With simulcast, a film’s world premiere, traditionally limited to one locale, can go truly global and it’s happening for the first time this weekend.  This Friday evening, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, a riveting feature documentary profiling the legendary Joffrey Ballet has its world premiere as the opening film at 40^th Annual Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater.  On Saturday, when the film repeats at the festival, select audiences around the country can watch it streamed live via simulcast in their local theatres.   In coordination with Emerging Pictures’ electronic cinema, the film will be streamed in the Bay Area on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Santa Rosa at Summerfield Cinemas and in San Rafael at Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center.  The Saturday simulcast includes introductions as well as an interactive live panel discussion featuring top Joffrey stars, past and present.  Audience members throughout the US will be able to ask the stars questions live via a live Twitter feed.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance: (Director: Bob Hercules, USA, 2012, 90 min)
This insightful documentary is the first film to chronicle how the legendary Joffrey Ballet revolutionized American ballet by boldly combining modern dance with traditional ballet at a time when it such merging not routinely accepted.  Weaving a wealth of archival footage, behind-the-scene photos and interviews with over 20 former and current Joffrey star dancers, director Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man) documents the struggles and achievements of the Joffrey from its newfound beginnings in 1956 to the Company’s present international success.  Many times the Joffrey Ballet had to rebound from crippling financial difficulties starting in 1964 with its acrimonious break from the Rebekah Harkness Foundation. This breakup left Robert Joffrey with only 2 dancers and no company to his name. The company nearly dissolved in the mid-90’s due to financial problems but resurrected itself in 1995 with its move to Chicago. The film features rare excerpts from many seminal Joffrey works including Astarte, Trinity and Billboards, as well as breakthrough collaborations with choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Leonid Massine, Laura Dean, and Kurt Jooss.  Founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino and a host of ballet notables, including Gary Chryst, Trinette Singleton, Helgi Tomasson (current Artistic Director, San Francisco Ballet), Kevin McKenzie and more, are featured in the film.  Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Kevin McKenzie , the film is a rich chronicle of a ballet company that continues to reinvent itself, raise the bar and invigorate audiences worldwide. Executive produced by Harold Ramis and Jay Alix and produced by Una Jackman and Erica Mann Ramis. 

“Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance” will have its world premiere at the 40th Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center this weekend and will premiere simultaneously in theaters around the country via simulcast this Saturday, January 28, 2012. It will screen locally at the Summerfield Cinemas in Santa Rosa and the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Included in the Joffrey story is Gerald Arpino's "Light Rain." Photo: Herbert Migdoll.

The Joffrey Ballet:  Co-founded in 1956 by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey and dancer Gerald Arpino, who would become the organization’s principal choreographer, The Joffrey Ballet began as a DIY dance company of six dancers touring the United States in a borrowed station wagon.  What started as a childhood dream quickly grew into one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  Together, Joffrey and Arpino transformed the face of dance by merging classical ballet technique with bold new perspectives for edgy new ballets that challenged conventions.  Aggressive touring took the Company from school auditoriums across America’s Heartland, to the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, on to Russia for a month-long tour during the height of the Cold War, and beyond.  They also garnered extensive media attention for their daring originality, which included appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the cover of Time Magazine, and in major motion pictures such as Save the Last Dance and Robert Altman’s The Company (which is based on the Joffrey).

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces, and contemporary works.  The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater and Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway.   To learn more, visit joffrey.org.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance screens Saturday, January 28, 2012:

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center (1118 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA) at 10:30 a.m.  Purchase tickets online here.

Summerfield Cinemas (551 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa, CA) at 10:30 a.m.  Purchase tickets online here.

The 3^rd  German Gems film festival concludes in Point Arena at the Arena Theatre on Sunday January 15, 2012 and will feature three new German-language films with English subtitles:

2 pm WAY HOME
Buy tickets for Way Home and Flamingo Pride at the Arena Theatre
4 pm ABOVE US ONLY SKY
Buy tickets for Above Us Only Sky at the Arena Theatre
7:30 pm WESTWIND
Buy tickets for Westwind at the Arena Theatre

Arena Theatre, 214 Main Street, Point Arena, CA
Highway One (between Sea Ranch & Mendocino)

TICKET INFO:  Tickets may prucahsed in advance or at the Arena Theatre on the day of the screening.   $8 General Admission
$7 Seniors/ Students

Billy Jean King will speak at the Schulz Museum on Sunday, January 15, 2012 in conjunction with its “Leveling the Playing Field Exhibition” marking the 40th anniversary of the pasaage of Title IX. Charles M. Schulz standing with Billie Jean King at the Snoopy Cup tennis tournament in 1984 at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. Photo: Cheryl Traendly Photography.

