Arts & Events

Stage-San Francisco Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 07:01:00 PM

BEACH BLANKET BABYLON This long-running musical follows Snow White as she sings and dances her way around the world in search of her prince. Along the way she encounters many of the personalities in today's headlines, including Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harry Potter, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, George and Laura Bush, Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart, Tom Cruise, Angelina, characters from Brokeback Mountain and Paris Hilton. Persons under 21 are not admitted to evening performances, but are welcome to Sunday matinees. -more-


Professional Dance Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 07:00:00 PM

ZELLERBACH HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY -more-


Readings-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 07:00:00 PM

BOOKS INC., ALAMEDA -more-


Popmusic-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:59:00 PM

924 GILMAN ST. All ages welcome. -more-


Galleries-San Francisco Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:55:00 PM

ANDREA SCHWARTZ GALLERY ongoing. -more-


Galleries-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:54:00 PM

ALBANY ARTS GALLERY ongoing. -more-


Classical Music-San Francisco Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:52:00 PM

AUDIUM -more-


Classical Music-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:34:00 PM

EL CERRITO PERFORMING ARTS THEATER -more-


Theater Review: "I Dream of Chang and Eng" at Zellerbach

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:15:00 PM

"I've been trying to write this play for 25 years," said famed Asian-American playwright Philip Kan Gotanda. "Finally I let go of everything--fact, fiction, documentation, history--and wrote. this is what came out." -more-


Berkeley Symphony on Thursday Features Russians

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 05:17:00 PM

Two notable masterpieces of the modern orchestral repertoire, Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1919; a tribute to Debussy) and Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony in C Minor (1960; "dedicated to the victims of fascism and war," but considered an autobiographical work) share the Berkeley Symphony program, under the baton of Joana Carneiro, at 8 tomorrow night (Thursday, March 11) with Scottish composer James MacMullen's Seven Last Words from the Cross (1994), featuring the Symphony's first collaboration with the UC Chamber Chorus and Alumni, Marika Kuzma, director. -more-


Book Review: LASTINGNESS: The Art of Old Age
By Nicholas Delbanco
Grand Central Publishing, 2011 (261 pages; $25)

Reviewed by Dorothy Bryant (dorothybryant.com)
Tuesday March 08, 2011 - 10:26:00 PM

At seventy, Nicholas Delbanco has racked up forty years of teaching and two dozen books of fiction and non-fiction. He has served as director of creative writing programs and prestigious literary panels and has himself been awarded several grants and honors. -more-


Eye from the Aisle: RUINED at BRep—Soft on Plot, Action, for Gruesome Subject

By John A. McMullen II
Tuesday March 08, 2011 - 10:14:00 PM

Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for RUINED. I almost ended that sentence with a question mark. Hard to believe it won, since it is short on plot, action, and language. -more-


Eye from the Aisle: ROMEO & JULIET at IMPACT THEATRE--Rough, Bold, Alive

By John A. McMullen II
Tuesday March 08, 2011 - 10:04:00 PM
Juliet (Luisa Frasconi) ponders her new love from her balcony in the Russian Mafia-themed R&J.

Since it’s about teenagers and ever since West Side Story, the text most taught and known is ROMEO AND JULIET. I have a personal relationship with the play. When I was a junior in high school, I cried when I finished it, and it hooked me on that fellow’s blank verse. I’ve directed it, and taught it, acted in it, and so I came with a critical eye to the performance at IMPACT THEATRE at La Val’s Pizza on Hearst. -more-


Outdoors-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:59:00 PM

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission. -more-


Museums-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:58:00 PM

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT OAKLAND ongoing. The Oakland Public Library's museum is designed to discover, preserve, interpret and share the cultural and historical experiences of African Americans in California and the West. In addition, a three-panel mural is on permanent display. -more-


Museums-San Francisco Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:58:00 PM

ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO The Asian Art Museum-Chon-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture recently unveiled its new building in San Francisco's Civic Center. The building, the former San Francisco Public Library, has been completely retrofitted and rebuilt to house San Francisco's significant collection of Asian treasures. The museum offers complimentary audio tours of the museum's collection galleries. "In a New Light," ongoing. There are some 2,500 works displayed in the museum's new galleries. They cover all the major cultures of Asia and include Indian stone sculptures, intricately carved Chinese jades, Korean paintings, Tibetan thanksgas, Cambodian Buddhas, Islamic manuscripts and Japanese basketry and kimonos. -more-


Kids-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:57:00 PM

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission. -more-


General-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:56:00 PM

"DAY OF WINE AND POODLES," -- March 12. An afternoon for dog lovers to bring their friends to frolic, taste wine, food, and more, all to benefit Bay Area Poodle Rescue. Event takes place at Red Feather Winery, 5700 Greenville Rd., Livermore. -more-


Highlights-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:56:00 PM

"DAY OF WINE AND POODLES," -- March 12. An afternoon for dog lovers to bring their friends to frolic, taste wine, food, and more, all to benefit Bay Area Poodle Rescue. Event takes place at Red Feather Winery, 5700 Greenville Rd., Livermore. -more-


Exhibits-San Francisco Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:54:00 PM

"SUN SPHERES," -- ongoing. "Sun Spheres'' is a trio of mosaic sculptures by artist Laurel True at the intersection of Ocean and Granada Avenues in the OMI District of San Francisco. -more-


Exhibits-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:53:00 PM

CARMEN FLORES RECREATION CENTER -more-


Dance-East Bay Through March 20

Wednesday March 09, 2011 - 06:53:00 PM

ASHKENAZ -more-