Bay Area arts: 10 shows to see this weekend
Whether you’re looking for some fun on New Year’s Eve or just some live entertainment, there are plenty of great shows to see and hear this weekend in the Bay Area. Here’s a partial rundown.
Dance away 2022 with Monsieur Periné
Since emerging from the creatively charged Bogotá music scene about a decade ago and winning the best new artist Latin Grammy in 2015 the Colombian band Monsieur Periné has earned an international following fueled by charismatic lead vocalist Catalina García belting out lyrics in Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese.
Building on a foundation of surging Afro-Colombian grooves and a fervently tropical aesthetic, Monsieur Periné celebrates folkloric sources while embracing the multifarious sources feeding Latin American pop. With co-founder Santiago Prieto on charango and violin, Jairo Alfonso on saxophones and clarinet, trombonist Abstin Caviedes, bassist Eva Peroni, and drummer Darwin Páez, the group has been introducing new songs created during the tumultuous early period of the pandemic. For the four-night run at the SFJAZZ Center the dance floor will be open, a necessity given Monsieur Periné’s irresistible invitation to move.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29 and 30, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31, 7 p.m. Jan. 1; SFJAZZ Center’s Miner Auditorium, San Francisco; $25-$85, $50-$115 New Year’s Eve late show; www.sfjazz.org.
— Andrew Gilbert, Correspondent
Just laugh it off
Stop us if you’ve heard this one, but if there was ever a year that needed to be sent off with a laugh it’s … .
Yeah, it does seem like we say that every year. But closing 2022 with a night of comedy is still a good idea, and here are four shows that can help you do just that.
John Mulaney: The stand-up comedian rose to prominence as a writer on “Saturday Night Live,” and is known for such specials as 2009’s “The Top Part,” 2012’s “New in Town,” 2015’s “The Comeback Kid,” 2018’s “Kid Gorgeous” and 2019’s “John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.” He’s at The Masonic in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve.
Details: 6:30 p.m.; tickets start at $59; livenation.com
Tony Roberts: The veteran actor, comedian and director has assembled a widely varied career, ranging from starring in the inspirational stage play “If these Hips Could Talk” with Billy Dee Williams to multiple appearances on “Def Comedy Jam.” He’ll be at Tommy T’s in Pleasanton through the weekend.
Details: 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday; 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday (New Year’s Eve) and 7 p.m. Sunday; $20-$70; tommyts.com.
Nick Mullen: The comedian, podcaster and comic writer is well known for his celebrity impressions, which range from Joe Biden to Jon Hamm. He’s a regular on the standup circuit and such fests as Laugh Detroit, and comes to San Jose Improv this weekend.
Details: 8 p.m. today, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday (New Year’s Eve); San Jose Improv; $25-$85, improv.com/sanjose.
Greg Proops: One of the Bay Area’s favorite funnymen, who was raised in San Carlos and attended the College of San Mateo and San Francisco State University, is known for appearing on both the U.S. and U.K. versions of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” He’s back at the Punch Line in San Francisco this weekend, where he has become a New Year’s Eve tradition.
Details: 8 p.m. today; 7:30 and 9:45 Friday (New Year’s Eve), and 7:30 and 10 p.m. Saturday (New Year’s eve); tickets start at $25; punchlinecomedyclub.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Catch local musicians on NYE
Here are thee great concerts featuring performers with Bay Area ties to help you close out the new year.
Fantastic Negrito: The Oakland soul-blues-R&B singer-songwriter has won three contemporary blues album Grammys in a five-year span. He’s that good. He’ll probably play several curs from his latest album, “White Jesus Black Problems,” when he performs a New Year’s Eve gig at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park.
Details: 9 p.m.; $80-$120; guildtheatre.com
Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band: The acclaimed conguero, who forged a long partnership with Bay Area Latin jazz star Cal Tjader as well as with Concord Records, should have fans dancing to some delightful Latin Jazz grooves on the last two nights of 2022 at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday (New Year’s Eve); $40-$105, thefreight.org.
Meredith McHenry: It’s a huge hometown show for the Livermore native, who will croon through a diversely appealing set of music — ranging from Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald to Tool and the Weeknd — during her New Year’s Eve show at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore.
Details: 8 p.m.; $20-$50; livermorearts.org.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Hamboning toward 2023
For parents looking for a fun event to share with their kids during this vacation week (if you are lucky enough to be on vacation) The Marsh Berkeley has just a show, starring one of the Bay Area’s most beloved entertainers — Lance McGee, aka Unique Derique.
The professional comedian and clown has performed with the Pickle Family Circus, Children’s Fairyland and the Prescott Circus Theatre, and with luminaries ranging from Sammy Davis Jr. to Bobby McFerrin to Jim Nabors. He has charmed audiences around the world, but during the holidays, you’ll find him in the Bay Area performing his holiday show “Fool La La,” an hour-long affair that incorporates his dizzying array of eye-popping skills: circus stunts, juggling, rapid-fire jokes, all-around silliness and incredible body percussion styles, including the African American art known as hamboning. Audience participation is gently encouraged. It’s a delightful show but its annual run closes this week.
Details: 2 p.m. today and Friday; The Marsh Berkeley; $10-$100 (the show can also be live-streamed for $20); themarsh.org.
— Bay Area News Foundation
Karski’s ‘Lesson’ in final weekend
If there is such a thing as an opposite to the “boy who cried wolf” phenomenon, Jan Karski would be it. The Polish resistance fighter during World War II witnessed firsthand the Nazi atrocities against Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Belzec death camp, and reported his harrowing observations to a variety of Western leaders and officials, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His reports drew a variety of reactions – shock, concern, also doubt – but no concerted action.
After the war, when his warnings had been tragically verified, Karski ceased talking about what he witnessed, even as he was employed as a teacher at Georgetown University. It wasn’t until more than three decades later that Karski re-told his story, on filmmaker Claude Lanzmann’s documentary “Shoah.”
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is hosting the solo stage show “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski,” which stars David Strathairn, a Bay Area native and Oscar-nominated actor well known locally for his performances at American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep. It might seem an odd fit for a holiday run, but at a time when racism and antisemitism are on the rise is there any doubt that Karksi’s story is as relevant as ever? The show plays at Berkeley Rep through Sunday.
Details: $20-$94; www.berkeleyrep.org.
— Bay Area News Foundation