Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running through Nov. 19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here along with a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.

And, as always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

1 SEE, HEAR & LAUGH: Here comes Tiffany

Tiffany Haddish, one of the funniest humans on the planet (and there are a lot of funny humans on the planet) is headed to Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Saturday. Here’s what she has to say about her comedy tour.

2 DINE: Mexican-Japanese deliciousness

Good Luck Gato, a new joint in Oakland, applies the fun izakaya formula to a Mexican-Japanese menu. Intriguing, huh? We checked the place out recently and here are our thoughts.

3 WATCH: Godzilla’s best performance since …

Yes, the giant lizard and underrated actor is back in the terrific new series titled “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” It tops our list of new shows and movies you should totally watch this weekend.

4 COOK: Get a head start on Thanksgiving

No, we aren’t expecting you to start cooking your bird this weekend, but here’s how you can get a jump on the holiday. And if you’re thinking of grilling your turkey this year, here’s a sure-fire recipe for that.

5 BREW & QUAFF: Coffee cocktails, anyone?

Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen identify themselves as coffee journalists, so you know they must be brilliant. And their latest book explores how to employ coffee in some mighty tasty cocktails.

6 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all over

Smuin Ballet is back with the company’s beloved holiday show (feather boa and all). And that’s just one of the great shows going on this weekend.

7 PLAY: Surprising new ‘Mario Bros’ game

We recently checked out the new “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” game. One of its charms is the way it keeps defying expectations.

Here is a partial rundown.

Smuin Xmas show returns, with boa

One of the Bay Area’s most beloved Christmas dance traditions is returning for a five-week run at several area venues. We’re talking about Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s annual “Christmas Ballet” program, a joyous mix of works ranging from elegant to sassy and silly and touching on styles including traditional and contemporary ballet, jazz, tap, swing and more. This year’s show includes world premiere numbers by company artistic director Amy Seiwert and former Smuin choreographer Nicole Haskins. Also in the program are classical dance favorites by company founder, the late Michael Smuin, including “Bach Magnificat,” “Gloucestershire Wassail,” and “Licht bensh’n,” as well as some of his more playful works, including “Christmas Island,” “Droopy Little Christmas Tree” and, of course, “Santa Baby,” a piece that features what the company bills as the “world’s longest feather boa.”

The program lands at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts for performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18  and 2 p.m. Nov. 19. Future performances include Dec. 1-2 at the Sunset Center in Carmel, Dec. 7-10 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and Dec. 14-24 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. A LGBTQ+ Night performance on Dec. 19 at YBCA features popular San Francisco drag queen Lady Camden (a star of Season 14 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”). 

Details: $25-$119, find a complete schedule, tickets and more information at www.smuinballet.org.

— Bay City News Foundation

Classical picks: Climate symphony; Jupiter String Quartet

The classical music scene continues to innovate and engage – here are just a few of the Bay Area events coming our way.

“From the Edge”: This weekend’s San Francisco Symphony contributions to the statewide California Festival begins with “From the Edge,” with music director Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the Symphony’s first performances of Gabriella Smith’s climate-inspired “Breathing Forests.” Two Stravinsky works, the “Octet for Winds and Brass,” and “Les Noces,” featuring vocal soloists Lauren Snouffer, Kayleigh Decker and Paul Appleby, complete the program. Details: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18-19; Davies Symphony Hall; $25-$75; sfsymphony.org.

“Rodelinda” in concert: Under conductor Harry Bicket, the English Concert’s 2021 recording of “Rodelinda” earned rave reviews. Now Bicket and company return to UC Berkeley with a live concert performance of Handel’s opera, featuring Lucy Crowe in the title role; the cast also includes countertenors Iestyn Davies and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, along with tenor Eric Ferring, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel. Details: 3 p.m. Nov. 19, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $39-$142; calperformances.org.

New Music galore: The Other Minds Festival returns in its 27^th installment this week, with a full lineup of new and experimental music, including appearances by innovators Morton Subotnick, Sarah Cahill, Paul Dresher, and others. Details: Through Nov. 18, Taube Atrium Theater, Nov. 19, Gray Area, San Francisco; $15-$50 events, $50-$160 season passes; otherminds.org.

