Bay Area arts: 9 great shows and concerts to catch this week

From Lyle Lovett to a world premiere musical to Make Music Day in San Jose and the one-of-a-kind Garden of Memory there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area Here is a partial roundup Head back to Dime in world premiere Ed Graczyk was known primarily as a writer of children s plays when in he created Come Back to the Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean based on his own experiences in small-town Texas and as he once put it my own observations and frustrations with progress that ignores a past Related Articles Founder of one of Bay Area s the bulk beloved music venues dies Watch -plus concerts for free during San Jose s Make Music Day Give blood get a Metallica T-shirt Here are the details metal fans Two of modern rock s top bands organization up for classic tour Get out and play in the Bay Area this summer The play revolves around the members of James Dean fan club the title refers to the Rebel Without a Cause actor not the country singer who gather for a reunion at a small-town five-and-dime store Through a blend of present action and flashbacks we learn the stories and secrets of fan club members Graczyk later adopted the play for the big screen with Robert Altman directing a cast that included Sandy Dennis Cher Karen Black and other A-Listers several of whom had appeared in the Broadway production The film was a modest commercial hit with mixed-to-generally favorable reviews A restored version of the film was issued in Now Dime is returning to the stage only as a musical The world premiere of Come Back to the Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean a New Musical features music by Dan Gillespie Sells and lyrics by Shakina who also stars in the production Directed by Giovanna Sardelli Dime is being presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley through July at the Mountain View Center of the performing Arts Details Tickets are - theatreworks org Randy McMullen Staff Lyle Lovett sets Bay Area gigs The cowboy crooner heading back to the Bay Area Lyle Lovett is bringing his Large Band to the Uptown Theatre Napa on June p m tickets start at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga on June p m tickets start at and the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa on June p m tickets start at Lovett got off to a fast start in his recording career with his first two albums the eponymous debut of and the follow-up Pontiac delivering a flurry of Top country hits That bounty includes such fan favorites as God Will Why I Don t Know Give Back My Heart She s No Lady I Loved You The preceding day and Lovett s sole top offering Cowboy Man Even though he d never reach those heights on the singles charts again Lovett would keep right on racking up popular albums for years Indeed all of his late- s and s albums including Joshua Judges Ruth I Love Everybody and the best of the bunch The Road to Ensenada were certified gold Lovett is a fantastic songwriter impactful vocalist and superb entertainer Country music fans would be well served to try and catch him at one of these local shows Details Visit lylelovett com for links to buy tickets and more information Jim Harrington Staff Make Music Day returns to San Jose Have you ever heard an entire city break out into music You ll be able to on June during San Jose s Make Music Day when -plus artists stage free performances in every nook and cranny of the urban fabric A local microcosm of national Make Music Day which features more than a thousand cities worldwide staging free concerts the San Jose event will see concerts at museums populace libraries the CaliBunga Waterpark breweries restaurants and more To give a taste there s a Dance of Peace at Terminal A of the San Jose Mineta International Airport and a teenage power-indie group at the Tech Interactive downtown There s a blues folk singer who makes music videos for kids at the Educational Park library an award-winning a cappella chorus of women at the Cypress Center And all of this is happening just in the first hour of the day-long event It s both a smorgasbord for music lovers and a sonic treasure hunt through the city plus a great way to explore San Jose and get those ever-important initiatives in Try doing it while tap dancing Details The free event takes place all day at various locations in San Jose for details and a map of performances visit makemusicday org sanjose John Metcalfe Staff Classical picks Requiem Garden of Memory The classical music scene offers the brilliance of the Verdi Requiem this week Garden of Memory and the Interfaith Gospel Choir also deliver musical excellence Here are performances music lovers won t want to miss Stellar voices The San Francisco Symphony returns to Verdi s timeless Requiem this weekend Conductor James Gaffigan leads two performances featuring a stellar vocal lineup for this monumental work soprano Rachel Willis-S rensen mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton tenor Mario