From a famed fiddler to a free dance festival to and a Mozart-fueled concert in Livermore, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend.
Here’s a partial roundup.
Fine fiddling all around
Alasdair Fraser, the legendary fiddler and kilt-clad spiritual leader of Scottish music in the Bay Area, has announced that he plans to retire from full-time performing at the end of the year. Which makes his three concerts with SF Scottish Fiddlers this weekend even more alluring.
Fraser, who turns 70 on May 14, is also a composer, a teacher who runs a handful of renowned fiddling camps, and chief of the Culburnie Records Scottish music label. But he’s best known for his award-winning talent on the wee fiddle and his leading role with the SF Scottish Fiddlers, a group of some 200 musicians who gather regularly to exercise their passion Scottish and Celtic music.
The group also performs a few concerts each year, including this weekend’s three spring “Stravaig” performances (the title means to stray beyond limits). The shows will feature Fraser and some 70 musicians, including fiddlers, guitarists, percussionists, cello players and more.
Details: 7 p.m. April 25 at Veterans Memorial Theatre, Davis; 7 p.m. April 26 at Angelico Concert Hall at Dominican College, San Rafael; 1 p.m. April 27 at Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School, Santa Rosa; $32-$35; sffiddles.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Delights for dance fans
National Dance Week was founded in the U.S. in 1981, as part of a movement to increase Americans’ understanding and appreciation of an art form that is so diverse and offers so many things to so many people. The Bay Area didn’t respond with its own version of Dance Week until 1998, but, wow, what a response. Bay Area Dance Week is truly stunning in its size and scope, and is widely recognized as the biggest and best of its kind in the country. Running from April 25 through May 4, the 10-day “week” serves up scores and scores of events from more than 100 dance schools and troupes involving more than 2,500 dancers and 20,000 attendees.
The events range from classes to public-participation events to performances and demonstrations and more. They take place all over the Bay Area. And they are all free. And given the Bay Area’s widely diverse population and sense of inclusion, it should come as no surprise that wherever you are interested is represented somewhere. Curious about apparatus-based dance? Check Zaccho Dance Theatre and Flyaway Productions’ class titled “Loving the Air,” 5:30 p.m. April 25 in San Francisco. Jonesin’ for an Indian Bhangra dance class? Dholrhythms Dance Company is offering a class in it 9 a.m. April 26 in Berkeley. West African dance fans can catch a demonstration/class by N’Fungola Sino African Dance and Drum Company Saturday and Sunday in San Jose, an offering tied to sjDANCEco’s two day Spring Festival in San Jose’s Eastridge Center. The Spring Festival, technically part of Dance Week, offers two full days of a wide variety of dance events – from hip-hop to K-pop to hula and classical ballet and more.
Details: You can find more information and register for events at dancersgroup.org/badw or www.bopsidy.com/h/badw. And if you happen to be near San Francisco’s Union Square at noon on Friday, check out – or better yet, take part in – Dance Week’s annual opening group dance event. You can learn the steps from a video at either Dance Week site.
— Bay City News Foundation
Famed Floyd flick comes to theaters
It’s time for some Floyd.
Of course, the response to that statement from millions of classic rock fans would probably be: When isn’t a good time to crank up some Pink Floyd?
And that’s a darned good question. Yet this time around we’re planning to get our Floyd fix in the cinema as “Pink Floyd at Pompeii — MCMLXXII” will be shown in movie theaters throughout the Bay Area (and beyond) this month.
This version of the legendary 1972 Pink Floyd concert film was digitally re-mastered in 4K from the original 35mm footage and features enhanced audio that has been newly mixed by Steven Wilson (from the prog-rock band Porcupine Tree). Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt matters that the four band members — guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour, keyboardist Richard Wright, drummer Nick Mason and bassist Roger Waters — were performing at such an incredibly high level during the filming.
Plain and simple, the film is still a stunning achievement, capturing Pink Floyd in its full early-’70s grandeur as it performs on the floor of an ancient Roman amphitheater in Pompeii, Italy. It’s just the four of them in the house, with no audience (except for a barebones film/production crew), as they roar through such pre-“Dark Side of the Moon” classics as “Echoes,” “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “One of These Days.”
The film is currently set to screen April 24-27 at theaters in the Bay Ares and across the country. There will also be an accompanying live album released — on CD, digital audio, Dolby Atmos and vinyl — on May 2.
Details: Visit pinkfloyd.film for movie showtimes and other information.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Classical picks: English Concert; American composers; Mozart
This weekend brings programs by The English Concert, San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Chamber Orchestra. Here’s a roundup.
Brits in Berkeley: The English Concert returns to Cal Performances this weekend with “Giulio Cesare in Egitto.” Harry Bicket conducts a concert performance of Handel’s heroic opera, which weaves family drama and political intrigue in thrilling ways. With countertenor Christophe Dumaux in the title role and soprano Louise Alder as Cleopatra, expect a dynamic performance.
Details: 3 p.m. April 27; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $39-$142; calperformances.org.
