Like July, August is a relatively quiet month for performances; presumably in the summer months the center of things shifts out to vineyards & seasides & other bucolic & calming locales, beyond the purview of my little preview here. There are actually a number of late July events folded in here, as I found out about them after I posted the July preview. Apparently even after I pointed out the hazards of late posting, reformation did not immediately follow! I know – I'm frankly as shocked as you are. I do actually have a lot of sympathy for people who are struggling to keep up; on top of everything else that goes into planning an event, there's updating the website. But I wonder if there isn't some deliberate idea here as well, some notion that "spontaneity" & "last-minute plans" are the way to do business, even show business. I know this sort of thing is supposed to be the way we all live, or want to live, but I am skeptical. I think this is one of those modes people feel they should operate in – the last-minute adventure, the crazy but why not escapade, the inspired gamble that leads to the perfect evening & eventually the charming anecdote & the glowing memory. People like to think they are guided by whim & the golden light of infinite possibility, but in reality, there's just too much of, well, reality pushing in on us, & even someone as relatively unencumbered as I am (I don't even have a pet, & am not much in demand socially) is going to need to plan ahead.
Years ago some group announced days in advance the time & place at which they would be doing some sort of "pop-up" & a friend of mine pointed out that if they were announcing time & place days ahead of time, it isn't really a pop-up. Of course it isn't, because real pop-ups are a pain in the ass, & likely to fail. Best to sell the illusion of spontaneity without the inconvenience of the actual thing. Back when I worked in the Financial District, there used to be a number of food trucks that would show up at the same place on certain days, so that you knew if it was Tuesday you could go get Japanese curry, or Wednesday & you could go get pizza. One day a truck with delicious South American food appeared & some of us in line asked if they were now going to be regulars. We were told that no, we had to start following them on Instagram (relatively new at the time) & they'd be announcing when & where they would appear. I guess we were supposed to follow them through the city, regardless of jobs & the limitations of public transit & of corporate lunch hours. The woman ahead of me was outraged. She turned to me angrily & said, "What?!? I don't have time for that! Do I look like I have time for that?!?" & honestly she kind of did, but I knew my cue & said, "No, of course not! You're way too busy!" "That's right!" she said. I never saw the truck again. Not sure what they ended up doing, but my line-mate & I just ended up getting lunch at other places.
So, yeah, get your information out there as soon as you feasibly can. People need to plan ahead! Time & attention are precious, & stretched thin. Sometimes, of course, even with full information, things aren't going to work out. There are a couple of things that can easily deflate my balloon of excitement: one is a start time of 8:00 or, God forbid, even later. At this point, it seems weirdly antiquated to me, as in, Why are you still doing that? It's like finding out that they have a formalwear dress code. Didn't that era pass? The other thing that takes the wind out of my sails (to switch my airy metaphor) is open seating. There was a play recently that I was excited about attending – until I realized it was open seating. Milling around the lobby, jockeying for position near the door, resentful of those who arrived later & cut ahead . . . .it's annoying, & already in the past couple of weeks I'd had two or three performances that required such shenanigans, & so I passed on the play. It wouldn't be so bad if the doors were open early & you could go in right away & claim your seat, but often you have to stand & stand & stand & mill around & finally the doors open, usually after they were scheduled to, & just before the performance starts, & there's the usual scrum at the door & the unseemly rush to get desired seats. . . . Seriously, we have the systems in place. Announce early! Let people get their seats in advance! Remember that we all have a lot going on, & things should be made easy for the ticket-buyer.
OK, more than enough from me. As I said, this is, as is traditional, a fairly slow month, but there are still lots of things going on, particularly with West Edge Opera & the International Piano Festival. Enjoy!
Theatrical
From 30 July to 1 August on Z Space's Steindler Stage, Theatre Nohgaku with Kunoichi Productions & Theatre of Yugen present In a Memory Palace, written by Edith Windsor Newton & directed by Jubilith Moore, a Noh-influenced dance/theater/video piece about "a once‑celebrated Viennese couturier".
From 31 July to 9 August at La Val's Subterranean Theatre, the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley presents
Repossessed by Greg Lam, directed by Gabriel A Ross, about a couple that has used advanced technology to implant "skills, knowledge, and memories into their brains" while also choosing to forget they had this procedure, & what happens to them when they can't keep up their payments & their skills, knowledge, & memories are withdrawn.
Playground presents the 5th Annual Free-Play Festival from 31 July to 23 August at the Potrero Stage; click here to see the line-up.
From 31 July to 29 August at the Barbary Stage on Jackson Street in San Francisco, Ray of Light Theater presents Urinetown: The Musical, by Mark Hollman & Greg Kotis, directed & choreographed by Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd, a truly wonderful show & a sadly very relevant comedy about permanent water shortages.
From 6 August to 5 September at the Creativity Theater, San Francisco Playhouse presents R.O.I. (Return on Investment) by Aaron Loeb, directed by Jonathan Moscone, about a young venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.
From 7 to 16 August at the Strand, ACT's Young Conservatory presents a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Shaina Taub, with music & lyrics by Shaina Taub, directed by Dee Dee Stephens, with choreography by Meredith Joelle Charlson & musical direction by Amanda Dee.
From 7 to 23 August, the Oakland Theater Project will perform Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, directed by Will Detlefsen.
From 12 - 16 August (in San Francisco) & 19 - 23 & 27 - 30 August (in Berkeley), The Marsh presents In Front of Your Eyes 2026: A Festival of New Performance, featuring shows in development by women & nonbinary writers / performers; click here for the full schedule.
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley will give free performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, directed by Michael R Cohen assisted by Ben Prusiner, beginning 22 August & running through 7 September.
On 24 - 26 August at the Ashby Stage, as part of Shotgun Players' Champagne Staged Reading Series, you can experience Miss Thang! (originally titled The House of Jules) by Terry Guest, conceived & directed by Aejay Antonis Marquis, an adaptation of Strindberg's Miss Julie set in a "Black New Orleans bounce and hip hop club owned by a wealthy Creole patriarch".
Operatic
The annual West Edge Opera Festival takes place this month at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center on Lake Merritt; this year's operas are:
The Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten's setting of the libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based on the story by Henry James; Mark Streshinsky directs, Jonathan Khuner conducts, with Laura Bohn as the Governess, Alex Boyer as Peter Quint, Erin Neff as Mrs Grose, Alexa Sessler as Miss Jessel, James Coniglio & Noah Hajduk as Miles, Siena Coniglio as Flora, & Roya Agarwal as Flora, & that's 1, 9, & 15 August;
Rinaldo by Handel, to a libretto by Giacomo Rossi based (loosely) on Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata; Keturah Stickann directs, Emily Senturia conducts, with Kyle Tingzon in the title role, Shawnette Sulker as Almirena, Nikki Einfeld as Armida, Sara Couden as Goffredo, Efraín Solís as Argante, & Gabi Esquinazi as a Siren/Magician, & that's 2, 8, & 15 August;
American Apollo, a new work with music by Damien Geter & a libretto by Lila Palmer based on the relationship between John Singer Sargent & Thomas Eugene McKeller, a Black hotel worker who modeled for the painter; Nataki Garrett directs, Kedrick Armstrong conducts, with Markel Reed as Thomas McKeller, John Bellemer as John Singer Sargent, Marnie Breckenridge as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Alexandra Armantrading as Ida Mae McDonald, Matt Hidalgo as Nicola D’Inverno / Mr Sparhawk, Leberta Lorál as Florence McKeller / Mrs Smithson, Philip Harris as Willie McDonald, Wilford Kelly as Clarence / Emcee, Michael Belle as George, & Alex Taite as a Walter, & that's 8, 13, & 16 August.
And on 23 August at SFMOMA's Wattis Theater, West Edge Opera is performing an orchestral preview of Claude & Marcel, a work scheduled for its world premiere by West Edge next year, with music by Alyssa Weinberg & a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, conducted by Jonathan Khuner & directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, based on the lives of "Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: two women – romantic and artistic partners - Jewish activists and surrealist photographers who used their art to magnify resistance against Nazi Germany".
On 15 August in the Opera House, the Merola Program presents its annual Grand Finale, conducted by William Long & directed by Claire Choquette.
Choral
On 26 July in the Kanbar Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, you can attend the first concert by Staff & Ledger, a "new professional vocal ensemble . . . founded by artists from Chanticleer, Volti, Clerestory, Byrd Ensemble, Aeternum, Fog City Singers, American Bach Soloists, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus"; under director Kory Reid, this concert will feature five world premieres by Eric Choate, Jeffrey Parola, & Eric Tuan.
On 15 August in Davies Hall, Robert Geary leads the San Francisco Choral Society in Orff's Carmina Burana as well as Three Portraits: Voices of Chinese American Women from Early California by Eric Tuan, a new work commissioned by the Choral Society; Carmina Burana will be semi-staged, by Rotimi Agbabiaka, with vocal soloists Chelsea Hollow (soprano), Sam Faustine (tenor), & Eugene Brancoveanu (baritone).
On 29 August in the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, the Bartolucci Foundation, which is dedicated "to preserving the legacy of Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci, longtime director of the Sistine Chapel Choir" will present Sacred Voices, featuring singers from Roman & Vatican choirs in Gregorian chant & "Roman polyphony", along with works by Bartolucci himself.
Vocalists
On 12 August at the Golden Gate Theater, you can spend An Intimate Evening With Michael Feinstein.
On 27 August at ACT's Strand Theater, Opera Parallèle & the Transgender District present the 5th annual Expansive, "a showcase of trans and nonbinary classical artists. This year’s theme, REVOLUTION IS JUST THE BEGINNING, is in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots—a pivotal moment in transgender history that helped shape San Francisco and movements for liberation around the world. Featuring Sapphira Cristál, Katherine Goforth and Nina Jones, with host Afrika America and pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi".
Orchestral
On 23 August in Herbst Theater, Arun Saigal leads the SF Civic Music Association Summer Workshop orchestra in America 250, a program including Summon the Heroes by John Williams, Appalachian Spring by Copland, Yggdrasil, Violin Concerto by Mads Tolling (with Tolling as soloist), selections from West Side Story by Bernstein (arranged by Jack Mason), Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (with piano soloist Oskar Yao), Through the Honmoon: A KPop Demon Hunters Medley by Andi Zhou: the concert is free but RSVPs are recommended.
Chamber Music
On 11 August in Old Saint Mary's, Noontime Concerts presents Musicians of Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral and Chinese Mission (soprano Kelsey Debner, mezzo-soprano Melissa Wong-Renati, tenor Kevin Dusek, baritone Nicolas A Garcia, trumpeter Chris Grady, & pianists Russell Ryan & Sylvia O’Neill) in a program celebrating the 200th anniversary of the death of Carl Maria von Weber & the 150th birthday of Manuel De Falla (specific celebratory pieces have not yet been announced).
Instrumental
The 9th Annual San Francisco International Piano Festival, led by Artistic Director Jeffrey LaDeur, runs from 20 to 30 August; click here for a list of concerts & locations.
On 25 July at the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley (the Maybeck Church), the Handel Opera Project presents violinist Michael Jones, with pianist Arkadi Serper, performing Kreisler's Praeludium & Allegro “in the style of Pugnani”, Mozart's Sonata in B-flat Major, K 378, Beethoven's Sonata in G Major, opus 30, #3, & Ravel's Pièce en forme de habanera.?
Early / Baroque Music
Jeffrey Thomas leads the American Bach Soloists in the San Francisco Bach Festival from 5 to 9 August at the Conservatory of Music; check here for details on the five programs.
Philharmonia Baroque continues its morning Coffee Concerts in the Conservatory at One Sansome (right off Market Street) on 21 August with Versailles Salon: Court Music from Baroque France, featuring members of PBO performing works by Couperin (the Sonade & the Dance Suite from “La Françoise” from Les Nations & the Concert Royaux #1); this series is free & open to the public.
See also Handel's Rinaldo at West Edge Opera, listed above under Operatic.
Modernist / Contemporary Music
See American Apollo & the orchestral preview for Claude & Marcel, both from West Edge Opera, listed above under Operatic.
Jazz, Gospel
Monsieur Periné brings their Latin jazz to the SF Jazz Center from 30 July to 2 August.
From 13 to 16 August, gospel group Take Six performs at the SF Jazz Center.
On 29 August at the Paramount, the SF Jazz Center presents pianist Brad Mehldau performing from his recent album Ride Into the Sun, an "orchestral love letter to the late singer, songwriter and guitarist Elliott Smith"; Mehldau will be joined by vocalist / mandolin player Chris Thile, drummer Matt Chamberlain, vocalist & guitarist John Davis, & vocalist Blake Mills, & the USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi orchestra, led by Dan Coleman.
Dance
From 30 July to 2 August, ODC/Dance presents a Summer Sampler, featuring a revival of KT Nelson’s Nothing's Gonna Make Sense (Reflections on Grief), a world premiere by Mia J Chong, & a world premiere by Guest Choreographer Catherine Galasso: Unreliable Narrator, "drawn from the lives and artistry of ODC’s founding women, Brenda Way, Kimi Okada and KT Nelson".
FACT/SF presents their 2026 Summer Dance Festival on 14 - 16 August at the ODC Theater; now in its seventh year, the Festival this year gives us six contemporary dances by Karla Quintero, Ishami Dance Company, & FACT/SF, alongside visiting artists Megan O’Brien, Sarah McCullough & Shannon Hummel, & Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye.
Mostly Museums
At SFMOMA, O. Smith: Artivist, opens on 25 July; a current prisoner in San Quentin, Smith uses his drawings to expose & critique power abuses by the government & the legal system; on 22 August, Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc will open, featuring the largest installation of Hashimoto's career so far, using thousands of hand-built kites.
Miró: Proof Against All, a display of À toute épreuve (Proof Against All, 1958), an art-book collaboration between Joan Miró & poet Paul Éluard. will open at the Legion of Honor on 25 July.
Treasures of the Pharaohs opens at the de Young on 1 August & runs through 31 January 2027; the exhibit includes "the US debut of objects from the Golden City, a newly unearthed workers’ community near Luxor. The suddenly abandoned city is a moment frozen in time, much like Pompeii".
Some Particular Heaven: Ideas of Utopia in the BAMPFA Collection opens on 5 August at BAM/PFA.
Lotty Rosenfeld: Disobedient Spaces, the first USA retrospective of the Chilean artist, opens at BAM/PFA on 12 August.
A Gallery of Their Own: Women Artists from the Carr and Goldblum Gift, featuring photographs, prints, & drawings by women, including works by Louise Bourgeois, Lee Krasner, & Yayoi Kusama, opens at the de Young on 15 August.
Superficial Matters: Artists from the Svane Gift and Beyond, the "third in a series highlighting contemporary artists with close ties to the Bay Area", opens at the de Young on 15 August.
Cinematic
Here are some of the special screenings at the Orinda Theater this month: on 1 August, as part of the Disney Restoration Series, you can see Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes (please note the restorations are of movies Disney currently owns, not necessarily just "Disney" movies); on 8 August as part of the Cult Movie Night series, you can see Toshiro Mifune in Kurosawa's Yojimbo; on 9 August, as part of the Widescreen Roadshow series, you can see Dr Zhivago; & on 25 August, as part of the Classic Movie Matinee series, you can see Billy Wilder's Sabrina, with Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, & Audrey Hepburn.
Here are the film series launching this month at BAM/PFA: Made in Berkeley: The House That Zaentz Built, looking at the legacy of Saul Zaentz's Fantasy Studios, runs 1 - 30 August, & Nathaniel Dorsky & Jerome Hiler: Film Offerings, with the filmmakers in person, will run from 14 to 29 August.
On 3 August at the Roxie, you can see Design for Living, the Ben Hecht / Ernst Lubitsch pre-code version of Noel Coward's play; the film's throuple is Miriam Hopkins, Fredric March, &, rather unexpectedly, Gary Cooper; the movie will be introduced by Kim Luperi, co-author of Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood’s Untamed Era, 1930-1934, & there will be a book signing after the movie (books will be available for purchase).
CatVideoFest 2026 will play at the Roxie on 8 August; these showings tend to sell out, so pounce on tickets if you're interested.
On 8 August at the Presidio Theater, there will be a screening of After the Thin Man (1936, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, & Jimmy Stewart), followed by a conversation with Julie Rivett, the granddaughter of Dashiell Hammett, who has worked extensively on her grandfather's life & works.
On 16 August at the Curran Theater, there will be a 40th anniversary screening of Little Shop of Horrors hosted by the original Audrey, Ellen Greene.
On 26 August at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, the Grand Feature Film Orchestra will provide live accompaniment to Harold Lloyd's Safety Last (this is the one with the iconic scene of Lloyd dangling from the clock tower, & fair warning, if you have a fear of heights think twice about watching this film); a Looney Tunes cartoon & Chaplin's The Rink are also on the bill.
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