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‘Manatee on Mars’ on Corona Radio Theater - SF Ballet: ‘Emeralds’ - Charles Zukow Retires

This week on Open Air, KALW’s weekly radio magazine for the Bay Area Performing Arts in Times of Corona, host David Latulippe clears the virtual stage of our Corona Radio Theater for a taped excerpt from another Remote Theater production: Manatee on Mars, a new play about autism by playwright Tanya Shaffer (pic 2), who joins the conversation together with director Giovanni Rodriguez. Also, a conversation with SF Ballet soloist Julia Rowe (pic 3), about the SF Ballet’s production of Emeralds from Balanchine’s Jewels. Plus, we talk with legendary San Francisco Bay Area publicist Charly Zukow (pic 4), upon his retirement. 

Remote Theater is a new theater group born in the pandemic and dedicated to developing new plays. In partnership with the Playwrights Foundation, Remote Theater presented the first public reading of Tanya Shaffer's Manatee on Mars last September. 

Marking the 30th anniversary of the ADA act, Manatee on Mars tells the story of Cody, a 12-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who uses his favorite cartoon, The Adventures of Floaty Potato, to make sense of the world in general; of his estranged parents, Margo and Dan; and of a wealthy family, the Briars, who are trying to force Cody out of their daughter's public school, in particular. 

We talk with SF Ballet soloist Julia Rowe, about the Company’s production of Emeralds from Balanchine’s Jewels, which will be streaming beginning April 1. Rowe joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2013 and was promoted to soloist in 2016. Emeralds was newly recorded by SF Ballet during the pandemic. The other two parts, Rubies and Diamonds, were filmed earlier. 

Balanchine’s Jewels was inspired by displays at New York City jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, and consists of three separate ballets—EmeraldsRubies, and DiamondsEmeralds, set to music by Fauré, is a forest green meditation in long, Romantic-style skirts, influenced by the French style of ballet—decorous, restrained, pristine. Rubies, set to Stravinsky, is more like Times Square at midnight: bright lights, rushing crowds, and a touch of jazz. Diamonds, set to Tchaikovsky, is a glittering homage to Imperial Russia and the grand style of Marius Petipa, the father of classical ballet. 

Plus, we talk with legendary San Francisco Bay Area publicist Charly Zukow. He has announced his retirement after nearly 35 years of representing arts and lifestyle clients around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. 

Zukow’s position as one of San Francisco’s best-known marketing professionals is the culmination of a career that has included almost every aspect of entertainment. Whether representing national Broadway tours, the hottest new attraction, or the Bay Area’s most prominent non-profit organizations’ galas, Zukow has helped ‘put butts in seats,’ bring awareness to noteworthy causes, and raise millions of dollars. 

Open Air with host David Latulippe; heard live on Thursday, March 25 at 1pm, to be archived at this location thereafter. Listen now or anytime…