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See No Waste

San Jose City Councilmember Sam Liccardo discovers a buried report that concluded that the city’s Redevelopment Agency spent more than $30 million on business incubators over a 15-year period, which only brought in $4.2 million.

Solar Outage

Fremont-based Solyndra files Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, lays off 1,100 employees and shuts down all operations and manufacturing. No severance or earned vacation paid out to fired employees. On the bright side, Republicans are now able to
blame green energy for the budget deficit, rather than the war in Afghanistan.

Obama Was Warned

Released White House emails reveal that Steve Westly expressed concern to Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett about Obama visiting shaky solar manufacturer, Solyndra. “Many of us believe the company’s cost structure will make it difficult for them to survive long term. . . . If it’s too late to change/postpone the meeting, the president should be careful about unrealistic/optimistic forecasts that could haunt him in the next 18 months if Solyndra hits the wall, files for bankruptcy, etc.”

Facebook Preferable to Sex for Some

Twenty percent of more than 2,000 women surveyed by Cosmopolitan magazine said they would rather give up sex for a week than go without Facebook for a week, favoring, it seems, a less intensive version of “poking.”

Bag Happens

As a result of budget cuts, the San Jose City Council decides to get rid of bags at dog parks for picking up shit, leaving citizens to raise their own money to fund bags and avoid an all around shitty situation.

City Hall Evacuated

On Aug. 29, San Jose City Hall is cleared out after the city’s chief information officer, Vijay Sammeta, receives a “pretty generic” email threat. The threat is directed at the building and not a specific person—so it is probably a disgruntled architecture critic.

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Intro | Silicon Valley New Year’s Events

As contrived as the practice is, there is a reason we mark the beginning of a new year by promising to better ourselves. We humans are creatures of habit who take cues from the daily turning of the globe and the Earth’s elliptical path around the sun. And in the non-stop hustle and bustle of daily life it’s important to slow down and take stock of where we came from and where we’re going—at least once every 365 days.

In a valley where time seems to move faster than most other places, 2017 absolutely blew by. Still, in the past 12 months we’ve seen the South Bay swell with great new restaurants, improve its standing as an arts and entertainment destination and continue to develop as the global leader in tech.

Before perusing our list of New Year’s Eve parties, press pause on your inner hare, think like the tortoise and join us as we reflect on the last year.

FOOD
From the foothills of East San Jose to the quiet slopes of Menlo Park’s Intestate 280 corridor, 2017 has been a big year for local food. High up on Mount Hamilton Road, local restaurateur Maurice Carrubba has transformed the GrandView Restaurant, reimagining the legacy brand as a top-flight venue and steakhouse where patrons can enjoy great farm-to-table food, live entertainment and a spectacular vista. On the opposite side of the valley and a little farther north, Madera—the Rosewood Sand Hill restaurant—quietly regained its Michelin star.

San Jose may just be boasting the lion’s share of new eateries and drinkeries in Silicon Valley. Those looking for a jolt should make sure to take note of Academic Coffee; at the intersection of South Second and East William streets, they have an innovative menu of caffeinated beverages and small bites. Just around the corner, on South First Street, the guys at Uproar Brewing Company are serving something a bit stronger—some of the first beers brewed in the heart of downtown. Their to-the-point menu of pub fare is on point, as well.

CULTURE
Silicon Valley nightlife is the best it’s been in decades. This past year saw so many great shows in downtown San Jose. Run The Jewels played City National Civic, Coldplay gave the middle finger to Santa Clara’s curfew when they played Levi’s Stadium, and the city’s smaller venues definitely upped the ante. Over the summer, things got so jampacked with great music that The Continental and The Ritz ended up competing for left-field electronic fans when the former booked Stones Throw Records signee Mndsgn and the latter hosted the buzzed-about Seattle producer Sángo on the same night. It caused a bit of a headache for promoters, but it’s something that would never have happened even a year ago when we were already feeling so great about the SoFA District’s music scene.

TECH
It’s not finalized, and plenty of people are crying foul for the anticipated gentrification it will cause, but Google is in talks with the city of San Jose to move in next door to the Shark Tank. The proposed project would finally push the Diridon train station to become the South Bay transit hub it has always promised to be—connecting BART and Caltrain lines. It would likely also spur the picturesque and historic Alameda corridor to live up to its full potential as another hotbed of food, nightlife and culture. And it would certainly make San Jose’s insistence that it is the “Capital of Silicon Valley” true.

Out in Fremont, the Tesla plant has been feverishly cranking out the Model 3 as fast as it can. The electric car company’s success has only been improved by introducing a car aimed at average new-car buyers and promises to cement the region as a leader in drivable tech.

HOUSING
The South Bay’s surge in growth has led to soaring rental prices. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Local agencies appear to be getting serious about creating more affordable-housing initiatives and San Jose even signed off on its first “tiny home” village to help confront the region’s homelessness crisis.

