh (mike daisey), eye for talent (huun huur tu), rob m
elrose (bone to pick/diadem), all others - courtesy photos (chaka khan)
JANUARY 2011 | | 19
It’s wonderful when we as human beings find something in common. It makes us feel connected and somehow whole. Among the many other things that we two-leggeds share is the voyeuristic desire to know as many deep, dark and humiliating secrets about each other as possible. Perhaps it is because we all have them ourselves and hope to find that other people’s are somehow more gruesome than ours.
Mortified is a phenomenal project that allows anyone to have either a voyeuristic or a cathartic experience by telling or listening to the most excruciatingly embarrassing secrets as read, sung or simply told onstage by the humiliated person.
Mortified was founded by Dave Nadelberg in the late 1990s. The inspiration was a particularly humiliating love letter from his early years that Nadelberg came across and began sharing with friends. With the help of co-producer Neil Katcher, Mortified became official in 2002. There are no particular requirements for those who choose to
participate other than the fact that they must be willing to share, have unedited and unaltered materials such as writing or art which they created before turning 21, and are willing to present it themselves. All participants are selected at open calls.
MORTIFIED SFJanuary 14 to 15 | 8:00 pmMake Out Room3225 22nd Street, San Francisco$12 to $15 | 415.647.2888getmortified.com/live
TELLIN
GMORTIFIED SF
by l iza mockpublic (self-)humiliation as performance
imag
e: e
d pi
ngol
20 | | JANUARY 2011
14 | NO GOOD DEEDthepear.org | 650.254.1148A stunning new play by Paul Braverman that is told with a classic film noir feel. ($20-$30)
14 | NORM MACDONALDthefillmore.com | 415.346.6000Actor, writer and SNL alum, in his hilarious stand-up show. ($25)
14 | PUBLIC ENEMYyoshis.com | 415.655.5600Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, DJ Lord & S1W’s. ($40)
14 | RING OF FIRE6thstreetplayhouse.com | 707.523.4185The music of Johnny Cash in an uplifting story about the triumph of human talent and spirit. ($28-$39)
14 | STEvE TYRELLnvoh.org | 707.226.7372Grammy-winner Tyrell has reinvented and re-popularized classic pop standards for a modern-day audience. ($35-$45)
14 | THE ENGLISH BEATbimbos365club.com | 877.435.9849Fusing ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, with lyrics that deal with love, unity and sociopolitical topics. ($22-$25)
14 | TITANIC: IN CONCERTstage1theatre.org | 510.791.0287The musical based on the tragedy of the Titanic, in concert. ($10-$20)
15 | LAvAY SMITHbiscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583With her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Smith takes her audience back to the 40’s & 50’s with her impeccable Jazz and Blues offerings. ($20)
15 | OUROBOROSrenegadetheatre.com | 408.493.0783Tom Jacobson’s amazing palindrome play about two couples visiting Italy. ($28.50)
15 | IDYLLS & DANCESsymphonysiliconvalley.org | 415.286.2600Featuring Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll plus Liszt and Rachmaninov. ($39-$75)
15 | THE ARISTOCATSberkeleyplayhouse.org | 510.845.8542Berkeley Playhouse Conservatory’s KidStage Program presents a live version of the Disney favorite. ($20)
15 | THE BUDOS BANDtheindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421Staten Island instrumental afro-soul is the way the group describes their singular instrumental-only style. ($20)
16 | YOUTH ORCHESTRAsfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000Six Bay Area youth orchestras celebrate with proceeds benefitting underserved, homeless youth. ($30-$60)
16 | COWBOY MOUTHslims-sf.com | 415.255.033316th Annual Rock ‘n Roll Mardi Gras Tour. With Dash Rip Rock. ($22)
16 | SYMPHONY PARNASSUSsymphonyparnassus.org | 415.728.5997Stephen Paulson conducts his own Bassoon Concerto, plus Mozart and Richard Strauss. ($25-$25)
