On Tap: Lafayette’s Town Hall Theatre to present ‘Lucía Fuentes’
The seventh and final installment of the "New Voices" series will run June 14-22.
LAFAYETTE
J. Lynn Jackson’s “Lucía Fuentes” will run June 14-22 at Lafayette’s Town Hall Theatre. The play is the seventh and final installment of the theater’s “New Voices” series and will feature Jackson’s adventurous crime piece. Katja Rivera will direct.
A heinous crime in Mexico triggers global indignation. To honor the victims and their legacy of peace and justice, spiritual guru Hernán Espinoza walks Japan’s Shikoku pilgrimage path. A Buddhist nun who guides Shikoku pilgrims has a vital interest in Hernán’s journey yet senses she must test his intentions.
When lured to a dangerous shortcut, Hernán suffers a breakdown. Not knowing whether he is alive or dead, a man or a woman, a saint or a sinner, in Japan or not, he continues to the end, which, on the circular Shikoku path, is also the beginning.
“From the very first page, I was swept away by J. Lynn Jackson’s epic adventure, ‘Lucia Fuentes’ ” said artistic director Richard Perez. “Hernán, our intrepid protagonist, and his journey into a realm where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, reminded me that each of us carries within us the potential for heroic journeys and personal growth.”
“New Voices” series readings are $20, although there are pay-what-you-can tickets (subject to availability) at the door for all performances. The series is a first for Town Hall Theatre and has now transitioned to the SNAP (Spotlight on New American Plays) Festival.
The newly imagined SNAP Festival is a dynamic platform dedicated to showcasing emerging voices in American Theatre. Town Hall Theatre is at 3535 School St. For more information, visit townhalltheatre.com online or call 925-283-1557.
— Town Hall Theatre
DANVILLE
See ‘California, Places & People’ at Village Theatre Art Gallery
The Village Theatre Art Gallery is hosting “California, Places & People,” an exhibition through June 21 from the California Watercolor Association. Thirty-seven artists from the association have selected paintings of favorite places they have visited in California or people they have seen in the Golden State for the display.
The show also includes abstract watercolor works inspired by a person or place in California. This exhibition supports the watercolor association’s mission to create, foster and sustain artistic growth and interest in water media.
In conjunction with the exhibition, town of Danville staff will host “Young @ Art: Wild About Watercolor” on Friday for ages 6-10. Kids can see the new exhibition and be inspired to create their own watercolor masterpieces using fun techniques. Preregistration is available at danville.ca.gov/recguide.
The Village Theatre Art Gallery is at 233 Front St., Danville. For more information, including hours and artists, visit danville.ca.gov/arts.
— Village Theatre Art Gallery
WALNUT CREEK
Gallery hosting College Park High exhibit through Friday
Valley Art Gallery has honored College Park High School with the Gloria Marshall Award and now has the school’s art on exhibit in its gallery at 1661 Botelho Drive, Suite 110, in Walnut Creek.
Every year, the Valley Art Gallery donates part of its revenues to a local high school or elementary school art program. A selection of pieces created by the students in this program will be shown.
Two self-selected themes are on display: “Art as Activism” focused on creating artwork that challenges injustices in the world; and “Revisiting the Past,” which reflects a knowledge of ancient Greek pottery as well as decorative depictions of past events in the students’ lives.
Ceramics teacher Max Landowski has been an educator in the Bay Area for 10 years, teaching at many prestigious institutions and has been with College Park High School for four years.
The exhibit continues through Friday. It is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or at other times by appointment. Visit valleyartgallery.org online or call 925-935-4311 for more details.
— Valley Art Gallery
Musae Treble Vocal Ensemble to perform May 4 at St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s Concert Series will feature Musae Treble Vocal Ensemble, set to perform at 7 p.m. May 4 in the Episcopal church at 1924 Trinity Ave. in Walnut Creek.
Based in San Francisco, Musae has performed diverse and accessible music throughout the Bay Area and continues to stretch the boundaries of traditional repertoire for treble voices.
The group’s singers are trained in the choral tradition but not bound by it. Within traditional form, the ensemble stretches the standard with artistic expression and musicality. Donations will be accepted at the door ($20 for adults and $10 for students is suggested). The concert can also be viewed online at stpaulswc.org/concert-series.
— St. Paul’s Concert Series
Venue showing area photographers’ work through May 23
Nine East Bay photographers, including two who have previously shown at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, are being featured now through May 23 in an exhibit at Walnut Creek’s Del Valle Education Center.
The exhibit, a wide-ranging collection of photographic genres and styles, is the culmination of an advanced photography workshop led by longtime Acalanes Adult Education photography instructor Bill Helsel. The photographers are Jeff Heyman, Westeigh (no last name), Jonathan Bitz, Kimberley Enright, Rob Hamner, Rich London, Sunyo Suhaimi, Robin Sullivan and Rosemary Wheeler. Also on display are paintings and drawings by students in several Acalanes Adult Education art classes.
Heyman and Westeigh had landscapes exhibited as part of The de Young Open, held last year at the de Young Museum. In the exhibit, Heyman juxtaposes clouds, land and water, while Grant explores “Echoes of Absence.” Both are a series of black-and-white photographs.