All-American program: San José Chamber Orchestra returns on April 27 with a program of American composers, including works by Samuel Barber, Amy Beach, Valerie Coleman, George Gershwin, and John Harbison. Barbara Day Turner conducts the concert, which includes a special appearance by the award-winning quintet Tangent Winds.
Details: 7 p.m. April 27; St. Francis Episcopal Church, San Jose; $15-$75; sjco.org.
“Mozart Rocks!”: The Pacific Chamber Orchestra presents the latest installment of its Mozart series, with Lawrence Kohl conducting works by the master. The event features special guests soprano Shawnette Sulker and flutist Leslie Chin performing excerpts from “Cosi fan Tutti” and Mozart’s Flute Concerto. Capping the concert is the composer’s mighty “Jupiter Symphony.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. April 26; Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $50 general, $25 student; livermorearts.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
The pile of (you know what) is back
Brian Copeland’s hard-charging comedy “The Great American (Expletive) Show” has evolved from a production that was very timely when it came out several years ago to a production that may never be not timely.
That’s not a good thing.
Described as “therapy for progressives,” Copeland’s “(Expletive) Show” was created during the crazy hazy days of the first Donald J. Trump presidency, which seem almost docile compared to today. Copeland, a highly popular comedian and solo stage performer, is no doubt well-aware of this, and has revised the stand-up show to give it a more contemporary feel.
While much of Copeland’s stage catalogue covers autobiographical material, “(Expletive) Show” is a no-holds-barred plunge into political comedy. Note: If you are spirited supporter of President Trump, our hunch is you will not find this stuff even remotely funny. For everyone else, Copeland is bringing “(Expletive) Show” to the Marsh in San Francisco for one performance April 24.
Details: 7 p.m.; $40-$100; themarsh.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
‘Crumbs’ comes to Berkeley
When a Florida family experiences a painful change – the death of the matriarch – the father and his two daughters relocate to Brooklyn, New York, where, well, everything is changing. That’s the basic storyline in “Crumbs From the Table of Joy,” a comedy/drama by the award-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. There’s a little bit of everything in “Crumbs”: The father, Godfrey Crump, is on a quest to bring more religion into his family, but Brooklyn has a lot else going on – racial upheaval, crime, sex, politics and much more. Plus, there’s Aunt Lily, a booze-loving Communist who makes herself at home with the Crumps.
Nottage, who herself was born and raised in Brooklyn, has said she set the story in 1950, at a time when the city was beginning to experience massive societal changes. But rather than approach the story as a chapter in a history book, “I wanted to make it colorful. So I started writing ‘Crumbs from the Table of Joy’ to try to understand that era.” Now, in a time similarly full of major change, “Crumbs” is landing at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre. It’s directed by Elizabeth Carter, a renowned Bay Area theatermaker who has helmed shows at Center Rep, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, African American Shakespeare Company and many more.
Details: “Crumbs” plays April 26 through May 25; tickets are $10-$68. Go to www.auroratheatre.org
Going for the green
“Shrek the Musical,” based on the picture book by cartoonist William Steig that inspired the DreamWorks movie classic detailing the adventures of the lovable title green ogre, his pal Donkey, sweetheart Princess Fiona and others, couldn’t be a better selection for the SFArtsED Players.
Sponsored by the nonprofit San Francisco Arts Education Project, the troupe, now in its 24th season, features numerous dedicated 9-to14-year-old thespians who truly are ready for their musical theater close-ups. With music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, the 2008 Tony-nominated “Shrek the Musical” indeed lives up to its source material. The Players’ cast features Julia Torre as Fiona, Cole Quince as Shrek, Marco Salan as Lord Farquaad and Joss Pearlman as Donkey. Performances are at 7 p.m. April 25, 3 and 7 p.m. April 26 and noon April 27 at the Presidio Theatre on Moraga Avenue in San Francisco’s Presidio.
Details: Tickets are $20-$25 general, to $100 for the final show, a fundraiser with an auction and a post-performance gala, at presidiotheatre.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Meet 5 strong wind players
Formed at the Juilliard School when they were all students, the Tangent Winds, bronze medal winners at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, likely take their name from the second definition of the word – “a completely different line of thought or action.” That brand of individualism may be on display at St. Francis Episcopal Church in San Jose on the evening of April 27, when they serve as guest artists for the San Jose Chamber Orchestra’s concert of music by all American composers. On their program, which begins at 7 p.m., are Samuel Barber’s evocative “Summer Music” from 1956, George Gershwin’s jazz-influenced Three Preludes, Amy Beach’s calm-inducing “Pastorale,” Valerie Colman’s dazzling “Tzigane” and John Harbison’s complex “Quintet for Winds,” a 1979 piece that has become a staple for the woodwind quintet repertoire. The Tangent members are Steven Palacio, bassoon; James Blanchard, flute; Tamara Winston, oboe; Alec Manasse, clarinet; and Cort Roberts, horn.
Details: Tickets are $15-$75; sjco.org.
— Bay City News Foundstion