Famed former tennis pro Billie Jean King won six Wimbledon singles championships and four U.S. open titles.  She was ranked number one in the world for five years and beat esteemed players Martina Navratilova, Chris Every and Margaret Court.  Among all her matches though, the one most remembered occurred on September. 20, 1973, before a crowd of more than 30,000 at the Houston Astrodome, when she beat former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Bobby Riggs in a match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes.”  King, then 29, beat the 55-year-old retired Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 who had boasted that he could beat any woman.  From that victory forward, King became synonymous with the battle for equality in sports.  Appropriately, King, a personal friend of the late Charles M. Schulz will participate in a moderated conversation and sign autographs speak at the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center this Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 1 p.m. in conjunction with their Leveling the Playing Field exhibition of 86 original “Peanuts” strips by Schulz, celebrating women in sports and the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, legislation that ensures equal access for both men and women in federally-funded educational programs and activities, including sports. 

Leveling the Playing Field features Schulz’s even-handed depiction of girls in sports through his  Peanuts comic strips and it also provides an overview of women’s sports history, and examples of women’s sports attire from the 1880s to the present.  The exhibition details Schulz’s connections in the world of women’s sports, his friendship with Billie Jean King, and his early years coaching a local women’s softball team.

After Schulz met Billie Jean King, he focused on the issue of females in sports with a multi-day storyline in 1979 about Title IX in his comic strip. Schulz brought attention to women athletes by mentioning contemporary female sports stars and having his girl characters participate in a wide variety of sports, from football to figure skating.  From Peppermint Patty’s athletic dominance to Lucy’s ineptitude in the right field to Marcie’s total bewilderment with sports of all kinds, the girls in Peanuts were always equal participants.

 In 1990 Schulz said, “I think Billie Jean King would certainly have to be in my top three as one of my heroes. She did so much for women’s sports.  And she’s such a bright lady and so involved in everything she’s done.”

Schulz died in 2000 after writing and drawing his comic strip for nearly 50 years.

Details: Leveling the Playing Field runs through August 12, 2012 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa.  Museum admission: $5-$10; children 4 and under free.  Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.  Closed Tuesdays.  Information: 707.579.4452  or www.schulzmuseum.org.

Billie Jean King will participate in a moderated conversation and sign autographs starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center, Sunday, January 15, 2012.  Seating is on a first come, first served basis, so plan on arriving early.

Lina Hoshino's "Along the Fenceline" will screen Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:30 p.m. on KRCB, which reaches most of the Bay Area.

 Many of us dream of living the life of an artist but Lina Hoshino is really doing it and doing it very well.  You may know her from the fabulous pies she creates at  Petaluma Pie Company, a business she founded with her husband Angelo Sacerdote a year ago.  Since 1995, Hoshino has been making experimental films and documentaries that address a range of social issues and amplify voices that aren’t usually heard.  Her latest film, Living Along the Fenceline, explores women’s resistance to militarism through the stories of seven courageous women living alongside U.S. military bases.  They are teachers, organizers and healers, moved by love and respect for people and the land, and hope for the next generation and they challenge the assumption that these bases actually make us safe.  The 68 minute documentary will screen this Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:30 p.m. on KRCB, which reaches most of the Bay Area via over-the-air digital channel 22.

Hoshino visited U.S. military bases and proximate or “fenceline” communities in Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Guam, the Philippines, South Korea, and Okinawa (Japan) and the women’s stories of struggle and loss range from the contamination of their communities through cancer-causing pollutants and toxic waste generated and left by the U.S. military bases, to coping with the lifelong shame and trauma of rape by U.S. servicemen.   The film also inspires hope and action through the power of ordinary women to resist militarism and create genuine security on their own terms.  

“Traveling to different locations really brings home the devastation the U.S. military has caused, even in places that are not at war,” said Hoshino.  ”It was invigorating for me to see these women in their homes, to get a glimpse into their family, their community, and to see their lives as a whole.  I wanted to show the proximity and impact of the bases, to see how people really live, and to make this context vivid for the audience.” 

Watch the trailer here.

“It’s not easy for each woman to tell her story.  So the stories are a gift. Most of these stories are very sensitive as women tell how they are personally affected. They are taking a risk by bringing their family and community into it.  They may fear repercussions, especially living in small tightly-knit communities.  They may worry about their family’s reputation, risking a relative’s career, or bringing trouble to people they care about by standing out.”

Hoshino spent part of her childhood living near two of the many U.S. bases in Japan―Atsugi Air Force Base and Yokosuka Naval Base.  ”I learned about base culture and economy as part of my family upbringing.  So I also see myself in this film, in parallel with other women’s lives.  While shooting, I was very aware of who I am, and I constantly questioned what I was doing in these militarized settings.   Is it OK for me to tell this wider story? “  

"Living Along the Fenceline" screened in Korea in September 2011 at the 12th Jeju Women's Film Festival whose theme was "Women, the exploding power that turns the tables." From left, Gwyn Kirk, co-director and writer; Deborah Lee, narrator, writer, producer; and Director Lina Hoshino. Photo courtesy: Lina Hoshino

