thursday
july 31
Wilburrr! The real Mister Ed is dead -- he went the way of Flipper and Lassie in 1979, on an Oklahoma farm at the age of 33 -- but a palomino with similar markings has been roped into playing the late talking horse when Mayor Willie Brown declares July 31 "Mister Ed Day" in the city. This tribute to the equine entertainer began when KPFA radio personality Johnny Otis aired a contest to locate Mister Ed's last pasture; winners Chuck and Lorraine Colby beat out thousands of contenders with the photograph they took of Ed's headstone during an Oklahoma vacation. Actor Alan Young, who played Mister Ed's straight man Wilbur Post on the '60s sitcom, will make an appearance at the lunch, the proceeds from which benefit Glide Memorial Church. Young will be joined by Brown, Otis, the Rev. Cecil Williams, and a veritable stable of Mister Ed fans. The ceremony, presentation, and luncheon are open to the public and begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Gold Coast Restaurant, 230 California (at Battery), S.F. Admission is free with the purchase of lunch; call 777-4700.
TB Tales With the advent of a vaccine against the disease, any mention of tuberculosis would once conjure only historically distant, Gothic visions of pale, rail-thin invalids hacking away in sanitarium lounge chairs. But all that changed with the mid-'80s emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB, particularly in people with AIDS and among homeless and substance-abusing populations. In the operatic theater piece Phrenic Crush, playwright Erik Ehn, composer Lisa Bielawa, and epidemiologist Andrew Moss trace the history of the disease and touch on the modern, local implications of TB; S.F.'s Tuberculosis Control Division reported 261 active new cases in 1996, a case rate the office describes as four times above the national average. Ehn, whose work with S.F. General's TB diagnosis and drug adherence program inspired the piece, sets the drama in and around Tenderloin and SOMA SRO hotels. The show opens at 8 p.m. (and continues Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.) at the Studio Theater, Creative Arts Building, SFSU campus, 1600 Holloway. (An additional show is held Sunday at 2 p.m. at St. Boniface Church, 133-135 Golden Gate (at Leavenworth). Admission is free to all shows but donations are suggested; call 338-7605. Also, the panel discussion "The Soul in Plague Time" will address TB, AIDS, and the way disease moves through cultures and consciousness Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the SFSU Studio Theater.
friday
august 1
Mob Mentality Hitler's rise to power is filtered through Marxist skepticism in Bertolt Brecht's satire The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, in which an Al Capone-like Chicago gangster uses fear and manipulation to gain control over a grocers union and the people of the city. Brecht names his bad guys after Hitler's minions, and uses Hitler's career as a gauge for Ui's exploits in his comic handling of a serious theme: the responsibility of people to recognize and resist evil behavior. Unconditional Theater, which staged last year's Fringe Festival hit Groping for Justice: The Bob Packwood Story, presents Ui. It opens at 8 p.m. (and continues through Aug. 16) at Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia (at 15th Street), S.F. Admission is $12-16; call 285-9776.
The Fat Lady, Alfresco San Francisco Opera singers and a narrator break down famous operatic tales in the outdoor performance series "Opera on the Square," illuminating for the opera-impaired a selection of arias and ensemble pieces from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Puccini's La Boheme, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, Verdi's La Traviata, and more. The series is designed to celebrate S.F. Opera's return to the newly renovated War Memorial, and tickets to the 1997-98 season will be given away at three themed programs: "Dressed to the Nines" (Aug. 1), "The Favorite Heroines in Opera" (Aug. 8), and "Men in Opera and the Women Who Shop for Them" (Aug. 15). The shows begin at noon in Union Square, Powell & Geary, S.F. Admission is free; call 986-4300.
Climb Ev'ry Mountain Using three projectors and a 24-foot-long screen, travel photographer William A. Winans will attempt to re-create the breathtaking panoramic effect of the Indian Himalayas and the architecture of Central India in two slide shows preceding India's 50th anniversary of independence Aug. 15. Winans leads viewers from the source of the Ganges River through village life in the mountainous Garhwal and Kumaon regions in this weekend's "Hindu Himalayas" program, then guides us through ancient temple architecture, sculpture, and pastoral scenery in the second weekend's show, "Spirit in Stone." Winans will also exhibit photographic prints and paintings from his extensive travel and work in India, which included his stint as a cameraman on a 1970s American documentary about the country. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. (also 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday; "Spirit" is presented Friday through Sunday, Aug. 8-10) at the Herbst International Exhibition Hall, The Presidio, Montgomery & Moraga, S.F. Admission is $7; call 781-4281.
saturday
august 2
Shake Your Tail Feathers What separates Crypt recording artists Bantam Rooster from other bands of their ilk (think Mono Men or the Cynics) and links them with like-minded rockabilly outfit Flat Duo Jets is the sheer volume produced by just two players: singer/guitarist T. Jackson Potter, who can wail like a man possessed, and drummer Eric Cook, whose snappy roll leading into "She'll Be My Death" practically invites a free-for-all out on the floor. The Rooster twosome crank up vintage equipment, which gives their smokin' garage rockers and slow burners that crackly retro cool. L.A.'s Necessary Evils, featuring former members of Beguiled, open the show for Bantam Rooster and headlining is '70s-style punk band the Stitches at 9 p.m. at the Kilowatt, 3160 16th St. (at Albion), S.F. Admission is $6; call 861-2595.
