Arts & Events
Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay
OEBS PREMIERE OF ‘FIRE AND ICE’ -more-
The Theater: ‘Sweeny Todd’ at Contra Costa Civic Theatre
“A barber had a wife—and she was beautiful!” So sings Sweeney Todd at the start of the eponymous musical by Sondheim, in its last two weekends at Contra Costa Civic Theater in El Cerrito. -more-
The Theater: ‘Cartoon’ Comes to Life at La Val’s
Asleep in a heap under blue skies with fleecy clouds, the cast of Cartoon is jangled awake and into manic song and dance by an alarm clock, squelched by a mallet-wielding gal, who turns out to be the dictator of the grinning, ‘toonish clan. -more-
Neighbors Riled About Plans to Develop Spring Mansion
When the Spring Mansion first appeared in the nearly tree-less Berkeley Hills, almost 100 years ago, it was more than a home for one of the East Bay’s most successful real estate speculators, the man behind Thousand Oaks, the Claremont Hotel, and the town of Albany. It was a gleaming white advertisement for John Hopkins Spring’s newest suburban development, which surrounded the house. And it could be seen from San Francisco. -more-
John Hudson Thomas’ Legacy
Unlike many of his contemporaries, the architect John Hudson Thomas has not been forgotten—at least not completely. He has fans who compile lists of his houses, which liberally dot the Berkeley Hills, are also common in Oakland and Piedmont, and can be found as far afield as Los Gatos and Woodland, in the Sacramento Valley. -more-
Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay
‘FLIGHT OUT OF TIME’ RECEPTION AT KALA -more-
Green Neighbors: Winter Native Flowers: Silk-Tassel and Leatherwood
Along with all the flowering plums, acacias, and magnolias, a few native trees and shrubs are late-winter bloomers. Most, like the manzanitas and flowering currants, are on the shrubby side. But coast or wavyleaf silk-tassel (Garrya elliptica) is a bona fide tree up to 30 feet high, showy in its own way, and amenable to planting as an ornamental. There’s a particularly handsome silk-tassel specimen on the University Avenue median strip. -more-