Lina Hoshino, Director, Editor and Camerawoman: Lina Hoshino’s films include Leap of Faith: How Enmanji Temple was Saved, Caught in Between: What to Call Home in Times of War, In God’s House: Asian American Lesbian and Gay Families in the Church, and award-winning Story of Margo, which profiled one woman’s experience as a sex worker.  Hoshino’s story-telling style engages audiences with complex or contentious issues through her narrators’ experiences and her visual style.  She has been making videos for 14 years and co-founded two ground-breaking organizations—Tactile Pictures and Many Threads—to link filmmakers and artists in communication projects.  Hoshino’s father is from Japan and her mother is from Taiwan. She grew up in the USA, Japan, and France; studied art at Carnegie Mellon; and lives in Petaluma.  Currently, she is working on I Give You to These Kind Waters”  which reflects on abortion through the Buddhist “Mizuko Kuyo” prayer ritual which dedicates the aborted or miscarried fetus to the bodhisattva “Jizo” who vows to help mizukos get another chance at life. 

Details:  Living Along the Fenceline screens Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:30 p.m. on KRCB which reaches most of the Bay Area, including much of the east and south bay, via over-the-air digital channel 22, Comcast and AT&T, U-Verse cable, Dish & Direct TV satellite services.  Living Along the Fenceline a collaborative project of Many Threads and Women for Genuine Security.

The 3^rd  German Gems film festival opens as the first Bay Area film festival of 2012 and is a two-day showcase of important new German-language films that are hard to find on any US movie screen, except at the fabulous Castro Theatre in San Francisco.  Curated by Ingrid Eggers, the founder and force behind German Gems, this jam-packed Kinotag will offer four narrative features and a documentary, all in German with English subtitles (with a Happy Hour squeezed in), a selection of which will travel to Point Arena’s charming Arena Theatre on the Mendocino Coast this Sunday. 

Saturday (at the Castro) will start with a documentary about nuclear power plants in Germany. Gloriously shot on 35mm and Cinemascope UNDER CONTROL takes us to control rooms and storage spaces deep under the earth, to dump sites and ruins of an eerie, science-fiction like world of nuke plants. The screening will be followed by a discussion with international speakers  and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the co-presenter of this event.

 Several of the films on the program are by young filmmakers at the beginning of their careers, a recurring focus of all programs curated by Festival Director Ingrid Eggers over the years.  NO WAY HOME, an impressive graduation film by Andreas Kannengießer from HFF Konrad Wolf in Potsdam, is a touching story about two lost souls, both in their sixties, who find each other and then a way out of their hardship. WESTWIND, the third feature by talented Robert Thalheim (NETTO, AND ALONG COME TOURISTS) takes us to Lake Balaton in Hungary a year before the Berlin Wall comes down. Twin sisters Doreen and Isabel from East Germany are supposed to practice rowing all summer but then one of them falls in love – with a West German.

Following a happy hour with drinks and snacks, Jan Schomburg returns to the Castro.  After presenting his short NEVER EVEN in 2005, Jan is back with his award winning debut feature ABOVE US ONLY SKY, acclaimed as one of the genuine highlights of the Berlin Film Festival 2011.

German Gems will conclude with TABOO, a radical portrait of forbidden love between two young and very gifted artists―expressionist poet Georg Trakl and his sister Grete.  This engaging film from Vienna in set in Austria around the turn of the century, a hotbed for art, literature, psychoanalysis, glamour, pretense, sex and scandals.  

 Stay tuned to ARThound for more information.

Read ARThound’s interview with Ingrid Eggers, German Gems founder here.

FILMS AT THE CASTRO, Saturday, January 14, 2012

Buy FESTIVAL PASSES for all 5 GERMAN GEMS

11 am UNDER CONTROL
Buy tickets for Under Control
2:15 pm WAY HOME
Preceded by FLAMINGO PRIDE
Buy tickets for No Way Home and Flamingo Pride
4:30 pm ABOVE US ONLY SKY
Buy tickets for Above Us Only Sky
6:15 – 7:15 pm HAPPY HOUR – Meet and Schmooze with the Filmmakers
Buy tickets for the Happy Hour
7:30 pm WESTWIND
Buy tickets for Westwind
9:30 pm TABOO – THE SOUL IS A STRANGER ON EARTH
Preceded by MARLENE’S BERLIN
Buy tickets for Taboo and Marlene’s Berlin

Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street (@ Market), San Francisco, CA

FILMS IN POINT ARENA, Sunday January 15, 2012

Buy tickets for ALL 3 GERMAN GEMS at the Arena Theatre

2 pm WAY HOME
Buy tickets for Way Home and Flamingo Pride at the Arena Theatre
4 pm ABOVE US ONLY SKY
Buy tickets for Above Us Only Sky at the Arena Theatre
7:30 pm WESTWIND
Buy tickets for Westwind at the Arena Theatre

Arena Theatre, 214 Main Street, Point Arena, CA
Highway One (between Sea Ranch & Mendocino)

TICKET INFO:  Tickets may prucahsed in advance or at the Castro and Arena Theatres on the day of the screening.

