This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with Kerensa deMars, founder and artistic director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company (SFFDC), and musician Amir-John Haddad about the Company's production Volver, on Sunday January 20, at the Brava Theater (2781 24th St.) in San Francisco (7pm).
Volver (‘Return’ in Spanish), is a celebration of the poetic heart of Flamenco. In this production, the words of Leonard Cohen, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Violeta Parra (and others) are put to the soulful song of Flamenco. Among the performers, from Spain, the Middle East and the US, are musicians Amir-John Haddad (guitar, oud, and buzuki) and Ali Paris (vocals and qanun).
From West Edge Opera, we talk with artistic director Mark Streshinsky and composer Shinji Eshima about the third edition of Snapshot. As a collaboration between West Edge Opera and Earplay, Snapshot is dedicated to getting new operas on their feet and giving the audiences a peek into developing works from West Coast composers and librettists. Snapshot 3 takes place on Saturday January 19 (8pm) at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall (2288 Fulton St.) in Berkeley; and on Sunday January 20 (3pm) at the Taube Atrium Theater (401 Van Ness Ave.) in San Francisco.
On the Snapshot program are the opera’s The Road To Xibalba by composer Cindy Cox and librettist John Campion; Zheng, by composer Shinji Eshima and librettist Tony Asaro, about beloved San Francisco mezzosoprano and Adler Fellow Zheng Cao; Ivonne, by composer Nathaniel Stookey and librettist and Chicago playwright Jerre Dye (featuring Marnie Breckenridge); and Medicus Mortem, by composer Beth Ratay and librettist Andrew Rechnitz.
We talk with Marilyn Levinson about the remainder of the season at Bay Area Cabaret, which continues on January 20 (5pm) with An Evening with Carmen Cusack and Susan Wernerat the Venetian Room of the Fairmont in San Francisco.
Plus, Open Air’s regular contributor and critic at large, Peter Robinson, talks with Rush Rehm, professor of Drama and Classics at Stanford University, and artistic director of Stanford Repertory Theater, about Democratically Speaking, an exploration of the idea and realities of ‘democracy,’ from ancient Greece forward. The presentation is part of the Humanities West program Democracy Then and Now: From Ancient Greece to This Week, on February 2 (7:30 - 10pm) at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco.
Also, a preview of Gatsby Revisited: Flappers and Philosophers, on Friday, January 18 (7pm) at the Sausalito public library, in which Robinson delves into the story behind The Great Gatsby, and the life and romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald with clips from three Gatsby movies, music from the Jazz Age, readings from Scott's letters to Zelda, and notes from critics and scholars. Reservations via (415) 381-6671.
Open Air with host David Latulippe; heard live on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 1pm. Listen now or anytime…