‘SCHOOL OF ROCK’ in session at Orpheum
If you’re going to create a stage musical of the boisterous Jack Black flick “School of Rock,” about a grungy rock musician who infiltrates a posh prep school as a substitute teacher, what would be a more natural team to adapt it than a couple of Conservative members of Britain’s House of Lords, the creators of “Downton Abbey” and “Phantom of the Opera?”
We’re talking about composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and writer Julian Fellowes, who joined forces to turn Mike White’s screenplay for the 2003 film into a rock musical.
The lyrics are by Glenn Slater, who previously worked with Webber on the “Phantom” sequel “Love Never Dies.”
Now in its third year on Broadway and its second on the West End, a national touring production of “School of Rock” comes to San Francisco’s SHN Orpheum Theatre.
It’s not quite the first time the musical has hit the Bay Area, as Oakland School for the Arts performed a student production at the Curran two years ago, but this time it’s the full touring production of the Broadway show directed by Laurence Connor.
Details: Through July 22; SHN Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco; $55-$256 (subject to change); 888-7461799, shnsf.com.
— Sam Hurwitt, Correspondent
U2 meets ‘Godot’ in San Francisco
If you like Samuel Beckett but wish his work was a just a little more relatable to the plight of rock superstars, PianoFight in San Francisco has just the play for you this weekend.
As the title implies, writer-director-actor Richard Lucas’ “Bono and The Edge Waiting for Godomino’s” mixes celebrity satire with a parody of Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.” After several runs in Los Angeles, the hour-long comedy breezes through San Francisco for a two-night run at PianoFight.
Feeling that he’s lost touch with the lives of common people, U2 singer Bono orders a pizza in hopes that a talk with the delivery person will ground him anew in what the simple folk do. Meanwhile, bandmate The Edge mostly puts up with the experiment. But how does one even pay for a pizza? Surely some salt-of-the-earth type out there knows.
Details: 7:30p.m. Friday and Saturday; PianoFight, San Francisco; $15-$20; waitingforgodominos.com.
— Sam Hurwitt, Correspondent
Halal Fest returns to Fremont
The nation’s largest festival devoted to halal foods returns to Fremont for its sixth year, but in a new location.
On Saturday, Halal Fest will bring together chefs and vendors who specialize in Indian, Pakistani, Middle Eastern, Arab, Mediterranean, African and American cuisines; all selling dishes made according to Islamic dietary guidelines.
Reflecting the array of cuisines, more than 20 vendors from around the Bay Area will sell everything from brisket to chaat to gyros to tacos.
Between bites, you can check out the live entertainment, carnival rides and the global arts and jewelry bazaar.
Details: Noon to 10:30 p.m., Town Fair Plaza, 39100 State St., Fremont; $7 (children 10 and under free); halalfest.com.
— Linda Zavoral, Staff
Get ready for Burger Boogaloo
Two legendary rock acts — Devo and The Damned — highlight the two-day lineup for the 2018 Burger Boogaloo music festival at Mosswood Park in Oakland.
Devo, the influential and innovative act behind such memorable cuts as “Whip It,” “Through Being Cool” and, best of all, “Gut Feeling,” headlines on Day One on Saturday. Other Day One acts include Mummies, Traditional Fools, Mudhoney, Spits, Hunx and His Punx and Flytraps.
The Damned — the band that gave the world one of the greatest punk-rock albums of all time, 1977’s “Damned Damned Damned” — tops the bill on Day Two on Sunday. Other Day Two acts include Guida, Le Shok, the Rip Offs, Dwarves, Firestarter, Quintron and Ms Pussycat, Gris Gris and Battleship.
The host for the weekend is John Waters.
The festival starts at noon each day at 3612 Webster St., but the festival entrance is on West MacArthur Boulevard between Webster and Broadway.
Besides great bands, the event offers a wide variety of music-related vendors, food and a beer garden.
For details on transportation, lodging, parking and other information, visit the festival’s FAQ page at burgerboogaloo.com/faq.html.