“Elixir” at SF Opera: Beginning with “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” and wowing audiences with this month’s “Omar,” it’s been an outstanding fall season at San Francisco Opera, and the company is capping it off with “The Elixir of Love.” Donizetti’s delectable comedy opens Sunday with tenor Pene Pati as the lovestruck Nemorino; conductor Ramón Tebar makes his company debut. Details: Nov. 19 through Dec. 9; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; in person $26-$414; livestream $27.50; sfopera.com.

Jupiter to Kohl: Music at Kohl Mansion, now in its 21st season, welcomes the acclaimed Jupiter String Quartet this Sunday in a program of works by Beethoven, Elizabeth Maconchy, Nathan Shields and Carlos Simon. Details: 7 p.m. Nov. 19; Kohl Mansion, Burlingame; $58 adult, $55 seniors, $25 30 and under; musicatkohl.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

The Dickens of a holiday show

We have a hunch that living in a Dickens novel would probably be nowhere near as fun as hanging out at the annual Daly City holiday event the legendary author has inspired. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Victorian Holiday Party, to use the event’s proper full name, returns to the Cow Palace this weekend, with its large and bustling re-creation of Victorian-era London. The attraction is chock full of attractions for adults and kids. The older set can enjoy port and chocolate tastings, sip their way through a high tea, tackle a Sherlock Holmes Experience mystery, knock back a pint or two at the Jekyll and Hyde Pub or somewhat naughtier Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House, and marvel at the wide array of performances taking pace on seven stages, form Irish singers to Bedouin belly dancers to comedians and jugglers to actors portraying scores of Dickens-created characters.

For the young ‘uns, there is a self-guided Children’s Tour of London, as well as opportunities to meet Father Christmas and the popular Punch and Judy puppet shows. Most of the entertainment and interactive stuff going on, for that matter, is suitable for both kids and adults. And of course, there are all kinds of British delicacies to sample, from fish and chips and bangers and mash to meat pies and all manner of cookies, chocolate and other sweet treats, as well as a full range of liquid refreshments. And, yes, there are knickknacks and other items for sale for holiday shoppers.

Details: Opens Nov. 18 and runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (plays the Friday after Thanksgiving) through Dec. 17; Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave., Daly City; daily tickets run $25-$45 ($18-$30 after 3 p.m.), with kids under 5 admitted free; full-run pass, $160; dickensfair.com

— Bay City News Foundation

Guys, dolls and one crazy bet

San Francisco Playhouse isn’t whisking audiences off to the North Pole or Bedford Falls for the holidays. Instead, the company is offering a ticket to 20th-century New York, where some hard-boiled gangsters, gamblers and entertainers of the night prove they, too, can carry a tune.

Yes, the company is presenting “Guys and Dolls,” the iconic musical by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which has been a popular stage staple since it debuted on Broadway in 1950. Many know the story from the 1955 film version starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.

Now S.F. Playhouse is reviving the musical, which centers a high-rolling gambler wooing an uptight missionary in hopes of winning a bet, and a burlesque performer trying to get her beau to settle down. Yes, it’s an old tale often told, but when you have songs like “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” setting the pace, it’s hard to go wrong. Helmed by company artistic director Bill English, “Guys and Dolls” begins in previews this week and runs through Jan. 13.

Details: Performances at 450 Post St., $15-$125; www.sfplayhouse.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Yes, that infamous furry green creature — who, at least initially, is certainly no fan of the holiday season — is bringing a slice of Whoville to the Bay Area as “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” is performed Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose.

The play, of course, is based on Dr. Seuss’ classic holiday tale about the curmudgeonly Grinch, whose heart is “two sizes too small” and his desire to ruin the Christmas season for the kindly residents of Whoville knows no bounds.

The musical, which was first commissioned by the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis in the mid-’90s and went on to become a Broadway blockbuster, features the hit songs “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas.”