And while we don’t want to see the working class squeezed out of the valley, we are pleased to see the revitalization that an influx of homebuyers has had on many of San Jose’s historic neighborhoods. Take the Martha’s Garden area for example.

The area, located just south of Interstate 280 is rife with Edwardian, Craftsman and American Modern architecture. The neighborhood is also home to the recently refurbished Faber’s Cyclery, which looks as if it’s just about ready for someone to turn it into a gastropub.

Intro | Concerts | Festivals | Arts | Movies | Food & Drink

The white Chevy Biscayne rolled into Haight-Ashbury as the sun dimmed. The barefoot, flower-throwing hippies dancing in the streets jumped on the V8 engine’s hood, the white monster that had pulled our Starcraft trailer clear across America on a liquid diet of 27-cent gas. The Doors’ “Light My Fire” played every 60 minutes on the AM radio as it rose to the top of the charts.

My sister and I huddled in back on that day in the summer of 1967, transfixed by the colorful images swirling around us at a street intersection that our mother had learned about from photos in Life magazine. When the California dream pulled us to Southern California a few years later, I headed to San Francisco to join what I expected would be a never-ending street dance but found instead a neighborhood littered with panhandling meth heads.

No one’s noticed, but the band’s all packed and gone.
Was it ever here at all?

The party had moved on, but that summer changed the world, giving us a world that would deliver vegan footwear, downloadable music and electric cars. The tribal gatherings continue, from Burning Man and Coachella to Outside Lands and U2 shows at Levi’s Stadium.

Our Northern California summers unleash a bounty of beaches, golden mountains, blue skies, backroad wineries, musical events and gatherings of every stripe. The spirit of the Beats and the flower generation live on anytime you hit the road for a getaway, groove at a concert in the park, stop for a performance at a farmers market or blow by crafts booths on a street closed to cars.

Food trucks and fairs abound. Concert venues provide a menu of musical options as good as can be found anywhere. You can milk a goat to get back to nature or relive Shakespearean times at an outdoor theater performance.

This gives us something to write about. Metro‘s annual summer guide celebrates the 50-year summer and the spirit of Northern California. If taken in proper dosages, the events you’ll find in these pages will not just improve the quality of your life in the coming months—you’ll also be staying true to this region’s history.

How else can we continue to change the world?

Lyrics: John Perry Barlow

continue to Concerts

Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

From a nonexistent singer to some of the founders of European psychedelia, the talented musical acts coming through the South Bay this summer are diverse and impressive. Big-name hip-hop, world-class jazz and buzzy indie rock—it’s all happening. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to narrow down an entire season to a short list of the most essential shows. Still… we tried.

Power Trip & Sheer Mag
The Ritz, San Jose | Jun 1
theritzsj.com
A dream tour for anyone who likes heavy music but doesn’t care for the machismo, Power Trip and Sheer Mag are for the people. While the metal genre can be a little cliquey and alienating, the Texas thrashers in Power Trip are refreshingly fun and inclusive, while still tearing through riffs like wet tissue. And Sheer Mag take the DNA of ’70s hard rock from the rock stars and give it back to the outcasts.

The Roots
The Mountain Winery, Saratoga | Jun 17
mountainwinery.com
As time passes, Things Fall Apart, the 1999 album that shot this Philly group to international acclaim, only becomes more powerful. Densely layered and masterfully performed, it was this album that made Black Thought, Questlove and the rest of these jazz-hip-hop fusioneers a household name—long before they joined Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. Celebrating the past while always looking into the future, The Roots are still one of the best bands in America.

Joshua Redman Quartet
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford | Jun 23
live.stanford.edu
One of the most recognizable voices in 21st century jazz, Joshua Redman has collaborated with everyone from Dave Brubeck to Big Daddy Kane. Redman’s style is performative and muscular, and he remains reverent of the masters while searching out new pathways for jazz music. He comes to the Bing Concert Hall with the formidable quartet from his seminal Beyond and Passage of Time albums.

Post Malone
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View | Jun 24
livenation.com
Love him or hate him, Post Malone is on top of the charts and on top of the heap. “Rockstar,” his collab with 21 Savage, may have shot to No. 1 in the blink of an eye, but it was the endlessly hooky singles from 2016’s Stoney (“Congratulations,” “White Iverson”) that set the stage for his rise. More important, SOB x RBE the great hip-hope of Vallejo, open the show.

Indigo Girls
Mountain Winery, Saratoga | Jun 29
mountainwinery.com
The powerful harmonies of the Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers) are so stirring you might not even notice yourself singing along to lines about Russian orthodoxy and Ph.D.s. At their best, the folk duo take intellectual and theological questions and put them in everyday contexts, making you feel the mystical in the mundane. See these champions of the LGBTQ movement 30 years after the release of their first major album.

