A friend calls, asking for a date. Out There says sure, reaching for our calendar. We can fit you in the last week of April. Yes, OT is a wee bit overscheduled. Why is this? Take a look.
Last Tuesday night, Out There & Pepi were in the house at the historic Orpheum Theatre for opening night of Dame Edna's "Glorious Goodbye - The Farewell Tour." Spotted in the audience: Such luminaries as Jake Heggie, Robin Sutherland, Liam Mayclem, Greg Archer, Lisa Geduldig, and most of the usual suspects one sees hobnobbing about at press openings. Edna herself was in rare form, from insulting the people in the balconies to commandeering gladioli worship and demanding a standing ovation. Edna mastermind Barry Humphries appeared for a curtain speech in man drag in which he intimated that perhaps this was not the end of Edna. Or was it?
Wednesday night, OT+P went to see "Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles" in one of the cozy screening rooms at the Opera Plaza Cinemas. Welles: genius, patron saint of independent film. Hollywood: perpetually clueless.
Thursday night, we were there on the guest list at the W San Francisco hotel for "Rock the Empire," a celebration of the opening of W Beijing - Chang'an, featuring a cabaret performance by the international queen of burlesque Dita Von Teese, performing in a golden oversized birdcage. Von Teese dazzled in a Jenny Packham gown with Christina Louboutin heels and a Swarovski clutch for the red carpet, and wore a Mr. Pearl costume for her performance. Glamour, glamour.
Friday night we BARTed it over to Berkeley Rep for opening night of their excellent and provocative revival of Moliere's "Tartuffe," directed by Dominique Serrand , adapted by David Ball , and starring the estimable thespian Steven Epp in the title role. Dark comedy about religious hypocrisy? Extravagant claims of piety from the most venal of criminals? Sounds a lot like the 21st century to us.
Saturday night found us first-nighting again, this time at San Francisco Playhouse for the opening of "Stupid Fucking Bird" by Aaron Posner, directed by Susi Damilano, an unusual adaptation of Chekhov 's "The Seagull." You don't have to have studied Russian drama to get the drift. Review coming next issue.
All this, and oh, we have a day job, too. That is, assigning, editing and proofing the Arts & Culture section each and every week. We think this week's edition is full of wonderful stuff. Feast your ever-loving eyes on it, and we'll make a date for next November.
News Feed
Coming up: SOMArts Cultural Center presents "The News," a monthly offering of new experimental performance works, on Tues., April 7, at 7:30 p.m. The Queer Cultural Center's [QCC] Kevin Seaman and Manish Vaidya curate previews of 2015 National Queer Arts Festival performances by artists from QCC's "Creating Queer Community" program, including Althea and the Graceland Girls, Migueltzinta Cah Mai Solis Pino, Peacock Rebellion, the Congregation of Liberation and the Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins . SOMArts (934 Brannan St., SF) is offering free admission with a hat pass. RSVP EventBrite to guarantee a seat: thenewsperformance.eventbrite.com. More info: somarts.org/thenewsapril2015.