16 | TWICE AS GOODbiscuitsandblues.com | 415.292.2583Native American father and son duo, awarded Best New Blues Band 2010 by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. ($15)
17 | vELvETWINOScafedunord.com | 415.861.5016CD release party for two Bay Area singer/songwriters whose multifaceted music is driven by electronica, rock, metal & folk. ($10)
18 | SNOOP DOGGthefillmore.com | 415.346.6000Rap and hip-hop legend, record producer, and actor, with a personality as big as his talent. ($37.50)
18 | THE COMPANION PIECEzspace.org | 415.626.0453A funny, moving, theatrically provocative new work from some of the Bay Area’s most adventurous experimental theater makers. ($40)
19 | CLARINET THINGsfperformances.org | 415.398.6449A chamber quartet of jazz clarinetists, featuring uncommon arrangements and original compositions using the entire family of clarinets. ($20)
19 | THE 39 STEPStheatreworks.org | 650.463.1960A hilarious, high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s silver-screen classic. ($27-$42)
DAILY
Performances at
29. N. San Pedro St.Downtown San Jose
(800) 838-3006www.tabardtheatre.org
Tickets: $10-$24
Jan. 28 – Feb. 20
“Breathlessshow, fast
tempo, plentyof laughs.”
—Variety
SeeHowTheyRun
Mystery!Mayhem! Mirth!
image: courtesy photo (the com
panion piece)
JANUARY 2011 | | 21
The most recent San Francisco performance by Israeli garage rockers Monotonix was at this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival. But if you were looking at the actual stage during the allotted show time you wouldn’t have seen much.
As is their want, the trio of band members – drummer included – performed the entire show in the midst of and on top of the assembled crowd.
If you appreciate unpredictability as a vital element of a live experience, you have to see Monotonix.
Formed in November 2005, the band’s early shows were so outrageous it is now banned from the majority of venues in its hometown of Tel Aviv.
At a Monotonix gathering crowd surfing is encouraged, spitting is frequent, and at Treasure Island dreadlocked lead singer Ami Shalev emptied trash bags over the audience. Yet the overwhelming spirit is one of mischievous peace and love rather than malevolent violence.
Monotonix’s music is a potent Stooges-style garage rock but, more importantly, the pulsating rhythms and fiery guitars fuel the entertaining antics of the performance. With a new album entitled “Not Yet” due out this month, Shalev and his anarchic cohorts should be fired up for another night of unmissable mayhem.
MONOTONIX Rickshaw Stop 2170 Market Street, SFJanuary 28 | 8:30 pm $10-$12 | 415.861.2011rickshawstop.com
RO
CK
MONOTONIXby colm lark in
from tel aviv, with love
imag
e: g
iles
smith
22 | | JANUARY 2011
20 | AUDITIONtheexit.org | 800.838.3006A play that tries to occupy that space between real life and theater, the domain of the unreal-and-yet-true.
20 | COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTYcltc.org | 408.295.4200A famous portrayer of female roles in 17th-century London and the law that leads to his ruin. ($15-$28)
20 | JONATHAN COULTONgamh.com | 888.233.0449Well crafted geek folk-pop with the Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science. With Paul and Storm. ($25)
20 | LEDISIyoshis.com | 510.238.92002010 Grammy Nominee Ledisi brings her soul/rock stylings to Yoshi’s. ($24-$28)
20 | MAC MILLERslims-sf.com | 415.255.0333Hip-hop artist Mac Miller began rhyming at the age of nine. ($14-$16)
20 | RAW-DIOSmissionculturalcenter.org | 415.643.2785When a DJ of a popular morning-drive crew publicly questions the buildup to war, he is forced to choose between prestige and principle. ($15)
20 | THE WAILERStheindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold over 250 million albums worldwide. Traditional Reggae at its best. ($25)
21 | CABARETpcrtproductions.orgPacific Coast Rep’s production of Kander & Ebb’s brilliant musical. ($15-$35)
21 | HEARTBREAK HOUSEaeofberkeley.org | 510.649.5999Actors Ensemble of Berkeley presents George Bernard Shaw’s tragicomic, eternal classic.