CASTRO THEATRE

429 Castro Street (@ Market), San Francisco, CA

$50 Day Pass for General Admission (includes happy hour)
$40 Day Pass for Seniors (62+)/ Students (includes happy hour)
$10 General Admission
$8 Seniors/ Students
$15 Happy Hour from 6:15 – 7:15pm

Buy Festival Passes
Buy Happy Hour tickets

ARENA THEATRE

214 Main Street, Point Arena, CA
Highway One
(between Sea Ranch & Mendocino)

$8 General Admission
$7 Seniors/ Students

Irish tenor Michael Londra privdes an entertaining evening of Irish music in "Celtic Yuletide," at Marines' Memorial Theatre in San Francisco through January 1, 2012. Photo: courtesy Michael Londra

“Craic” is a Gaelic word with no exact English translation but, for the Irish, it’s synonymous with good fun.  And good fun, great music and holiday spirit are plentiful in “Celtic Yuletide,” a wonderful performance of song and music featuring internationally renowned Irish tenor Michael Londra (of Riverdance on Broadway fame) currently at Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. Londra performs a mix of traditional heartwarming Irish carols like “Winter, Fire and Snow” and Gaelic versions of Christmas songs, including “Silent Night” (“Oiche Ciuin”) and “The Wexford Carol.”  The evening also features songs Celtic songs of a new Ireland, such as Londra’s popular crossover song “Beyond the Star,” which has been recorded by choirs the world over and Sting’s “Fields of Gold” and the signature ballad “Danny Boy.”  Accompanying Londra are an 11-piece orchestra and Irish band  that incorporate a bodhrán (the national drum of Ireland) and the plaintive uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) to produce rhythms, low whistles and haunting intonations that infuse a mix of tunes ranging from frenetic reels to heartbreaking ballads.

Londra is accompanied by some of the world’s finest Celtic musicians including Sephira, the fiery red-haired Irish sister duo Joyce and Ruth O’Leary, whose hauntingly beautiful voices and mastery of their violins are mesmerizing.  They slayed the house with a piercing rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (1984).  

Celtic Yuletide also showcases some of the best Irish stepdancers in the world, including featured dancer Owen Barrington, the 2008 Senior Men’s World Irish Dance Champion and Riverdance alumnus.  It’s a pure adrenaline rush just watching these young dancers in varied formations execute precision footwork and high kicks in perfect sync with one another without appearing to move their upper bodies.  The costumes too are gorgeous–colorful and ornate dresses in a variety of styles and dress shirts and black trousers for the men. 

Afternoon Yuletide Tea and Celtic Menu: For an even more authentic Irish feel, The Marines’ Memorial Club Leatherneck Steakhouse and Lounge (located in the same building as the Marines’ Memorial Theatre) offers special Celtic holiday menus during the show’s run.  Celtic menu additions include Guinness braised short rib with barley risotto and roasted winter vegetables, Shepherd’s pie (lamb stew with peas, carrots and whipped potatoes), potato crusted salmon with oyster stew and braised kale with bacon, and a special Bailey’s Irish Creme cheesecake. An Afternoon Yuletide Tea, offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 4 – 6 p.m. after the matinee performance and on Sundays from noon – 1:30 p.m. prior to the matinee performance (Christmas and New Year’s Eve excluded), includes an assortment of savory tea sandwiches, lemon tarts, a variety of tea cookies and scones as well as tea or coffee. (415) 673-6672 ext. 254.

Details:  “Celtic Yuletide” plays through January 1, 2012, at San Francisco’s Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter Street., 2^nd  floor.  Tickets: $35 – $70.  Premium tickets, Celtic 4-packs and family matinee specials are available at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre box office (415) 771-6900 or www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com

In A.C.T.’s annual holiday favorite, “A Christmas Carol,” the Ghost of Jacob Marley (A.C.T. core acting company member Jack Willis, left) haunts Scrooge (James Carpenter) on Christmas Eve to save his soul, warning him of the three other ghosts that will visit him. The play runs through Christmas Eve. Photo: Kevin Berne

The holiday season for me means time spent with family and friends and getting back in touch with my “goodwill towards all” vibe.  Tuesday evening, after a romp through a bustling Union Square, I had the pleasure of attending A.C.T.’s “A Christmas Carol” and highly recommend this family-friendly classic for setting spirits right.  This classic and beloved tale of transformation just doesn’t get any better.  The performance (with intermission) runs two hours and the evening show begins an hour early at 7 pm, with additional 1 or 2 pm performances nearly every day through Christmas Eve.  This makes it a doable evening outing for families with kids or for those who are from the greater Bay Area and face a long drive home.