Hatsune Miku
City National Civic, San Jose | Jul 1
sanjosetheaters.org
Throughout the 1980-90s, French philosopher Jean Baudrillard wrote about how reality no longer referred back to anything—stating “simulation threatens the difference between the ‘true’ and the ‘false,’ the ‘real’ and the ‘imaginary.'” But Baudrillard is dead! Long live Hatsune Miku, the virtual pop star is loved the world over and consists of a “vocaloid software voicebank” and a series of holograms and mirrors! The future is today.

Island Reggae Fest
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose | Jul 11
islandreggaefest.com
In its previous six years, the Island Reggae Festival has brought some incredible musicians to the South Bay. This year’s lineup aims to outdo itself with many highlights, including genre godfather Fiji, whose haunting voice is worth the price of admission alone. With him are a who’s who of island reggae, including New Zealand roots rockers Katchafire and popular Jamaican duo Chaka Demus & Pliers (“Murder She Wrote”).

Kacey Musgraves
SAP Center, San Jose | Jul 11
sapcenter.com
Riding high in the saddle after her recent SNL performance, Kacey Musgraves comes to the SAP Center in support of her third album, Golden Hour, which has received high critical praise for its melding of pop textures, country heart and a certain amount of psychedelic philosophy. With progressive lyrics and a powerful voice, she’s got the twang for South Bay cow- boys, girls, and non-binary folk alike.

Snow Tha Product
The Ritz, San Jose | Jul 27
theritzsj.com
Originally from San Jose, this bilingual rapper and Atlantic signee can spit with the best of them. Snow recently dropped a summer jam featuring DRAM and boasts an appearance on The Hamilton Mixtape alongside Riz Ahmed (HBO’s The Night Of, Swet Shop Boys) Snow is quickly making a case for herself as a formidable emcee. Though she hasn’t had a chart-topping single yet, it seems only a matter of time, so be sure to catch her before she blows up.

Faust
Don Quixote’s Music Hall, Felton | Jul 26
folkyeah.com
While this may get buried under the Post Malones and Kacey Musgraveses of the list, it is one of the most exciting concerts of the whole summer. The legendary Faust come to Don Quixote’s Music Hall in Felton, meaning an intimate night with the group that has inspired just about every experimental and indie musician of the last 40 years. Active since 1971, the German noisemakers preceded punk & have outlasted most of their peers.

Swearin’
The Ritz, San Jose | Aug 3
theritzsj.com
Allison Crutchfield is familiar to many as a solo artist and a touring member of her twin sister’s project Waxahatchee, but before all of that she was in Swearin’, one of the best pop-punk bands of the new century. Just listen to “Dust in the Goldsack” from 2013 album Surfing Strange if you disagree. Then listen to it again, and again. Catch them before they disappear.

Weezer & Pixies
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View | Aug 7
livenation.com
This lineup is like the chapter in Genesis that is just a list of who begat who. Without The Pixies there would be no Weezer, and likely without Weezer’s shameless pop playfulness there would be no Sleigh Bells, who open the show. It’s like three generations of royalty coming together for some kind of imperial summit, except in this case the empire is references to Buddy Holly, AC/DC, and “slicin’ up eyeballs.”

David Byrne
City National Civic, San Jose | Aug 18
sanjosetheaters.org
If you’ve got a big-ass jacket, it’s time to bust it out. David Byrne is coming to town. While recent years have seen the Talking Heads frontman collaborate with fellow pop experimenters like St. Vincent and Brian Eno (and publish a respected book on music), he’s now returned as a solo artist with American Utopia.

Slayer
SAP Center, San Jose | Aug 26
sapcenter.com
Fucking. Slayer. ‘Nuff said.

Music Festivals

Music in the Park
Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Jose | Jun 22, Jul 12, Aug 3, Aug 24
It’s that time of year again. Break out the lawn chairs and show up early to snag a choice spot at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. This year’s Music in the Park lineup boasts some big names, including the phenomenal Toots & The Maytals, and R&B sensations Tony! Toni! Toné ! S.F. Latin-rockers Malo and island reggae supergroup Third World with Jordan T. round out this season’s calendar for a concert series with something for everyone.

Fountain Blues
Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Jose | Jun 23
The Fountain Blues & Brews Festival has long been a summer tradition in San Jose. This year’s acts include The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings, 2018 Blues Music Awards nominees Wee Willie Walker and the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra (with Terrie Odabi), and the Sons of the Soul Revivers. But maybe the most exciting name on the list is Nikki Hill, whose electric energy is a reminder of the power of rock and blues.

