From the world’s most romantic band to all-world pianist Yuja Wang returning to the Bay Area, to a kick-butt play about play about a flavor enhancer, there are some cool shows to see in the Bay Area this weekend.
Here’s a partial rundown.
‘There is love everywhere’ with Air Supply
How else would you want to spend Valentine’s Day than with “the most romantic band in the world”?
No, we’re not talking about Slipknot. We’re actually talking about the equally awesome Air Supply, the duo that Time magazine reportedly once referred as “the most romantic band in the world.”
“We’ve been accused of that,” Air Supply lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock said to this newspaper in a previous interview. “And I accept that accusation wonderfully. We are romantic people. I think love is the most elusive emotion that has ever existed. That is why people continually fall in love, fall out love. They love their dogs. They love their cats. There is love everywhere.”
And there certainly should be plenty love in the air when Hitchcock and longtime collaborator Graham Russell revisit their hit-filled Air Supply catalog on Feb. 14 (yes, Valentine’s Day) at the San Jose Civic.
It’s a chance to hear such world-class beauties as “The One That You Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” “Lost in Love,” “Here I Am” and, best of all, the staggeringly brilliant “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.”
Details: 8 p.m.; tickets start $81 (subject to change); sanjosetheaters.org
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Classical picks: Yuja Wang, Schwabacher series
This week’s classical music calendar offers high-octane thrills, including the always-daring pianist Yuja Wang at the San Francisco Symphony; opera artists showing their stuff at the Schwabacher Recital Series; and West Bay Opera’s “La Sonnambula.”
Wang is back: The phenomenal Yuja Wang returns to Davies Symphony Hall for four performances, joining music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra in two works: Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1. A selection of works by Debussy completes the program.
Details: 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $99-$399; sfsymphony.org.
Opera in recital: It’s always exciting to see young singers on the brink of great careers, and the Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera Center, will bring some of program’s finest vocalists to the stage beginning this weekend. Three events are on the calendar, with artists set to sing in intimate concert programs curated by Nicholas Phan.
Details: 7:30 today at Taube Atrium Theater at War Memorial Veterans Building, San Francisco; 7:30 March 6 at Osher Recital Hall, San Francisco; and 7:30 April 10 at Taube Atrium Theater; each event $30, $75 for three-recital series; sfopera.com.
Opera onstage: As part of its 69th season in Palo Alto, West Bay Opera opens a new production of Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” (The Sleepwalker) this weekend in the first of four performances led by conductor and stage director José Luis Moscovich.
Details: 7 p.m. Friday and Feb. 22; 2 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 23; Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto; $46-$125; wbopera.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
At SF Playhouse: The ABCs of MSG
It’s a poorly kept secret that many chefs in the highest ends of the restaurant industry keep a secret ingredient in their cabinet: MSG. The umami-loaded sodium salt, once blamed for making you puffy and gross-feeling, is back in fashion — and why shouldn’t it be?
As David Chang asked: “Why was MSG villainized in Chinese restaurants, but fine when it occurred naturally in Parmesan?”
Monosodium glutamate is at the center of a new show at the San Francisco Playhouse, “Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play.” Written by Keiko Green and directed by Jesca Prudencio, the plot follows a Japanese American high school girl whose parents helped create the supposedly dangerous and addictive flavor ennhancer. She vows to save the world from MSG, embarking on a time-traveling crusade through the 1990s that touches on pop culture, anime, teen crushes, fight sequences and instant ramen. In other words, it’s quite a flavorful experience, and one that BroadwayWorld has praised as “frenetic and fantastical.”
The 100-minute show (no intermission) has settled in at San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post St., for a run through March 8.
Details: Performed Tuesdays through Sundays; $35-$135; sfplayhouse.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Hoop themes at MoAD
In a fete of scheduling that seems perfectly timed to the NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco this weekend, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) has opened a new basketball-themed exhibit by Houston-based artist Ann Johnson.
“Love + Basketball: My Freedom Got a Rim On It,” offers a collection of Johnson’s wide range of interdisciplinary works, including everything from videos to sculptures to her acclaimed “BlingCatchers” series, which feature regulation-sized basketball rims and backboards adorned with everything from beads to jewelry to sneakers (Air Jordans, of course) to crosses and more.
