The Founding Fathers are again
Is it simply us, or does a musical about how a bunch of political leaders put their squabbling methods, private pursuits and different issues behind them simply lengthy sufficient to create an American Democracy appear particularly related proper now?
Even if you happen to don’t need to have a look at it that method, “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 musical that modified the notion of what a musical could possibly be, is value seeing. The fast-paced present with rapid-fire, hip-hop-infused numbers, a largely non-white forged and a compelling story wrapped round Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and the creation of the U.S. Structure, makes for an exhilarating evening on the theater. And now it’s again within the Bay Space for a four-week run extending into early January.
“Hamilton,” primarily based on Ron Chernow’s best-selling biography “Alexander Hamilton,” has been embraced with nearly common acclaim. It grew to become an prompt sensation with its off-Broadway opening and continued to generate sold-out audiences when it moved to the Nice White Manner, ultimately garnering a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations and 11 trophies, in addition to the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Now a brand new North American tour of the long-lasting present, which blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and conventional showtunes in what Miranda has described as an exploration of “America then, as told by America now,” is enjoying on the Orpheum Theatre.
Particulars: Offered by BroadwaySF; by Jan. 5; 1192 Market St.; tickets begin at $189; broadwaysf.com.
— Randy McMullen, Workers
All-world guitarist heading to Yoshi’s
Mike Stern will take your breath away.
He’s simply that good — the kind of guitarist who will depart you in awe along with his fretboard fireworks, honed by a long time of stellar work within the jazz world.
However please don’t simply take our phrase on the matter. As a substitute, put our assertion of his greatness to the take a look at by going to see Stern when he performs three exhibits in two days.
Stern, in fact, has superb credentials within the music business. He got here to fame as a member of the favored jazz-rock troupe, Blood, Sweat & Tears, when he was 22. From there, he got here beneath the wing of Billy Cobham, working within the drummer’s fusion group, earlier than getting the decision to hitch Miles Davis’ band.
He’s since established himself as a first-tier bandleader within the jazz sport, due to such superb releases as 1988’s “Time In Place,” 1994’s “Is What It Is” and 2006’s “Who Let the Cats Out?”
The guitarist is out on the street along with his newest Mike Stern Band ensemble — that includes drummer Dennis Chambers, saxophonist Bob Franceschini, bassist Janek Gwizdala and vocalist-guitarist Leni Stern — in help of the just lately launched album “Echoes and Other Songs.”
Particulars: 7:30 p.m. Monday and seven:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday; Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland; $29-$74; yoshis.com.
— Jim Harrington, Workers
Stars on parade in Oakland
The Perseids are pretty, peaking in mid-August with swift and plentiful fireballs, and October’s Orionids are a delight with their smoky, long-lasting trails. However actual meteor-heads sit up for December when it’s time for the Geminids, the strongest annual bathe, when it comes to motion, with greater than 100 taking pictures stars zipping by each hour.
The 2024 Geminids meteor bathe will peak in a single day from Dec. 13 to 14 and, to have fun, the Chabot Area & Science Middle in Oakland is holding a watch social gathering for youths and adults. Collect on the middle’s commentary deck to watch the busy skies and get all of your astronomical questions answered by consultants — the place do the Geminids come from? (Asteroid 3200 Phaethon.) How massive are they (just about grains of sand) and what may they style like (maybe clay or metallic)?
The viewing circumstances aren’t one hundred pc optimum this yr, with a waxing-gibbous moon offering interference, however the Geminids’ trademark light-bright meteors ought to nonetheless make the present a blast. Be aware: Carry heat clothes and non-obligatory blankets, chairs or sleeping luggage.
Particulars: 11 p.m.-3 a.m. Friday; 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland; $15 for adults, $7 for ages 2-12, chabotspace.org.
— John Metcalfe, Workers
‘Nutcrackers’ of all types
With the vacation leisure season in full bloom, listed here are some productions of the beloved “Nutcracker” you must find out about.
San Francisco Ballet ‘Nutcracker’: Helgi Tomasson’s traditional adaptation of the work is again; by Dec. 29; Battle Memorial Opera Home, San Francisco; $19-$465; www.sfballet.org.
Dorrance Dance “Nutcracker Suite”: Offered by the nation’s preeminent faucet firm; 8 p.m. Saturday and three p.m. Sunday; Zellerbach Corridor, UC Berkeley; $30-$150; calperformances.org.