Details: Two-day pass are $169-$269, single-day tickets are $125 (Saturday) and $99 (Sunday); burgerboogaloo.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Dead & Co., Go-Go’s headed our way
Here’s a look at some of the top concerts happening in the Bay Area.
Dead & Company: Few things sound more natural than Grateful Dead music being played at Shoreline Amphitheatre, which was a thriving hub of Dead activity for years. Thus, it will be good to hear those great old songs again when Mayer and Company return to the Mountain View venue for a two-night stand, Monday and Tuesdsay. Fingers crossed for “Terrapin Station.” Details: 7 p.m.; $45-$149.50; livenation.com.
The Go-Go’s: Fresh off debuting their new musical on Broadway (after it premiered in San Francisco), all five original members of this pioneering pop-rock/New Wave act perform tonight at the Fox Theater in Oakland. Details: 8p.m.; $49.50$69.50; ticketmaster.com.
Dua Lipa: The “New Rules” singer visits the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday in support of her eponymous debut, which has now been certified gold in the U.S. Details: 8 p.m.; $39.50; ticketmaster.com.
Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin: The two great singer-songwriters co-headline a show on Sunday at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. Details: 6:30 p.m.; $39.50-$69.50; mountainwinery.com.
James Williamson and the Pink Hearts: Check out this new band featuring James Williamson of The Stooges, Frank Meyer of The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs and Petra Haden of that dog, performing Saturday at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Details: 8 p.m.; $35-$40; slimspresents.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Camila Meza comes to Bay Area
With her strikingly clear voice and commanding fluency on guitar, Camila Meza is one of the most exciting jazz musicians to emerge on the New York scene in the past decade.
She makes her East Bay debut Monday at Piedmont Piano in Oakland as a bandleader with pianist Nitai Hershkovits and bassist Or Bareket, exceptional Israeli musicians recently reunited after playing together as teenagers in Tel Aviv, and powerhouse drummer Allison Miller (who introduces the new quartet she co-leads with violinist Jenny Scheinman at Piedmont Piano on Sunday).
Meza also plays in Bareket’s trio with Hershkovits 7 p.m. Sunday at Bing Concert Hall studio, as part of the Stanford Jazz Festival ($15-$30; stanfordjazz.org).
Details: 8 p.m.; $20; 510-547-8188, piedmontpiano.com.
— Andrew Gilbert, Correspondent
A mezzo and her Mahler
In recent years, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has become one of the music world’s go-to singers, one who has excelled in a range of symphonic, operatic and art song repertoire.
She’s is one of her generation’s leading interpreters of the vocal music in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, a large-scale symphony that makes a breathtaking traversal from darkness to light; she was the soloist when Michael Tilson Thomas led the San Francisco Symphony’s most recent performances of the work, in 2014.
This week, Cooke returns to Davies Symphony Hall for three performances of the Mahler 3; with Tilson Thomas conducting. The program, which concludes the Symphony’s 2017-18 season, also features the Pacific Boychoir and the women of Ragnar Bohlin’s San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
Details: 2 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $35-$155; 415-864-6000, sfsymphony.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Cabanijazz Project has celebration
Since returning to the Bay Area from Tijuana in 2011, percussionist Javier Cabanillas has quickly earned a place for himself on the region’s thriving Latin music scene.
Part of the Pacific Mambo Orchestra when the Oakland ensemble unexpectedly won the 2014 Grammy Award for best Latin tropical album, he’s now stepping out as a bandleader in his own right.
On Saturday at Armando’s nightclub in Martinez, Cabanillas celebrates the debut release of his Cabanijazz Project, “Infrasonic,” with a high octane octet.
Combining 1970s funk, Latin jazz, and classic 1950s mambo, the band is a compact but mighty dance orchestra. Bring your dancing shoes.
Details: 8 p.m.; $15; 925-228-6985, armandosmartinez.com.
— Andrew Gilbert, Correspondent