Needles and Opium

San Francisco,

Wellesley Robertson III as Miles Davis and Olivier Normand as Jean Cocteau. Photo: Tristram Kenton

Needles and Opium

Theater San Francisco,
Robert Lepage’s 1991 creative drama of transatlantic love, loss and foreign complications intersperses tales of American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1981) (outstanding Wellesley Robertson III) and French writer, playwright and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau (1889 –1963) (marvelous Olivier Normand) with a ...
Photo: Erik Tomasson.

Swan Lake

Dance San Francisco,
“It’s complicated,” Prince Siegfried (Joseph Walsh) might be inclined to confess, if asked to sum up his erotic inclinations. He celebrates his birthday while sharing a carousing bromance with his tutor, Wolfgang (Val Caniparoli), and appeasing his meddling Queen Mother ...
Photo: Andrew Weeks

ODC/Dance Downtown

Dance San Francisco,
Choreographer Kate Weare’s “Giant” kicked off program one of a two-week run at YBCA called “Dance Downtown.” Her smart staging and choreography was handsomely matched by the lighting and scenic design of Matthew Antaky and by ...
Richard Diebenkorn, Seated Figure with Hat, 1967; oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C.,

Matisse/Diebenkorn

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
“Matisse always surprises me…. It’s the restraint coupled with the sensuousness that’s so utterly exceptional.” Richard Diebenkorn The distinguished artistic career of the prominent postwar California painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) began with his unique style of abstract expressionism (ca.1946–1956), ...
Joseph Walsh in Balanchine's Prodigal Son. (© Erik Tomasson)

Must-See Balanchine

Dance San Francisco,
Stagers Bart Cook and Maria Calegari return as Balanchine Trust emissaries to transmit the particularities signaling George Balanchine’s momentous break with traditional classical ballet to another generation of dancers. In three works, “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” “Prodigal Son,” and “Diamonds” ...
Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869. Oil on canvas,.

Monet: The Early Years

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
“Monet: The Early Years” is visually gorgeous and academically significant. Presenting Monet’s work from the early phase of his career (1858-1872) starting when Monet was 18 years old and ending when he turned 32, the show traces the development ...
Vitor Luiz in Scarlett's Frankenstein. (© Erik Tomasson)

Frankenstein

Dance San Francisco,
Sparks flew at Friday evening’s San Francisco Ballet performance of Liam Scarlett’s “Frankentstein.” Unfortunately, they produced more light than heat. By the end of the co-commission with London’s Royal Ballet, quantity turned to quality, and Vitor Luiz’s jolie-laid rendering of ...