Arts & Events
‘Singin’ in the Rain’ at Woodminster
Singin’ in the Rain, the 1952 Stanley Donen-Gene Kelly movie musical, has never diminished in popularity in its six decades of showings. But there’s a different way to experience the song and dance than on the two dimensions of the silver (or digital) screen: in three dimensions, live, on the broad, deep stage at Woodminster Amphitheatre at Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, with the lights of the Bay Area as backdrop. -more-
Images of the Buddha and of Nigerienne Men and Women
Two notable artists currently share the exhibition space at the Graduate Theological Union Library. They both produce very different paintings, based on photographs. -more-
Mel Martin Band Debuts Latest Album
“This will be my band, the one I’ve been playing with a long time,” said lifelong Northern California jazz musician Mel Martin—a ubiquitious presence for half a century in the Bay Area as tenor saxophonist, woodwinds player and band leader—of the eponymous group he’ll be playing with at Yoshi’s in Oakland next Monday night. -more-
Playhouse’s Youth Perform ‘Urinetown’
While selling out shows at the Ashby Stage by their adult professional company of the musical “Peter Pan,” an old chestnut about the Lost Boys escaping from the adult world in Never-Never Land, Berkeley Playhouse’s youth company is putting on a two-night only staging of what Berkeley Playhouse’s managing director called “an anti-establishment piece,” the Broadway hit musical “Urinetown.” inspired by Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill classics like “Threepenny Opera” and “Mahagony,” at the Julia Morgan Theatre this weekend. -more-
New Space for Aurora Theatre
Aurora Theatre Company, entering on its 18th season, has announced the completion of the new Neil and Jules Dashow Wing, which will add 2,600 much-needed square feet to the 7,200 square feet already occupied by the company on Addison Street near Shattuck in downtown Berkeley. There will be a private ribbon-cutting ceremony this coming Monday. -more-
‘Lethal Logic’
Four out of five Americans support specific measures to regulate firearms, such as requiring background checks at gun shows. In the 2006 and 2008 elections, candidates who explicitly backed such regulations defeated NRA-endorsed or “A-rated” candidates overwhelmingly. But now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as the Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House are universally afraid to even raise the subject. Why is that? -more-
Around the East Bay: Staged Readings of 'Compared to What?'
“Oakland’s an old railroad town,” said playwright Judith Offer, who’s researched African-American involvement as porters and written Compared to What? about a woman trying to convince two porters to join the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Two free staged readings with discussion: 2 p.m. Saturday at the Oakland Main Library Auditorium, on 14th Street; 3 p.m. Sunday at the Noodle Factory theater, 1255-26th St., West Oakland. Wendell Brooks, Berkeley High teacher, plays one of the roles. 444-0257. -more-