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest
Downtown San Jose | Aug 10-12
Though it has jazz in the name, the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest includes a lot more than America’s original artform. The best-known performer this year is certainly Kool & the Gang, but Herb Alpert (sans his famous Tijuana Brass Band), and Booker T. Jones are also massive names on the lineup. For those looking for capital-J Jazz, be sure to catch the boundary-pushing drummer Makaya McCraven, whose work brings the genre firmly into the 21st century.

Sonido Clash Festival
Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose | Sep 2
One of San Jose’s most active ambassadors for international music, Sonido Clash brings the third annual Sonido Clash Festival to the Mexican Heritage Plaza this summer. The lineup is still unannounced, but previous years have featured exciting acts like cholo goth superstars Prayers, Tijuana cumbia group La Diabla and genre-blasting outfit Thee Commons.

continue to Visual Art

Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

SubZero Festival
SoFA District, San Jose | Jun 1-2
Get a sense of the South Bay’s uniquely tech-savvy artistic subculture at the SubZero Festival, where the byword is “where street meets geek.” For two nights, from 6pm to midnight, SoFA will be a wonderland of artists, performers, musicians and cultural demonstrations. More info at subzerofestival.com.

Obon Festival
Japantown, San Jose | Jul 14-15
The San Jose Obon Festival returns with game booths, taiko performances, a wide variety of food and more than 1,200 dancers in traditional dress to mark the Japanese custom of welcoming the spirits of ancestors back into the family. For more info, go to jtown.org.

Los Altos Art & Wine Festival
Downtown Los Altos | Jul 14-15
Ceramics, fiber art, painting, jewelry, glassware and fashion will be front and center at this midsummer festival. The weekend will also feature live music on two outdoor stages, children’s activities and plenty of wine and fine food. More info at downtownlosaltos.org/event/arts-wine-festival.

Silicon Valley Pride
Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park, San Jose | Aug 25-26
The South Bay’s long-standing Silicon Valley Pride celebration kicks off with a Trans and Friends rally and culminates in a parade through the streets of downtown San Jose. In between is a festival of music, dance and LGBTQ culture (costuming encouraged). For details, go to svpride.com.

Palo Alto Festival of the Arts
University Avenue, Palo Alto | Aug 25-26
Celebration of the visual arts is the keystone of this annual weekend festival in Palo Alto. It’s known for more than 300 displays of unique art from artists and crafts makers, as well as the hands-on Kids’ Art Studio; the Italian Street Painting Expo, which celebrates chalk art; and the signature Chopin and Chandeliers event. Learn more at mlaproductions.com.

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival
Castro Street, Mountain View | Sep 8-9
This self-styled “Festival Like No Other” is Mountain View’s must-do calendar event of the year, with artwork from more than 500 artists and crafts makers, live music including the Soul Train Dance Party, lots of fun and games for kids, plus beer, wine and signature cocktails. More info can be found at mountainview.miramarevents.com.

continue to Movies

Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

It’s hard to believe 2018 is approaching the halfway mark. It’s been nearly five months since the holidays, the days are long, the nights are warm and people are itching to cut loose and have a good time.

That’s what this guide is for. Consider it a manual for summer fun—a cheat sheet for all the thought-provoking performances, inspiring art, fantastic food and live music that are worth checking out this season.

There are up-and-coming bilingual rappers—San Jose-born Snow Tha Product is on the cover—classic and cutting edge plays, outdoor food festivals and celebrations of wine and culture. So, break out the date books, raise a glass and dig in. It’s going to be fun.

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Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

In a year when The Avengers made what seemed like their final assembly (prior to disassembling before our horrified eyes), teamwork is the zeitgeisty concept for this summer’s films.

There are exceptions to this rule, in the standard action movie template: one big man against a skyscraper of doom (Dwayne Johnson in Skyscraper, July 13). One big man against a Brobdingnagian megashark (Jason Statham in The Meg, Aug. 20). One big Chris Pratt—”a sandwich away from fat,” said Rocket Racoon—rescuing dinos galore (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, June 22). And a one-lunged hero of a pope taking on a planet of sinners (Wim Wenders’ documentary Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, May 18.)

Most formidable of all, one mild-mannered Pennsylvania TV host going big against childhood terrors (Won’t You Be My Neighbor, June 8). Try to make it through the previews for this Mr. Rogers documentary without whimpering hopelessly.

These examples of lone heroism are outnumbered by examples of characters coming together. Deadpool 2, with its band of weird brothers, from a Dadstached passer-by to the plump kid from Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25) shows us the first time Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) swore he wasn’t getting involved with a bunch of rebels, before doing it anyway.

In the all-female heist film Ocean’s 8, Sandra Bullock recruits a gang of jewel thieves. Incredibles 2 (June 15), is a follow-up to what’s been the only good Fantastic Four movie ever made, even if it didn’t star the Four, per se; Mission: Impossible—Fallout (July 27) has the usual gang of experts, boggling stunt work, pricey European locations, and a villainous Henry Cavill. And the mom-date movie Book Club (May 18) teams Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen as a ladies’ group plumbing the the hidden depths of 50 Shades of Grey. Or, also for your mama, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (July 21).

