BAY AREA VIRTUAL EVENTS
Just because you’re stuck at home during the COVID-19 shutdown doesn’t mean you can’t explore the greater world. Here’s a sampling of family-friendly shows, concerts, activities and more streaming over the next several weeks.
BATS Improv Online Shows: This San Franciscobased improv group will stream free shows each week to bring a little improv magic into homes via Zoom. At 7:30 p.m. on the night of each show, click the link next to the show you want to see to connect to the BATS virtual theater. www. improv.org/online-shows/
Bay Area Book Festival:
Sunday. An all-day, free, virtual mini-festival which is being kicked off with a ticketed keynote program on Saturday. Berkeley #UNBOUND has gathered several influential thinkers, writers and other trailblazers to offer their response to this moment of political and social difficulty facing our nation. https://www. baybookfest.org/
Bay Area Children’s Theatre Creativity Corner:
This virtual “playborhood” offers kids stories that unfold via video, plus followup activities they can do on their own, inspired by the make-believe they’ve seen. Parents can submit their children’s creations to BACT, which is planning to share examples online. https:// bactheatre.org
Beat the Lock Escape Room: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Solve a virtual escape room with your friends via an audio/video call and live feed that lets you play by instructing a game master to search for clues. $25. www. beatthelock.com
Bringing BADM to You:
Bay Area Discovery Museum offers a series of fun, engaging learning experiences to enjoy as a family. Explore three different themes — science and math, body and brain and talk and play — designed to develop skills for children to succeed in school and life. Within each theme, you’ll find both step-by-step videos and activities with writtenout instructions. https:// bayareadiscoverymuseum. org/bringing-badm-to-you
Broadcast Platform, Marshstream: 7:30 p.m. nightly. Programming varies by night with offerings including short performances, book/writer discussions, singalongs, storytelling, game nights and more. Find more information at: www. themarsh.org.
Drive-in Movies: “Temple of Doom,” 8 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Order a movie meal or cinema snack pack to pick up from the Grab-n-stay Food Trucks after you park. Alameda County Fairgrounds, Gates 8 or 12, corner of Valley Avenue in Pleasanton. $35. https://bit.ly/300g6ll
Drew Harrison — Beatles & More: 7 p.m. Saturday, virtually from El Campanil Theatre. An hour-long solo concert will feature Beatles songs and other favorites. $10. www.elcampaniltheatre.com
18 Reasons Cooking School: Check out a slate of new online classes. You may not have everything listed in the equipment and shopping list, but instructors will give you guidance on how to adapt their recipes to what you have access to. Learn new recipes and techniques. https://18reasons.org/
Festival Napa Valley’s Remote Ensemble Project: This virtual performance of the “Va, Pensiero” chorus from Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” features instrumentalists and singers from 26 states, eight countries and five continents. They represent two dozen orchestras, ensembles, opera companies and music conservatories, such as the Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The performance can be seen on Festival Napa Valley’s YouTube channel: https://youtu. be/jhv9wlvnyxa
Full Moon Fridays — Live Cabaret Series: 8 p.m. Fridays. Featuring live cabaret style performances. https://www.facebook. com/42ndstreetmoon/
Funkmode Dance Studio Digital Workouts: Offering free dance videos, including breakdance, hip hop, youth dance party and more. Find the videos at https://www. youtube.com/user/funkMODE
Joketoberfest: 7 p.m. Saturday. At-home beer tasting and live-stream comedy show. Enjoy a lineup of five comedians live, interacting and entertaining you via Zoom, plus a delivery of craft beer. $10 to $60. www.plethos.org
Lamplighters Music Theatre Multimedia: Lamplighters brings their wit and musicality to the virtual stage with an inside look into the company and the rich history of Gilbert and Sullivan. The monthly assortment includes new interviews and video essays, alongside archival vignettes highlighting the best of the company’s 68-year performance history. Free. lmt. lamplighters.org/patreon
Live From El Campanil — A New Streaming Concert Series: 7 p.m. Saturdays. The series will commence with The Sun Kings’ Drew Harrison and his “Beatles & More” program (Saturday), “American Idol” favorites Tori Anna & Nick Crossen performing “Songs And Singers” (Oct. 10), and
Mads Tolling with special guest Mitch Polzak (Oct. 17.) Plans are already in progress for additional shows. $10. www.elcampaniltheatre. com
Livermore Shakes Educates: A Shakespeare resource webpage for kids and parents, this is an extension of the company’s “So Wise So Young” program for second, third and fourth graders. http://livermoreshakes. org/educates/
Magical Bridge Foundation Virtual Concerts and Sing-a-longs: Enjoy free family-friendly, multigenerational and sensory-friendly shows at noon daily on the Magical Bridge Facebook page. https://www. facebook.com/pg/magicalBridge/events/
Moraga Art Gallery Virtual Tour: View the Moraga Art
Gallery exhibit and hear artists talk about their work and what motivates them. Visit the Lamorinda Arts Alliance website for the link to the virtual tour: https:// laa4art.org
Mount Diablo Peace & Justice Center 2020Art & Writing Challenge: Middle and high school students in Contra Costa County are invited to submit visual art (any medium), creative writing and essays on the topic of “Our Connected Planet.” No fee. http://tinyurl.com/ mdpjc-artandwriting2020
“Dichterliebe (‘A Poet’s Love’)” from Opera San Jose: Available for streaming. In addition to English supertitles, Opera San Jose has announced plans to offer its virtual performances with Spanish and Vietnamese translations. $15-$50. www.operasj.org
Persian and Central
Asian Dance Classes:
Take daily classes on Zoom with teachers from all over the world including Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Xinxiang and more. $10 to $20. www.pomegranategardendance.com
“Pride and Pre-existing Conditions or Holy Forking Murgatroyd, It’s the 2020 Gala”: 3 p.m. Oct.
25. Lamplighters Music Theatre takes “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and a bit of “The Good Place” and adds “Pride and Prejudice” for a satirical musical based on pop culture and the music of Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. A silent auction starts Oct. 18; pay what you can. https://lamplighters.org/
School of Rock Remote Lessons: School of Rock is a performance-based music school for ages 5 to adult. Learn to play drums, guitar, keyboard, bass guitar and vocals by putting on seasonal rock shows. The school is offering a combination of one-onone remote lessons and access to master classes on music theory, songwriting, instrument exploration and genre journeys. Cost varies. schoolofrock.com/ sanramon
Second Saturday @ California Symphony: 7 p.m. solo and ensemble performances include “Virtuoso Vibrations” on Oct. 10 with Robyn Bollinger; “It’s a Cello-bration!” on Nov. 14 with Joshua Roman; and “Season in Song” on Dec. 12 with vocalists Kelley O’connor and Nicholas Phan. Free. Go to californiasymphony.org/ tickets-events/calendar.
Smuin’s Virtual Classes: Dancer of all levels participate in Zoom-based drop-in lessons covering styles from ballet to contemporary, to hip-hop. All classes are “pay what you can”. https://bit. ly/smuinclasses
Square One Yoga: Stay fit and grounded practicing live, interactive yoga. Check out the schedule of classes available at bayareane. ws/2yfh3oc.
The Escape Game Remote Adventures Virtual Escape Rooms: Your team will communicate with each other and a host at The Escape Game using Zoom. $30 per player. https://theescapegame.com/remoteadventures/