It’s a packed weekend for stuff to see and do in the Bay Area; here are several shows music, theater and dance fans should know about.
Fake news radio play
Disinformation and conspiracy theories are ubiquitous these days, so it’s easy to forget they have been part of the American landscape for a long time. A case in point is Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast, in which he borrowed text from the H.G. Wells classic novel about a Martian invasion and convinced panicked listeners that Earth was really under attack.
Now the acclaimed London multimedia theater troupe Rhum and Clay is presenting a 21st-century take on “War of the Worlds,” adapted by Isley Lynn, which links the original story and radio broadcast to contemporary misinformation- and conspiracy-spewing podcasters and bloggers. Augmented by the troupe’s knack for stunning sets and lively, irreverent storytelling, the show “wrestles with the media and the boundaries of truth in a thrilling broadcast of the end of the world,” say organizers.
“Worlds” was a smash hit at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and just finished a well-received tour of the U.K. It lands at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall this week.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28-29; $15-$64; proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required, masks must be worn inside the theater; live.stanford.edu.
‘Hip-Hop Halloween’
Peninsula Ballet Theatre returns to live performances this weekend with a revival of its 2019 work, “Hip-Hop Halloween,” conceived and choreographed by Stuck Sanders, with additional choreography by Alee Martinez, Vincent Hwang, Ninja Sutton and Francis Tyrell. The 75-minute dance follows trick-or-treating kids who visit a graveyard and haunted house and meet up with such monsters a Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man and more. The work features a variety of styles of street dancing and hip-hop, performed to Bay Area DJs.
Details: 7 p.m. Oct. 29, 2 and 7 p.m. Oct. 30; Fox Theatre, Redwood City; $30-$40; proof of vaccination and masks required; www.peninsulaballet.org.
Return of ‘Frankenstein’
Chicago’s Manual Cinema, the acclaimed multimedia theater troupe, employs evocative lighting techniques, puppets and more techniques in the unique adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel. The production emerges as a silent black-and-white movie created in front of you in real time as a four-person band performs a live score. The show was presented virtually during Cal Performances’ At Home season last year, and now returns as a live production.
Details: 3 p.m. Oct. 31; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $43-$82; calperformances.org.
‘Lost Ark’ and ‘Rocky Horror’
San Jose’s 3Below Theatres is hosting a couple of special Halloween screenings this weekend. At 8 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30, the venue will screen a special quote-along version of Steven Spielberg’s adventure classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” starring Harrison Ford. Attendees will receive a variety of props and the host will prep attendees by reviewing iconic lines from the film (“Why did it have to be snakes …” ). Costumes are strongly encouraged, there will be a contest. At 11:30 p.m. Oct. 29, 3Below presents the classic sci-fi-musical “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” complete with wacky stage props and costumed actors on stage. And, of course, the entire movie is based on audience participation and costumes are encouraged.
Details: $17 per movie; proof of vaccination required; www.3belowtheaters.com.
Revered choreographer
comes to Bay Area
One way to measure New York choreographer Doug Varone’s exalted standing in the dance world is by the company he keeps — that is, by the companies that have lined up to adapt his contemporary dance gems: Paul Taylor Dance Company, Limon Dance, Batsheva Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Group Chicago, Martha Graham Dance Company — some of the most innovative and acclaimed troupes in the world. He’s also in demand in the opera world, and has choreographed four works by New York’s Metropolitan Opera, including a storied “Dance of the Seven Veils” sequence for “Salome.” But Varone also runs his own acclaimed company and he’s bringing it to San Jose this weekend.
In two performances, Doug Varone and Dancers will present three works. “Lux,” set to Philip Glass’s “The Light,” is considered one of the choreographer’s finest compositions. The Washington Post described it as “the kind of dancing (one) might dream about: loose and sweeping in a spirit of exultation.” “Octet,” set to Glass’s “Violin Sonata,” will include members of the San Jose State University Dance Department. And “Somewhere” is Varone’s adaptation of Bernstein’s “West Side Story ” score, but does not reference the musical’s stor line — the movements and action come strictly from the choreographer’s imagination.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29-30; Hammer Theatre Center, in San Jose; proof of vaccination required, masks must be worn inside the theater. $35-$45; hammertheatre.com.
— Bay Area News Foundation
Classical tips: Yefim Bronfman, Kohl Mansion
Here are two events classical music lovers won’t want to miss.
Beethoven, Bronfman-style: With a rare blend of elegant technique and interpretive brawn, Russian pianist Yefim Bronfman has made superb impressions in his past appearances with the San Francisco Symphony. He returns to Davies Symphony Hall this week to join music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Also on the program are Richard Strauss’s Symphony for Wind Instruments (also known as Sonatina No. 2 in E-flat, “Fröhliche Werkstatt”), and the San Francisco Symphony’s first performances of Anders Hillborg’s “Kongsgaard Variations,” performed in the score’s orchestra version.
Details: 2 p.m. Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29-30; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $35-$125; check website for COVID precautions; www.sfsymphony.org.
Afro-Cuban mix at Kohl Mansion: As it launches its 39th season, Kohl Mansion is set to re-open for live, in-person performances. The season lineup begins Sunday with a rare mix of music by Robert Schumann and sparkling Afro-Cuban jazz. Heading the bill is the Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet, with the Cuban pianist-composer Aldo López-Gavilán, playing Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in F-Major. Four original works by López-Gavilán and fresh arrangements of jazz classics by Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Strayhorn complete the program.
Details: 7 p.m.; Kohl Mansion, Burlingame; proof of vaccination and masks required; $22-$52 general, $49 senior, $22 age 30 and under; 650-762-1130; www.musicatkohl.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
A trio of premieres in San Jose
The San Jose Chamber Orchestra returns to live performing Oct. 30 in St. Francis Episcopal Church, opening its 30th season with a program of three premieres titled “Of Time and Place,” fittingly so, because much of the music planned is in response to the constraints of the pandemic.
Bay Area composer Jaco Wong’s “Oleka,” for example, getting its first performance, is a musical nod to that phenomenon of enduring individual days that seem unbearably long while we can also feel that an entire year has slipped by without notice. Emmy award-winning composer John Christopher Wineglass, currently composer in residence with the Monterey Symphony, has given his new work, receiving its Northern California premiere, the immediately comprehensible title “Alone Together.” The last piece on the program is the West Coast premiere of Joao Luiz Rezende’s “Recife,” a harp concerto paying homage to Brazilian music that will engage the talents of soloist Bridget Kibbey, who has been dubbed “the Yo-Yo Ma of the harp.”
Details: 7 p.m.; 1205 Pine Ave., San Jose; masks and vaccination proof required, no tickets will be sold at the door; $15-$50, sjco.org or 408-295-4416.
— Bay Area News Foundation