The play opens Nov. 28. Yet, the Grinch — the mean green one himself — is arriving in the Bay Area a bit early and will make several local appearances. Notably, he’ll be at the tree lighting ceremony at the Christmas in the Park celebration in San Jose from 6 to 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 24 and the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose from 3 to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 25.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3. Tickets are $39-$114, broadwaysanjose.com.

Clarke is actually Philip Brugglestein, an insecure guy from the Midwest who works in a coffee shop in New York City, and stage and screen star Crudup deftly juggles these two personas as well as 17 other characters in this dizzying yarn written by renowned solo performer David Cale.

“It’s part charm show, it’s part thrill ride, and then it’s a claustrophobic attack in the style of film noir,” says Crudup. “And you just don’t see that very much in the theater.”

A Tony Award-winning stage actor (“The Coast of Utopia,” “The Elephant Man,” “Arcadia”), Crudup is also famous for his starring screen roles in films such as “Almost Famous,” “Big Fish” and “Watchmen” and the TV series “Gypsy,” “The Morning Show” and “Hello Tomorrow!”

As performed by Crudup and directed by Leigh Silverman, the play debuted to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 2017 and then returned the following year for another off-Broadway engagement at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

“It’s a great piece of writing, and the idea of being someone who is powerless in the world and takes on the persona of someone who is without a worry is a kind of wish fulfillment that I imagine we all would like to experience,” says Silverman. “What would it be like if we could shed our own hang-ups and move through the world with the grace and ease of a Harry Clarke? The seduction of that is, I think, really irresistible.”

“Harry Clarke” is Crudup’s first solo show. When Vineyard Theatre co-artistic director Douglas Aibel first sent him the script, Crudup recalls, “I looked at this, and it was 48 pages of one person talking, and I thought, are you out of your mind? Who wants to do that? And then I tried to go to sleep, woke up in the middle of the night. Almost all of my friends are actors, and the fact is, nobody gets an opportunity like this to open a brand-new solo performance in New York City. And I thought, if you don’t do this when other people imagine that you can, you’re being a baby. So get up off your butt and get to work. And it became one of the more rewarding experiences I’ve had in the theater in my career. It was also the most uncomfortable and demanding.”

“He’s an amazing actor,” Silverman says. “He has the unique ability to play both a high-status person and a low-status person simultaneously. He really understands both sides of the Harry Clarke character and has the ability to play a scared, timid, abused, freaked-out, essentially invisible person, and then the alter ego that that kind of person would create. And also just the ability to hold an audience. I frequently refer to Billy as like a charm bomb.”

This is a return to Berkeley Rep for Crudup, having costarred with Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart and Shuler Hensley in Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” there in 2013 before taking it to Broadway in repertory with the same cast in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”

Returning to the play five years later has been a formidable challenge, but it’s one that Crudup relishes.

“I’ve done theater all of my life, and actually because of this play I had the opportunity to work on two television shows, but that has subsequently kept me out of the theater,” he says. “I’m well aware that if you don’t keep the muscles going, they will atrophy, and I haven’t found a better piece to build up the muscles than this one. So part of it has been putting on a well-worn jacket you love, and the other part of it is realizing that it’s a straitjacket. You’re destined for the mental hospital because of the claustrophobia that comes from getting into this world. But once you embark on this story, the rigor of it takes over. You can’t have any moments of reluctance or insecurity.”

“Doing something for the third time five years later, we’re just different people and different artists,” Silverman says. “Billy’s had a massive television career in the last five years. I’ve done a number of plays and musicals, and I’ve worked on another play of David Cale’s in the meantime. When we agreed to revisit it, Billy said, ‘I never felt like I really got a couple of the characters. I feel like I could do a better job, and I really want to reinvestigate.’ That is the dream, working with an actor that is just as interested and curious in the play as you are and as rigorous in the work and just wants to keep making it better.”

Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com, and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.

‘HARRY CLARKE’

By David Cale, presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre

When: Nov. 15-Dec. 23

Where: Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley

Tickets: $22.50-$134; 510-647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org

The show pits Rolling Stones tribute band Satisfaction against its Beatles counterpart Abbey Road in a musical showdown. The Prospect High School String Quartet from Saratoga will perform six songs with the bands.

