Freebie of the week: San Francisco’s latest ploy to perk up its downtown nightlife unfurls this week with the cleverly titled Fridays on Front Street, which takes place Friday on, um, Front Street, from 4 to 9 p.m. between Sacramento and California streets. The free event features all the staples of a cool street party: booze, food, live music, games and more. The live music lineup, curated by the Noise Pop festival, includes the versatile Bay Area pop/rock/R&B/funk band Curtis Family C-Notes. It’s a true family band (you may have caught them on “America’s Got Talent” or the JC Penney ads they have starred in) as well as The Fell Swoop, Sweet Lew and MC Broke-Ass Stuart. There will also be a Ping-Pong table (and other activities that become infinitely more entertaining when you’ve had a drink or two), food trucks and more fun stuff. The three popular drinking establishments on the block—Royal Exchange, Harrington’s Bar & Grill and Schroeder’s — are offering drink specials and their own entertainment. And a big screen in the vicinity will broadcast the San Francisco Giants game. Additional Fridays on Front Street events are slated for July 18, Aug. 22 and Oct. 10. More information is at downtownsf.org.
A season closer: It is a topic – and a larger-than-life personality – perfectly suited for an operatic treatment. The adventurous San Francisco company Opera Paralléle winds up its current season with a tightened version of composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie’s “Harvey Milk Reimagined,” the West Coast debut of a reworked production that premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1995 and then graced the San Francisco Opera stage in 1996. Shortened to two acts with a single intermission and more compact casting and sung in English, it traces the early life and political evolution of the iconic activist who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978, only to be cut down in a brutal double slaying that also took the life of Mayor George Moscone less than a year later. Baritone Michael Kelly takes on the title role for his company debut, and the other important roles are filled by tenor Christopher Oglesby as Dan White, tenor Henry Benson as Scott Smith, bass Matt Boehler as George Moscone and soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Dianne Feinstein. Mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook sings as Milk’s mother, and vocalist Curtis Resnick plays him as a young boy. Opera Paralléle’s artistic and general director Nicole Paiement conducts a 30-member orchestra. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Yerba Buena Center’s Blue Shield Theater in San Francisco, with repeats at 3 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. June 6 and 5 p.m. June 7. Tickets, $50-$180, are available at operaparallele.org.
A celebratory swan song: Conductor Joseph Young of the Berkeley Symphony leaves his position after six years at the podium at a final concert called “Triumph,” which takes place Sunday at Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Young, who was honored at the orchestra’s annual spring gala in early May, will lead a program that is anchored by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, famously argued as either an appeasing kowtow to the disapproving dictator Joseph Stalin, or, in its final movement, a satirical jab at that clueless tyrant. Regardless, it remains the most popular of Shostakovich’s 10 symphonies today. Also on the program are, in its Bay Area premiere, Gity Razaz’s “Methuselah (In Chains of Time”), with its evocation of the rugged bristlecone pines of California’s Inyo County; and Astor Piazzolla’s “Aconcagua,” with accordion virtuoso Hanzhi Wang featured as soloist. Performance time is 4 p.m., and tickets, $30-$85, are available at berkeleysymphony.org.
‘Limitless’ in Walnut Creek: An exhibit in Contra Costa County very well may open your eyes and mind as it serves up awesome works. “Limitless,” on display at the Bedford Gallery in the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek, puts the focus on artists with disabilities. The collection features paintings, prints, sculptures and more from 65 artists who are members of the nonprofits Creative Growth, Creativity Explored and NIAD (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development), which were formed by Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz some 50 years ago to champion the rights and accomplishments of artists with intellectual and physical disabilities. Artists include Berkeley multidisciplinary artist Dorian Reid, whose works often center on themes of social justice, civil rights and animal welfare. (She is particularly enamored with cats, whom she says bring her comfort.) Also, there’s Bay Area Filipino American artist John Patrick McKenzie, whose works, described as “visual poetry,” combine often-colorful calligraphy with references to popular culture, geography, celebrities and other themes. The exhibit runs through June 22. The Bedford Gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; admission is $5. Go to www.bedfordgallery.org.
Just for laughs: A couple of star comedians are headed to Bay Area clubs this weekend. Tommy T’s in Pleasanton is hosting Adele Givens, who made her name in the Chicago circuit, where comedy is more than a form of entertainment; it’s practically a turf war. In 1990, she captured the Windy City’s Crown Royal Comedy Competition in 1990 and has become well-known for her not-exactly-bashful form of stand-up, often built around her catchphrase “I am SUCH a #$%@#% Lady.” She’s performed on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam as well as the Queens of Comedy Tour and appeared in such films as “Beauty Shop” and Ice Cube’s “The Players Club.” She plays Tommy T’s 7 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30-$40; go to tommyts.com. Meanwhile, iconic comedian and actor Tommy Davidson, who broke out as a star on TV’s game-changing show “In Living Color,” holds forth at San Jose Improv. He has an almost incomprehensibly long list of TV and big screen appearances, from guest-starring spots and supporting and voice roles to comedy specials and more. But his career, which took off after he won a comedy competition at New York’s famed Apollo Theater and then headed for L.A., has its foundation in stand-up, which is what he will be delivering in performances at 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $31.14-$83.15; go to improv.com/sanjose.
The post Best Bets: Fridays on Front Street, ‘Harvey Milk Reimagined,’ Berkeley Symphony, ‘Limitless’ art show, Adele Givens, Tommy Davidson appeared first on Local News Matters.