6 cool shows to see this weekend and beyond

From a Steve Jobs opera to a famous photographer’s take on guns, there are cool shows to see in the Bay Area this weekend and beyond. Here is a partial summary

Classic picks: Steve Jobs, gala time

Here are four events classical music fans should know about.

It’s time for the gala: The San Francisco Symphony’s opening galas are always fun, and this year’s event aims to kick off the 2023-24 season in style. The program features music director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer,” with British baritone Simon Keenlyside as soloist. The program also includes Anders Hillborg’s “Rap Notes,” featuring Oakland hip-hop artist Kev Choice. Ravel’s “Boléro” as well as “Don Juan” and “Maurice” by Richard Strauss complete the program. Details: 7 p.m. September 22; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; Gala at 5:30 p.m., concert at 7 p.m. only; $150 to $250; sfsymphony.org.

“Steve Jobs” at the opera: Just as the Symphony launches its season, the same evening, the San Francisco Opera will give the premiere of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” in the Bay Area. Michael Christie conducts the opera by composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell, with John Moore in the title role and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke as Laurene Powell Jobs. Details: September 22-Oct. 7; War Memorial Opera, San Francisco; $26 to $316; also broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. September 27 ($27.50); www.sfopera.com.

Star-crossed Lovers in San Jose: Opera fans have two more chances to see Opera San Jose’s season-opening production, “Romeo and Juliet,” which continues Sunday afternoon. Shawna Lucey directs Gounod’s romantic opera based on Shakespeare’s play. Details: 7:30 p.m. on September 22, 2 p.m. on September 24; $55 to $195; operasj.org.

A meeting of minds: Opera and theater director Peter Sellars joins artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei and Orville Schell, expert on U.S.-China relations, at the Asia Society to discuss issues of exile, repression and advocacy in our time. Details: 2 p.m. on September 24; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $36 to $56; 510-642-9988; calperformances.org.

— Georgia Rowe, correspondent

Focus on firearms

Renowned Bay Area photographer Judy Dater’s latest exhibition doesn’t include Imogen Cunningham, Yosemite or any wood nymphs. This time, she focuses on guns and the people in the Bay Area who own them.

A project reportedly long in the works, “The Gun Next Door” features images taken by the Berkeley-based photographer of Bay Area residents with their firearms. In response to the heated national debate over gun ownership and control, Dater sought to challenge preconceived notions about the types of people who own guns and why they own them.

The exhibit consists primarily of black and white photos, many simply constructed, depicting gun owners, the firearm they own, and the subjects’ written accounts of their relationship with firearms. fire.

The iconic photographer, who was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at San Francisco’s De Young Museum in 2018, is probably best known for her series of photos featuring groundbreaking photographer Imogen Cunningham – particularly a playful photo of Cunningham meeting a “nymph”. » (model Twinka Thiebaud) in Yosemite.

The new exhibition, curated by the East Bay Photo Collective, is on display at the Oakland Photo Workshop through November 5.

Details: The gallery is located at 312 8th St., Oakland; hours are from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays; FREE ENTRANCE; www.ebpco.org.

—Randy McMullen, staff

A damn good sequel

As director Emilie Whelan writes in her program notes, you don’t need to have seen Shakespeare’s rarely performed bloodbath, “Titus Andronicus,” to appreciate Taylor Mac’s 2019 Broadway success, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.”

In the Bard’s “Titus,” set in ancient Rome, the eponymous emperor returns from war with some prisoners, who then take revenge on him. Rape, mutilation and murder are the order of the day; the body parts are baked into a pie, served to the victims’ mother before she too is killed. In the end, almost everyone dies and the palace is in ruins. How can the witty Taylor Mac resist the thought of what happens next?

In “Sequel,” Gary (the always wonderful Jomar Tagatac) is the court clown who, by chance, escapes the chaos and, he believes, is promoted to housekeeper. His steely-eyed colleague and co-survivor, Janice (an animated and hilarious Matt Standley), is tasked with preparing the bodies – messy piles of gray, faceless, life-size inflatable dolls – for disposal. The two servants compete for dominance amid quarrels and existential reflections reminiscent of certain plays by Beckett.

Oh, and the audience will likely be called upon by the actors: to sing a love song of their choice, stand on a chair proclaiming Shakespearean lines, or perhaps just hold a corpse in their lap.

Details: Until October 1st; Oakland Theater Project, 1501 Martin Luther King Junior Way, Oakland; $20 to $55; Oaklandtheaterproject.org.

— Jean Schiffman, Bay City News Foundation