Arts & Entertainment
What to Do in Berkeley: Weekend Events Calendar July 15-17
Championship windsurfing continues at the Marina, while all-girl Shakespeare opens at Live Oak, a celebrity underground chef pops up at Local 123 and activist S. Brian Willson rides his prosthesis-friendly bike down from Oregon to push his new memoir.
When: Through Saturday, July 15
Where: Berkeley Marina
Why go: If the weather’s hot, you can sit surfside and beat the heat; if it keeps being unseasonably stormy, the action only gets better. It’s a win-win.
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When: Friday, July 15, 2011, 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
Where: , 1724 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702
Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Why go: Comfy Café Leila is a great place to kick back, and it’s BYO-friendly. Con Alma Vocal Jazz Ensemble, a six-voice group that works its rich harmonies on jazz standards, blues, bossa nova, latin, pop, and rock, will be backed by a jazz quartet.
When: Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16, 7 p.m.
Where: The Crucible, 1260 7th St, Oakland, CA 94607
Why go: Trained professionals play with fire in yet another amazing Crucible extravaganza of theater, industrial design and pyrotechnics. Don’t try this at home!
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 9 a.m.–3:45 p.m.
Where: , 1 Central Park Drive, Berkeley, CA
Why go: Learn to offset sports injuries, bum knees and other orthopedic woes – or just learn to hike while carrying more stuff – at this clinic and short hike that introduces this lower-impact hiking technique. The staff will have poles available to borrow for free during the event.
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 2 p.m.
Where: , 1301 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
Why go: Intelligent and family-friendly free entertainment from this all-female Shakespeare repertory company. Starting this fall, Women’s Work will go into K-12 classrooms with free workshops based on this play.
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 3 p.m.–5 p.m.
Where: , 2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA
Why go: If you’ve always wanted to sing in a chorus but felt intimidated, this friendly, no-audition workshop is a place to start. Blakeslee is artistic director of an Oakland chorus that welcomes new members if you catch the choral-singing bug. Families and kids 8 and over are welcome.
Where: 1924 Cedar St, Berkeley, CA 94709 (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall)
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 7 p.m.–11 p.m.
Why go: Cabasso, executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation, and research analyst Andrew Lichterman speak on “Nuclear Hiroshima to Fukushima: Confronting the Two-Headed Monster of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power” on the anniversary of the 1945 nuclear test in White Sands, N.M., that changed the world.
When: Saturday: July 16, 2011, 3:30 p.m.–midnight
Where: 3105 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
Why go: LoCura and Flametal evangelize flamenco fusion with a day of music and dance. Bring your guitar for a low-cost ($10/free with concert ticket) workshop before the performance starts.
When: Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16; 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 2 p.m. Continuing through July 30.
Where: The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave, Berkeley, CA 94703
Why go: “Please be advised that this show contains theatrical portrayals of physical violence, gun violence, death, and illicit drug use, as well as very loud noises, haze, and flashing lights…” Huh, I don’t remember any of that from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s 1970s chestnut. Well, the loud noises, maybe. Director Jennifer Boesing frames this classic in a contemporary setting — “half rock concert, half guerilla theater” — as the Youth Musical Theater Company, backed by a seven-piece professional rock band, opens its latest high-caliber production on the Ashby Stage.
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 8 p.m.–11 p.m.
Where: Local 123, 2049 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA
Why go: As Psalm 34 has it, “Taste and see!” A 10-course celebration of summer’s bounty from the off-the-grid chef who learned his chops at Greens, Citron and the Bercat de la Boqueria in Barcelona.
When: Monday, July 18, 2011, 7:30pm
Where: 1924 Cedar St, Berkeley, CA
Why go: Because didn’t you ever wonder whatever happened to that guy who was run over by the munitions train? Well, he’s back, and he’s written a book. Using leg prostheses, Willson cycles marathon distances on a specially modified bike – in fact, he’s cycling to Berkeley from his home in Oregon. He continues to protest U.S. war and policy, losing another pound of flesh, this time to the IRS, for his reluctance to fund war by paying taxes.
Plus, you've got another chance to catch these previously featured events, all held over by popular demand:
has extended its run with performances Thursday, July 14, through Sunday, July 17, at the , 1834 Euclid Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709.
will be playing daily except Mondays through July 24 at the , 2081 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704.
Finally, kid and adult artists should note that the city of Berkeley has extended its to July 22.