“The San Jose Nutcracker”: Offered by New Ballet and Symphony San José, set within the South Bay in 1905 and that includes choreography by Dalia Rawson, New Ballet’s founder and inventive director; Saturday by Dec. 23; California Theatre, San Jose; $31.50-$121.50; newballet.com
Mark Foehringer Dance Undertaking: The roughly 1-hour “Nutcracker Sweets” was designed by Foehringer with younger viewers in thoughts; by Dec. 22; Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Middle for Arts & Tradition, San Francisco; $23.50-$59.50; nutcrackersweets.org.
San Jose Dance Theatre: The corporate’s annual manufacturing of the “Original San Jose Nutcracker” runs by Sunday; San Jose Middle for the Performing Arts; $39.50-$115; www.sjdt.org.
— Andrew Gilbert, Correspondent
Celebrating holidays in track
On the lookout for a particular live performance to spherical out your vacation calendar? Listed here are three you must find out about.
“A Chanticleer Christmas”: Based in 1978 by the late singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer continues to set the gold customary for exquisitely sung choral music. From classical favorites to vacation carols, the 12-man vocal ensemble at all times achieves a radiant mix as they have fun this particular time of yr. This season, the group returns beneath music director Tim Keeler — a countertenor who beforehand sang with Chanticleer — in a wide-ranging program that begins with a candlelit chant procession and strikes to a joyous gospel conclusion.
Particulars: Friday by Dec. 23, with performances in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Mill Valley, Petaluma, Sacramento, Santa Clara, and Carmel; $45-$91; chanticleer.org.
“Wintersongs”: Kitka, the acclaimed nine-woman vocal ensemble devoted to the music of the Balkan, Caucasus and Slavic lands, returns with its annual live performance following the arc of the “Supra,” a standard Georgian ritual feast.
Particulars: By means of Dec. 22; concert events in Davis, Santa Cruz, Oakland and San Francisco; $36-$56; kitka.org.
“Messiah,” American Bach Soloists: It’s a Bay Space custom: Handel’s masterwork, carried out in Grace Cathedral, is without doubt one of the nice vacation occasions, and American Bach presents it in all of its splendor. This yr, conductor Jeffrey Thomas leads the orchestra and Bach Choir in a efficiency that includes soprano Mary Wilson, countertenor Eric Jurenas, tenor Jon Lee Keenan, baritone Jesse Blumberg, and the corporate’s Bach Choir.
Particulars: 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; $25-$135; americanbach.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Austen for the vacations
Jane Austen is justifiably revered for an ideal many issues: her beautiful prose, her savvy critique of the British higher class, her emotionally satisfying romantic storylines. However she has hardly ever been considered the go-to writer for the winter holidays. However TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, together with Bay Space playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, could have modified all that. The Palo Alto stage firm is presenting Gunderson and Melcon’s Austen-themed work, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” as its vacation stage present this yr. The comedic rom-com is described as a sequel to Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and, because the title makes clear, it’s set throughout the vacation time. The play focuses on the center Bennet daughter, (the “bookish” Mary, as organizers put it) who’s weary of at all times being in the midst of her siblings’ romantic points till a dishy new customer arrives at Pemberley to mild up her world. Having scored with audiences in a trio of Austen diversifications – “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility,” and “Emma” – you’ll be able to’t blame TheatreWorks for returning to the beloved writer, in addition to acclaimed playwrights Gunderson and Melcon, for some vacation cheer. Directed by Jeffrey Lo, “Miss Bennett” performs on the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto by Dec. 29. Tickets are $34-$115; go to theatreworks.org.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
Some perky Prokofiev
We at all times anticipate the San Francisco Youth Symphony to carry households a rousing efficiency of Sergei Prokofiev’s charming “Peter and the Wolf” each vacation season, however we don’t know till the date approaches what celeb can be picked to fill the narrator’s sneakers. Previous performers have included Sharon Stone, Linda Ronstadt, Robin Williams, Bobby McFerrin and Rita Moreno. This yr, it’s the Filipino American Broadway star of “Aladdin” and present host of the children TV collection “Blues, Clues and You” Josh Dela Cruz who can be telling the story of the plucky boy, his animal associates and the unfortunate duck who will get swallowed entire. The live performance, performed by Radu Paponiu, takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in San Francisco’s Davies Corridor. There are different enjoyable works on this system, together with the “Thunder and Lightning Polka” by Johan Strauss, Jr., and it’ll wind up with a standard vacation carol singalong. Tickets, $37.50-$199, can be found at sfsymphony.org and 415-864-6000.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
