Arts & Events

—Those Dazzling Divas are at it again! Pamela Connelly, Kathleen Moss and Eliza O'Malley,with Hadley McCarroll on piano, this time at that great old standby, Le Bateau Ivre, at featuring, for Halloween, the witches' number, from Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, as well as arias, duets and trios from "Puccini, Verdi, Bellini, Bizet, Delibres—& more!" No cover. Wednesday October 27th 7-9pm, dinner seating from 5. 2629 Telegraph Ave
(near Andronico’s) 

—Ragged Wing Ensemble, Berkeley's creative and plucky performance troupe, will present Persephone's Roots, a free, site-specific Halloween seasonal show by Anna Shneiderman, outdoors in Codornices Park, across Euclid from the Rose Garden this week. 5:30 p. m.,Wednesday the 27th through Sunday the 31^st. Featuring performance installations in tunnels, meadows, streams and forest, culminating in a fire-based ritual, with music, giant puppets and spectacle. "Witness or participate!" Gather at the Rose garden end of the tunnel, near the tennis courts. AC Transit: bus #65 to Euclid & Eunice. Further info (and weather alerts) at: raggedwing.org or on Facebook. 

—"Children of the night! Such music they make!" Dracula! The marvelous old burlesque horror potboiler, which saw Bela Lugosi originate the Count's role on Broadway, then in Tod Browning's early sound movie, is up for Halloween—and after—staged by Center Rep (Michael Butler directing) at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, featuring Eugene Brancoveanu, the Romanian opera and musical theater star (Don Giovanni at Berkeley Opera) as the mesmerizing Count, and his local victims and antagonists, including Rob Sicular, Madeline H. D. Brown and Kate Jopson, with an updated look for the old but erotic screamer. Opening Tuesday the 26th at 7:30, with Tuesday through Sunday performances, evenings at 8, Sundays at 2:30, with some Saturday matinees, till November 20. 1601 Civic Center Drive, Walnut Creek. $36-$42. (925) 943-7469; centerrep.org 

—Russian director Oleg Liptsin, who's performed his stagings of Beckett's Happy Days for Antares Ensemble at the City Club and Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground (A Propos of the Wet Snow) at the Willard Metal Shop Theater, is presenting a few performances of his unusual production of Chekhov, Three Sisters—Final Cut, playing the almost farcical first act right up against the fateful final act, with scenes and vignettes from what comes between on video at intermission. There's also a creative use of video elements directly onstage. Liptsin's the genuine article, one of famed director Anatoly Vasiliev's associates, someone who can show us a truly different side to Chekhov's theatrical greatness. The players are mostly students from Shelton Studios, with Matt Shelton countercast as the insulting Solyony. 8 p. m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, through November 17, at the Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter (between Powell & Mason), downtown San Francisco. $14-$28. 433-1226; sheltontheater.com 

—Another Halloween special: Greek Shadow Theater, the 4th annual performance on Halloween, this Sunday at 7, by Leonidas Kassipides, Karaghiozis Saves the Economy. Karaghiozis is the traditional buffoon from Greek folklore; Kassipides is an accomplished shadowmaster, grandson of another, and colleague of Shadowlight Productions' Larry Reed. Hallidie Plaza, outside Powell Street BART Station, near Market & Powell/5th Street (and the Cable Car turnaround), San Francisco. shadowlight.org

—Gemma Whelan, long a local theater director (with Wilde Irish, among others) and teacher, now living in Portland, has been touring, reading from and signing her novel, Fiona: Stolen Child. Her last local reading will be Wednesday at 7, A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 LasalleDrive, Montclair Village. Slante! 339-8210; ggpbook.com fionastolenchild.com