Bay Area stages are jam-packed with compelling shows this weekend, here’s a partial rundown.
Joffrey Ballet offers old & new
The Joffrey Ballet has such a longstanding relationship with Cal Performances it’s kind of fitting that one of the first post-pandemic live performances by the renowned Chicago troupe is at UC Berkeley. This weekend’s three-performance stop in the East Bay, rescheduled from the pandemic shutdown, concludes the company’s current six-year campus residency, and features a blend of three new works — all created during the pandemic and all getting their West Coast premieres this weekend — and old hits, including the famed 25-year-old work, “The Sofa.” (Here’s a look at the program.)
Details: Performances are 8 p.m. March 4-5 and 3 p.m. March 6; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; proof of vaccination required and masks must be worn inside the hall; $37-$148 (subject to change); calperformances.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
On Stage: ‘Tempest,’ ‘Passing Strange’
Here are two new productions theater fans should know about.
“The Tempest”: Oakland Theater Project kicks off its 2022 season, titled with a contemporary, 90-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” helmed by company artistic director Michael Socrates Moran. Through the streamlined book and some casting switch-ups, the play “explores the ways in which we are exiled in today’s world because of the cycle of our history,” says an OTP release. Adrian Roberts (playing both Prospero and and Caliban) and Abril Centurion (as Miranda and Antonio) head a cast of eight.
Details: Through March 13; FLAX Arts & Design building, Oakland; this is an indoor production, attendees must show proof of vaccination and booster shot (if eligible) and wear a mask; $10-$52; production will be live-streamed 7:30 p.m. March 5 and offered On Demand afterward ($10-$25); oaklandtheaterproject.org.
“Passing Strange”: Mark Stewart — aka Stew — was already an acclaimed singer-songwriter-musician in L.A. when he premiered this funny, biting and insightful musical about a Black bohemian artist’s quest for self-discovery and artistic authenticity (i.e., “the real”). It premiered at Berkeley Rep in 2006 and went on to become an award-winning Broadway hit. Now Berkeley’s Shotgun Players troupe is reviving the musical, directed by William Hodgson.
Details: In previews Saturday through March 10, main run is March 11 through April 10; Ashby Stage, Berkeley; proof of vaccination required, and masks must be worn in the theater; previews are pay what you can, main run tickets $40; shotgunplayers.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
New “Otello” launches in Livermore
Giuseppe Verdi called Shakespeare “the greatest maestro of the human heart,” and “Otello,” based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, is certainly one of the composer’s crowning achievements.
As part of its 30th anniversary season, Livermore Valley Opera is returning to the Bankhead Theater stage with a new production of the 1887 opera, starring tenor Limmie Pulliam in the title role. Pulliam made his Los Angeles Opera debut earlier this season as Manrico in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” and this “Otello” marks the Bay Area appearance for the Missouri native.
The cast also features Cuban American soprano Elaine Alvarez as Desdemona, bass-baritone Philip Skinner as Iago, and tenor Alex Boyer as Cassio. Mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas, who directed the company’s superb double bill of “The Florentine Tragedy” and “Gianni Schicchi” in 2020, returns as the production director, and is also singing the role of Emilia. Music director Alexander Katsman conducts.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and March 12, 2 p.m. Sunday and March 13; Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $20-$95; www.livermorevalleyopera.com.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
In praise of the piano
The piano shines in much of the classical music on Bay Area stages this week, beginning with the return of the prodigiously gifted French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
S.F. Symphony: Thibaudet’s appearance with the orchestra promises something sublime; he joins music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra in Liszt’s ravishing Piano Concerto No. 2. Also appearing is Wu Wei as the sheng soloist for Fang Man’s “Song of the Flaming Phoenix”; Scriabin’s “The Poem of Ecstasy” completes the program.
Details: 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday; $35-$99; www.sfsymphony.org
Firebird, for piano: For those of us who love “The Firebird,” the chance to hear it arranged for two pianos is a rare treat. San Francisco’s Other Minds is offering just that, welcoming the return of pianists Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies to Hertz Hall for a performance of Stravinsky’s complete ballet score, presented in Davies’ 2015 four-hands arrangement. The program also includes music by Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and others, as well as interactive projections by Cori O’Lan.
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday; Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley; $25-40; www.otherminds.org
Blue’s recital: Soprano Angel Blue, whose radiant Bess was one of the stars of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Porgy and Bess” broadcast last year, makes her Bay Area recital debut at Cal Performances this Sunday. Accompanied by pianist Bryan Wagorn, the program features songs and arias spanning Puccini and Strauss to arrangements of Black American spirituals.
Details: 3 p.m.; Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley; $63-$68; www.calperformances.org
Kanneh-Mason at Herbst: The fast-rising British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason captured the attention of music lovers with her debut recording of piano works by Clara Schumann. She makes her first Bay Area appearance via San Francisco Performances, in a wide-ranging program spanning works by Mozart to Russia’s Sofia Gubaidulina.
Details: 7:30 March 7, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; $45-$70; 415-392-2545; www.sfperformances.org
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Hear ‘Bedtime Stories’ at Stanford
Head to Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheatre this week if you’re in the mood for some “Bedtime Stories.”
No they won’t tuck you into bed, but a touring production might just amaze you with a multimedia experience celebrating the power of a good story.
“Bedtime Stories” is an immersive multimedia show created by and performed by the Dutch performers collective known as URLAND. Marrying narration by actor Thomas Dudkiewicz with a variety of sound effects, “Bedtime Stories” takes viewers to “a strange and brilliantly dark world” and “bring to life an enchanting cast of characters.”
The touring show plays at Frost Amphitheatre 7 p.m. March 2-5. Audiences will be limited to 100 people per performance.
Details: Presented by Stanford Live, proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required; masks must be worn by those who are not vaccinated; $25-$50; live.stanford.edu.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Source: www.mercurynews.com