The Bay Area is a hub of artistic expression, attracting artists, writers and musicians from around the globe to live, work and create. We highlight some of the offerings here
• Sting sails into S.F.: He may be best known for the addictive reggae-fueled tunes of The Police or the jazz/world/pop sound of his later solo career, but Sting is back in San Francisco to give us … show tunes. The talented musician and writer is bringing his stage musical “The Last Ship” — inspired by his childhood on the English coast and the devastating loss of the shipbuilding industry in his hometown — to the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. Sting also performs in the production, which plays Feb. 20-March 22. Tickets are $70-$275 (subject to change) at broadwaysf.com.
• King’s legacy: Award-winning producer, musician and singer Damien Sneed has put together a touring show paying tribute to civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Backed by five singers, musicians and clips of King’s speeches, the multimedia concert tribute features songs by Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone and others, encompassing blues, jazz, gospel and more. The tour makes two Bay Area stops this week: 8 p.m. Feb. 20 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall ($14-$74; calperformances.org) and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall ($35-$60; live.stanford.edu).
• Meltdown: In “The Children,” a long-married couple living near the ruins of a nuclear power plant where they once worked (think the Fukushima disaster) get a surprise visit from a former plant co-worker whom they haven’t seen in 30 years. The reunion sparks a combination of mystery, paranoia and tension in Lucy Kirkwood’s eco-thriller now playing at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. James Carpenter, Anne Darragh and Julie Eccles star in this 90-minute drama directed by Barbara Damashek. “The Children” plays through March 1; tickets are $40-$70; www.auroratheatre.org.
• Author! Author! Well, la-di-da, la-di-da! Look who’s coming to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco just to talk to us. It’s “Annie Hall” actress Diane Keaton, who, of course, has had many accomplishments since that beloved 1977 film. Besides garnering a Golden Globe and an Academy award, she has published a well-received memoir, “Then Again” in 2011, and an amusingly titled essay collection, “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty,” in 2015. She comes now to tell us about a new effort of a highly personal nature. “Brother & Sister: A Memoir” (Knopf, $25.95, 176 pages) delves into the life she shared with her younger sibling Randy as they were growing up in the Los Angeles ’burbs and examines what she thinks might have made his sad life turn into something so different than hers. City Arts & Lectures presents her at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at 275 Hayes St. Find $59 tickets, which include a book, at www.cityboxoffice.com or 415-392-4400.
• Laid-back classical music: Word has it that the hip chamber orchestra One Found Sound, established seven years ago by graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, puts on concerts in cool venues like art galleries and warehouse settings where drinks are complimentary and people stay to party afterward. Check out their next program at Heron Arts, 7 Heron St, in San Francisco at 8 p.m. Feb. 21. The program, featuring guest soprano Julie Adams in Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville, Summer of 1915,” also includes Caroline Shaw’s “Entr’acte” and Maurice Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite.” Tickets, $25 in advance, $30 at the door, are at onefoundsound.org/concerts.