Bay Area Reporter :: Culture News

The unscripted self: Billy Crudup in Berkeley Rep's 'Harry Clarke'

November 28, 2023 | by Jim Gladstone

"Why would anyone read reviews?!" asks the brash title character of David Cale's funny, brainy one-actor play "Harry Clarke," now at the Berkeley Rep. "Surprise me!"

Q-Music: Oy to the world! Cher, George Perris and others release holiday albums

by Gregg Shapiro
Nov 28, 2023

Our prolific music writer has some holiday albums to share, including Cher! Also, songs by George Perris, Scout Durwood and Stephanie J. Block should get you into the spirit of the time.

Nancy Spada's biography of musician Thomas Schippers

by Tim Pfaff
Nov 28, 2023

Nancy Spada's new "Beyond the Handsomeness: A Biography of Thomas Schippers" hits a sour note. Spada breezes past one thing people who know little else about Schippers know: his versatile sexuality.

Gay Pride on Pride Rock — 'The Lion King' cast member & manager share tales from the road

by Jim Gladstone
Nov 21, 2023

"Sometimes you get surprised," said Eric Bean of the 50-odd cities he's visited as one of the 134 members of "The Lion King" touring company that opens at the Orpheum Theatre this week. "In Tulsa, Oklahoma, there are four different drag brunches!"

Wolfgang Tillmans' 'To look without fear' retrospective at SFMOMA

by Robert Brokl
Nov 21, 2023

Photographer Wolfgang Tillmans likes to shake up cavernous white cube museum spaces. With his retrospective exhibition, "To look without fear," he does so at the SFMOMA, personally revising an exhibition that debuted in 2022 in New York City.

Doubleplus '1984' — Aurora Theatre's stage adaptation of Orwell's classic

by Jim Gladstone
Nov 21, 2023

If you're more interested in holding tight to the things you're thankful for than in cranking up the amperage of your holiday cheer, the Aurora Theatre's production of "1984" may be just the ticket for you.

Book 'em: page-turning gifts

by Gregg Shapiro
Nov 21, 2023

Books really and truly are the gifts that keep on giving. From the reissue of classics to highly anticipated memoir, and even a nostalgic nightclub ephemera picture book, we've got a few fun selections for your gifting that are sweet.

The Pope of Trash enshrined — John Waters exhibit at LA's Academy of Motion Picture Arts Museum

by Jim Gladstone
Nov 14, 2023

Renzo Piano's elegantly flowing Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a new Los Angeles must-see, now features a fourth-floor gallery that hosts a sprawling multimedia tribute to the movie-making career of "John Waters: The Pope of Trash."

'Chasing Bright Medusas' — Benjamin Taylor's new biography of Willa Cather

by Tim Pfaff
Nov 14, 2023

Benjamin Taylor's "Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather," like his other biography on Marcel Proust, integrates the subject's homosexuality, communicating its centrality in the authors' lives.

Vichet Chum's 'Kween' — playwright's debut novel delights and educates

by Laura Moreno
Nov 14, 2023

"Kween" is the welcome new novel by debut author, playwright and actor Vichet Chum, the Texas-born, Lowell, Massachusetts-bred son of Cambodian immigrants.

Marlena's Birthday at Patricia's Green

by Jim Provenzano
Nov 12, 2023

Friends of Absolute Empress Marlena (aka Gary Mclain) celebrated the 84th birthday of the local icon at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley on November 12.

'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' — Shotgun Players pulls the wig down from the shelf

by Jim Gladstone
Nov 7, 2023

As conceived by writer John Cameron Mitchell and composer/lyricist Stephen Trask back in 1997, "Hedwig"— now being presented by Berkeley's Shotgun Players — is intended to feel like a late night in a dive bar, not an evening at the theater.

Tanika Baptiste directs 'Group Therapy' at Theatre Rhino

by Jim Gladstone
Nov 7, 2023

Tis the season for Tanika Baptiste. While performing in the recent SF Playhouse production of 'Nollywood Dreams,' the multi-talent helmed rehearsals of Theatre Rhinoceros' new show, Kheven LaGrone's 'Group Therapy.'

California Festival — new music celebrated in concerts and opera

by Philip Campbell
Nov 7, 2023

'California Festival — A Celebration of New Music' is recharging musical institutions throughout the Golden West for two weeks through November 19.

Theyfriend: shining a spotlight on nonbinary performers

by David-Elijah Nahmod
Nov 7, 2023

Nonbinary performers will be celebrated from November 14-18 when Diamond Wave, a San Francisco-based queer arts organization, presents the third annual Theyfriend performance festival.

Arts & Culture :: Culture