 “A Christmas Carol” was written by Charles Dickens and published in somber Victorian-era Britain in December 1843, when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were just being introduced.  This was before Christmas became today’s highly commercial venture but also during a time when there wasn’t much gleeful celebration.  The novella was an instant hit, largely for its memorable characters and its realistic depictions of the hardships of the working class which people related to.  It also infused people with hope and has been credited with putting the “merry” in Merry Christmas in England and America during a stifling period.   It was pirated immediately and adapted to the stage and the rest is history.  Now in its 35^thyear at ACT, the play is a cornerstone of ACT’s repertory and has become a holiday tradition for families all around the Bay Area.  Adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff, and directed by Domenique Lozano, this version has been around since 2004 and has been performed over a thousand times and stays true to the heart of Dickens’ timeless story of redemption. 

Ebenezer Scrooge (James Carpenter, right) scolds his overworked employee Bob Cratchit (A.C.T. core acting company member Manoel Felciano) on Christmas Eve. Photo: Kevin Berne

 We all know the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s wake-up call which rings ever true today.  Rich Ebenezer Scrooge was a miser and a kill joy–not very loving, giving, or even friendly.  James Carpenter, now in his fifth year in this role, doesn’t flinch from playing Scrooge’s harsh sides to the hilt but he also shows us a man who is completely and tragically unaware of how stuck and disagreeable he has become.  In Northern CA, we all know what happens when there’s no positive energy flow and Scrooge embodies the big “NO” with every ounce of his being.  

By contrast, impoverished Bob Cratchit, A.C.T. core acting company member Manoel Felciano, who is Scrooge’s clerk and whipping boy hasn’t a schilling to his name but he has vast inner resources– a true heart of gold- and a large loving family.  Cratchit is played with genuine warmth and dignity by Felciano whose radiance is matched by Delia MacDougall’s portrayal of his equally good-hearted wife, Anne Cratchit.  The Cratchit’s material hardship makes the wealthy Scrooge seem all the more despicable, even pitiable, because he cannot enjoy or share the massive fortune he has amassed.   Dickens realized that if Scrooge’s

The dancing is delightful in A.C.T.'s "A Christmas Carol." The produce sellers (A.C.T. core acting company member Annie Purcell, right, and Cindy Goldfield) bring in the bounty of the season, including belly-dancing Turkish figs (on cart: Emily Spears, left, and Elsie Lipson). Photo: Kevin Berne.

imagination could be stimulated, it would be possible for him to wake up on Christmas morning an entirely new man and that’s the message of the play.  Scrooge’s remarkable transformation—ideological, ethical and emotional– is brought about by the visits of four ghosts on Christmas Eve—Jacob Marley (his former business partner) and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future.   At Tuesday’s press opening, the show was full of marvelous special effects associated with the visits of each of these ghosts who led Scrooge through some very poignant and harrowing scenes from his life.  Jack Willis, who returns as the Ghost of Jacob Marley, set the pace by robustly rising from Scrooge’s bed, rattling chains and warnings amidst clouds of smoke. The Ghost of Christmas Present, played delightfully by A.C.T.’s Omozé Idehenre, emerged in striated green velvet as a Bacchic spirit of abundance with lusty vibes.  

The Cratchit family toasts to Scrooge's health on Christmas in A.C.T.'s annual production of "A Christmas Carol," thorugh December 17, 2011. Photo: Kevin Berne

And then there’s Tiny Tim (little Timothy Cratchit), the play’s emotional center, played wonderfully by young Graham Bennett.  When Scrooge is visited by The Ghost of Christmas Present, he learns just how ill Tim really is, and that Tim will die unless he receives treatment (which the family cannot afford due to Scrooge’s miserliness). When he’s next visited by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, all he can see is Tim’s little wooden crutch because Tim has died.  This and several other harrowing visions, lead Scrooge to reform which begins from the moment he wakes up on Christmas morning and shocks his cleaning lady Mrs. Dilber (Sharon Lockwood channeling Bewitched’s dingy Aunt Clara ) by thanking her, paying her generously and giving her the holidays off.

A reformed Scrooge (James Carpenter, center) celebrates the season with his nephew, Fred (A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program student Jason Frank, far left), Fred’s wife, Mary (A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program student Maggie Leigh, second from left), and the Cratchits: Bob (A.C.T. core acting company member Manoel Felciano), Anne (Delia MacDougall), and Tiny Tim (Graham Bennett). Photo: Kevin Berne.

Val Caniparoli’s choreography is fantastic—lots of lighthearted dancing and movement that show off the period costumes designed for the production by Beaver Bauer of Teatro ZinZanni.  Dickens’s lovely descriptions of the abundance of Christmas bounty are staged creatively at the start of Act 2 as “The Waltz of the Opulent Fruit,” with six charming young Bay Area actors taking on the roles of dancing French plums, Turkish figs, and Spanish onions.  The production will infuse one and all with holiday cheer and is highly recommended for families and children of all ages.

Details:  American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary Street, San Francisco.

