Arts Alive San Antonio

Let’s start with theater news this time!

The Public Theater of San Antonio is opening a new production of the classic musical, She Loves Me, a charming tale of two co-workers in a perfume shop, “in a European City,” who long for love. The two – Let’s sales clerk, Amalia, and the manager Georg – often squabble at work but the audience learns that they Let’s are anonymous pen pals who met through a “lonely hearts” ad. The story arc may be obvious but a couple of generations of theatergoers have enjoyed the show, which features music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joe Masteroff. The story is based on the Hungarian play by Miklos Laszlo.

 Directed by Donna Provencher, the Public’s production features Lauren Esquivel as Amalia and Grant Bryan as Georg. Jaime Ramirez is the music director and Scott Conway handled the choreography. “It’s an honor to stage (this play) alongside a talented, hard-working cast crew and production team at this moment in time, since it’s a show about the joy of the mundane, the power of community and the redemptive nature of love – lessons we need in a post-COVID world more than ever,” said the director in a statement. (Opens Friday, May 20 and runs through June 12, Public Theater of San Antonio at the San Pedro Playhouse, in San Pedro Park; tickets $32-$47, with discounts for students and youth; Pay-What-You-Wish Night is May 26, ASL interpreted performance is June 10 and June 12. For tickets go to www.thepublicsa.org/currentseason pr call 210-733-7258.)

Two San Antonio thespians and playwrights, Lisa Suarez and Sheila Sisler-Currie will present their respective short plays dealing with themes of adoption and sisterhood. Suarez’s work, titled Filling Blanks, focuses on two adult sisters dealing with their long-time resentments which may be based on misconceptions, while Sisters by Sisler-Currie looks at three sisters who were abandoned at an adoption agency by their own mother. (Presented as a virtual preview of the plays May 20 and 21 at 8 p.m. and May 22 at 3 p.m.; tickets $0 to $15. You’ll receive a link to watch after the purchase is completed, www.jump-start.org; for info call 210-227-JUMP (5867))

We recently discovered a new production company, San Antonio Broadway Theatre, which is presenting the well-known play Cabaret, directed by Rebecca Kritzer,at the Alvarez Theater in the Tobin Center. The company’s owner and artistic director is Lauren Cosio. We can’t wait to find out more about the company’s future plans. (Performances are May 26, 28 & 29; Tobin Center, tickets are $43.50 – $75 at tickets@tobincenter.org or by phone 210-223-8624)

If you like interactive shows, here’s a great one at the Empire Theater: Freestyle Love Supreme, the popular improv co-created by the famous Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda and colleagues Anthony Veneziale and Thomas Kail. It’s a hip-hop kind of musical but performers take audience suggestions and spin them into comedic riffs and musical bits. No two shows are the same. (May 20 at 7 p.m.; May 21 at 2 and 7 p.m., and May 22 at 2 p.m.; Charlene McCombs Empire Theater, 226 N. St. Mary’s; tickets $35-$70 at Majestic Theater’s box office, 210-226-3333; info@majesticempire.com)

We should also remind you that Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder is still playing at the Magik Theater through June 2. (Magik Theatre in Hemisfair Park, 420 S. Alamo; they have several special performances, so check out the family theater’s site, www.MagikTheatre.org)

Two festivals will add excitement to the San Antonio cultural scene this weekend: The San Antonio Book Festival and the Tejano Conjunto Festival. The latter is a long-standing tradition, and it seems to get bigger and better every year. Concerts will take place at Rosedale Park, starting at 6 p.m. Friday, noon to midnight Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Big names are performing. (To see the entire schedule, visit www.guadaluoeculturalarts.org)

The Book Festival is in its tenth year, and it’s all about books and authors. The good news is that encounters and events will happen in-person rather thanthrough various online arrangements like last year. What to expect: author presentations, panel discussions, book sales and signings, children’s activities and food trucks. More than 90 authors will be present, among them prominent Texas writers such as Fernando A. Flores (author of Valleyesque); Austin-based Sarah Bird (author of Last Dance on the Starlight Pier); and Stephen Harrigan (author of many fiction and nonfiction books, including his latest, The Leopard is Loose).  San Antonio poets Naomi Shihab Nye and our Poet Laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson will read/perform their poetry during the opening ceremony, which starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Central Library. All events take place at the library and the Southwest School of Arts, downtown. The library has a parking garage. For details go to https://sabookfestival.org.