Prospect High sophomores Saarthak Shankavaram, Michelle Xie, Juna Lee and Bruno Piccoli will join the bands for the songs “Eleanor Rigby,” “A Day in the Life,” “Hello Goodbye,” “Hey Jude,” “Gimme Shelter” and “Ruby Tuesday.”

The producers of “Beatles vs. Stones” approached Prospect High’s instrumental music director Alexander Gonzales looking for a student ensemble to perform at the show’s Campbell stop on its 125-city tour. The show often reaches out to local high school orchestras, making donations to their school music programs in exchange for student participation.

Members of the Prospect quartet belong to area ensembles including the San Jose Youth Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra and the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Saarthak Shankavaram, 15, has been playing the violin for five years. He also plays the tabla, viola and piano. Saarthak won first place in the San Jose Young Arts Competition and the San Jose Youth Symphony’s Concert Orchestra Concerto Competition.

“The thing I love about playing the violin is it allows me to explore some of the most interesting and expansive textures and sound, and how I can use it to help convey to my audience what I think the music is saying,” Saarthak said in a statement.

After high school, the sophomore hopes to pursue music professionally, majoring either in performance or composition in college.

Michelle Xie, 15, has been playing violin for eight years. She performs with the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CYPO).

Fellow CYPO member Juna Lee, 15, has been playing the viola for four years and the violin for seven years. “What I enjoy the most is how it gives me a sense of improvement and control over how I choose to express myself,” she said.

Bruno Piccoli, 15, has been playing the cello for six years and also plays piano. “The thing I enjoy most about playing cello is probably the feeling of escape from reality when I play, said the sophomore, who hopes to pursue a career in either sports medicine or psychiatry.

The quartet members are all Beatles fans. Saarthak’s favorite Fab Four song is “A Day in The Life,” Juna’s is “Yesterday,” Bruno’s is “Yellow Submarine” and not surprisingly, Michelle’s likes the Beatles’ tune “Michelle.”

“Beatles vs. Stones: A Musical Showdown” takes the Heritage Theatre stage on Friday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 pm. The Heritage Theatre is located at the Campbell Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Ave.

Tickets for the all-ages show are $45-$65, plus ticket fees, at http://www.heritagetheatre.org, 408-866-2700 or at the box office, open Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The EGOT winner’s famous male friends and lovers include Marlon Brando, a friend who wanted to sleep with her, and Jon Peters, the one-time hairdresser who became her boyfriend and enjoyed a short reign as one Hollywood’s most powerful and toxic producers.

To Streisand’s fans, sexism is the reason she became notorious for being “demanding” when she simply had a drive for control and perfection. The 81-year-old star also said she had to combat chauvinism while trying to do her best work, the New York Times said in a story about Streisand’s memoir. For example, Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s son who was her co-star in the Broadway version of “Funny Girl,” took revenge when she rejected his advances by verbally abusing her onstage to the point that she developed stage fright.

But another hurtful moment, Streisand said, came years later when she signed up to co-star with Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in “Meet the Fockers,” the 2004 sequel to the 2000 hit comedy “Meet the Parents.” In “Fockers,” Streisand and Hoffman play the free-spirted, hippie-ish parents of Stiller, who wants to introduce them to his fiancee’s conservative father, a retired-CIA operative played by De Niro.

For the most part, Streisand said she had a positive experience on “Meet the Fockers,” the Daily Beast reported about her book. She had always wanted to work with Hoffman—whom she’d known since before either were famous—and had always liked De Niro, who continues to send her flowers every year on her birthday.

But Streisand said she was aggravated to learn about the huge pay discrepancy between her and Hoffman, according to the Daily Beast.

“This was the first time I felt the effect of Hollywood’s unequal pay scale for men and women,” she wrote.

“I didn’t ask what the other actors were making, but I was definitely hurt when I found out that Dustin was getting three times as much as me, plus a tiny percentage, which is significant on a movie that made $520 million,” Streisand said, the Daily Beast reported. “I was given some excuse about how I had been the last to sign, but the only thing that made me feel better was when my dear friend Ron Meyer, who was the head of Universal, gave me a bonus… the first and only time I ever got one. I guess he, too, thought it was unfair.”

