Freebie of the week: Fresh air, lush greenery, sunshine in abundance and gorgeous music pouring out from an outdoor stage—what better options are there for marking the oncoming end of a blessedly mild summer? Seats on the lawn on Sunday in Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park are on a first-come, first-serve basis as the San Francisco Opera, as it has for 50 years, celebrates the opening of its new season with Opera in the Park. The concert, conducted by music director Eun Sun Kim, begins at 1:30 p.m. and serves as a sort of preview for the opera’s 103rd season. The concert’s singers also are scheduled to perform on the War Memorial stage during its first two productions, Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” opening Friday, and Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking,” opening Sept. 14. They include sopranos Brittany Renee, Olivia Smith and Adela Zaharia; mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges, Susan Graham and Nikola Printz; tenor Yongzhao Yu; baritones Amartuvshin Enkhbat and Rod Gilfry and bass Peixin Chen. For more information, visit sfopera.com/operainthe park.
Another freebie: Heads up, Bay Area bibliophiles: As they have every year since 1981, the volunteer critics and editors comprising the Northern California Book Reviewers will honor authors from these parts who have published works in the past year with Northern California Book Awards in categories including fiction, poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. The ceremony, at 2 p.m. Saturday in Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library with a reception to follow, also celebrates achievements of translators in prose and poetry and singles out distinguished authors for special recognition. This year, the Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service goes to Marin author, activist and historian Rebecca Solnit, and the NCBA Groundbreaker Award will be bestowed on Paul Yamazaki, head book buyer for the legendary City Lights Books in San Francisco for more than 50 years. The library and the organization Poetry Flash co-present the event; books will be available for sale at the reception. For more information, including a list of nominees, and a link to secure free tickets, go to www.poetryflash.org.
Jane + Kate = fun: Jane Lynch probably popped up on the radar of many in 2009, when she starred as the track-suit-clad personification of high school administrative evil named Sue Sylvester on “Glee.” As the primary antagonist of the show’s titular glee club, Sylvester as portrayed by Lynch was so deliciously nasty and ruthless, she became a reason to watch the show, even for those who weren’t necessarily enamored with the music. As Entertainment Weekly put it, Lynch was “the greatest Broadway-musical villain to ever co-star in a TV series.” That Broadway reference is spot-on. The performer Lynch can do it all: sing, dance, act, crack-wise and kick up a dust-storm of merriment and attitude. Upcoming in the Bay Area, she’s half of the touring two-woman show “The Trouble with Angels.” The other half is Kate Flannery, whose comedic acting resume includes stints with Chicago’s Second City improv troupe, a satirical stage outfit known as Annoyance Theatre, and a memorable run as the liquored-up, lascivious Meredith Palmer on “The Office.” Lynch and Flannery’s show, featuring songs and banter, is like to be funny and charming as heck, if not G-rated. “The Trouble with Angels” kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. Tickets are $100-$125 at livermorearts.org.
Wilson in the spotlight: Having performed with Paul McCartney, Diana Krall and Norah Jones, and with a father who was a legendary musician and bandleader, Anthony Wilson has not a problem making a name for himself. The son of revered Los Angeles trumpeter and bandleader Gerald Wilson (who was famed for arranging music for just abou everyone in the jazz world during the second half of the 20th century) Anthony, a guitarist and composer, wasted little time in establishing his own credentials. Shortly after graduating from Bennington College in Vermont, he captured the Thelonious Monk International Composer’s Competition. His first album, a self-titled release, was nominated for a Grammy. He has since released 14 albums under his own name and contributed to more than 30 others as a guest. He appears on several of his father’s recordings and, since 1986, has performed with his father’s Gerald Wilson Orchestra. The versatile fretman is comfortable with a variety of settings, including the quartet (featured in his most recent album, 2024’s “Hackensack West”) and the nonet, which is what he brings to SFJazz Center Thursday and Friday for four concerts. Regardless of the type of band he’s in or who he’s playing with, Wilson is regarded as one of the finest jazz guitarists on the planet. He and his band perform at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at SFJazz Center’s Joe Henderson Lab (the early Thursday show is listed as sold out). Tickets are $35-$45 at www.sfjazz.org.
A loverly musical: San Francisco Playhouse is presenting a string of classic productions, with “Noises Off,” “Into the Woods” and “M. Butterfly” in the offing in the company’s 2025-26 season. But through Sept. 13, the classic “My Fair Lady” with its numerous hummable tunes, is onstage at the troupe’s 450 Post St. theater. The musical is an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play “Pygmalion,” about a haughty professor utterly lacking in empathy waging a bet that he can pass off a Cockney flower girl as an upper-class woman by teaching her to speak in a more upper-class manner. Through the grueling process, the professor, Henry Higgins, and the flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, form a bond that is deeper than either could have expected. The story has its issues—Professor Higgins’ self-centered ways reads more like misogyny by today’s standards —but “My Fair Lady” is worth seeing for the exceptional first-rate songs: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” and other classics. Created by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music), the tunes hold their own against any song lineup in just about any musical. “My Fair Lady,” directed by San Francisco Playhouse co-founder and artistic director Bill English, has 15 performances left before closing. Tickets are $52-$135 at www.sfplayhouse.org.
The post Best Bets: Opera in the Park, NorCal Book Awards, Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery, Anthony Wilson, ‘My Fair Lady’ appeared first on Local News Matters.