Here, indeed, we go again. Contrasting the remake SuperFly (June 11) and the sequel Ant Man and the Wasp (July 6), one notes that the former is not strictly speaking part of the Marvel Universe. Director X, an associate of Hype Williams, directs Trevor Jackson in a remake of Gordon Parks’ 1972 hit about the drug dealer looking to get out, changing the setting to Atlanta but hopefully keeping some of the movie’s salient feature, Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack.

The biopic Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (late July) is Gus Van Sant’s study of a well-known Portland figure, the wheelchair-bound cartoonist John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix). Inflicting spinal breaks instead of suffering them is Johnny Knoxville in Action Point (June), which looks dire in a good way: the Lord of the Jackasses is an amusement park operator who decides to liven things up by adding life-threatening additions to the rides.

Breath (summer) adapts a novel by one of the best writers about surfing, Australia’s Tim Winton. No surfing in On Chesil Beach (July), a version of Ian McEwan’s fiction about the unparalleled ecstasy of British sex; it observes two virgins (Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle) on their 1962 honeymoon, neither with a clue of how it’s all done. More bad sex: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (summer) with Chloe Grace Moretz as a lesbian kid hauled through heterosexual reprogramming.

Blindspotting (summer) is an exciting indie film, set in Oakland, about a parolee who witnesses a police officer executing a suspect. And psychedelic-spiked punch and house music leads to typical Gaspar Noe misanthropy and mayhem in Psyche, which just debuted at Cannes and should be ready for distribution. Noe revels like a bad-guy wrestler in his reputation as a director everyone hates. He wouldn’t have lasted if his films weren’t so insanely vivid, if sensationally gross.

May 18-25, the 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey is commemorated in a screening of a new 70mm film print supervised by Christopher Nolan, well worth a San Francisco pilgrimage to the city’s Castro Theater. Two weeks later, the theater hosts one of the globe’s most important film fests, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, May 30-June 3. Much of pre-sound cinema has disappeared, but rediscoveries continue to this date in collectors’ vaults and estate sales.

This year’s finds include the last silent Sherlock Holmes film, a German The Hound of the Baskervilles, assumed lost; a Carl Dreyer comedy (uncharacteristic for such a maker of doom-laden films), and Buster Keaton in The Battling Butler.

Revivals may be starting soon at 3Below in downtown San Jose, with the quote-along Princess Bride (May 17-19), and as always, the summer program at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto for silents, hits and rarities.

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Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

It seems that all of Silicon Valley is a stage this summer, as theater companies big and small roll out top-notch productions—from comedies to dramas, classics to contemporary. So, stop by a local black box or head to one of the major regional theaters to take in a show.

HAMMER THEATRE CENTER
101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose
hammertheatre.com

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
May 31
Living in the South Bay puts theater lovers well over 5,000 miles from London. Thankfully, the Hammer Theatre regularly broadcasts National Theatre Live productions from the West End. The Hammer closes out May with this Tennessee Williams play, taped in 2017 and starring Sienna Miller, Jack O’Connell and Colm Meaney.

PEAR THEATRE
1110 La Avenida St, Mountain View
thepear.org

Oh, Coward
Jun 22-Jul 15
The Pear is looking to punctuate their latest season with a bit of an oddity. With their fourth musical show in 15 years, they start summer off with a run of Oh, Coward. The show will feature four singers accompanied by piano as they sing songs penned by English playwright Noël Coward.

THEATREWORKS
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts
theatreworks.org

Hold These Truths
July 11-Aug 5 | Lucie Stern
Set in the midst of Japanese internment during World War II, Hold These Truths follows the story of the late Japanese-American Gordon Hirabayashi. The story explores Hirabayashi’s 50-year journey from courtroom to a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Native Gardens
Aug 22- Sep 16 | MVCPA
Different aspects of prejudice are explored in this clever comedy about a Latino couple moving in next to the award-winning garden of a prominent Washington, D.C., family. Spats over floral arrangements and fencing are employed to explore themes of race, class and privilege.

LOS ALTOS STAGE COMPANY
Bus Barn Stage, Los Altos
losaltosstage.org

Pippin
May 24- June 24
This Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of a young man as he seeks meaning in his life and the world around him. His journey unfolds alongside a slew of songs penned by Stephen Schwartz of Wicked fame to remind us that the most important facets of our lives are usually the simplest.

Little Women
Jul 13-29
Produced by the Los Altos Youth Theatre, this adaption of Louisa May Alcott’s famed novel tells the familiar story of Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth. The four sisters make their way from childhood all the way up through young adulthood as they navigate Civil War-era America.