21 | I DO, I DObroadwaywest.org | 510.683.9218An intimate and charming musical with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. ($15-$22)
21 | NAvITAS ENSEMBLEoldfirstconcerts.org | 415.474.1608Hannah Addario-Berry, cello; Elizabeth Choi, violin; Jodi Levitz, viola on Bartók, Schulhoff, Schnittke and Dohnányi. ($17)
21 | ODC UNPLUGGEDodctheater.org | 415.863.9834A first look at Kimi Okada’s I Stare Vacantly at the Pacific…Though Regret which will be part of Dance Downtown in March. ($18)
21 | PAPA GROWS FUNKslims-sf.com | 415.255.0333Classic New Orleans funk band. With AllofaSudden. ($20-$25)
21 | DAvID DANIELSphilharmonia.org | 415.252.1288David Daniels in a program of baroque music. Also in Berkeley [1/15-16] and Atherton [1/18]. ($30-$90)
21 | PRINCESS IDAstanford.eduThe Stanford Savoyards present this play depicting a battle of the sexes that involves more than the traditional pigtails in inkwells.
21 | PRIvATE EYESdragonproductions.net | 800.838.3006Steven Dietz’ dramatic-comedy explores a tangled web of love and lust with more than a few twists and turns of its own. ($16-$30)
21 | SHADOWLANDSpaplayers.org | 650.329.0891Palo Alto Players’ present C.S. Lewis’ autobiographical story of an unexpected, deeply intimate relationship. ($21-$32)
21 | THE FULL MONTYpinoleplayers.org | 510.724.9844David Yazbek and Terrence McNally’s delightful musical about out of work miners giving their all. ($20)
21 | THE LION IN WINTERdanvilletheatre.com | 925.314.3400With political machinations and sibling rivalry, this royal family puts the fun in dysfunction. ($15-$25)
21 | RILEY PROJECT & AURA FISCHBECK DANCEcounterpulse.org | 415.626.2060Investigating the human condition through social politics, misbehavior, and love, with some of San Francisco’s finest dance artists. ($10-$20)
21 | TREEFALLnctcsf.org | 415.861.8972New Conservatory Theatre Center
DAILYSHOPPING! THE MUSICALshoppingthemusical.com | 415.713.6486A hilarious, fast-paced revue of original songs and sketches about shopping. ($27-$29)
BEACH BLANKET BABYLONbeachblanketbabylon.com Steve Silver’s ever-evolving creation is packed with hilarious spoofs of pop culture & politics. ($25-$80)
PARTY OF 2partyof2themusical.com | 800.838.3006 Comic and touching songs about independent types who meet, mate, move in and grapple with issues of love and proximity ($27-$29)
MORE LIFE!: ANGELS IN AMERICA AT TWENTYmpdsf.org | 415.255.4800Museum of Performance & Design.Immersing visitors in the magical world of Kushner’s brilliant play.
PEARLS OvER SHANGHAIthrillpeddlers.com | 800.838.3006Comic mock-operetta about white slavery & miscegenation set in the colorful world of 1937 Shanghai. ($30-$35)
LICENSE TO KISS II, A SWEET CONSPIRACYlove.zinzanni.org | 415.438.2668The beautiful spiegeltent turns into a den for intrigue, espionage & the ultimate candy-coated collusion. ($117-$145)
SUNDAY’S A DRAGharrydenton.com | 415.395.8595A revival of the spirit of the drag show, picking up where the legendary Finocchio’s left off. ($44.95)
TONY AND TINA’S WEDDINGtonyandtinasanfrancisco.com You are invited to the world’s #1 dinner comedy show. ($88.50-$115.50)
MAGIC AT THE REXmagicattherex.com | 415.273.9790In this intimate cocktail lounge setting you will be up close and personal with every flick of the wrist and wave of a hand. ($25)
ONGOING SHOWSim
ages: rick markovich (beach blanket babylon), all others - courtesy photos (ledisi)
JANUARY 2011 | | 23
Some people may know Patton Oswalt as Kevin James’ sidekick on the hit TV show The King of Queens. Or maybe they know him as Remy the Rat in the Pixar film Ratatouille. But fans who have been following Oswalt’s stand-up career since the mid-1990s know him as the take-no-prisons comic skewering everything from George Lucas and his Stars Wars prequels to “hipster” T-shirts.