Festivals are fun, but there’s more.

Mexican diva, Carla Morrison, will get fans all worked up when she appears Saturday at the Tech Port Center Arena in her new show, titled El Renacimiento.  She is referring to her own rebirth as a person and as an artist, as well as to her album by the same title. “My other albums focused on my relationship with others,” she said in an interview, “this one focuses on my relationship with myself.” The concert is presented by the Tobin Center. (May 21 at 8 p.m.; Tech Port Arena, 3331 General Hudnell Drive, 78226; Tickets $29.50 – $49.50; www.techportcenter.com or 1-800-514-3849)

Tobin Entertainment is now also booking shows for another new arena, The Real Life Amphitheater in Selma, where it will inaugurate a concert series with the appearance of the Zac Brown Band: Out in the Middle Tour, on Sunday.(May 22 at 8 p.m.; Real Life Amphitheater, 16765 Lookout Rd., Selma, 78154.; tickets $69.50 – $130; general admission lawn $50 ($25 with code SUMMER, all tickets include parking. Tickets available at the Tobin’s box office or by phone 210-223-8624. Mention code SUMMER for a discount.)

If you have never seen the classical Indian dance called Bharatanatyam, here’s your chance. The Kaveri Natya Yoga Dance Group will present a performance Saturday afternoon. It’s a unique style of dance where gestures and other dance elements tell a story. It’s very different from all forms of Western dance – elegant, restrained, expressive and colorful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. (May 21 at 2 p.m.; Thousand Oaks Library, 4618, Thousand Oaks, 78233; 210-207-9190)

And there’s always good news on the visual art front.

Artpace is opening a couple of new exhibits. The Summer Main Space show features local artist and City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture 2022 Individual Artist Grant Recipient, Michael Guerra Foerster.  Titled Every Time We Say Goodbye, the show “explores ideas of intimacy, separation, grief and memory through ceramic sculptures the artist calls Floops.” The work touches upon the transformation of interpersonal relationships through time, and the coping mechanisms used to bring closure to traumatic experiences.

Upstairs, in the Hudson Showroom, you’ll find another new exhibit: Carbonate of Copper curated by Artpace Curatorial Resident alumna, Jennifer Teets. According to the press release, the show features art by many artists who “examine questions of circuitry, flow, foundation, and cultural inheritance particularly in relation to infrastructure.” Perhaps this statement will become clearer upon viewing the actual exhibit. The artists engaging in this examination are Gwenneth Boelens, Anna Mayer, Kate Newby, George Smith, Josie Ann Teets, and Roberto Tejada. (Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., 78205; free and open to the public; 210-212-4900, info@artpace.org; free parking at 513 N. Flores)

The Witte Museum has opened – or is about to open – new exhibits as well. One of them, James Ferdinand McCan: A Texas Artist Rediscovered features the paintings of McCan who painted Texas life and landscapes more than a century ago. Just the documentary value of those paintings makes them precious. The exhibition is included in the admission price. The other exhibit, which will open May 21 is very different. It’s called The Power of Poison and it will open Saturday. We’ll tell you more about both, next week.

A major new mural project is in the works, spearheaded by the city’s Department of Arts and Culture
and San Anto Cultural Arts. Named The Spirit Within it will be a massive 18’ x 155’ mural designed by artists Ashleigh Garza and Hailey Marmolejo. When completed, it will be installed on the north-facing wall of Market Square’s Farmer’s Market at Commerce Street. Meanwhile, the community can take part in the painting. Community Paint Days are every Wednesday and Friday between now and July 1. There are also Family Paint Days, meaning children can participate. To learn more, email murals@sanantonio.org.