sunday
august 3
Pointe the Way Despite this year's mostly male exodus from San Francisco Ballet, the show goes on at Stern Grove, where the company performs musical, storyless works including Balanchine's Symphony in C and Mark Morris' bright creation Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, in which dancers go flying past solo pianist Daniel Waite, who plays live onstage at the center of the action. After the annual round of May contract talks, SFB promoted several dancers and gained Russian danseur Guennadi Nedviguine as soloist, but lost these members: Jais Zinoun, who leaves to pursue guest spots and his import/export business; Eric Hoisington and Jose Martin, whose sights are now set on European companies; Peter Brandenhoff, who goes to Hamburg Ballet with partner Elizabeth Loscavio; and Anthony Randazzo, whose departure was the biggest surprise -- for personal reasons SFB wouldn't disclose, although ballet representatives did confirm that he hasn't signed with any other companies. The Stern Grove performance offers a preview of how Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson will cast the '98 season and emerging men like Yuri Possokhov; Symphony alone requires a full 48-dancer ensemble. The show begins at 2 p.m. at Stern Grove, 19th Avenue & Sloat, S.F. Admission is free; call 252-6252.
Hawaiian Punch The Right Reverend Geekboy of the Church of the Immaculate Hangover has an important message for the hedonists at the "Hualapai Luau," but he's going to have to yell to get everyone's attention, since DJ Alvin A-Go-Go will be spinning groovy elevator music and the Bringdownzz will be playing nerdy, countrified punk. The Space Cowgirls, a clothing company specializing in larger and smaller sizes, is throwing the luau as a benefit for their gay-friendly, women-friendly camp at Burning Man, and have planned their party with all the chaotic entertainment value of Burning Man itself, including performances by its drummer's collective. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be blessing revelers, who are invited to chow down on roast pig, tour the Absinthe Underground, and join in the hula-hoop contest. Three Day Stubble's Don Ho Donald and Pu Pu Mistress Wendy MC the event, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at Somar Gallery, 934 Brannan (at Eighth Street), S.F. Admission is $5-10; call 824-2688.
Enter Africa As part of the Fifth World Congress of Orisa Tradition and Culture, which celebrates African spiritual systems and cultural practices with workshops, lectures, and exhibits taking place all over the city this week, Nigeria's Bata Orisa Dance Ensemble presents its first-ever U.S. performance at the "African Dance and Music Celebration." An outdoor marketplace will offer African arts, crafts, and food, and the Ethiopian ensemble Ene Le Hagere will perform. The event begins at noon at Yerba Buena Gardens, 701 Mission (at Third Street), S.F. Admission is free; call 978-ARTS.
monday
august 4
Mixer's Delight Local drink-slingers qualify for one of the best, most civilized Monday-night deals in town at Bruno's "Bar Workers Union" shows; servers who bring in recent pay stubs from their bar or restaurant are admitted free and served a drink on the house. The absence of weekend throngs gives guests a wider booth berth in the club's swanky, mercifully dim lounge, where Bone Cootes & the Living Wrecks play American roots music tonight at 9 p.m., followed by a swing set in the Cork Club from Jeff Bright & the Sunshine Boys at 10 p.m. Bruno's is located at 2389 Mission (at 20th Street), S.F. General public admission is $3; call 550-7455.
tuesday
august 5
Women's Writes As Word for Word Theater Company's reading/performance series "Short Stories By and About Bay Area Women" intends to demonstrate, ours is a good climate for writers, and stories, to take root. Delia MacDougall will kick off the series, which features verbatim performances of writers' works, with Bastard Out of Carolina author Dorothy Allison's "The Meanest Woman Ever Left Tennessee," followed by JoAnne Winter's rendition of Ellen Gilchrist's "Ellen Drunk With Love." Highlights of the monthlong pro-gram include performances of Isabel Allende's "Two Words" (Aug. 12), Anne Lamott's "Almost Eighty-Sixed" (Aug. 19), and Stones for Ibarra author Harriet Doerr's "Edie: A Life" (Aug. 26). Word for Word performs two stories each Tuesday beginning at 12:30 p.m. in Yerba Buena Gardens, 701 Mission (at Third Street), S.F. Admission is free; call 978-ARTS.
Listen to the Flower People Unless you try licking the protective glass, the LSD blotter paper on display at "High Art" is going to have more of a psychological than a chemical effect. This psychedelic swirl of posters, album sleeves, handbills, photographs, and magazine covers from the personal collections of '60s poster artists Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, among others, offers a preview to the world's largest auction of rock 'n' roll art and ephemera. "High Art" will also show silk-screen posters from London's collaborative artists Hapshash & the Coloured Coat, as well as contemporary work by poster artists like Frank Kozik. The collection, put together by ArtRock and England's Bonhams auction house, will be auctioned off in London after the public preview, which begins at 11 a.m. (and runs through Friday) at ArtRock Gallery, 1155 Mission (at Seventh Street), S.F. Admission is free; call 255-7390.
