InBerkeley

Berkeley, as we know, has more than its share of well-regarded authors. A cluster of them have had the call from Hollywood recently and the resulting movies will hopefully be appearing at a theater near you soon.

This month’s Diablo Magazine rounds up the movies that have emanated from four noted Berkeley writers.

The screenplay for “Where the Wild Things Are”, directed by Spike Jones and adapted from the much-loved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, was written by Berkeleyite  Dave Eggers.

Berkeley resident Ayelet Waldman recently attended the premiere of “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” based on her novel of the same name.

Her husband Michael Chabon is seeing two of his books translated to the silver screen: “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”, directed by Stephen Daldry, and “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union”, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

And Michael Lewis, who also lives in Berkeley, is hoping to see Brad Pitt play the role of Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane in an adaptation of his bestselling book “Moneyball”.

[Photos, left to right: Waldman, Chabon, Eggers and Lewis.]

Arts, Books, Celebrity, Movies Ayelet Waldman, Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Michael Lewi

At this  time of year, when the veil between the living and dead is thought to be at its most diaphanous, the North Shattuck Association is holding a Dia de los Muertos mask contest to see who can make the most beautiful giant papier mâché skull. The skulls will be worn by their creators in a candlelight procession on Friday October 1. The first prize winner will take home $300. Runners-up will receive gift certificates from local merchants.

Giant papier mâché skulls are a traditional way to celebrate Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and they usually represent different types of people and professions. Often a dark sheet is worn below so as not to distract from the head itself.  Papier mâché hands are also sometimes part of the costume.

Those who would like to enter a head are asked to wear it to Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar Street at Vine at 6pm on  October 30. The judging will take place outside on the church steps. The judges are Suzanne Tan from Berkeley Art Center; Lisah Horner from ACCI Gallery; Heather Hensley from the North Shattuck Association.; and Lisa Bullwinkel from Another Bullwinkel Show.

As well as the procession, local restaurants will create special Dia de los Muertos dishes for the evening, so all are encouraged to stay in the district for dinner. For more information contact Another Bullwinkel Show at 510.548.5335 or msmoose1@anotherbullwinkelshow.com.

[Photo: www.statesman.com]

Arts, Downtown, Events, restaurants Dia de los Muertos, North Shattuck Association

According to today’s New York Times, American Idiot has set box office records for the Berkeley Rep. So it hardly matters for the sell-out run what the critics think.

The reviews, however, are mostly positive. Robert Hurwitt in the Chronicle thought American Idiot was “wildly entertaining”, even if it didn’t have much of a story. Leslie Katz in the Examiner also complained about a “thin” story, but compared it to rock opera “spectacles” like Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar. In the San Jose Mercury News, theater critic Karen D’Souza was ecstatic — the play “explodes in your heart like a hand grenade” — but music critic Jim Harrington was underwhelmed — “big, loud, bland and intended for mass consumption”.

“No national critics have been permitted to see the production yet,” according to the Times. I didn’t know critics needed permission.

Arts, Theater

Green Day at Berkeley Rep rehearsal

One of the key institutions that helps our little city punch way above its weight is the Berkeley Repertory Theater. The Rep has a history of commissioning and premiering productions that go on to national fame. But it’s hard to recall more buzz about a production than that surrounding tonight’s opening of American Idiot.

Feature in Rolling Stone? Check. Daily Candy plug? Check. And of course lead stories for all the local media. If you follow Twitter for mentions of Berkeley, you’ll see lots of people either exulting that they have tickets or lamenting that they can’t go. The Rep is careful to tell people that Green Day itself is not in the production, but there are bound to be excited fans who don’t bother to read the fine print.

It’s of course only natural that Green Day’s theatrical debut should take place in Berkeley. Formed in 1987, the band was part of the punk rock revival centered around 924 Gilman. They first hit the mainstream in the mid-90s and since then have sold over 22 million records.

So what will theatergoers find? There’s an onstage band and a cast of 19. The music is, needless to say, by Green Day. The play has been co-written by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and director Michael Mayer (who won a Tony award for his Spring Awakening).

If you go to American Idiot, let us know what you think, either by emailing or posting a comment here.

Arts, Music, Theater

Lunch Poems, a noontime poetry reading series, kicks off this Thursday, September 3, between 12:10 and 12:50 p.m. at the Morrison Library in Doe Library on the UC Berkeley campus.

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, the kickoff features distinguished new members of the English Department faculty introducing and reading a favorite poem. This year’s participants: Melanie Abrams, C. D. Blanton, Vikram Chandra, Eric Falci, Mark Goble, David Landreth, Namwali Serpell, and Emily Thornbury.

Subsequent readings will take place on the first Thursday of each month (except January), and run through May 6, 2010. Admission is free. More information on the Lunch Poems web site.

