Arts Alive San Antonio

Things are looking up for the San Antonio thespian community and all of us theater fans!

The immediate big news is that the Woodlawn Theater Company will be soon leaving its premises at the historic Woodlawn Theater in the Deco District to relocate a few miles north to the Wonderland of the Americas Mall where it will take over the now-closed Bijou movie theater. Artistic director, Chris Rodriguez, explained that the company has had “amazing growth” in the past ten years, both as a musical-producing house and in its educational and outreach programs, which led him and the board to look for a new home. The new location would be the perfect place to continue that growth, he said. There will be a name change down the line, too. (More about all that later)

The Public Theater of San Antonio also has good news. Though they are staying put in their San Pedro Playhouse historic home, the company is opening a new show that, hopefully, will not be threatened by COVID trouble. The highly anticipated musical “Once on This Island,” is a multi-layered story of love and sacrifice set on an island in the Caribbean archipelago. The show is almost non-stop song-and dance. To learn more about it, read our story from July 14 on this site. It sounds very promising. (Opens Friday, runs through Aug. 7; Friday-Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 2 p.m.; Public Theater of San Antonio, 800 W Ashby in San Pedro Park; tickets $17 – $47; 210-733-7258, https://thepublicsa.org)

More good news: The Overtime Theater has made a wise decision to bring back the show that had to be postponed: “Einstein’s Wrong About Everything,” an original comedy by Joseph E. Green that the author describes as “based on true events, possibly true events, and blatantly untrue events.” Aren’t you intrigued already? The action is set in 1956, when Princeton pathologist, Thomas Harvey, decides to steal Einstein’s brain. You read that correctly. And it’s not fiction. The famed scientist’s brain was indeed taken by the pathologist who performed his autopsy. Einstein’s son was understandably angry but he later allowed other scientists to study his father’s brain.

In the play, Harvey is running away from the authorities, “the neo-Nazis who are chasing him and his partner-in-crime, and the iconic figures of the Beatnik era who try to save the day.”  Sounds like a riot!
(July 15 to Aug. 6; Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. with one Sunday matinee on July 31 at 3 p.m.; 5409 Bandera Rd., Suite 205, just inside 410; limited and distanced seating, face masks encouraged; Tickets $12-$18, at the door or online at www.theovertimetheater.org.)

If you don’t mind driving to Boerne, the community theater there has a comedy for you – “Dear Ruth” a story set in WWII time involving the correspondence between a soldier fighting in Europe and an American girl. But there’s a surprise. The girl sending the letters was signing them with her sister’s name. (Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m., through July 24; Boerne Community Theater, 907 E. Blanco Rd.; $18-$24; 830-249-9166, https://www.boernetheatre.org)

On the music from, there is the beloved Balcones Heights Jazz Festival, which opens Friday in the Wonderland of the Americas outdoor amphitheater around the lagoon. Friday headliners are vocalist and trumpeter Rob Zinn  and saxophonist Jeff Ryan, with bassist and Billboard recording artist Tony Saunders opening. (7:30 p.m., Wonderland of the Americas Mall at Fredericksburg and 410; free; food vendors will be on site and the food court inside the mall will remain open. Bring blankets or folding chairs. To learn more, see our article from Tuesday, July 12, on this site)

The Cactus Pear Music Festival is concluding this weekend with three concerts, featuring a powerful group of experienced musicians that includes violinist and fest founder Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, her successor Ryo Yanagitani, pianist Scott Cuellar, cellist Lachezar Kostov, bassist Zlatan Redzic,  hornist Jeff Garza, clarinetist Ilya Shterenberg and others.

The three final concerts are: Teutonic Triumphs, July 14, A party of Six, July 15, and On the Treshold, July 16. All take place at the Trinity Baptist Church, 319 E. Mulberry Avenue, start at 7 p.m. and all are performed without intermission. (210-838-2218, email cactusexecutive@aol.com; single ticket $30)

For a very different kind of music, you may want to visit the Arneson River Theater downtown to enjoy Fiesta Noche del Rio, a colorful, beautifully performed show of mariachi music, flamenco guitar and Mexican folkloric dancing. Guaranteed to put you in a good mood. (Friday-Saturday at 8:30 p.m.; $20 adults, $8 kids, under six free; at the door; Arneson River Theater can be accessed from La Villita or the River Walk.)

Fans of Amy Sedaris will be pleased to have the opportunity to see her in person at the Tobin Center this weekend. We are not that familiar with her TV show but, apparently, she ‘s quite entertaining regardless of the theme of her conversation with the audience. (July 15 at 8 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, tickets $34.50 – $75; tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624)

On July 21, the Tobin will present Tracy Morgan’s “No Disrespect.” Morgan has been on television a great deal, including in Saturday Night Live, and in season four of TBS’s “The Last O.G.” which he executive produces and stars in. He has also had standup specials for Netflix, HBO and Comedy Central (July 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Tobin Center; tickets $39.50 – $102.50., to purchase see above)

Singer/songwriter Gary P. Nunn, who specializes in contemporary country music will entertain crowds this weekend at Gruene Hall. (Friday at 8 p.m. & Saturday at 9 p.m.; $25; Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Rd.; 877-556-0806, www.gruenehall.com)

Americana singer, Kevin Galloway,  will be at Sam’s Burger Joint Saturday. (July 16 at 9 p.m.; Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., $15-$70; 210-223-2830; www.samsburgerjoint.com)

We love pretty baskets, so we noticed the new exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art: Creative Splendor: Japanese Bamboo Baskets from the Thoma Collection, which will open July 15. It’s described as a series of three installations of approximately 15 baskets, each, that will survey the outstanding accomplishments of Japanese basket makers active since the 19^th century to the present, from three regions of Japan: Kansai, Kanto and Kyushu. Each region developed its own styles and techniques. (The exhibition will be open until January 2, 2024; SAMA, 200 W. Jones Ave., 210-978-8140) SAMA is a Blue Star Museum, meaning it’s offering free admission to active-duty military and their families, until Labor Day.

The McNay Museum has a lot going on, including its recent acquisition of a monumental bronze Sculpture for its outdoor sculpture garden. Created by Hank Willis Thomas, the sculpture features a child holding a bow and reins while riding an ornately decorated snail. Yes, you read that right – snail. This “snail” and its rider are about 7-feet tall. The title, “History of the Conquest” references a 17^th century German Baroque sculpture in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. According to the press release, the figure stands for Africa, the source of the nautilus shell, which was harvested in large quantities off the coast of eastern Africa. Thomas is a contemporary artist who often references history and examines how the past influences the present.

San Antonio-based Ruiz-Healy Art owns both the Olmos Parkgallery that we, San Antonians, know, and a gallery in New York City. It has been the official dealer/representative of the work of the late San Antonio artist, Chuck Ramirez, since his death in 2010. It will present his art at the 2022 edition of the Armory Show in New York City given that this year’s fair will focus special programming on Latinx and Latin American Artists. Ramirez’s exhibition “Long Term Survivor” will be recreated for the first time since the original 1999 exhibit at Artpace, here in San Antonio. Ruiz-Healy Art will be in Booth F19, at the Javits Center, 429 11^th Avenue in New York.

And here’s a treat, courtesy of the Agarita Chamber Players: the ensemble’s last concert of the season in its entirety, titled Variations on the Golberg Variations. To watch click on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWdLJLFrhVs