Arts & Culture :: Culture

'Clyde's' - Lynn Nottage's diner comedy at Berkeley Rep

'Clyde's' - Lynn Nottage's diner comedy at Berkeley Rep

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 31, 2023

The beautifully balanced ensemble of five actors who play the owner and staff of a truck stop diner in "Clyde's" are provided with a bumper crop of fresh, zesty dialogue by Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage.

Winter's tales; new books part 2

Winter's tales; new books part 2

  • by Jim Piechota
  • Jan 31, 2023

Continuing on our Winter Books picks, here comes part two, which contains even more provocative reading material than the first group. Enjoy tales of thrillingly engrossing wartime queer love, conversion camp survival, and speculative foreign lands.

'Getting There' - world premiere debuts at NCTC; 'tick tick BOOM' postponed

'Getting There' - world premiere debuts at NCTC; 'tick tick BOOM' postponed

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 24, 2023

"Getting There," Dipika Guha's shifting, shimmering new play asks its characters and audiences to puzzle over a half-dozen abstract but interrelated concepts: loneliness, desire, friendship, love, guilt, and aging.

Brittney Griner's drama in a comic: basketball star's life told visually

Brittney Griner's drama in a comic: basketball star's life told visually

  • by Laura Moreno
  • Jan 24, 2023

Brittney Griner's inspirational life story has now been immortalized in a new comic book published by TidalWave Comics, "Female Force: Brittney Griner."

Winter's tales: new and upcoming LGBTQ books, part 1

Winter's tales: new and upcoming LGBTQ books, part 1

  • by Jim Piechota
  • Jan 17, 2023

Book lovers have so many reasons to be excited as it is already promising to be another stellar year for queer literature. Presented here are just a few examples of the amazing literary delights at —or coming soon to— a bookstore near you.

SF Ballet's 'next @ 90' festival: former Principal Dancer Nicolas Blanc returns as choreographer

SF Ballet's 'next @ 90' festival: former Principal Dancer Nicolas Blanc returns as choreographer

  • by Philip Mayard
  • Jan 10, 2023

In celebration of San Francisco Ballet's 90th anniversary, the company kicks off its spring season this month with the 'next@90 festival,' featuring nine world premiere ballets by nine choreographers from around the world, including Nicolas Blanc.

Author Silas House's 'Lark Ascending'

Author Silas House's 'Lark Ascending'

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jan 10, 2023

Silas House's newest novel "Lark Ascending" (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2022), is a dystopian (and queer) tale of survival against all odds. He discussed his latest and recent award-winning novels.

Because of a song: Holly Near celebrates Oakland's women's music scene with new online archive

Because of a song: Holly Near celebrates Oakland's women's music scene with new online archive

  • by Heather Cassell
  • Jan 3, 2023

Women's music legend Holly Near called the music made by women musicians in the 1970s a lifeline. A new website documents the contributions of hundreds of women artists.

Sabrina Imbler's 'How Far the Light Reaches'

Sabrina Imbler's 'How Far the Light Reaches'

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Jan 3, 2023

Sabrina Imbler's new book, "How Far the Light Reaches," has a conventional publisher, Little, Brown. But word has it that a major source of the book's distribution is friends giving it to friends, as something singular and precious.

Best LGBTQ films of 2022

Best LGBTQ films of 2022

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Dec 27, 2022

2022 will be remembered as the year LGBTQ films went mainstream, meaning Hollywood studios were willing to make and market them at cineplexes. Unfortunately they were box office failures, especially "Bros," despite massive publicity and good press.

Embracing the past: more classic music reissues

Embracing the past: more classic music reissues

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Dec 27, 2022

Don't be afraid of the past. Yours or anyone else's. It will always be there, and you can pretend it doesn't exist, but it's still there, nevertheless. One way to make peace with the past is to listen to it.

Michael J. Lato's 'Refugee Handbook' - a real-life international love story

Michael J. Lato's 'Refugee Handbook' - a real-life international love story

  • by Laura Moreno
  • Dec 27, 2022

Michael J. Lato's first book shares the remarkable love story of a male couple and offers us a window into a world few of us will ever get to see for ourselves.

'Beetlejuice the Musical' - national tour's a pulpy, goofy, juicy good time

'Beetlejuice the Musical' - national tour's a pulpy, goofy, juicy good time

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Dec 20, 2022

As played with ghoulish gusto by Justin Collette in the musical's first-ever national tour, which launched at the Golden Gate Theatre last week, this 'Beetlejuice' is a comparable Mama Rose from the Dead.

Ty Hunter: fashion guru pens autobiography

Ty Hunter: fashion guru pens autobiography

  • by Cornelius Washington
  • Dec 20, 2022

The fashion and lifestyle book of the season has emerged. Mr. Ty Hunter has decided to grace the planet with "The Makeover From Within: Lessons in Hardship, Acceptance, and Self-Discovery," an autobiography that's also about style and aesthetics.