Now Oswalt has written his first book, “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.” He will discuss the book as part of the City Arts & Lectures series at Herbst Theatre. Writer Andrew Leland will field questions to Oswalt about the book, which is part memoir, part humorous essays.
According to Amanda Marlow of City Arts & Lectures, the audience will also have the opportunity to join the conversation.“There will be a conversation on stage, and it is set up living room style,” she said. “There will be a 50-minute conversation and then Q&A to the audience for 20 minutes.”
The event is part of the organization’s 826 Valencia series, which is geared towards a younger audience and features more contemporary authors, such as Amy Sedaris and Ira Glass. A portion of the proceeds will benefit 826 Valencia, a program that helps students ages 6 to 18 develop their writing skills.
PATTON OSWALT IN CONvERSATION WITH ANDREW LELANDCity Arts & Lectures January 4 | 8:00 pmHerbst Theatre401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco$20 | 415.392.4400cityboxoffice.com
PU
BLIS
HEDPATTON OSWALT
by james j . s iegelexplores a zombie spaceship wasteland
imag
e: c
ourt
esy
phot
o
24 | | JANUARY 2011
22 | HEMISPHERES142throckmortontheatre.org Blending African, Middle Eastern, Asian and South American instruments with more traditional Jazz instrumentation. ($18-$25)
22 | MY FAIR LADYsymphonysiliconvalley.orgCalifornia Theatre offers a concert version of Lerner and Loewe’s classic retelling of Shaw’s Pygmalion. ($39-$75)
22 | NEW PICKLE CIRCUStickets.jccsf.org | 415.292.1200This perennial JCCSF favorite matches clowns, acrobats and contortionists with jugglers, aerialists and more. ($17-$25)
22 | RUBBER SOULDIERSslims-sf.com | 888.233.0449This Beatles’ tribute band brings a rockabilly/jam-band revision of all your favorites from the Fab Four! ($15)
22 | TIM HOCKENBERRYgeorgesnightclub.com | 877.568.2726Hockenberry expresses a voice and musical sensibility of irresistible power and harsh beauty. ($15-$20)
23 | vIvA vIvALDI!philharmonia.org | 415.252.1288Three sonatas from Vivaldi’s “Opus 1” set of 1705, along with several other of Vivaldi’s works for strings. ($25)
23 | SUZANNE vEGAnvoh.org | 707.226.7372Come see IDOL NV 2009 winner Olivia Jasmine open for acclaimed singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. ($30-$40)
23 | WILLIAM WELLBORNoldfirstconcerts.org | 415.474.1608Pianist, teacher and lecturer, Wellborn presents his celebration of the bicentennial of Franz Liszt. ($17)
24 | EMILY ALBRINKemanuelsf.org | 800.838.3006Soprano Albrink presents works by American composers. ($25)
24 | WARyoshis.com | 415.655.5600One of the most popular funk groups of the ‘70s and still going strong. ($40)
25 | HARPER REGANsfplayhouse.org | 415.677.9596On a startlingly bright autumn night Harper Regan walked away from her home, her husband and her daughter.