7 p.m.: December 20, 21, 22, 23

5:30 p.m.: December 18

2 p.m.: December 21, 22, 23, 24

1 p.m.: December 18

Run-time: Two hours including one intermission. Tickets: $15-$105, available online through the A.C.T. online box office , or by phone (415) 749-2228.  For all performances, no children under the age of 5 are permitted

Val Caniparoli is the toymaker, Drosselmeyer, in Helgi Tomasson's “Nutcracker,” at San Francisco Ballet December 9- 27, 2011. © Erik Tomasson

Nutcracker season is here and San Francisco’s Ballet’s production, which opened last Friday, is one of the best in the country.  Its sumptuous blend of Tchaikovsky’s music, exquisite dance, and Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’s ingenious bow to San Francisco─setting the ballet in San Francisco on Christmas Eve during the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exhibition─make it a unique treat.  And there’s nothing like the festive experience of dressing up and celebrating the season at the stunning grand War Memorial Opera House.  For the musicians in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the experience is also one of endurance.  This year, the orchestra, under the direction of SF Ballet Music Director Martin West, will perform the beloved production 30 times throughout December, often twice daily, and it’s estimated that close to 100,000 people will attend.  For listeners in the audience, it’s impossible to imagine that Tchaikovsky’s score ever palls.  Parts of it are so familiar─the Sugar Plum Pas de Deux or the Danse des Mirlitons or the March of the Toy Soliders─that they are steeped in our subconscious and always enchanting.  Aside from its difficulty─it’s Tchaikovsky─one of the challenges Nutcracker presents for musicians is simply keeping it fresh performance after performance. The orchestra finished up with Carmen at San Francisco Opera and began rehearsing Nutcracker the first week of December and had a rehearsal with the actual dancers just prior to last Friday’s opening performance.  I spoke with two Sonoma County musicians in the orchestra who have each played countless Nutcrackers─bassoonist Rufus Olivier, of Sebastopol, and cellist Ruth Lane, of Petaluma and our conversations are below.   If you’re attending the ballet, especially with children, a wonderful opportunity exists before each performance to walk right up to the pit and meet and greet and observe the musicians in the orchestra who play such an integral part in the magic of the ballet.   

San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Principal Bassoonist Rufus Olivier, of Sebastopol. Olivier has played the “Nutcracker” for over thirty years at the San Francisco Ballet and will perform it thirty times this season. Olivier has recorded many movie, video, CD and TV soundtracks including Disney’s “Never Cry Wolf” and he won a Grammy for the soundtrack “Elmo in Grouchland.” Photo: Geneva Anderson

Rufus Olivier, Principal bassoonist, SF Ballet and Opera Orchestras, is a Sebastopol resident and is one of two bassoonists with the ballet orchestra.  Even before arriving in the Bay Area, Olivier had quite a reputation.  In 1975, Zubin Mehta, the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, gave the 18 year old Olivier a chance to play a concerto with the orchestra and he did such a good job that, afterwards, Mehta immediately offered him a co-principal position.  Olivier went on to play with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Neville Marriner, and the Goldofsky Opera Tours.  He moved to the Bay Areain 1977 and by 1980, he was the youngest principal to ever play in the SF Opera Orchestra and started playing Nutcracker in San Francisco some 30 years ago with Christensen’s production which predates both Martin West and Helgi Tomasson.  Olivier studied under David Breidenthal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and currently teaches at Stanford one day each week.  Olivier has been guest soloist with numerous orchestras all over the world.   He has recorded many movie, video, CD and TV soundtracks including Disney’s Never Cry Wolf and San Francisco Opera’s Grammy-nominated CD Orphée et Eurydice, and he won a Grammy for the soundtrack Elmo in Grouchland.  Olivier’s son, Rufus David Olivier, is also an accomplished bassoonist

With over 30 seasons of Nutcrackers under your belt, how do you keep it fresh?  

Rufus Olivier: First of all, it’s Tchaikovsky and very, very good music.  Second, Tchaikovsky keeps you on your toes─it’s very hard─ and that’s takes care of keeping it fresh.  That’s pretty much it.

What is the most challenging part for you as a bassoonist?

Rufus Olivier:   There’s two—in the very beginning, in the first minute or two, there’s the woodwind interlude where there are these wild triplets, very high, and technically hard.  And then there’s the Arabian Dance (Act II) which is musically hard and, by that, I mean it’s hard to put across the expression that I would like to convey, which is actually harder than being technically proficient.  You can work through technical issues but it’s very hard to get to the point musically where I can make someone feel something that I want to convey and I want the dancers to feel something so that they dance better.  If I play it more expressively, maybe sweetly, then anything can happen with the dancers and with the audience and they won’t know why but they will feel it.  At a certain point in one’s career, the competition is with oneself.  You’re not competing with anyone except yourself and you are challenging yourself all the time.  All of my colleagues are trying, all the time, to sound as good as they can sound.

