--- past --- not written up ---

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 SF Symphony
Wed Nov 29- Sat Dec 2, open rehearsal Weds 10am

Antonio Gaudi movie Castro Theatre Nov 30 7pm, 9pm

Silly Symphonies animation at Castro Theatre Dec 2 matinee

RECESS! Play Night for Grown Ups Who Need/Want a Play Break
Saturday, December 2nd; 6:30-9:30 pm $15 in advance, reservations recommended
My friend JeffJ has great things to say about Sue who leads this, and expects it to be quite fun.
More info here.

Manon Lescaut SF Opera to Dec 10 (I'm planning Thu Dec 7)

VARLA JEAN MERMAN IS ANATOMICALLY INCORRECT!
December 7th - 16th, Victoria Theatre in SF
For more info visit http://www.victoriatheatre.org/

Traces presented by Circus Center December 13-Jan 1 at Palace of Fine Arts
I expect this will be a really good circus show.
More info on the Circus Center web site.

SF Gay Men's Chorus Home for the Holidays
Dec 14 7pm, Dec 24 5, 7, 9pm at Castro Theatre
More at on the Chorus's web site.

Kinsey Sicks Oy Vey in a Manger Sat December 23 8pm at Herbst Theatre w/KK

Luma at Victoria Theatre
December 17-January 19 Looks like very cool light/movement performance.

Beethoven String Quartets with commentary at Herbst Theatre on Saturday mornings at 10am
February 3 w/ND

Barber of Seville SF Opera Nov 17

Mark and I saw this and generally enjoyed it. Not bowled over. Good lead performances and good ensembles. Enjoyed the set. While intellectually I thought some of the gags were silly, they did get a laugh from me. I enjoyed the ensemble numbers a lot. The solos generally dragged for me, with the exception of the maid's. I don't feel I need to see this again, but glad I did.

Hamlet
Went Thurs Nov 2 8 PM Climate Theater, 285 9th Street in San Francisco with MarkA

Intense and involving performance. Since I haven't seen Hamlet before, the whole thing was unexpected for me. I lost a bit of attention at the end and something about suicide and murder gets me to check out a bit. Certainly glad I went, though, and was mostly taken in by the show. It was also nice to visit a bit with Stuart, the director/editor.

It’s “Hamlet” like you’ve never seen it before- reduced to a slick hour and forty, the tale has been streamlined and taken in a new direction, with unexpected plot twists, a reshaped ending, re-conceived characters and more, all while still using the original dialogue. See the director/editor's press release in his blog for more.

Momix Marin Center October 28 8pm

Went with Mark A (with dinner before at Sushi Ran's bar in Sausalito, which was crowded, so make reservations or have lots of time if you want to go).

Really enjoyable show. Somewhere between Pilobolus and Cirque du Soleil. Lots of neat movement and lots of illusion. I want to see their other shows.

I particularly liked (and am writing here for my own reminder in case I want to crib ideas later) jellyfish, rope waves, half black/white costumes, white legged four- and six-legged beings, the arm birds, dancing on the inflatable balls, the spirit puppets, and the spinning webs, much of it lit with blacklight footlights, and all shown behind a scrim (to help hide apparatus, black clothing, and helpers and puppeteers in black).

From press materials: "Known internationally for presenting work of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, Momix has been celebrated for its ability to conjure up a world of surrealistic images using props, light, shadow, humor and the human body." More on the Momix web site.

Troijka

Went to see this with MarkA (after yummy dinner at Thai Basil).

I generally like Stuart's work, and this one actually pulled me in enough that when the revelation came, I was actually surprised and had my head spin for a minute making sense of what had gone before.

See http://horrorunspeakable.com/chronicles_troijka.html for more.

Beethoven Quartet
Another good concert, this time with just one quartet. Lecture style was smarmy to me, but interesting in content.

Bouquets to Art
Mar 21-25 at DeYoung Museum
Floral designers put dozens of arrangements and installations related to various works and rooms around the museum. Interesting to see how different designers pull different things (textures, colors, compositions, even images) from the works and respond to them in flowers.

Wasn't as interesting this year as last for me. There were a couple of striking pieces (the three lamps in flowers with the woman and a glass of port, the oval arrangement with the woman bronze).

It was nice to see the new DeYoung. A few appealing things: the fern garden between wings, the contemporary mirrored glass forms, nice and reasonably priced cafe, and best of all the room of Hudson River School paintings. Heart-wrenching and inspiring to me. Bummer that the tower closed before I could make my way up it... Guess that'll be next time.

http://www.bouquetstoart.org/

Love's Labour's Lost

Went with DavidvdW (who also liked it) and DaveIS (not so much) to see this after sushi at Hana Zen.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, laughed out loud, felt the visceral "oh no, this will go badly", and was only disappointed a few times when the language went past me.

I liked it enough that I'd kind of like to see it again, maybe after reading it or a bit more about it.

I thought the contemporary back-alley bar setting with rock music and music video prelude and interludes worked well and were fun.

Exit Theater
www.horrorunspeakable.com

Gem of the Ocean
Feb 15 at ACT in SF

Went with David vdW and enjoyed the production. It was compelling, but I was surprised that I felt an observer all the way through, rather than being pulled in, despite the City of Bones ritual and other moving elements.

Pilobolus
Marin Center Jan 28 '06
with Val & Russ & Cory

Good show. Liked Aquatic a lot. The Empty Suitor clown bit on pipes was a good 5-7 minute concept presented in 5-7 minutes. Symbiosis and Day Two were enjoyable Pilobolus. Unfortunately, I was a bit sleepy/dozey during Day Two.