25 | vERONICA KLAUStherrazzroom.com | 800.380.3095Presenting her show Lady Luck with The Tammy Hall Trio. ($25)
26 | OFFENSIvE WOMEN142throckmortontheatre.org Comedy with Julie Goldman, Betsy Salkind & Andre the Wonderwoman. ($18-$23)
27 | HOLEShillbarntheatre.org | 650.349.6411A modern, grown-up fairy tale with a charming ending that comes full circle after many perambulations. ($22-$36)
27 | SEAGULLmarintheatre.org | 415.388.5208A sleek, sexy production of Chekov’s classic in a world premiere adaptation by Libby Appel. ($32-$53)
27 | SYLvIAbusbarn.org | 650.941.0551Bus Barn Stage presents an endearing romantic comedy about a marriage and a winsome canine. ($24-$30)
27 | THE DRESSERsjrep.com | 408.367.7255A touching and poignant tribute to theatre, friendship and the human spirit that proves that the show must go on. ($35-$79)
28 | BOEING BOEINGcenterrep.org | 925.943.7469High-flying Tony-winning comedy of a man living in Paris with his three flight attendant fiancees. ($36-$41)
28 | BROKEN COLUMNenricolabayen.com | 415.273.4633Exploring love, heartbreak, greed, ambition, intrigue, gender, the environment and the manufacturing of emotions. ($25)
DAILYRECOMMENDED
JOSHUA REDMANJanuary 22 | 8:00 pmZellerbach Hall, Berkeley$22 to $50 | 510.642.9988
A hometown gig for Berkeley-raised Joshua Redman is always something special. Since giving up his gig as artistic director of SFJAZZ’s Spring Season concert series in 2007, the saxophonist spends most of his life as a performer on the road with an array of ensembles.
There’s his harmonically unfettered, stripped down bass-and-drums trio featuring a revolving cast of superlative rhythm sections. His unlikely double trio, a lineup with two bassists and two drummers that he introduced on his acclaimed 2009 album “Compass” (Nonesuch), then proceeded to turn into a working band for European tours.
Stateside he’s been on the road with James Farm, an indie rock-inspired jazz quartet, and he’s performing widely in a duo with piano star Brad Mehldau. But for his Cal Performances gig, Redman has assembled a fascinating cast of players who share deep ties, including New Orleans bassist Reginald Veal (best known for his long association with Wynton Marsalis), pianist Aaron Goldberg, a supremely fluent improviser with an abiding passion for Brazilian music, and drummer Greg Hutchinson, who’s played a key role in just about every phase of Redman’s career.
Though the musicians have all performed together in various configurations, it’s a debut for this particular quartet, a setting ideally calibrated to showcase Redman’s melodic inventiveness and newfound confidence on the soprano sax.
- Andrew Gilbert
images: im
n (joshua redman), all others - courtesy photos (rubber souldiers, tim
hockenberry)
JANUARY 2011 | | 25
Sweet Apple has been labeled an indie rock supergroup, even though of the band’s four members, only Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis could be considered an alternative star. Besides, the story behind the band’s formation is far more compelling than the mere presence of an indie guitar god.
Following the death of his mother, a distraught John Petkovic – lead singer of Cleveland band Cobra Verde – found himself driving through Vermont, an unplanned 400 miles from home. A chance phone call from his friend and Green Mountain State resident Dave Sweetapple led to a meeting between the pair and Mascis, with whom Sweetapple played in the band Witch.
The trio resolved to form a band and Petkovic wrote a number of songs on his long drive home. Far from the fuzzy, mumbling music of Dinosaur Jr., Sweet Apple’s debut album “Love And Desperation,”
wears its road trip influences in the form of a classic rock sound.
On stage Petkovic struts his stuff with renewed vigor, while Mascis continues to shred his guitar in his inimitable (and often immobile) fashion. Sweet Apple may not be a supergroup, but music this loud and raucous will appeal to any San Francisco rock fan.