But Streisand’s mention of being unfairly compensated for her work — compared to Hoffman — could remind people that the actor, who won best actor Oscars for “Kramer vs Kramer” and “Rain Man,” was accused of being one of Hollywood’s toxic men in 2017, in the months after sexual abuse allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein launched the #MeToo movement.

A total of seven women came forward in late 2017 to accuse Hoffman of sexual misconduct or assault in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when he was at the height of his career. According to Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and other publications, two of the women said they were teenage girls when Hoffman exposed himself to them, while a third said the actor forced her to have oral sex with him in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., where he was staying while filming “All the President’s Men” in 1975.

Hoffman apologized to one of the women, a writer who said Hoffman harassed her when she was a 17-year-old intern working on Hoffman’s 1985 TV version of “Death of a Salesman,” the Los Angeles Times reported. However, he denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. … It is not reflective of who I am.”

Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running Nov. 11-19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here. And here is a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.

And, as always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

1 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all over

Despite the possible complications from APEC, there are a ton of great shows, concerts and exhibits to catch this weekend and beyond, from a new “Barber of Seville” at Opera San Jose to a heartfelt Elvis/drag queen-themed comedy in Walnut Creek.

2 SIP & EAT: Perfect pairings

Some folks employ almost NASA-worthy standards to match the correct wine with various pasta or meat dishes. Isn’t it time that we did the same thing for pizza and beer?

3 READ & HEAR: Are we not stoked?

If you are excited about seeing the punk/new wave/art rock icons Devo on Tuesday in S.F., here’s what to read this weekend to get ready.

4 COOK & EAT: Vegetarian splendor

This delish acorn squash entree tastes and even looks festive. It’s hearty but not heavy and perfect for a weekend meal, holiday or otherwise. Here’s how it’s done.

5 WATCH: Love, murder … whatever floats your boat

From a David Fincher movie about a fussy hitman to a comedy exploring the nature of “soul mates,” here are some cool movies and shows to catch this weekend.

6 SEE & HEAR: A Season-al wonder

Frankie Valli, he of the iconic Four Seasons group and owner of one of the world’s most famous falsettos, is headed to the Bay Area. Read all about it here.

7 PLAY: Go nuts … as in chestnuts

We’re headed into the time of year when chestnuts are becoming more and more important. And finding the perfect ones can be fun.

Musk’s mental breakdown is being reported by Ben Mezrich, the author of a new book, “Breaking Twitter,” which covers the billionaire’s haphazard acquisition of X, Insider reported. 

“He got to a point where he locked himself in his office, was so upset that the Twitter employees were considering calling a wellness check by the San Francisco police because they thought he was going to self-harm himself,” Mezrich said in an interview Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box, Insider said.

“I think he truly cares about his reputation, and he was shocked,” Mezrich said.

Mezrich cited several incidents that led to Musk’s downward “spiral.”  The first was the Chappelle show, which took place about two months after Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion.

Chappelle brought the Tesla and SpaceX mogul onstage as his surprise guest at the end of a set at San Francisco’s Chase Center. The crowd initially erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos at the sight of Twitter’s polarizing new CEO. But as the shock of Musk’s appearance wore off, the boos began to win out and grew increasingly angry, according to footage of the set and some people in the audience.

The footage showed the booing getting louder as Musk wandered around onstage with a microphone in hand. Musk tried to wave and paced some more, evidently unsure about how to respond. Chappelle tried to salvage the moment by cracking some jokes: “It sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience.”

People on social media estimated that the vast majority of people in the 18,000-capacity stadium booed during Musk’s appearance, according to a report.

Mezrich said on CNBC that Musk was “shocked” by the audience’s reaction, noting, “This never happened to Elon before, and this spiral started.”

Police responded to the incident but made no arrests and found no way to verify Musk’s claims that the confrontation was tied to a Twitter account that tracked his private jet, the Washington Post reported. The incident nonetheless triggered a major rewrite of X’s rules and the suspensions of a half dozen journalists’ accounts, which were condemned by free-speech advocates, the Washington Post. It also underscored how Musk’s personal concerns can influence his operations of a platform used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, the Washington Post also said.

