Blogs

It's the opposite of a chick flick: Tony Kelly's play Blade to the Heat is a manly thing, brought to you in sweaty real-time. It's got no chick appeal, (although women like it fine) and it's not a movie with camera tricks or fakery. Instead, Blade is an on-stage story about a boxer; a gay, mixed-race, fucked-up boxer confused by his own success in the rat-filled world of pugilism in 1959. This run is a revival of the Thick Description company's 1997 production of Blade, which was a hit -- sold-out and extended. Several actors reprise their roles, such as Rhonnie Washington and L. Peter Callender, and they're joined by newcomers like Johnny Moreno, Victor Ballesteros, and Carlos Baron. Latin jazz laces the show up tight as great accompaniment to a tale of quick, complicated men. Date/Time: February 18 until March 16, 8:00pm Price: $15-$30 TIckets available online. By Hiya Swanhuyser

"In an apocalyptic future, two women are invited to dine at the home of a wealthy, lonely stranger. As they eat and drink, they reckon with the complexities of their pasts and the maddening nature of love, death, and poverty. Brainpeople is an A.C.T. world-premiere production and newest work by José Rivera, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Motorcycle Diaries (A.C.T)." Tickets available online.

If Caroline Hwang's urban art that speaks about the human condition isn't quite your thing, then I'll bet professional wrestling is more up your alley. Bay Area mullet-heads rejoice, because local promotion Fog City Wrestling throws its premiere event next weekend at CELLspace. Get ready for some big ol' Samoan booty action, as former WWE sensation Rikishi is scheduled to sign autographs. Big boot to the midsection:

January 12, 2008

Fog City Wrestling

Bay Area Wrestling fans are already up in
a fever trying to imagine what Fog City
will bring them at the inaugural event at CELLspace

resale:
tickets@fogcitywrestling.com
415 845 2360
DON’T SLEEP!! THEY ARE GOING FAST!!!!!!!

Fans will get to witness:
Junior Fatu in the Main Event
Mr. PrimeTime v. The Black Pearl
Vaquero Fantasma, Dynamo, & El Chupacabra
v. Ulysses, Fuerza Infernal, & Deluto
Tito Aquino v. Ryan von Kool (w/ Chico Navarro)
Plus: Jason Styles, WildStorm,
Dylan Drake, Kimo & Shooter Mike Silva
As always the card is subject to change
During Intermission , former WWE SMACKDOWN
superstars Rikishi & Luther Reigns (now Big Luther)
will be signing autographs inside the COLD STEELE
autograph pit.
www.fogcitywrestling.com
415.845-2360

A music column by David Downs

Eighteen-year-old Josh Strohl winces as a crowd of 500 merciless hecklers boo him tonight.

We're inside the dark, cavernous UC Berkeley MLK Student Union Friday, November 3, 2007 to bear witness the the galaxy's #1 cartoon metal band, DethKlok in real life. Strohl is the opener, or rather, the sacrificial lamb.

The skinny little hessian from the East Bay suburb of Pleasanton, CA. has accidentally won first place in a Guitar Hero III video game tournament. Now his punishment involves mangling Tenacious D's “Metal” before an angry mob.

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Trying to explain the Bay Area arts scene to people from other parts of the country can be a frustrating experience. ASD theater critic Chloe Veltman explains why.

Today I'd like to talk about perceptions of Bay Area culture by people in other parts of the country. In short, they don't think we have any. Over the weekend, I was at a conference in Chicago. I can't tell you how many times I got into conversations with well-educated people from elsewhere (I was at a symposium for doctors aimed at ingraining humanistic care within the medical profession) about the Bay Area which would go something like this:

Dr. X: "So, you come from San Francisco?"
Chloe V: "Yes."
Dr. X: "I love San Francisco. It's a beautiful city."
Chloe V: "Yes, it really is. I love it too. I came here thinking I'd stay a year or so and now seven have passed."
Dr. X: "So what do you do there?"
Chloe V: "Well, I'm an arts journalist. A theater critic mostly, in fact. I work for a publication called SF Weekly."
Dr. X: "Theater? Huh." [long silence.]

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Somehow, it didn't seem as wrong in the moment. ... Photos from San Francisco's world-class, leather and bondage-themed street fair, Sunday September 30, 2007. We'll have more all week, so come back, if that's what you're in to.

ASD theater expert Chloe Veltman brings back the highlights from a recent talk with creepy, yet famed SF director Robert Woodruff, who seems a bit mad, and way cooler than all of our drama teachers in high school. Favorite quote: JM: What do you think of the idea that poverty makes for good art?
 RW: That idea is full of shit. Hit it, 

CV. -d2

Woodruff the Waffler
By Chloe Veltman

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By WILL HARPER

For anyone who grew up on Sesame Street, you’ll know what I mean when I say you haven’t lived until you’ve seen muppets doing it doggy style and 69ing each other. Avenue Q, the Tony Award winning musical from off-Broadway, is a delightfully crass sendup of Sesame Street. The centerpiece of the set is a model of a rundown New York brownstone populated by, among others, Kate Monster (Kelli Sawyer); a recent college grad, Princeton (Robert McClure); Internet-porn lover Trekkie Monster (Christian Anderson), two Ernie and Bert knockoffs, Nicky and Rod (the latter of whom is a closeted homosexual); and the building superintendent, former child actor Gary Coleman (played by a woman, Carla Renata). Think of it as Melrose Place with muppets.

The story begins with Princeton arriving on Avenue Q singing, “What do you do with a BA in English?” Something of a love story ensues between Princeton and Kate Monster, but the plot is almost superfluous. The songs are what give the show its bite, especially a hilariously politically incorrect number, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.” “Ethnic jokes might be uncouth,” the cast sings, “but you laugh because they’re based on truth.”

It takes some time to get used to the actors being onstage with their puppets (imagine if you could see Frank Oz standing next to Miss Piggy mouthing “Kermie”). But after acclimating, the actors’ presence enhances the production--the cast, by the way, is fantastic all around--adding comic expressions that even the most gifted puppet can’t make.

Through Sept. 2. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Two hours, 10 minutes. Tickets: $30-$90. Call 512-7770 visit www.shnsf.com