SWEET APPLE January 14 | 8:30 pmCafé du Nord 2170 Market Street, San Francisco$15 | 866.777.8932 cafedunord.com
IND
IESWEET APPLE
by colm lark infinding creativity in loss
imag
e: ti
mot
hy h
erzo
g
J. Mascis, Dave Sweetapple, Tim Parnin and John Petkovic are Sweet Apple.
26 | | JANUARY 2011
28 | DEERHOOFgamh.com | 888.233.0449Innovative pop/rock band is joined onstage by Ben Butler & Mousepad and Nervous Cop. ($16)
28 | GLENGARRY GLEN ROSSpacificaspindriftplayers.org Mamet at his very best, the story of small-time, cutthroat real estate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land. ($20)
28 | IAN HUNTERthefillmore.com | 415.346.6000English rock legend. ($35)
28 | RESIDENT ALIENmissionculturalcenter.org | 415.643.2786Sins Invalid presents a multimedia performance that explores oppression, hospitalization, embodiment, sexuality and liberation. ($15)
28 | ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BANDtheindependentsf.com | 415.771.1421A powerful review of the last hundred years of African American music. ($25)
28 | SEE HOW THEY RUNtabardtheatre.org | 800.838.3006Philip King’s rib-tickling London hit that leaves audiences giddy from mirth. ($24)
28 | GRAPES OF WRATHtheatrefirst.com | 510.436.5085Tony-winning theatrical version of Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-winning novel. ($25-$30)
28 | vOICE OF THE PRAIRIEsantarosa.edu | 707.527.4343A theatrical folk tale of the early days of radio, when a single voice could hold an audience spellbound. ($10-$15)
28 | YEOMAN OF THE GUARDlamplighters.org | 925.943.7469Love triangles abound in this tale of intrigue and betrayal set in the foreboding Tower of London. ($17-$50)
29 | ‘S WONDERFULtickets.jccsf.org | 415.292.1200An all-singing, all-dancing musical revue that celebrates the genius of George and Ira Gershwin. ($55-$60)
29 | FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUMsouthbaymt.com | 408.266.4734Sondheim’s fast-paced, witty farce is one of the funniest musicals ever written. ($23-$30)
29 | CHINESE NEW YEAR sfsymphony.org | 415.864.6000Ring in the Year of the Rabbit with Chinese and Western music and Chinese cultural traditions. ($25-$65)
29 | DANIEL TOSHmasonicauditorium.com | 800.745.3000Star of Tosh.0 - the most popular show on Comedy Central since The Colbert Report. ($45)
29 | GISELLEsfballet.org | 415.865.2000Lavish scenery and costumes, soulful music, and beautiful choreography. ($48-$265)
29 | NEW CENTURY CHAMBER ORCHESTRAncco.org | 415.392.4400Featuring works by Wolf, Bartók, Piazzolla, and Tchaikovsky. ($29-$49)
30 | THE BLOWgamh.com | 888.233.0449Khaela Maricich, performance artist and pop musician, working under the name The Blow. (Free)
30 | BRAGGART SOLDIERcuttingball.com | 800.838.3006Directed by Evren Odcikin and presented by Cutting Ball Theater’s Hidden Classics Reading Series. (Free)
30 | UNDEROATHtheregencyballroom.com | 800.745.3000Florida’s Underoath has evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group. ($22-$24)
31 | INTERPOLthewarfieldtheatre.com | 800.745.3000The four dapper dons of Interpol have jumped from being New York local favorites to a globally respected band. ($32.50-$39.50)
DAILYRECOMMENDED
BLUES AT THE CROSSROADS: THE ROBERT JOHNSON CENTENNIAL CONCERTJanuary 28 | 8:00 pmRegency Ballroom1290 Sutter Street, SF$33 to $55.50 | 800.745.3000theregencyballroom.com
Robert Johnson lived hard, played the blues with a haunted intensity that’s still hair raising today, and died young, perhaps poisoned by a jealous husband.