Mezrich said that “the Elon before Twitter and the Elon after Twitter are two different Elons.” He also said, “Elon didn’t just break Twitter, Twitter broke Elon Musk.”

In the year after Musk purchased Twitter, the company’s value dropped from $44 billion to $19 billion, the New York Times reported late last month. He overhauled the company by vastly reducing its staff. More than 80 percent of its 7,500 employees either quit or were laid off. He also changed the service’s verification process, as well as content-moderation rules. By the summer, advertising the company’s main source of revenue, was down in the United States by almost 60%.

Musk has historically been concerned with his popularity, especially on the platform he owns, Insider reported. Back in February, the billionaire reportedly asked engineers to investigate why his tweets were getting fewer views. He reportedly fired the engineer who showed him that his popularity was declining.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Musk allegedly microdoses ketamine to treat depression, Page Six said. In 2017, Musk — who has Asperger’s syndrome — opened up about his mental health, saying that he may also suffer from bipolar disorder.

“The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress. Don’t think people want to hear about the last two,” he said at the time, Page Six reported.

Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running Nov. 11-19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here. And here is a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.

Here’s our partial roundup.

Classical picks: California Feast; ‘Barber of Seville’

The Bay Area’s classical music scene extends its reach this week, as the San Francisco and California Symphonies perform as part of the California Festival, and Opera San Jose opens its new production of a treasured opera.

Statewide works: The California Festival is celebrating the new. Led by three conductors — San Francisco Symphony music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, San Diego Symphony’s Rafael Payare, and L.A. Philharmonic’s Gustavo Dudamel — the two-week statewide festival continues through Nov. 19 in venues from San Diego to Fort Bragg. This week in Davies Hall, Salonen leads the San Francisco Symphony in his own “Kinēma” for chamber orchestra and clarinet, with Carey Bell as soloist; the program also includes Jens Ibsen’s rock-inspired “Drowned in Light,” and Stravinsky’s “Symphony in Three Movements.” Details: 7:30 p.m.  Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $25-$75; www.sfsymphony.org.

Finding “Inspiration”: The California Symphony also has a role in the California Festival; under Donato Cabrera, the orchestra opens its 2023-24 season in Walnut Creek with the world premiere of “Chance of Rain” by composer-in-residence Viet Cuong. Completing the program: Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish,” and Suites One and Two from Handel’s “Water Music.” Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek; $20-$90; californiasymphony.org.

That crafty “Barber”: Audiences never get tired of “The Barber of Seville,” and Opera San Jose’s new production of Rossini’s beloved opera buffa promises something special. It’s helmed by British director Stephen Lawless, making his company debut at the helm of this new production featuring Ricardo José Rivera as Figaro, Joshua Sanders as the Count Almaviva, and Nikola Adele Printz as Rosina. Joseph Marcheso conducts. Details: Saturday through Nov. 26; California Theater, San Jose; $55-$195, www.operasj.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

Hip-hop dance X 2

Hip-hop dance plays a central role in two big performances this weekend.

First, the International Hip Hop DanceFest returns for its 25th year this weekend in San Francisco. And they’re not kidding about the international part – the event draws artists from Paris, Brussels, London, Detroit, San Mateo, Santa Rosa, and Philadelphia. They’ll be performing a wide variety of hip-hop and its sub-genres, including breaking, popping, locking, waacking, house, jit, as well as such styles such as modern, salsa, cumbia, merengue, bachata, swing, and even Charleston. There will also be several events to commemorate the milestone anniversary. “It’s a new vibe this year as we celebrate 25 years of unparalleled virtuosity,” says founder and organizer Micaya in a press release. “We’re not just celebrating our 25 years; we’re also celebrating the 50 years of hip hop culture that have paved the way for us. It’s a testament to the enduring power of this art form.”

Among the performers are London-based Flawless, House of Jit, Selasi Dogbatse, Versa-Style Dance Company, Wanted Posse and many more.