With Helgi Tomasson’s production, are there any cuts to the original score? 

Rufus Olivier: Yes. The original score would come in at over three hours and Helgi’s production comes in at about 2 hours, but all the important and well-known parts are there and, actually, he’s added some things that weren’t in the previous production.

How aware are you of what the dancers are doing? 

Rufus Olivier: I can’t see the dancers at all and completely reply on Martin who is watching the stage and I am watching him.  Unlike the opera, I can’t hear anything.

What is the most challenging thing about playing the bassoon in an orchestra? 

Rufus Olivier: Coming in when you’re supposed to (laughing).  There are so many things you have to do and you are operating at a very high level of consciousness.  By the time you reach the level of the opera, symphony or ballet, it’s almost automatic but your ears are everywhere.  You are hyperaware even though your heart rate may be at rest.  Everything can be hard but trying to play in tune with other instruments can be challenging and so can solos and dealing with conductors who can be crazy at times. And, when you’re not playing, whether it’s 3 bars or 20 bars, you can’t leave, you’ve got to sit there and be engaged and stay awake and count so you know when to come in. 

What are the great bassoon solos in orchestral music?

Rufus Olivier:  Two of the most famous symphonic solos for the bassoon include the theme for grandfather in Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and the opening solo in Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring.

What performances are you looking forward to musically in the coming season? 

Rufus Olivier: We are playing RakU, which is one of the pieces written by our bass player Shinji Enshima. (RakU is part of the SF Ballet’s Program 6, and plays March 23-April 3, 2012. Click here to read more.)  The piece just premiered last year and one day it may well be one of the premiere bassoon solos. 

San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Cellist Ruth Lane, of Petaluma, in the pit before Thursday’s performance of “Nutcracker,” which runs through December 27, 2011. Lane’s cello, which is painted with images of the Sistine Chapel, was custom made for her by her husband, Anthony Lane of Lane Violins in Petaluma. Photo: Geneva Anderson

Ruth Lane, cellist, is a Petaluma resident and has been playing with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras since 1990.  This is her 6^th year of playing Nutcracker for an entire season’s run and she is one of six cellists in the ballet orchestra.  Prior to that, she played several performances annually as a substitute musician.  Lane has performed Nutcracker under Music Directors Dennis de Coteau and Martin West and under various guest conductors.  Lane came from a family that was passionate about classical music and started studying cello at age 10 and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from USC.  In addition to the Bay Area, Lane has been heard in recital in the Los Angeles, and London.  She is a member of the Bay Area’s Temescal String Quartet and she performed this September in Petaluma in “The V Concert” (click here to read ARThound’s coverage.)  Strad magazine calls her “a cellist of scrupulous intentions and dexterous manual coordination . . . unimpeachable intonation and admirable poise.” (as quoted on the Temescal String Quartet page.)

What are the most important and challenging parts of Nutcracker for cello? 

Ruth Lane:  We don’t have any solos and I am one of six cellos and we are all playing the same music.  Woodwinds have the solos and the strings, which are a quieter instrument, tend to be like a chorus—it’s all the instruments together that create this blanker of sound that you recognize as the orchestra.  The cellos play throughout but, in Act 1, we play what used to be a bear dance but is now a solider dance.  We also play a lot in the battle scene and also in the Russian Sailor’s Dance.

All Tchaikovsky is challenging because he writes for the breadth of the cello and its very passionate music, so it really takes your all to play it well.  You’ve really got to draw on that emotional level of interpretation beyond the technical.  Performing a piece like Nutcracker so many times and trying to really keep it vital is very demanding emotionally.

With so many Nutcrackers under your belt and so many coming up, how do you keep it fresh night after night?  

Ruth Lane: What I always draw on is the audience.  Every night, at least 30 children with their parents will come up to the orchestra pit before the performance and they are pointing and waving and they are so excited.  It’s so different from the opera performances where some of the front row is falling asleep.  This just doesn’t happen in the Nutcracker.  We’re always joking about how the age goes down by about 20 to 30 years across the board, from the performers to the audience, when you go form opera to ballet and the Nutcracker is just full of children. It’s that and the music itself which requires a lot from you.

How aware are you of what the dancers are doing? 

Ruth Lane: From where I sit, I can usually see the dancers from the chest up, so I see them moving up and down.  I follow the conductor and it’s his job to keep the orchestra and the dancers all together.  I really like Martin West in conversation with Tchaikovsky─it’s passionate but he doesn’t tend to go overboard.   He keeps the tempos up.  Martin is very very good at coordinating the action he is seeing on stage with the sounds that come out of the pit.  I haven’t worked with anybody who is as good as doing that as he is. 

What’s your favorite ballet in terms of music?

 Ruth Lane:   Well, Nutcracker has some of the greatest music but my very favorite ballet is Romeo and Julietby Prokofiev which we are also performing later this season. The cellos do the love scene on the balcony, which is incredibly emotional and passionate, which keeps coming back again and again. 