CITY LIGHTS THEATER CO.
529 S Second St, San Jose
cltc.org

The Siegel
May 17-Jun 17
This romantic comedy follows the story of Ethan Siegel as he looks to wed Alice, a girl who broke up with him two years ago. Ethan presses on undeterred despite the fact that she’s busy recuperating in the face of a lost election and has a new lover.

In the Heights
Jul 14-Aug 19
Boasting music and lyrics by Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights tells an American story from a very different time. Set in New York’s Washington Heights, the Tony Award-winning musical details the life of Usnavi de la Vega and the community his bodega serves.

SAN JOSE STAGE COMPANY
490 S First St, San Jose
thestage.org

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
May 30-Jul 8
Obie Award-winning rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch follows a German rock & roll artist as she stalks fellow rocker Tommy Speck. She seeks revenge against Speck for stealing her songs by, among other things, undercutting his shows by playing across the street from every stadium he plays.

3BELOW THEATERS & LOUNGE
288 S Second St, San Jose
3belowtheaters.com

Keith Moon: The Real Me
Jun 15-Jun 24
Mick Berry plays famed drummer Keith Moon of The Who. Berry spends the two-hour show telling Moon’s life story, all the way up to his tragic downfall. Of course, that’s not to say he won’t show off his drumming chops along the way with a couple of the band’s best songs.

TABARD THEATRE
Theatre on San Pedro Square, San Jose
tabardtheatre.org

Durst Case Scenario
May 25-26
Just as he was when George W. Bush was in office, Will Durst has been hard at work. He takes to the stage for a one-man show as he lays siege to the political climate we’ve found ourselves in, our place in that climate and, of course, good ol’ No. 45.

BROADWAY SAN JOSE
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
broadwaysanjose.com

Jersey Boys
Jun 5-10
Jersey Boys recounts the journey of The Four Seasons. Pop legends Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi took the world by storm and sold 175 million records with songs like “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes of You.”

CHILDREN’S MUSICAL THEATER
Montgomery Theater, San Jose

The Wiz
Jul 13-21
Featuring Children’s Musical Theater members from ages 10 through 14, this production of The Wiz will likely be some young performers’ first encounter with the famous retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Just like the rest in this series, the show will run for about a week.

Robin Hood
Aug 9-12
CMT’s youngest members will get their shot to bring life to a brand new version of Robin Hood, written by accomplished composer Ken Hauge. Together, the youngsters will give new faces to the titular character, his loyal band of merry men and maid Marian.

West Side Story
Jul 27-Aug 5
Some of CMT’s oldest members will be given the opportunity to relive the classic love story between Maria and Tony. This time around, the ill-fated lovers will likely fall into the age range of 14 and 20. The production will run for a little less than a week.

SILICON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE
Willow Street Park, San Jose
Sanborn Skyline County Park, Saratoga

As You Like It
Jun 8-24 | Willow Street
Silicon Valley Shakespeare is starting off the summer season off right with a production of the Bard’s pastoral comedy As You Like it. The production will be another entry in SVS’ free Shakespeare in the Park series.

Much Ado About Nothing
Aug 3-Sep 2 | Sanborn Skyline
Finishing off their 20th season with something a little different, SVS set the Bard’s classic tale of two struggling couples a few centuries later, in the Roaring ’20s. With this production, they juxtapose Shakespeare’s wit and humor with art deco styling and jazz.

continue to Festivals

Intro | Concerts | Visual Art | Theater | Festivals | Movies | Food

Hot days are perfect for retreating to the cool interior of a movie theater. But feature films aren’t the only way to beat the heat while taking in visually stimulating material. Silicon Valley has plenty of air-conditioned museums, perfect for chilling out and putting on one’s thinking cap. Here are just a handful of upcoming exhibits to feed your brain this summer.

CANTOR ARTS CENTER
Stanford University | museum.stanford.edu

Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting
May 23-Sep 3
“Ink Worlds” only dates back to the 1960s, but the history of Chinese calligraphy and painting from the collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang bleeds across every canvas. Three of the artists in the showÑQin Feng, Zheng Chongbin and Li HuayiÑwill participate in lectures this summer to discuss their inky techniques.

Alphabété: The World Through the Eyes of Frédéric Bruly Bouabré
Jun 20-Feb 25
The late Ivorian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (1923-2014) had a mystical vision in 1948. Afterward, he changed his name to Cheik Nadro and developed a visual alphabet to preserve his native language. But everything he drew with colored pencils and ballpoint pens was a vibrant, unruly pictogram.

Do Ho Suh: The Spaces in Between
May 10-Feb 25
The Korean sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh once covered his entire apartment in white paper and then rubbed colored pencils against every surface. That impressive project won’t be in the gallery, but the equally memorable Screen will be. It’s composed of hundreds of doll-size, plastic human figures. His chandelier Cause and Effect, comprised of 42,000 figures, will also be hanging from the ceiling.