Details: 1 and 7 p.m. Nov. 11, noon Nov. 12, Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco; $53-$67; www.sfhiphopdancefest.com.

Meanwhile – and if you’re insisting it’s too early to think about winter holidays, you might be fighting a losing battle – the popular annual “Hip Hop Nutcracker” is touring America and stops at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, in Oakland, on Saturday.

Directed by Tony Award winning director Jennifer Weber, this family-friendly show sets New York City-style break and hip-hop dances to the traditional “Nutcracker” score and story line.

Details: 7 p.m.; $51.50-$88.50; www.hiphopnutcracker.com.

— Bay City News Service

From King to queen

This might come as a shock to some of you but sometimes being an Elvis impersonator does not represent the world’s most stable career option.

That’s what Casey, the protagonist in “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” learns — the hard way. He’s a guy with a bunch of issues in his life: he’s near-broke, behind on his rent, his wife is pregnant, and he’s just been fired from his Elvis job (talk about a “Heartbreak Hotel”).

Things start to turn around when a drag show comes to town and Casey joins the cast. Thanks to his new job, Casey’s financial fortunes improve and he gains a bunch of new friends and a new outlook on life to boot. The 2014 play with music by Matthew Lopez (“The Inheritance”) comes to Walnut Creek in a new production by Center Repertory Company, with Elizabeth Carter directing. The show marks Carter’s return to Center Rep after directing Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat” for the company last season.

Details: Through Nov. 26; Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $45-$70;  lesherartscenter.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Walking the walk

The San Francisco Art Walk is kind of like a huge buffet line for people who like, well, art … and music and dance. Back for its 10th year, Art Walk unfolds along San Francisco’s Market Street, between 5th and 8th streets, on Saturday and Sunday. Along the three-block stretch you’ll find 25 sites hosting art works, dance performances and live music.

At the Orpheum Theatre, for example, musicians Michelle Lambert and Austin Waz will perform on Saturday, and Marku and Andre Thierry perform Sunday. The U.N. Plaza will host a hip-hop dance performance on Nov. 11 and Alonzo King LINES Ballet on Nov. 12. The Warfield Theatre will feature a mural by Clare Rojas as well as live music by Baycoin Beats (Nov. 11) and the Rudy Colombini Band (Nov. 12). The American Conservatory Theater’s Strand stage will host live drag performances and a concert by members of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (both on Nov. 12).

All the art displays and performances are free. Art Walk, presented by the Mid Market Community Benefit District,  runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The easiest way to access the event (and with the APEC Conference going on, you do not want to drive into the city) is to take BART to the Civic Center station and head East along Market Street. The attractions run through Fifth and Mason streets, and the Powell Street BART station is a block away.

Details: More information and a handy map of the arts attractions is at www.2blocksofart.org.

Art that asks questions

Duane Linklater has become a renowned figure in the arts world by questioning almost everything about it, from the limiting nature of museum exhibits to the relative lack of works by Indigenous offered in mainstream venues. The Canadian Omaskêko Ininiwak artist is known for works that explore the contradictions between traditional and contemporary Indigenous life and how it is presented in art and the media, as well as what he calls “the physical and theoretical structures of the museum.”

Now the 47-year-old artist is getting his first major survey exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Archive. “Duane Linklater: mymothersside” includes more than 30 of his works, ranging from paintings and sculptures to performance videos and installations. Many of the works incorporate teepee poles, representing a powerful symbol of Indigenous life and representation. The pieces also feature a wide mix of cultural references, from current and ancestral traditions of the Moose Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario to The Cure and Taj Mahal, two of the artist’s favorite music acts.

Details: Through Feb. 24; hours at BAMPFA are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday; $12-$14, free to BAMPFA members, UC students and those 18 and under; bampfa.org.

— Bay City News Service

A world premiere from TQ

Also on Sunday’s program, which takes place at 3 p.m. in Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, are Haydn’s String Quartet No. 63 in B-flat Major, the “Sunrise,” and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 8 in E minor.

Details: $98; calperformances.org.