Arts, Events, General, UC Berkeley

What do you get when you combine poetry with storytelling, comedy, dramatic monologue, battle rap, song and dance?  You have a new art form called Performance Poetry!

What happens when these new performers compete, judged by members of the audience?  You get a Poetry Slam.

And what elite final event remains after thousands of poets from across the globe compete for a year?  You get the Individual World Poetry Slam 2009.

Seventy-two poets from around the world will converge on Berkeley in October to compete in this event.  Preliminary competition, daytime workshops, themed open mics and late-night events will be held October 8 and 9 in South Berkeley at the Starry Plough, La Pena Cultural Center and the Long Haul.  Finals will start at 8:00 p.m. on October 10 at Wheeler Auditorium on the UC Berkeley campus.  Click here and here for the full schedule of events.

Tickets must be purchased in advance for preliminary and semifinal bouts, late-night events and the final competition. Other events are free. Tickets go on sale September 10. Discounts are available for group ticket sales to schools and youth groups.

Visit the Individual World Poetry Slam web site for more information.

Arts, Events, South Berkeley, UC Berkeley

Berkeley Arts & Letters has only been around for a year, and if this fall’s line up is any indication, it has already moved into the top echelon of Bay Area speaking series. Twelve months to becoming a major cultural force.  Wow.

I attended my first Berkeley Arts & Letters talk this spring, when I went to hear Michael Pollan talk food and farms with Novella Carpenter. The event was held in the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, on Channing and Dana, which is an extremely pleasant place to be. The nave is airy and light and there is ample seating with good sight lines.

The event truly felt like a Berkeley community shindig. In the hallway, I recognized and chatted with lots of people. Michael Pollan stood by the front door for a bit, which meant people could approach him informally to ask questions. (He was also available during the book signing.) Anne Leyhe, a co-owner of Mrs. Dalloway’s on College, was selling books. The producers of Berkeley Arts & Letters, Melissa Mytinger, the former events manager at Cody’s Books,  and Praveen Maden, the owner of the Booksmith in San Francisco, have made the lecture series inclusive by inviting a rotating roster of booksellers to sell books at the events. In addition to Mrs. Dalloways, Moe’s Books on Telepgraph, University Press Books on Bancroft Avenue, and Pegasus and Pendragon Books  participate in the series.

This fall’s line-up is exciting. More than a dozen instantly recognizable public figures will be talking, including 2006 Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, God-doubter Richard Dawkins, Rebecca Solnit, who has a new book out on the human reaction to natural disasters,  Diane Ackerman, the nature writer, Po Bronson, who has a book out on the dos and don’t and unexpected perils of praising children, Depak Chopra, Terry Tempest Williams, Sherman Alexie, Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, and Mary Karr, to name a few.

Other interesting authors include Peter Richardson and Robert Scheer, who will discuss Richardson’s new history of Ramparts Magazine, called A Bomb in Every Issue. Max Blumenthal, whose new book deals with the Republican Party and the religious right, will talk, as will Gary Vaynerchuk, a wine writer who has created a huge following through the innovative use of social media, (at one point he had 17,000 pending friend requests on Facebook), Irene Kahn, the International Secretary General of Amnesty International, and more.

(Mary Karr)

You can see some previous talks on Fora.TV.

Arts, Books

BeyondChron reports that the UC Theater, on University Avenue, is being transformed into a live music venue by David Mayeri, formerly COO of Bill Graham Presents, and Dawn Holliday, who runs Slim’s and the Great American Music Hall. The planned 1,000 to 1,500-seat venue will add to the burgeoning concentration of arts venues in downtown Berkeley.

The UC Theater is one of three still-standing pre-1920 movie theaters in Berkeley. The other two, the Elmwood and the California, both opened in 1914, have been extensively remodelled. The UC Theater, opened in 1917, is largely intact since it was the only one not to be converted into a multiplex. The redevelopment plans call for the interior details to be preserved.

Photo from Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association

Arts, Downtown, Music

Bollywood dance is hot in Berkeley — and the success of Ishaara (above), a team of dancers from UC, that drew standing ovations on TV’s America’s Got Talent with its interpretation of Slumdog Millionaire’s “Jai Ho” — can only mean the number of enthusiasts will grow.

According to the Contra Costa Times, dance classes and Bollywood nights are popping up in community centers and nightclubs around the Bay Area — and corporations like Cisco and Oracle are even hosting classes at their in-house exercise centers.

Berkeley’s YWCA is the place to go for weekly Bollywood dance classes.

Read the full story here.

[Berkeley Bollywood dance group, Ishaara, shines on America's Got Talent -- 07.22.09]

Arts, Music Bollywood dance, Ishaara

The operators of Slim’s and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco plan to open a 1,500-seat concert venue in downtown Berkeley.

