A play, a lecture and a concert start the weekend early on Thursday
Peter and the Starcatcher, Main Theatre, Wright Hall, UC Davis, Thursday, Feb 27, through Saturday, March 7
Starting the weekend early this week is easy. In a two-weekend run, the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance is performing Peter and the Starcatcher an imaginative, award-winning prequel to Peter Pan. The play is co-directed by Mindy Cooper, UC Davis professor of theatre and dance, and Olivier award winner Toby Sedgwick.
It is based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and adapted for the stage by Rick Elice with music by Wayne Barker. The play premiered in 2011 at the La Jolla Playhouse in California, then transferred to off-Broadway. It opened on Broadway in April 2012 going on to win five Tony Awards .
In the play, a young orphan, and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England aboard a vessel with a mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin. At sea, the boys and a resourceful young girl named Molly realize that the trunk contains a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When the ship is taken over by pirates, led by the fearsome Black Stache, the real adventure begins.
Featuring 16 actors portraying more than 100 unforgettable and hilarious characters, the family-friendly show uses elements of pop-up books in the scenic design, steam punk in the costuming, stop-action video, and projection elements that take audiences on the magical journey.
Tickets are $12 for students and seniors, $17 for faculty and staff, and $18.50 for general admission.
Learn more about Peter and the Starcatcher and buy tickets. See a preview video below.
Shinkoskey Noon Concert: Splinter Reeds, Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, Thursday, Feb. 27, 12:05 p.m. to 1 p.m., free
- This week’s Shinkoskey Noon Concert features Splinter Reeds, a West coast reed quintet. The group is comprised of UC Davis Lecturer in Music Kyle Bruckmann on the oboe, Bill Kalinkos on the clarinet, David Wegehaupt on the saxophone, Jeff Anderle on the bass clarinet, and Dana Jessen on the bassoon. They will play contemporary compositions.
- Learn more about Splinter Reeds and other upcoming Shinkoskey Noon Concerts here
Art Studio Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Jonathan Calm, Community Education Room, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum, Thursday, Feb. 27, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Visual artist Jonathan Calm, assistant professor at Stanford University, works with photography and video. At this Art Studio event, Calm will lecture on his book about American car culture and race, “African-American Automobility:A Green Book Journey.”
- More information here
Davis Craft and Vintage Fair Square Tomatoes in the Davis Central Park, Sunday, March 1, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Come out and support local artists at the Davis Craft and Vintage Fair. Artists sell a variety of handmade wares, from original stickers and prints, quilted bags, and stained glass, to skin care products and goat’s milk soap. The fair also features vintage items like clothing, jewelry, watches, and pins. More information
Preview next weekend: Beethoven by UC Davis Symphony
The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and University Chorus pair two masterworks by Ludwig von Beethoven with a new composition by Laurie San Martin, professor and music department chair, on Friday, March 6.
The concert will include Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with soloist and former Davis resident Andrei Baumann, and his “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” op. 85, and San Martin’s “what remains,” written for the UC Davis orchestra and chorus. It is being conducted by Christian Baldini, associate professor and music director of the orchestra. The University Chorus is directed by Caleb Lewis, lecturer in music.
“I was delighted to have the opportunity to write for the chorus and the orchestra,” said San Martin, a UC Davis alumna. “Many of my students are in our music ensembles, and much of my own musical identity was shaped by my experience playing in similar groups — including the orchestra when I was an undergraduate at UC Davis.”
“what remains” uses poems by Pulitzer Prize winners Rae Armantrout and Gary Snyder, a UC Davis English professor emeritus. Both address the environment.
The concert takes place at Jackson Hall in the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for students and youth, and are available at the Mondavi Center Ticket Office in person or by calling 530-754-2787 between noon and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Tickets are also available online at mondaviarts.org.
Feathered Relations: Works by Marwin Begaye, C.N. Gorman Museum
Through June 19
- The Gorman Museum describes this new solo exhibition: “...Marwin Begaye (Diné) includes prints, wood blocks, and multi-media works to create a conceptual homage to birds. For the artist, birds are about our relationships – to nature, to one another, to culture. Marwin Begaye is an internationally exhibited printmaker, painter and nationally recognized graphic designer. As Associate Professor of Painting and Printmaking at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Visual Arts, his research has been concentrated on issues of cultural identity, especially the intersection of traditional American Indian culture and pop culture.” The museum is open noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Watch the Arts Blog for an upcoming “Lunchable” column.
- More information on the exhibition here
Upcoming events
Campus Community Book Project: Gary Younge, Monday, March 2, 8 p.m.
- Gary Younge, author of Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives will speak about gun violence during the 2019-2020 academic year.
- Learn more and buy tickets here
Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Charlie Musselwhite, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, Wednesday, March 4, 7 p.m.
- Three legendary blues artists come together for an unforgettable performance at the Mondavi Center. If you love blues, you won’t want to miss this night of music by blues royalty!
- Learn more and buy tickets here
Next weekend
House of Angklung Performance, Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, Saturday, March 7, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., free
- Come watch the House of Angklung perform a music, dance, and multi-media production in celebration of Indonesian culture. The production features regional folk songs, classical Indonesian ballads, Sundanese and American pop music; dancers from the group Padepokan Seni Jugala; and the multi-media program “Learn from Pring” (pring refers to the wisdom of bamboo). The audience will be invited to participate. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. reception followed by the performance at 7 p.m. House of Angklung was established by a group of women in Washington, D.C., as a cultural organization that focuses on the Sundanese heritage of West Java, Indonesia. The evening is sponsored by House of Angklung, the Indonesian Students Association of UC Davis (PERMIAS), and the Office of the Consulate General of Indonesia.
- The event is free, but please RSVP here
- Learn more about the event here
Cecile McLorin Salvant, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, Monday, March 9, 7 p.m.
- Acclaimed jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Savant will perform Ogresse, an original song cycle about a female ogre. She collaborated on Ogresse with Darcy James Argue, who arranged and produced the composition.
- Learn more and buy tickets here
Art Graduate Open Studios, TB 9 and Graduate Art Building, Friday, March 6, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., free
- The UC Davis MFA Art Studio graduate students invite all into their studios to see what they are working on and connect with others from the larger community. The event runs 6-9 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Both the main graduate art building, with 13 studios, and TB 9, with 3 studios will be open and the artists will be present to talk about their work and practices.
- Learn more here