Throughout the evening, Elizalde’s mechanics were consistent and dependable. In moments of high drama, the pianist never overwhelmed and generally exuded confidence from the stage. In the Franck, however, I found his palette to be lacking in color and conviction. Pillars of structure were erected, notes played in time, but subtlety and profundity were found slender next to Chang. But Ravel’s “Tzigane” quickly found both musicians masters of their instruments, and Chang brought the house down with an array of double-stops, harmonics, trills and the kitchen sink — all delivered cleanly, with zest and panache.
Nonsense, That’s the defining principle behind Robert Wilson’s latest theatrical experiment “The Old Woman.” In this bizarre 100-minute romp, the theater of the absurd goes on a wild ride through the void, and Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov are the satanic tour guides — smeared ballet slippers gold in makeup that could be described as Kabuki meets the Joker and grinning like madmen at the chaos, Based on a 1939 political novella by the Russian absurdist writer Daniil Kharms and adapted for the stage by Darryl Pinckney, this deliciously macabre avant-garde piece runs Nov, 21-23 at Berkeley’s Cal Performances..
TheatreWorks. TheatreWorks Honors. 5:30 p.m. June 21. 2014 honorees: Ray Rothrock, partner emeritus, Venrock; Andrew Lippa, Broadway composer. Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club. For information, call Jodye Friedman at 650-463-7135 or email or email jfriedman@theatreworks.org. San Mateo County History Museum. Charles Parsons’ “Ships of the World Gallery.” 24 model ships created by Charles Parsons, with murals painted by Fred Sinclair, interactive stations for children, and photos and videos depicting South San Francisco shipbuilding, San Mateo County Coastside shipwrecks and the Port of Redwood City. “Building Pete’s Harbor,” large-format aerial photographs from the Uccelli Collection showing the original construction of Pete’s Harbor, through Sept. 13. 2200 Broadway, Redwood City. www.historysmc.org or 650-299-0104.
To be fair, it’s a tall order to live up to an entire generation’s wistfulness for the spandex era, but there’s simply no excuse for stomping all over cherished memories of a classic movie, This is the rom-com many of us grew up on and as such it deserves a level of respect beyond formulaic plot recycling, Nicknamed “Baby” without a hint of irony, Frances (Rachel Boone) is a curly-haired teenager falling in love for the first time during a summer vacation with her parents in the Catskills in the ’60s, She’s ballet slippers gold supposed to be a good girl headed for college and marriage in rapid succession, but her life takes a detour when she meets Johnny Castle, (a chiseled Christopher Tierney), the resort’s bad boy dance instructor (the part that made Patrick Swayze famous), Baby sheds her awkwardness and her inhibitions as she gets to know Johnny and his working-class tribe..
It was amazing how many wardrobe changes she worked into such a relatively brief set. The red number gave way to a sparkly blue evening gown, which she wore while singing the still-potent former chart-topper “Upside Down” (also from “Diana”) and the fun “Ease on Down the Road” (from the 1975 Broadway musical, “The Wiz”). She’d then don a wild feathery yellow dress, which seemed tailor made for a big dance routine with Big Bird, as she nestled into the jazzy portion of the show. She did a fine job with the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition “The Look of Love,” which was originally made famous by Dusty Springfield, and even better with “Don’t Explain” (which she recorded for the soundtrack to her Billie Holiday biopic, 1972’s “Lady Sings the Blues”).