The application for the project in the old UC Theater building on University Avenue near Shattuck Avenue goes before the city’s Zoning and Adjustments board Thursday night. City staff is recommending the board approve the project. The project was approved by the city’s planning commission in May.

The project comes on the heels of the Aug. 27 opening of the new Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse just a block away on Addison Street. That venue, which will showcase folk and traditional American Music, will seat 440 people.

via Inside Bay Area.

8/14/09 UPDATE: Last night the Zoning and Adjustments board in Berkeley approved the zoning change that will allow this project to move forward. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the project still needs several more approvals and permits before it can start construction. The opening is targeted for fall of 2010

Arts, Business, Downtown, Government, Music, Politics, Property

Tonight, Alphonse Berber, the recently opened art gallery on Bancroft Way, is holding a public reception for its new new group exhibition ”Not as a God, But as a God Might Be”. 

The show presents the work of seven artists whose concerns, as diverse as their origins, include religion, the environment, racism, pop culture, television, and personal mythology.

Read about the gallery and its founders, Jessica Cox and Cameron Jackson, here. Doors open at 6pm for the reception.  Visit the gallery’s website here.

Art, Arts, Events

Freight & Salvage Coffee House is about to move up the street — literally — from 1111 Addison (off San Pablo Avenue)  to its new location at 2020 Addison in the heart of downtown Berkeley (rendered above).

A grand opening celebration weekend is planned for August 27-30 with performances from, among others, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the David Grisman Quartet.

August  27 sees the venue’s 21st Fiddle Summit with Alasdair Fraser, Liz Carroll and Darol Anger.

Visit Freight & Salvage’s website for details of the new building, the campaign for funds and the celebration weekend acts. And read this piece in The Monthly for a perspective on the venue which has been providing music and entertainment in Berkeley for 40 years.ome

Arts, Downtown, Events, Music

My Twitter feed for anything related to Berkeley just exploded with tweets raving about the performance of UC Berkeley dance group Ishaara on America’s Got Talent. It just aired on the east coast — clearly something worth tuning in for at 9pm Pacific.

Arts, UC Berkeley

Catch some free jazz concerts in donwtown every Thursday, noon to 1pm, through the end of August.

Pictured above is trumpeter, and Berkeley High alum, Rafa Postel and his band who were playing today to a large, appreciative audience

The jazz series is sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association in partnership with Berkeley’s Jazzschool.

Arts, Downtown

The Metrics Gang, a group of doctoral candidates in economics at Berkeley, is establishing a reputation for combining economic concepts with real musical chops. Their latest effort, takes Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” and renders it as “99 Problems, Econometrics Ain’t One”.

Cathy Cockrell provides the complete scoop on The Metrics Gang.

Arts, University

Fresh from winning the “Songwriter of the Year” at the 5th Annual South Bay Music Awards, Berkeley singer-songwriter Jeffrey Halford will play a solo acoustic show this Sunday, July 12 at  Bird and Beckett books and records in San Francisco.

In August and November, Halford and his band, The Healers, will be back in San Francisco for more gigs.

Halford sings and plays lead guitar and his recent CD, Broken Chord, went to number 8 on the national Americana charts,

Check out Halford’s website and read more at Diablo Magazine’s website.

[Photo: www. jeffreyhalford.com.]

Arts, Events Music, The Arts

Michael Lewis

Berkeley author Michael Lewis must have a smile on his face.

In addition to having his memoir on fatherhood, Home Game, on the New York Times bestseller list, it looks like the movie version of Moneyball, another one of his bestsellers, is on again.

Sony Pictures co-boss Amy Pascal green-lighted the movie on July 9 – after having canceled it on June 22. She did an about face because Steven Soderberg is no longer attached as director. He had done a rewrite of the script that Pascal didn’t like.

Now Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame will rewrite the script.  He may have been tapped because his script for  The Social Network, about the founding of Facebook, is getting accolades. There is no word yet on the new director for Moneyball.

Brad Pitt will star in Moneyball

Brad Pitt is still scheduled to star as Billy Bean, the Oakland A’s manager.

Just one question: will they film the movie in the aging Oakland Coliseum?

Maybe Alameda County can charge a fee to use the stadium and recover a fraction of the millions it lost in luring the team here from Los Angeles.

Other Berkeley writers who have movies based on their books coming out include Ayelet Waldman and Michael Pollan. Natalie Portman stars in a film based on Waldman’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It wrapped up shooting last year but no release date has yet been scheduled..

PBS will screen a film on October 28 based on Pollan’s Botany of Desire.  Of course, Pollan fans already know he shows up as a commentator in two current films, Food Inc, and Fresh.

Arts, Books, Movies