“Basketball is a story intrinsic to Black America, and offers countless lessons of our excellence, resistance, and economic mobility. Ann Johnson’s work, in particular, poignantly covers so much of this experience through her art.”
The exhibit is also part of MoAD’s Black History Month programming and kicks off a celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Details: Through March 2; Mission and 3rd streets, San Francisco; open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays (closed Mondays and Tuesdays); admission $7-$15; www.moadsf.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Legion of Honor Hollywood moments
San Francisco’s majestic Legion of Honor museum – honestly, you could have a pleasant time just walking around outside the place – is free to all Bay Area residents on Saturday. But on Feb. 15, you can catch two classic movies in which it plays a supporting role.
First up, at 11 a.m., is the more intriguing offering, “Vertigo,” Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic psychological thriller. It stars James Stewart as a former police detective suffering from the titular severe fear of heights pulled into a mystery about a missing woman. Hitchcock made cinema history by employing a special effect known as a “dolly zoom” to personify the effects of vertigo from Stewart’s perspective. The film shows the exterior of the Legion as well as an interior gallery in which a painting created for the film, “Portrait of Carlotta,” is observed in a key plot point. At 2 p.m., you can catch “The Wedding Planner,” a rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey (in case you didn’t get enough of him in all those Super Bowl ads). The film has received moderately favorable reviews over the years although McConnaughey (who has appeared in approximately 14,000 romantic comedies) and J.Lo make an appealing on-screen couple, especially as they are seen strolling through the Legion’s courtyard.. The mini-film festival is part of the Legion’s centennial celebration.
Details: Films run 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; free; you can also check out the museum’s artistic offerings, including one that captures various elements of the Legion’s storied history; www.famsf.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Love songs up close and personal
The Bay Area offers no shortage of concerts of all sorts and genres timed to the Valentine’s Day weekend — but here’s one that offers a unique and intriguing premise. It’s titled “The Circle: Songs from the Heart,” and they aren’t kidding about the “circle” part. It involves four singer-songwriters who will assemble in a small circle with the audience seated around them, taking part in the songs and swapping stories. The set list will be decided kind of on the sport and will cover a wide array of genres – with the caveat being that they are all Valentine’s Day-themed. However, all emotional ranges, from joyous to jilted, are welcome. The concert was conceived by Bay Area singer-songwriter Sam Pond, who will be one of the performers. The others are Lizzie Water, Rick Hardin and a guest artist to be revealed at showtime.
Details:8 p.m. Feb. 14; The Faight, a performance/art venue and collective in San Francisco’s lower Haight; $23.18; ladybug-turtle-hhs9.squarespace.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
Syncopated Ladies come to Livermore
Syncopated Ladies is a Los Angeles tap-dance outfit known around the globe, particularly after their appearance on Season 11 of Fox-TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Celebrity endorsement from the likes of Beyonce and Janet Jackson (both of whom know a thing or two about electrifying dance performances) haven’t hurt either. The group was created by tapping superstar Chloe Arnold, who began performing when she was 6, turned pro when she was 10 (after joining Savion Glover’s dance crew) and had her own documentary on cable TV when she was 12. Besides her training with Glover, Arnold has also been a protege of famed performer Debbie Allen (best known for her appearance on the film and TV versions of “Fame”). Now she’s leading her own troupe of talented tappers, who bring their tour to the Bankhead Theater in Livermore for a Valentine’s Day performance on Feb. 14.
Details: 8 p.m.; $70-$100; livermorearts.org
— Bay City News Foundation
A swell fellow on the cello
World-renowned British cellist Steven Isserlis and his frequent collaborator, pianist Connie Shih, return to present another recital for San Francisco Performances at 7:30 p.m. Deb. 15 in the Herbst Theatre. Isserlis, who performs on a vintage 1726 Stradivarius on loan from the Royal Academy of Music, was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1998 in recognition for his contributions as a musician, an author, an occasional conductor and a broadcaster. Shih, who is a household name in Canada for her many appearances on radio and TV broadcasts, made her debut at age 9 playing a Mendelssohn concerto with the Seattle Symphony and is currently on the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany. On their program will be cello sonatas by Beethoven, Martinu and Grieg and Nadia Boulanger’s 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano.
Details: $65-$85; sfperformances.org.
— Bay City News Foundation