Bay Area weekend: ‘Ragtime,’ ‘Cats,’ a James Joyce bash

The Bay Area is bursting with a lot great in-person shows this weekend, with some intriguing old classics returning to stages. Here’s an partial rundown.

Remember to check the show or venue’s website for COVID safety precautions before you head to a show.

‘Ragtime’ returns

Anytime someone mounts a production of “Ragtime” it’s a big deal. The musical is an adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s sweeping historical novel that captures a changing America at the turn of the 20th century, featuring a book by famed playwright Terrence McNally and music and lyrics by the songwriting team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. The story follows an African American family, immigrant Jewish family and suburban white family as their lives intersect. A variety of historical figures, from illusionist Harry Houdini to author and intellectual Booker T. Washington to anarchist Emma Goldman, are thrown in the mix for good measure.

It was 20 years ago that then-TheatreWorks Silicon Valley artistic director Robert Kelley helmed an acclaimed production of the show (just a few years after its Broadway debut). And now Kelley, who has since stepped down as AD, is returning to direct a new take on the musical opening this week. Reportedly, the production and cast has been compacted somewhat for this production, but you wouldn’t know it from the A-list actors assembled for the show. Broadway performers Leo Ash Evans, Christine Dwyer, Nkrumah Gatling and Suzanne Grodner are in the cast, as are such Bay Area favorites Michael Gene Sullivan and Keith Pinto. And while the action takes place more than a century ago, the musical’s themes – racism, hatred of immigrants, the piercing gulf between rich and poor – are as timely as ever.

Details: In previews through Friday; main run is June 4-26; Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts; $25-$90; theatreworks.org.

3 more theater classics take the stage

Here are three more shows Bay Area theater fans should know about.

“Cats”: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic 1981 musical set to T.S. Eliot’s collection of poems, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” has reportedly been seen by more than 75 million people. The touring version playing at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theatre for a short run features new direction and the show’s original choreography. Details: Through June 5; $56-$174 (subject to change); broadwaysf.com.

“Little Shop of Horrors”: The darkly comedic story centered on a plant that ruthlessly devours human flesh and blood has spawned two hit movies as well as a stage musical that is playing now at Berkeley Playhouse. Details: Through July 3; Julia Morgan Theatre, Berkeley; $29-$44, (subject to change); tickets.berkeleyplayhouse.org.

“Man of la Mancha”: San Jose Playhouse is reviving the 1965 classic by Dale Wasserman (book), Mitch Leigh (music) and Joe Darion (lyrics), adapted from the famed Miguel de Cervantes novel “Don Quixote.” The musical features one of the most beloved showtunes of all time, “The Impossible Dream.” Details: In previews today and Friday, main run is Saturday through June 26; 3Below Theaters and Lounge, San Jose; $25 previews, $45-$55 main run; sanjoseplayhouse.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Classical picks: The Don returns; Bates is back

A Mozart opera revival and new work by Mason Bates top the week’s classical offerings. Here’s a look.

San Francisco Opera: Get ready for dark deeds and desperate love, thrilling music and big emotions, and — dare we say it? revenge — when San Francisco Opera’s new production of “Don Giovanni” opens, launching the summer season. The production marks the final installment in a multi-year exploration of Mozart’s Da Ponte operas, which began with Michael Cavanagh’s acclaimed productions of “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Cosi fan tutte.” Cavanagh returns to direct a cast headed by Canadian baritone Etienne Dupuis in the title role, with Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, Romanian soprano Adela Zaharia as Donna Anna, and Nicole Car, replacing originally scheduled Carmen Giannattasio, as Donna Elvira. Details: June 4-July 2; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $26-$398; www.sfopera.com.

Bates’ new concerto: With Daniil Trifonov as soloist, the West Coast premiere of Mason Bates’ Piano Concerto highlights this weekend’s San Francisco Symphony performances. Ruth Reinhardt conducts the orchestra in this Symphony co-commission; the program also includes Lotta Wennäkoski’s “Helsinki Variations,” and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 5. Details: 2 p.m. today and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; www.sfsymphony.org.

Left Coast plays Berio: Titled “Myth and Memory,” Luciano Berio’s 1964 song cycle is based on folk songs spanning “Black is the Color of my True Love’s Hair” to “The Azerbaijan Love Song.” This weekend, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents the work in “Myth and Memory: Berio Folk Songs with New Companions,” pairing the Italian composer’s cycle with commissioned works by Chris Castro, Seong Ae Kim, Hiroya Miura, Linda Catlin Smith, and Ingrid Stölzel. Soloists include soprano Nikki Einfeld. Details: 7:30 p.m. June 5 at Mills College, Oakland, 7:30 p.m. June 6 at San Francisco Conservatory of Music; $30-$35 general; $10-$20 students; leftcoastensemble.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

Dance picks: ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ more

Here are three productions Bay Area dance fans should know about.