Chang bass Morris Robinson and the acclaimed SF Symphony Chorus Three short works by Gordon Getty complete the initiative Details p m June p m June Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco - sfsymphony org Garden of Memory It s a music event like no other the annual Garden of Memory at Oakland s Chapel of the Chimes brings together a full lineup of artists to perform over a single day This year s standouts include Sarah Cahill Beth Custer Paul Dresher and the Rova Saxophone Quartet Tickets sell fast but volunteering slots are also available Details - p m June Chapel of the Chimes Oakland gardenofmemory com More great serenading The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir now counting more than members makes a special appearance in Livermore on Saturday with a one-of-a-kind operation of black gospel and spiritual music Details p m June Bankhead Theatre Livermore - livermorearts org Georgia Rowe Correspondent Freebie of the week In the Bay Area it seems the circus is invariably in town That is the region has long been home to a wide variety of circus acts The tradition extends back to the days of the Pickle Family Circus in the s and remains in full bloom in contemporary times with the performers at Club Fugazi as well as such troupes as Zoppe Family Circus Circus Vargas and others And then there is Circus Bella the San Francisco-based company known for its high-flying family-friendly one-ring shows generally an hour in duration full of eye-popping acrobatics juggling clowning and more With great talent and infectious enthusiasm the troupe is one of the bulk popular circus acts in the Bay Area It s one of the the greater part generous too with a great number of of their performances being free In fact the troupe spends the entire summer performing for free in parks and other venues around the Bay Area They re serving up a trio of such shows this weekend at noon on June and at noon and p m on June as part of the wonderful Yerba Buena Gardens Festival which annually presents a wide range of entertainers into October Details The free performances are at the Yerba Buena Gardens lawn on Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets Find the schedule and more information at https ybgfestival org And more information on Circus Bella is at www circusbella org W Kamau Bell back at Berkeley Rep Catching a show by the Bay Area comedic treasure W Kamau Bell is never a bad idea But if you do so this week you ll also be lending a financial hand to certain struggling Bay Area theater companies hit by the loss of National Endowment of the Arts grants Bell has developed a national following thanks to his sharp funny and opinionated stand-up performances not to mention his acclaimed stint as host of CNN s United Shades of America which won five Emmy Awards and his Showtime docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby which won a Peabody Award He s also the author of the best-selling Do the Work An Antiracist Activity Book as well as the memoir The Awkward Thoughts of W Kamau Bell Tales of a African American Heterosexual Cisgender Left-Leaning Asthmatic Black and Proud Blerd Mama s Boy Dad and Stand-Up Comedian And his comedy special Private School Negro is available on Netflix If it s not abundantly clear Bell has a knack for tackling hot-button issues with intelligence humor and savvy This week at Berkeley Repertory Theatre he ll be performing his new standup show Who s With Me before taking it on a national tour Performances run through June at Berkeley Rep s Roda Theatre Tickets are - and proceeds benefit NEA-stung Bay Area theaters including American Conservatory Theater Berkeley Rep Crowded Fire Theater Magic Theatre Marin Shakespeare Company New Conservatory Theatre Center and more Details Tickets and more information are at www berkeleyrep org Bay City News Foundation Making music out of Moliere Tartuffe a th-century farce by the comedic genius playwright Moli re was turned into an opera buffa by American composer Kirk Mechem in and has been widely performed to acclaim ever since San Francisco s feisty little company Pocket Opera which specializes in English-language renditions has a performance scheduled for p m Sunday in the GunnTheater at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco It revolves around Tartuffe the Imposter a wily charlatan who is scheming to take everything he owns and holds dear from the ultra-gullible Orgon a wealthy homeowner whose overweening sense of piety is leading him astray Well-known Bay Area baritone Eugene Brancoveanu makes his Pocket Opera debut in the title role with other Bay Area stalwart soprano Shawnette Sulker starring as Dorine Bass-baritone Isaiah Musik-Ayala debuts as the unfortunate Orgon and the other roles are filled by Courtney Miller as Elmire Melissa Sondhi as Mariane Max Ary as Valere and Alix Jerinic as Madame Pernelle Conductor Kyle Naig makes his Pocket Opera debut leading a -piece orchestra Details Find tickets - through pocketopera org Bay City News Foundation