SAN JOSE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
San Jose | sjica.org

On Your Left
Jun 23-Sep 16
That notorious hybridizer Shawn HibmaCronan returns to the SJICA with one of his mechanical inventions, a four-wheel bicycle with a miner’s night light. He and many other artists will be contemplating the bicycle as a work of art in sculpture, video, painting and drawings. Depending on your nature, you’ll either be encouraged to start biking more or to sit down to sketch more bikes when you get back home.

Kathy Aoki: #wishyouwerehere
Jun 23-Sep 9
Is the artist Kathy Aoki Hello Kitty’s biggest fan or that cat’s most subversive critic? Find out at the Hello Kitty Monument Diorama and Visitor Center. There you’ll explore the disappearance of a fictional Mount Rushmore-like tribute to the famously whiskered feline and maybe take a selfie or two.

NEW MUSEUM LOS GATOS(NUMU)
Los Gatos | numulosgatos.org

Thinking Outside the Frame
May 18-Sep 30
Large-scale installations in this printmaking exhibit are meant to inspire visitors to make their own creations. On three Saturdays this summer, NUMU has engaged three artists to demonstrate printmaking techniques featured in the show. Susan Leone Howe on woodcuts (June 30), Jami Taback on monoprinting (July 14) and Martha Castillo on clay printing (Aug. 18).

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART
San Jose | sjmusart.org

Won Ju Lim: California Dreamin’
June 22-Sep 30
With boards of foam core, digital video projections and a plexiglass lamp, Won Ju Lim built a futuristic Los Angeles in California Dreamin’. Inspired by the 15th century author Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo and science fiction films, she conceived of the 2002 installation when she was living abroad. Lim missed being at home in Southern California so she recreated her memories in artificially accurate, ocean-adjacent sunlight.

Rise Up! Social Justice in Art
Jun 8-Sep 30
If you’re looking for work that prefigures many of today’s cultural movements, like Black Lives Matter, look no further than I’m looking for you, Whitey. It’s a 6-foot-high painting from Robert Arneson, the father of “funk art.” Arneson’s famous tribute to Harvey Milk, Five Times for Harvey (1982), is also on display. This collection will satisfy your need to engage with the arts and political in/justice at the same time.

TRITON MUSEUM OF ART
Santa Clara | tritonmuseum.org

Marianne Kolb
May 12-Aug 5
Kolb’s painterly obsession is the human figure. Though not a portrait painter per se, she’s more interested in the complex essence of the people she meets. In two of her latest series, the artist successfully experiments with rust and manages to make white a menacing color.

Anthony Riggs
May 19-Aug 5
Riggs shares a pop art sensibility with his contemporary the L.A.-based artist Eric White. Both he and White bend contemporary imagery into painted collages that subvert linear narratives. Riggs draws polar bears belching out rainbows and putti battling reptiles. His work can be summed up as baroque in extremis.

PHANTOM GALLERIES
San Jose, Various Neighborhoods | phantomgalleries.com

Cul-de-Sac Cruisers
May 4 – Jul 31
The San Jose photographer Josh Marcotte takes pictures of his hometown the way a fourth-generation native sees it. He notices the tech-less side of Silicon Valley, local places that get overlooked. Curated by another local artist, VIV G, these images focus on classic cars and their environs. He resurrects them so that the past won’t be forgotten in this era of infinite change and forward motion. His images will be shown in the main lobby of The Pierce Apartments in San Jose.

PACE GALLERY PALO ALTO
Palo Alto | pacegalleries.com

Hai Bo
May 31-Jul 15
Hai Bo photographs vast landscapes under the influence of weatherÑfog, mist, rain. Individual human features are engulfed by the moody settings and dwarfed by the scale of buildings, trees and endless horizons. This exhibit features images from The Southern series that the Beijing-based artist took across Southern China.

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Introduction | Concerts | Art | Stage | Movies | Sports | Festivals | Outdoors | Wineries

EMPIRE SEVEN

525 N Seventh St, San Jose
In the eight years since Empire Seven Studios opened, the gallery has seen it all: exhibitions with the world’s hottest artists, near-catastrophic fires and, more recently, an effort to make art part of the public dialogue through the San Jose Mural Project. Although not beholden to a single theme, the eight-year anniversary’s ethos is based on the Japanese idea of Shokunin: the lifelong dedication of a craftsmen. Combining the gallery’s huge collection and new works by old contributors, the show becomes both a personal retrospective and, for many, an artistic reunion.

NUMU

106 E Main St, Los Gatos
Barely a year old, NUMU has already established itself as an important art hub in the South Bay. Besides its diverse exhibitions, the spacious Los Gatos museum offers extensive, interactive art education for anyone interested. Thursday “late nights” are usually reserved for conversations and presentations with artists, but the rest of the week includes a mixture of oil painting classes, sculpture workshops and even music production lessons.

