Events Around the Bay – Week of February 20, 2017

Shanghai Angel with Heather Klein
February 26, 3:00 p.m.
 

Immigrant dreams and hero voices: A fascinating musical performance called Shanghai Angel, created and performed by classically trained soprano Heather Klein is having its premiere at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Klein is creating a one-woman operetta based on her grandmother’s immigration story from Austria to Shanghai and then through Angel Island. She conceived of the show after the family discovered, just two years ago, her grandmother’s interrogation transcript from Angel Island. This document brought light to a little known story her grandmother had never spoken of: her journey to America with just $2.50 in her pocket and the three weeks she spent in detention in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The 45 minute show features nine original songs and live accompaniment by Joshua Horowitz. The performance will be followed by a short talk by experts from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF), a non-profit organization which collects and preserves the rich stories and personal journeys of thousands of immigrants into America through the Pacific.

Tickets and Information
Price: $20, General admission, including the Museum admission
415-655-7800
https://www.thecjm.org/
Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street, San Francisco

Photo courtesy of AIISF

Spend the Night with Billy Crystal 
March 1 at 8:00 p.m. in Oakland
March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in San Jose

Enjoy an evening of chat and stories with Tony and Emmy Awards-winning comedian, actor, producer, writer and director Billy Crystal as he promises a hilarious and intimate evening.  “It’s loose, unpredictable and intimate. The most fun I’ve had on stage in a long time,” says Crystal. A stand-up comic turned television star, Crystal found fame as a movie funnyman with starring roles in blockbusters such as When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers and Analyze This. He was much admired as the acclaimed nine-time host of the Academy Awards, an achievement topped only by the legendary Bob Hope, who hosted the Oscars 19 times. You are certainly in for an evening of fun and laughter. And we all need some laughter in our life, right?

Tickets and Information
Prices start at $80
For tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com
Center for the Performing Arts: 255 South Almaden Boulevard, San Jose
Fox Theater: 1807 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland

Photo courtesy of Larry Magid Entertainment Group

San Francisco Botanical Garden: Magnolia Bloom
Through March 31 at Golden Gate Park

Spring is around the corner as the lavish rains gifted the San Francisco Botanical Garden with gorgeous magnolia blooms. Nearly 100 trees, many rare and historic, are adorned with the huge saucer-sized pink and white blooms decorating the bare branches. The photo ops are endless and it is Instagram heaven. Celebrate this bloom with free Magnolia Walk maps, docent-led tours, special signage, and a magnolia mobile app, as well as unique classes and activities. And don’t miss my favorite: the Magnolia by Moonlight tour on Sunday, March 12 6:00-8:00pm. It is a romantic lovey-dovey path among the illuminated blooming trees. Dress warmly; it is our California-style winter, after all. San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum is a living museum within Golden Gate Park, offering 55 acres of beautiful gardens displaying over 8,500 different kinds of plants from around the world. Seasonal highlights include the magnificent magnolia collection, the most significant for conservation purposes outside China; the unique Mesoamerican, Andean, and Southeast Asian Cloud Forest collections; and the California Native Garden and century-old Redwood Grove. Established in 1940 originally as Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco Botanical Garden is a collaboration of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the non-profit San Francisco Botanical Garden Society. How lucky we are! And since you love flowers, visit the Pacific Orchid and Garden Exposition in San Francisco on February 24-26 (www.orchidsanfrancisco.org) at the San Francisco County Fair Building Hall of Flowers.

Tickets and Information
Price starts at $8 for non-residents
Admission for SF residents (with proof of residence, e.g., CA ID with SF address, or photo ID and utility bill) is FREE
(415) 661-1316
www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

Photo courtesy of SF Botanical Garden

Beach Blanket Babylon Welcomes the Von Trump Family

It did not take long for Donald and Melania Trump and the Von Trump Family Singers – Eric, Baron, Ivanka, Jared Kushner, Donald Jr. and Tiffany to join the cast of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest-running musical revue in the world. The effervescent review of showstopper characters in outlandish costumes and three-story high magically-constructed fantastic hats will bring all the famous and the infamous to the stage of Club Fugazi in San Francisco’s North Beach. Here is your opportunity to meet Snow White as she takes a fast-paced journey around the world in search of her Prince Charming.  Along the way she encounters a star-studded, ever-changing line-up of hilarious pop culture characters including Barack and Michelle Obama, Vladimir Putin, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Hamilton, Taylor Swift, Kellyanne Conway, Bernie Sanders, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Adele, Sia, Prince, Barbra Streisand, Oprah, Princess Leia, and the San Francisco Giants.  And now there’s no need to visit the White house as the Trumps have joined the cast. 16,000 performances have been seen by over six million people from around the world. It’s your turn now.

Tickets and Information
Prices range from $25–$155
415-421-4222
www.BeachBlanketBabylon.com
Club Fugazi
678 Green Street, San Francisco

Photo courtesy of BBB

Lina Broydo immigrated from Russia, then the Soviet Union, to Israel where she was educated and got married. After working at the University in Birmingham, England, she and her husband immigrated to the United States. She lives in Los Altos Hills, CA and writes about travel, art, style, entertainment, and sports. She hardly cooks or bakes, with no borsch or piroshky on her home cooking menu. Therefore, she makes reservations and enjoys dining out, mostly sushi.