Freebie of the week: Get an early peek at Opera San Jose’s upcoming production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” as the company throws open its doors at the California Theatre and surroundings for Downtown San Jose’s SoFa District’s annual South First Friday evening art walk and street market this weekend. Multiple events from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. include performances of music from the opera (opening Sept. 14) that will star tenor WooYoung Yoon as the prince Tamino and baritone Ricardo José Rivera as the goofy birdcatcher Papageno and be conducted by the young prodigy composer Alma Deutscher. Festivities begin with an onstage concert by organist Jerry Nagano playing the theater’s mighty Wurlitzer and continue with the opera excerpts and all manner of tricks and sleights of hand by the magician-mentalist David Martinez. Galleries in the area will be open as well. The event is free, but to assure yourself of a seat at the theater, visit operasanjose.org. Find more information at southfirstfridays.com.
Arias al fresco: This is the weekend for grand opera you don’t have to drain your wallet to enjoy. San Francisco Opera, which opens its 106th season Friday night at War Memorial with a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” closes out the weekend Sunday afternoon with its free Opera in the Park, an annual extravaganza that brings the orchestra, conductor Eun Sun Kim and many of the new season’s singing stars to a sunny stage in Golden Gate Park’s Robin Williams Meadow. The concert begins at 1:30 p.m., and there will be plenty of room to set up lawn chairs or spread picnic baskets. The program consists of selections from the works of Bizet, Gounod, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and musical theater composers. Performers include American tenor Michael Fabiano, who plays Gustav III in “Un Ballo,” Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian and Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, who star as Amelia and Renato respectively, along with a host of other singers appearing in San Francisco Opera productions this season. Find out more about the company’s new season at sfopera.com.
Dances with civil rights: In 2010, a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Mississippi was banned from her senior prom because she wanted to bring her girlfriend. When she challenged the decision, the school board canceled the dance. After further legal challenges, a court ruled the school board violated the student’s First Amendment rights. The dance was reinstated but moved from the school grounds to a country club and only seven people attended. Local parents secretly scheduled another dance for the rest of the students. The deplorable turn of events became a pop culture phenomenon with stars such as members of Green Day, boy band singer Lance Bass and celebrity chef Cat Cora all issuing support for the student and contributing to a follow-up dance to which everyone was invited. The controversy also inspired a musical, “The Prom,” which gets a new production beginning this week in Berkeley. Created by Chad Beguelin (book and lyrics) Bob Martin (book) and Matthew Sklar (music), “The Prom” followed four past-their-prime Broadway stars who show up at a small Indiana town to champion a young student’s quest to bring her girlfriend to a dance (and, of course, to earn themselves a boatload of free publicity). Berkeley Playhouse is presenting the show, co-directed and co-choreographed by Megan McGrath and Christina Lazo, Friday through Oct. 13 at the Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. Tickets are $19-$55; go to berkeleyplayhouse.org.
Celebrating Africa: A free family-friendly festival comes to San Francisco this weekend that puts a spotlight on the dances, music, art, food and other cultural aspects of Africa. The fifth annual African Arts Festival, presented by Duniya Dance and Drum Company and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Great Lawn at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco. The event will feature a variety of African musical and dance performances, including a sneak peek at a new work titled “Raices et Resistance,” a co-production by Duniya and the Arenas Dance Company that looks at the history of African dance and music in response to slavery and colonization. The work will get its full premiere next month in San Francisco. Also featured will be a performance by Guinean funk band Bongo and the TonTons, as well as several vendors selling African cuisine, arts and crafts and clothing. More information on the event is available at ybgfestival.org.
Sax man comes back to the Bay: So renowned are Mike Zilber’s talents as a composer and a saxophone player, he finds himself moving around the country to keep up with musicians’ demands to play with him. Born in Canada, Zilber spent an early part of his career in New York, where he collaborated with such luminaries as Mark Feldman, Dave Douglas, Wayne Krantz, Rachel Z, and many more. After moving West and establishing himself as a mainstay in the Bay Area jazz scene, Zilber formed a longtime association with the great drummer Steve Smith, releasing the 2003 album “Reimagined Jazz Standards, Vol. 1.” He also collaborated with guitarist John Stowell, with whom he released the acclaimed recording 2016 “Basement Blues.” Zilber has since relocated to Los Angeles, but he will be back in the Bay Area this weekend to present his latest project, a reimagining of a wide variety of Lennon and McCartney tunes, featuring keyboardist Otis McDonald. Zilber plays at 7 and 9 p.m. Friday at Keys Jazz Bistro in San Francisco’s North Beach. Tickets are $35-$40 and seating is first-come, first-served; it’s advised that you plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before the show starts. For more information, go to https://keysjazzbistro.com/. And on Sunday, Zilber will be a guest musician with the 17-member Bay Area band Electric Squeezebox Orchestra at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. The show runs 5:30-7 p.m. and tickets are $20. Go to cjc.edu.
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