Mitchell vs. Steinbeck | Thru Oct 16
In 1936, John Steinbeck famously wrote his novel The Grapes of Wrath whilst living in Los Gatos. Although it’s become an American classic, at publication the backlash was strong—particularly from one of his neighbors, writer Ruth Comfort Mitchell, who wrote the novel Of Human Kindness in response. Using historical documents and even interviews with the book’s adversaries, the show explores the odd and intimate literary duel between the pair in greater historical context.

Et in Arcadia Ego | Jun 2 – Oct 2
The myth of Arcadia, or an unspoiled, natural wilderness has been a persistent theme in art since the Renaissance. This show will be an exploration of that ideal. Nicolas Poussain’s 17th century painting, which inspired the event’s name, serves as the primary inspiration for nearly 20 artists as they explore timeless idea of natural utopias. Hats Off | Thru Jun 26
An exploration of hats and their historical and artistic significance in society.

Script & Scribble | Thru Oct
An extensive examination of the history of penmanship and its steady decline. In the Heart of the Wild: Anne Brigman and Her Circle Jul 15 – Jan 8 A personal look at the life of the 19th century Los Gatos resident, poet and photographer.

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART

110 S Market St, San Jose
Life and Labor | Aug 18 – Mar 17
Originally an optometrist with some political rustling, Milton Rogovin became one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. After being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the “Red Scare” of 1957, Rogovin turned to photography for expression. He is best known for The Forgotten Ones, a three decade-long project capturing chronological portraits of families living in an impoverished area of Buffalo, New York.

Maker Space | Thru May 22
A celebration of material defying art at the Koret Family Gallery.

Border Cantos | Thru Jul 31
The photos of Richard Misrach and unique musical creations of Guillermo Galindo explore the undocumented immigrant’s journey.

Tabaimo: Her Room | Thru Aug 21
A magically animated and drawn study of the real and make-believe.

San Jose’s 20th Century Vanguard | Thru Sep 18 A retrospective of the South Bay art scene since the ’60s.

SAN JOSE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART

560 S 1st St, San Jose
Next New Paper | Jun 5 – Sep 18
Examining how a material so common to everyday life is almost forgotten, this exhibition brings together 17 Bay Area artists to work exclusively with one medium: paper. Manipulating pulp to the furthest degree, this show is a panoply of art sculpture and imaginative design.

This is Not a Book: Chapter 2 | Jun 5 – Sep 11
Following with the season’s theme of ordinary objects transformed into art, “This is Not a Book” brings together 25 artists to explore the properties of books, bindings and the pages in between. While technically a sculpture show, the exhibition is a step beyond in terms of composition and creativity.

Looking Between the Covers | Jun 5 – Sep 4
Like glimpsing down an endless but soothing hallway, Mary Ellen Bartley’s art is a quiet, nuanced representation of the relationship between absence and presence. Using books as her visual subjects, Bartley composes minimalist explorations of patterns, space and size that reverberate in the brain, tickling visual perspectives.

SEEING THINGS GALLERY

751 W San Carlos St, San Jose
Onshore Winds, Offshore Accounts | May 27
A merchant marine by day, Willow Glen-based artist and photographer Martin Machado uses the sites of sea and harbor for inspiration. With a mixture of N.C. Wyeth’s seafaring sensationalism and the line-work of late 19th century political cartoons, Machado creates evocative nautical portraits with an almost linear pointillism.

A Frisby & Lance Cyril Mountain | Jul 15
Oklahoma- based artist Aaron Frisby paints alluring, even seductive but equally unsettling female portraits. Lance Cyril Mountain—son to legendary skateboarder Lance Mountain—paints conceptual, cubist-like examinations of shape and color. Something of a meeting of minds, the exhibition will present a juxtaposition in styles born out of very similar personalities.

CANTOR ARTS CENTER

328 Lomita Dr, Stanford
California: The Art of Water | Jul 13 – Nov 28
In light of the state’s (still) severe water crisis, Stanford is exhibiting a collection of paintings and photographs portraying California’s most precious resource. With work from over 70 artists, including Ansel Adams, David Hockney, and Carleton Watkins, the show also features accompany programs to raise awareness for ongoing water issues.

Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine | May 21
A retrospective on the haunting child labor photographs that made Hine’s reputation.

Myth, Allegory, and Faith | Jun 20
Prints that illustrate the progression between mannerist and baroque styles.

Richard Diebenkorn: The Sketchbooks Revealed | Thru Aug 8
More than 1,000 drawings of Diebenkorn that illustrate his styles and growth through half a century.

Edward Hopper: New York Corner | Aug 8
An artistic historiography of the famous painting using documents and contemporaneous artists.

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