In celebrating the blues legend’s centennial, Todd Park Mohr recorded a star-laden album “100 Years of Robert Johnson.” The associated 21-city tour kicks off in San Francisco featuring a stellar cast, including Howling Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin, the blues rock duo Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm, and 95-year-old blues survivor David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who knew Johnson and recalls being present the night that he drank the poisoned whiskey that killed him at the age of 27 in 1938.
Like many of his Delta peers, Johnson was an itinerant performer who made less than three-dozen recordings, scoring his biggest hit with “Terraplane Blues,” which sold about 5,000 copies during his life. But in the 1960s, British rockers like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton spoke with such passionate devotion for Johnson that they sparked a resurgence, and his long-unavailable music has been in print ever since. A century after his birth, his keening voice and jagged guitar work continues to fascinate and inspire musicians looking for the soul of the blues.
- Andrew Gilbert
images: anthony scarlati (blues at the crossroads), sarah cass (deerhoof), m
elissa dyne (the blow)
JANUARY 2011 | | 27
Twenty years ago an unlikely star was born in San Francisco. Eureka Theatre Company commissioned and premiered Tony Kushner’s breathtaking theatrical epic Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The production went on to Los Angeles and London before it dazzled Broadway in 1993, where it garnered the Pulitzer Prize, several Tony Awards and many other honors. Unlike anything the theatre had ever seen, the seven-hour, two-part blockbuster took audiences on a dizzying journey from New York to Heaven and everywhere in-between, following a group of unforgettable characters as they grappled with AIDS, identity, community, love, death, and transcendence in Reagan-era America.
Thanks to the Museum of Performance and Design, the play has come home to San Francisco in the form of an exhilarating exhibition, More Life! Angels in America at Twenty. The exhibition brings together original costumes, props, manuscripts, video clips, photos, designs, and other rare memorabilia from key productions of Angels, as well as new audio and video interviews conducted especially for
the exhibition. On mounting the San Francisco exhibition Kushner, who was involved with the exhibition project from the beginning, said, “Though the play’s set almost entirely in New York, I’ve always been intensely aware of how much of its origins and spirit it owes to the miraculous city of San Francisco…”
For those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience Angels live, Los Altos’ Bus Barn Stage is presenting a startling new version of the first half of the play January 13-14 through an innovative new program supporting young (as in high-school age!) stage directors.
MORE LIFE!Through March 26Wednesday - Saturday | 12:00 to 5:00 pmMuseum of Performance & Design401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco415.255.4800 | mpdsf.org
EX
HIB
ITMORE LIFE!
by ron wi l l isangels in america at twenty
Ellen McLaughlin and Stephen Spinella in the
Broadway production.
imag
e: jo
an m
arcu
s
Pete Escovedo and daughter Zina at Hotel Nikko
Carly Ozard and Sean Harkness at Hotel Nikko
Margaret Cho at the Fairmont Hotel
Joe Wicht, Alpha Mulugeta, Tom Orr, Eric Brizee, David Bicha and Cameron Cummings of Dirty Little Showtunes! at NCTC
Eric Petersen (aka Shrek) at Union Square
BA
CK
Dr. Kathleen McGuire and Kim Kuzma at the Castro Theatre
David Campbell at the Rrazz Room
Debbie Gibson at Theatre 39
John Waters at the Roxie Theatre
Jimmy Haslip, Michael Landau, Gary Novak and Robben Ford of Renegade Creation at Yoshi’s in Oakland
image: steven underhill
image: via media
image: via media
image: via media image: via media
image: steven underhillimage: pat johnsonimage: danielle taormina-keenan
image: via media image: david magnusson
designpublications
websites
415.552.8040780 sutter street
san francisco, ca 94109
www.viamedia.neta division of Caselli Partners LLC
The Boxcar Theater PlayhouseJanuary 7 - February 5
Tickets $15 - $45
20% off for BAY STAGES readers with discount code: "Bay"
505 Natoma Street, San Francisco - 415.776.1747www.boxcartheatre.org
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