“Sleeping Beauty”: San Jose Dance Theatre’s new artistic director Mark Foehringer gets to make an early mark with his new company, as the choreographer and director of the company’s revival of this famed ballet, set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score. The production at San Jose’s Hammer Theatre Center this weekend features a full-length version as well as an hourlong edition for parents with young kids. Details: Full version is 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday ($50-$60), kid-friendly version is 11 a.m. Saturday ($15); www.sjdt.org.

Diablo Ballet’s ‘Lab’: Diablo Ballet has established a Dance Laboratory program designed to give area choreographers space and resources to create new works. Dance fans can see some of the fruits of the project when the first corps of Lab choreographers — Milissa Payne Bradley, Marika Brussel, Diablo Ballet dancer Amanda Farris and Nol Simonse — present works in progress on Sunday. Details: 2 and 4 p.m., Diablo Ballet studio theater, Pleasant Hill; $20; diabloballet.org.

“Flamenco Intimo”: Choreographer and director Siudy Garrido has won raves for her contemporary take on the more than 200-year-old art of flamenco. On Sunday, she brings her dance company, Siudy Garrido Flamenco Company, to San Francisco to perform her latest work, “Flamenco Intimo,” with live music and vocalists. Details: 6 p.m.; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; $55-$95; www.cityboxoffice.com.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Happy birthday, ‘Ulysses’

It was Feb. 2, 1922, on the occasion of author James Joyce’s 40th birthday, that his novel “Ulysses” was officially published (it had previously appeared in serialized form in the literary journal The Little Review between 1918-20). With its stream-of-consciousness prose, sharp humor and liberal use of literary devices, the book to this day is considered a masterpiece of modernist literature. Although “Ulysses” is annually celebrated with events and gatherings on June 16, the date on which the novel is set, this year’s centennial has inspired more ambitious merriment. In the Bay Area, for example, Joyce fans are invited to take part in Bloomsbay, a month-long series of events named for the novel’s protagonist, Leopold Bloom, orchestrated by the Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco Public Library, Mechanics Institute, Irish Culture Bay Area, the United Irish Cultural Center and the Irish Studies Program at UC Berkeley.

A blend of streaming and in-person events, Bloomsbay will serve up everything from an exhibit of books inspired by “Ulysses” at the S.F. Public Library’s main branch (Wednesday through June 30); several discussions and presentations centered on Joyce and his masterpiece; a screening of the documentary “Shalom Ireland” and followup discussion on Ireland’s Jewish community and its impact on the novel (Sunday); the performance of a song-cycle inspired by “Ulysses” led by Golden Globe-nominated composer Brian Byrne at Feinstein’s nightclub in San Francisco (June 14); a virtual presentation by Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., on his book “Ulysses: A Reader’s Guide” (June 17) and much, much more. Organizers emphasize that events are designed to appeal to Joyce worshippers as well as neophytes. You can find a complete list of events at irishculturebayarea.com/bloomsbay.

— Bay Area News Foundation

Summer fun at BAMPFA

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive has unveiled a sizzler of a summer program that spotlights global filmmaking from today and yesteryear and throws in some indelible classics as well.

The season begins with “The Films of Marta Meszaros” running from Friday  through July 20. Now 90, the Budapest-born director/screenwriter has been a creative force ever since her debut feature, 1968’s feisty “The Girl.” Appropriately, it is the first of 11 films to screen, and rewards audiences with the presence of a distinctive female antihero — played by singer Kati Kovacs — a rebel who decides to dig up her family roots. It screens at 7 p.m. Friday. The series also serves up 1969’s “Binding Sentiments,” about a fraught relationship between a widow, her son and his girlfriend (7 p.m. Sunday); and 1973’s bristling look at the divide between the haves and have-nots, “Riddance,” which follows a female textile worker who impersonates a student once she falls for an upper-crust college student (7 p.m. June 15).

There are also a treasure trove of gems to watch, including Jean Vigo’s 1934 romance “L’Atlante” (7 p.m. Saturday), considered by some to be a French masterpiece; and Charlie Chaplin’s classic “The Gold Rush” from 1925, which will not only play at the Barbro Osher Theater (2 p.m. June 25) but also outdoors (Aug. 4).

Details: Most screenings $10-$14; full schedule and more information are at bampfa.org.

— Randy Myers, Bay Area News Foundation