The exhibit can be viewed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Del Valle center at 1963 Tice Valley Blvd. in Walnut Creek. See the photographers and their work online at heymanfoto.smugmug.com/Exhibits/Advanced-Photography-Exhibit.
— Del Valle Educational Center
PITTSBURG
‘Willy Wonka” showing Friday through May 5 at theater
The Pittsburg Theatre Company will present “Willy Wonka” from April 26 through May 5 at the California Theatre. Performances will be at 8 p.m. April 26-27 and May 3 and at 2 p.m. April 28 and May 4-5 in the Pittsburg venue at 351 Railroad Ave.
The Roald Dahl play features music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. It was adapted for the stage by Bricusse and Timothy Allen McDonald. Tickets are $30 for adults, $26 for seniors and students, $22 for children under 12 and available at tickets831.com/tickets/willy-wonka-273979.
— Pittsburg Theatre Company
LIVERMORE/LAFAYETTE
Pacific Chamber Orchestra to perform Bruch, Mendelssohn
Pacific Chamber Orchestra will present Max Bruch’s “Violin Concerto #1 in G Minor” with violinist Livia Sohn, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Symphony #3 in A Minor” (aka the “Scottish” symphony) and Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Overture for Orchestra” at 7:30 p.m. April 27 in the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church and at 3 p.m. April 28 at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater.
Sohn’s prolific career includes performances with renowned U.S. orchestras in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Boston; in Europe with orchestras in Berlin, Budapest and Prague; and internationally in Asia, South America, China and Africa. Opus Magazine has described Sohn as “a stunning and compelling musician.”
Tickets for both concerts are available online at pacificchamberorchestra.org.
— Pacific Chamber Orchestra
ORINDA
Art gallery’s ‘Ekphrasis Exhibition’ display opens April 29
The Lamorinda Arts Alliance, Lamorinda Arts Council and California Writers Club, Mount Diablo Branch, are collaborating to present “Ekphrasis Exhibition” in the Orinda Library’s art gallery from April 29 through June 28.
The exhibit’s organizers say “ekphrasis” is a Greek word defined as writing that describes, explains or is inspired by another art form, a literary device that began with Plato and Aristotle, and that beautiful things happen when the arts intertwine.
The arts groups, along with the writers club branch, developed this creative project as an exhibition of fine artworks that inspire literary works, which will be on display to be enjoyed by the public, art and literary enthusiasts and collectors.
Visitors to the exhibit will be immersed in the inspired works of more than 90 talented visual artists and authors showcased in a diverse range of literary expressions, including prose/flash in fiction, nonfiction, memoir, essay and poetic forms. The visual artwork is in mixed media, glasswork, sculpture, paintings, photography and porcelain.
The library’s art gallery at 26 Orinda Way in Orinda is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is closed on Sundays. For more information, visit laa4art.org online.
— Lamorinda Arts Council
MORAGA
Gallery showing ‘Moving Energy’ exhibit until early June
A vibrant exhibit, “Moving Energy,” is on display now at the Moraga Art Gallery, 432 Center St. in the Rheem Shopping Center.
Intensely colorful, eye-opening, motion-filled acrylic paintings by Irene Needoba and high-impact photos of nature by Lucy Beck explode with colors and surprising shapes. Photographer John Brown, the featured guest artist, focuses on the natural world in all its guises: the wilderness and the nature of people, animals, cities and communities.
Also on view until the exhibit ends in early June are a variety of one-of-a-kind works by more than 20 local painters, ceramicists, jewelry makers, photographers, print-makers, woodworkers and others.
Open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, the gallery invites art fans of all ages to come in, browse and linger a while. For more details online, visit moragaartgallery.com or call 925-376-5407.
— Moraga Art Gallery
LAFAYETTE
Town Hall Theatre announces shows for 2024-25 season
Town Hall Theatre has announced its 2024-25 season with the theme “Family: Born into and Chosen!” and featuring an unforgettable journey in which the intricate theme of family takes center stage.
In a world sometimes characterized by division, the troupe will delve into the complexities of family dynamics, exploring the profound connections that bind us together.
“While families may be diverse and complex, our stories reveal universal truths that remind us of our shared humanity,” said Richard Perez, Town Hall’s new artistic director. “Through the lens of equity and inclusion, we celebrate the richness of our differences while embracing the common threads that make us more similar than different.”
First up from Aug. 24 through Sept. 14 will be Eric Pfeffinger’s “Human Error.” Next will be Dec. 7-21 with “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then Some) by Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald and Jon Alvarez. After that will be the 2025 SNAP Festival of plays March 7-23, 2025, followed June 7-28, 2025, by Sam Shepard’s “True West.”
For ticket subscriptions, go online to townhalltheatre.com/subscriptions. For more information, contact the box office at boxoffice@townhalltheatre.com or 925-283-1557.
— Town Hall Theatre
Submit area arts-and-entertainment On Tap items to Judith Prieve at jprieve@bayareanewsgroup.com.