The scene on the back of Ruth Lane’s exquisite custom-made cello was inspired by a dream her husband Anthony Lane had. Lane, a highly respected violin maker, drew the basic design and artist Margrit Haeberlin did the actual painting and the cello was Lane’s gift to his wife. Photo: courtesy Anthony Lane Violins of Petaluma.

I know that some string instruments are extremely valuable and are meticulously handcrafted.  Is there anything special about your cello? 

Ruth Lane:  Yes, my husband, Anthony Lane of Lane Violins, custom built my cello for me about 10 years ago and it’s got a wonderful sound and is beautifully decorated with painted images from the Sistine Chapel and the life of a violin maker. I’ve really enjoyed this special gift.

What’s the biggest challenge during the Nutcracker? 

Ruth Lane:  It’s stamina.  The Nutcracker and Tchaikovsky in general require a lot of muscle when playing the cello.  For example, the Pas de Deux (Act II), at the end, is so rigorous that I have to know when to lay back and when to really pull out all the stops.

Do you have a favorite part? 

Ruth Lane:  I’ve always like the Trepak or Russian Sailor’s Dance (Act II) and the Pas de Deux (Act II) at the end.

Two Great SF Ballet Orchestra Nutcracker Recordings: 

 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (1991) with Denis de Coteau.  This recording is groundbreaking.  The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra collected money from each individual musician and recorded this on their own at Skywalker Ranch in 1988.  They were the first group to record and self-produce Nutcracker and received all royalties. 

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker- San Francisco Ballet (2008) with Martin West, available as a DVD of the ballet performance or as a CD of the music.  

Details:  San Francisco Ballet performs at the historic 1932 War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco. Nutcracker runs December 9 through December 27, 2011.

Tickets: $22 to $275 available (415) 865-2000 or  www.sfballet.org/nutcracker

Parking:  Civic Center Garage (on McAllister Street between Larkin and Polk); Performing Arts Garage (on Grove between Franklin and Gough streets); Opera Plaza Garage (valet only, 601 Van Ness, enter on Turk).

Arrival Time:  Plan to arrive early to enjoy the sumptuous atmosphere and to ensure that you are seated.  The theater enforces a no late seating policy and guests will not be seated after the lights have dimmed. Latecomers will be asked to stand until there is a break in the program, and will be seated at management’s discretion. 

Run-time: Two hours with a 20-minute intermission.

Adapted and directed by Emma Rice.  Text and lyrics by Carl Grose / Music by Stu Barker / Choreography by Etta Murfitt

Featuring:  Audrey Brisson (the Girl), Stuart Goodwin (the Father and the Prince), Patrycja Kujawska (the Wild), Éva Magyar (the Woman), Stuart McLoughlin (the Devil), and Ian Ross (the Musician)

Designed by Bill Mitchell (sets), Myriddin Wannell (costumes), Malcolm Rippeth (lights), and Simon Baker (sound)

Details:  The Wild Bride closes January 22, 2012.  The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage is located at 2025 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704.  Tickets and Info: (510) 647-2949, http://berkeleyrep.org

San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson's “Nutcracker,” at San Francisco Ballet December 9- 27, 2011. © Erik Tomasson

The San Francisco’s Ballet’s production of Tchaikovsky’s beloved Nutcracker opens Friday and is always a festive treat with its distinctive bow to San Francisco.  Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s production is set in San Francisco on Christmas Eve during the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exhibition and the ballet opens with a stunning collage of black and white photos from the actual world’s fair that gradually narrow in on period shop windows until landing at Drosselmeyer’s window and the world of magic and wonder contained therein.  ARThound was curious about the music and the challenges it presents and spoke with two Sonoma County musicians who have each played countless Nutcrackers─bassoonist Rufus Olivier, of Sebastopol, and cellist Ruth Lane, of Petaluma─who share what it’s like to participate in this yearly extravaganza and how they keep it fresh.  Stay tuned to ARThound for a feature on these Sonoma County musicians.   

Val Caniparoli in Tomasson's “Nutcracker,” at San Francisco Ballet December 9- 27, 2011. © Erik Tomasson

Details:  San Francisco Ballet performs at the historic 1932 War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco. Nutcracker runs December 9 through December 27, 2011.

Tickets: $22 to $275 available (415) 865-2000 or  www.sfballet.org/nutcracker

Parking:  Civic Center Garage (on McAllister Street between Larkin and Polk); Performing Arts Garage (on Grove between Franklin and Gough streets); Opera Plaza Garage (valet only, 601 Van Ness, enter on Turk).

Arrival Time:  Plan to arrive early to enjoy the sumptuous atmosphere and to ensure that you are seated.  The theater enforces a no late seating policy and guests will not be seated after the lights have dimmed. Latecomers will be asked to stand until there is a break in the program, and will be seated at management’s discretion. 

Run-time: Two hours with a 20-minute intermission.