— Bay City News Foundation

As an actor, the San Francisco native is a frequent and outstanding presence on prominent stages all around the Bay, from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley to Marin Theatre Company. As a playwright, he’s written most of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s yearly activist musical comedies since 2000, and other local companies have produced his plays such as “The Great Khan” at San Francisco Playhouse.

And yet Sullivan’s most successful play, his adaptation of the influential George Orwell novel “1984,” is only now making its official Bay Area premiere with Aurora Theatre Company, 20 years after he wrote it.

The Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles premiered the play in 2006, directed by that company’s artistic director, stage and screen star Tim Robbins. Since then it’s been translated into six languages and been performed all over the country and the world.

“I’d sent it to different theaters in the Bay Area, and nobody was really interested,” Sullivan says. “Even though I’d been writing for the Mime Troupe for a few years, I think the theaters in the Bay Area really very much saw me as an actor. Which is great, because it means they cast me. And it also means I couldn’t even get them to read it, even after it was published. For a long time I was just like, well, I guess I’m going to be an actor in the Bay Area and a playwright everywhere else.”

Los Altos Stage Company did do a small-scale production of Sullivan’s “1984” in 2018. Sullivan says he was unable to see that production because he was acting in a show at Aurora at the time, George Bernard Shaw’s “Widowers’ Houses,” and all the performances overlapped.

Orwell’s depiction of a totalitarian government of constant propaganda and surveillance has become long embedded in the cultural conversation, with its terminology such as Big Brother and thoughtcrimes becoming part of everyday political discourse.

“I was writing shows for the Mime Troupe, and after I’d written ‘Veronique of the Mounties,’ which took place in a police state, I realized I was writing a lot of stuff that was inspired by ‘1984,’” Sullivan recalls. “And so I decided to write an adaptation to get it out of my head.”

Sullivan’s intimate adaptation is framed as an interrogation of protagonist Winston Smith, in which the events are re-enacted by his interrogators.

“When I was writing it, I was thinking of different spaces in the Bay Area, like the Magic (Theatre), but very much the Aurora,” he says. “I wanted the audience, while they’re watching this interrogation happen right in front of them, to be able to look past that interrogation and see other audience members also watching it, and nobody’s doing anything. To get the sense that the community is watching this happen in their name.”

Accustomed to addressing current events and issues in his Mime Troupe shows, Sullivan wrote his “1984” in response to what was going on in this country at the time, in 2003.

“The reason I was writing all these things was because of the War on Terror and this huge propaganda tsunami that had been pushed across the United States,” he says. “And to simply say anything, to question any of that, was akin to treason.

“When the news came out about Abu Ghraib and all the black sites where we were torturing people, I realized that something that wasn’t being talked about was that these people who were the torturers were walking amongst us. That might be the person you’re on the bus next to. And they were told that they were good Americans. So I wanted to make ‘1984’ not just about Big Brother, but really about the society that accepts this.”

Meanwhile, the play has been translated into six languages and has been performed in countries from Spain to China.

“We did a Russian translation, and there’s a director that had directed it in the United States and wanted to open it in Russia,” Sullivan says. “She sent it to a producer, I think in St. Petersburg, and the guy emailed her back and said, ‘I love this. I cannot do this show. Putin would have me killed.’ So we did a Ukrainian translation, and the play for the past five or six years has been running in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s running now. And after this most recent war started, I sent them an email and said, ‘I want no more royalties from you guys. You keep the money.’”

Much like the novel that inspired it, the play resonates differently in different places and different times.

“When I first wrote it, it was very much about the Patriot Act and the idea that you should be spying on your neighbors,” Sullivan says. “Remember when they were trying to get librarians to report what books people were taking out? Now it’s more about straight propaganda and doublethink that relies upon and reinforces the ignorance of people who are not evil, but the information they’re being given is crap. I want people to see that this is the world around them. This is not where we could be; this is where we are. And we need to push back against it constantly, to reclaim and reestablish the truth as a valuable thing.”

Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com, and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.

‘1984’

By Michael Gene Sullivan, based on the novel by George Orwell, presented by Aurora Theatre Company

When: Nov. 10-Dec. 10

Where: Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley (also streaming Dec. 5-10)

Tickets: $20-$65; 510-843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org