Arts & Entertainment
Who knew the denizens of Oz could be so human? It’s true when the stand-in for Oz is colorful San Francisco, and the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tin Man are all vibrant denizens of the lesbian community.
On Friday, under the arching whale bone proscenium of the Ashby Stage in Berkeley, Stephanie Reif’s musical “Left of Oz” played to a gregarious and engaged crowd of young and old, regulars and new attendees, and gay and straight couples.
(6/5) — In the cozy second floor of the Noe Valley Ministry, Matthew Monfort, Teja Gerken and the San Francisco Guitar Quartet performed a variety of pieces for the San Francisco Guitar Summit, an event put on as part of the Noe Valley Music Series supported by SF LiveArts.
An intimate audience of about thirty people were in attendance, the event opening with a mix of contemporary and traditional music by Teja Gerken, a practitioner of steel-string fingerstyle guitar.
Beer lovers: bottoms up! Prepare to do some serious tasting at a new Oakland hot-spot, Beer Revolution.
This new addition to the Jack London Square neighborhood opened just a few months ago and it’s already earning rave reviews for their delectable selection and super friendly service.
There’s a big spat going on atop Nob Hill right now on whether to give a big-name concert promoter the rights to increase the number of music shows inside the sparingly used Masonic Auditorium on California Street.
The promoter, Live Nation, won approval from the city for upgrades to the center, including the installation of tiered seats and permanent food and alcohol booths in the front lobby.
After a major $62.2 million two-year transformation, the Oakland Museum of California reopened its doors to the public this weekend.
The consensus amongst museum visitors was clear: the renovated museum is impressive.
San Francisco art lovers have spent the past week in something of a treasure hunt. A covert British graffiti artist, world renowned for spray-painting stenciled images that frequently come with a political or social message, has been leaving his mark at six locations in the city.
According to art lovers and graffiti aficionados who follow his work, it’s the first time “Banksy” has ever paid San Francisco a visit.
NBC’s “Trauma”, the San Francisco Bay Area-based medical drama, aired its series finale last Monday after a turbulent run that saw the show canceled by the network, briefly revived, then canceled for good.
The show premiered in September 2009 and suffered from lackluster ratings despite having a cult-like following. The show filmed 18 episodes exclusively in San Francisco, turning well-known local landmarks into backdrops for medical emergencies for a team of city paramedics.
After a long period in the doldrums, Downtown Oakland is coming to life again.
And it’s being resurrected thanks in part to restaurants like Spice Monkey, a busy Webster St. spot that draws a loyal crowd of suit-and-tie regulars along with casual locals looking for a great spot to eat.
It’s located inside a beautiful art deco era building that once housed Oakland’s historic Howden Tile factory. Remnants of the old factory — and the ceramic tiles it used to manufacture — are located all over the restaurant.
The San Francisco Symphony’s 6.5 Series continues to offer an eclectic blend of old warhorses and new compositions. Held on selected Fridays at 6:30 pm, the shows offer a comfortable medium for patrons interested in a more adult affair than the Music for Families series, but a more relaxed atmosphere and dress code than a formal Symphony Concert.
This Friday’s concert featured Edwin Outwater conducting Gounod’s Ballet Music from Faust along with more contemporary fare like Vivier’s Zipangu and Duncan Sheik’s Song Suite from Whisper House.
When Amy and Chris Hillyard opened Farley’s East, a community coffeehouse in Uptown Oakland last summer, both said the goal was to create a place with community, comfort, great food and coffee.
So far, it’s been successful all the way.
