stage

Stage listings are compiled by Laurie Koh and Cheryl Eddy. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, Deborah Giattina, Karen McKevitt, and Lara Shalson. See 8 Days a Week for information on how to submit items to the listings.

theater

Opening

Bent Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079, www.therhino.org. $15-35. Previews Thurs/8-Fri/9, 8pm. Opens Sat/10, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm (Sun/11, show at 7pm). Through Jan 7. Theatre Rhinoceros performs Martin Sherman's tale of three homosexuals who flee for their lives in Nazi Germany.

Cinderella Zeum, 221 Fourth St; 1-866-468-3399, www.ticketweb.com. $20-25. Previews Thurs/8, 7pm ($5). Opens Fri/9, 3 and 8pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 3pm (also Fri-Sat, 8pm; no shows Dec 24; no 8pm show Dec 31). Through Dec 31. African American Shakespeare Company performs their hip adaptation of the fairy-tale classic.

Ongoing

*700 Sundays Golden Gate Theatre, One Taylor; 512-7770, www.shnsf.com. $58-148. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Dec 17. Billy Crystal's Tony Award-winning one-man show easily fills the enormous Golden Gate Theater, holding his audience more or less in thrall for the better part of three hours. Set against a life-size replica of the façade of his family's modest suburban home (its windows filling regularly with ample home-movie footage and other images from those years), the comedian and actor's autobiographical account of his New York upbringing is an often jaw-dropping personal and cultural history, peopled with jazz legends like Billie Holiday – artists produced and recorded by his father and uncle for the family's Commodore Records label – as family friends. The stories, tinted for the most part with rosy nostalgia and affection, are often as fascinating as they are hilarious. And Crystal delivers them expertly, with a relaxed nonchalance that belies his considerable powers as actor and mimic, his unbounded energy, and impeccable timing. Although the show centers initially on his relationship with his father, who died when Crystal was 15 (the title records the number of leisure days father and son ultimately had together), it soon veers into other matters and realms, with family as its touchstone, before finally focusing on his mother and her last years. The sentimental aspects of the material are considerable, but are lightened with humor deftly and disarmingly delivered from within the most somber descriptions of grief and loss. (Avila)

After Dark New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $20-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm (no shows Dec 24-25). Through Dec 31. New Conservatory Theatre Center's Pride Season Eleven continues with Steve Luger's romantic holiday comedy.

Aga-Boom Alcazar Theater, 650 Geary; 441-4042, www.agaboom.com. $34-47. Wed-Sat, 7:30pm (also Sat and Dec 29-30, 3pm); Sun and Dec 26, 4pm (also Sun, 1:30pm). Through Dec 30. Clowns clown, a contortionist contorts, and an audience finally devolves into a butcher paper and beach ball free-for-all in this family sideshow created and staged by Cirque du Soleil veteran Dmitri Bogatirev. With fellow clowns Anton Bogatirev, Iryna Ivanytska, and Valery Slemzin, Bogatirev works variations on circus standards with expert zeal, including comical pantomimes involving buttons clearly marked don't push, some enthralling feats of juggling (Bogatirev with a suitcase or a toy airplane), and skits featuring audience members dragged on stage and ritually humiliated to general approbation. There's also a cool and creepy interlude by a masked contortionist (Tatiana Gousarova), and the whole show thrusts forward on the pulsing rhythms of a quirky pop score. Nevertheless, Aga-Boom (the title is a play on the Russian word for paper) has bits that are pretty thin and run on too long, like a clown-stalks-clown sequence, while good-natured audience participation can count overall for a bit more than the laughs warrant. So ha-has and oohs and ahs are somewhat spread out – at least until the clown de theatre at evening's end. (Avila)

Beyond Therapy Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter; 433-1226, www.jeanshelton.com. $20-25. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. The Shelton Theater presents Christopher Durang's comedy about therapists and their patients.

*Corteo Grand Chapiteau, SBC Park parking lot; 1-800-678-5440, www.cirquedusoleil.com. $31.50-89. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Thurs-Sat, 4pm); Sun, 1 and 5pm. Through Jan 8. If you've loved Cirque du Soleil for its mind-blowing artistry and acrobatics but have grown tired of its snooty veneer and bad sight lines, take heart: With Corteo, they finally get it right. In a brilliant move, the company seats the audience nearly in the round, with the playing space dividing the circle in half – which brings the performers closer to the audience and virtually eliminates bad seats. Sure, there's still excessive merchandising and $18 SBC parking, but the show makes a more authentic connection with the audience while still delivering the seemingly impossible circus acts. Corteo ("cortege" in Italian) chronicles the death of a clown, who imagines – or dreams – his own funeral procession, with flying angels, little people, clowns and, of course, circus performers. Inhabiting the space between heaven and earth, women swing from chandeliers (much more stunning than trapezes), and acrobats spring from oversized, trampolinelike beds with daring abandon. While some comic interludes were mistimed, other impressive acts include heart-stopping gymnastics on horizontal bars and trampolines, gravity-defying juggling, and an absurdist rendition of Romeo and Juliet on a miniature stage. This may be the most fun you could ever have at a funeral. (McKevitt)

Emperor Norton I Dark Room Theater, 2263 Mission; 401-7987, www.darkroomsf.com. $15. Fri-Sat, 7:30pm (no shows Dec 23-24); Sun, 3pm (no show Dec 25). Through Jan 29. Impossible Productions performs a new musical about the legendary, Gold Rush-era San Francisco character.

*The False Servant, or the Business of Love Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor; 386-2373, theatreabydos@aol.com. $18-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Dec 17. In Abydos Theater's razor sharp production of Pierre Marivaux's classic 18th-century French comedy, love, gender, and sexual desire prove as fluid as money – and all four are bound up together in a continual, erotically charged dance that confirms the observation: "In this life, we are all servants of someone or another." A wealthy young woman (Megan Smith) goes in disguise as a chevalier to discover the full intentions of the man she is thinking of marrying, the slick and utterly mercenary Lelio (Jonathan Leveck). Pretending to befriend Lelio man to man, Chevalier agrees to help him out by seducing away his fiancée, the not-quite-as-wealthy Countess (Beth Wilmurt), but soon goes some way toward wooing for its own sake. Reveling in her role as a man, Chevalier must pay hush money to a pair of servants (Joseph Estlack and Sam Misner) whose venal and carnal appetites are whetted to distraction, in all directions, by the scent of a "juicy intrigue." Director Jessica Heidt's energetic Jazz-Age staging blends seamlessly with a fresh and lucid new translation-adaptation by Ann and George Crowe, while the physically stylized yet coolly assured performances of her fine cast strike a winning balance between the play's broad comedy and thematic subtlety. (Avila)

The Foreskin of Christ: A Musical Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission; 759-1047. $10-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Dec 17. Pullover Productions and Styptic Group perform a musical about cloning, politics, and religion.

*Good Luck with It Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 1-800-838-3006, www.themarsh.org. $15-22. Extended run: Sat, 8:30pm. Through Dec 17. With respect to one-man comedy shows, there's funny, and then there's Franken funny. A monster comic showman of truly prodigious talent, San Francisco comedian Will Franken fills up a performance space so naturally you'd think he could really only live on stage (without, anyway, seriously alarming the villagers). In this largely brilliant series of absurd segues and satirical sketches (the show's title emerges from a particularly pettish personality type in one of them), the lanky, long-haired, and distinctly not-what-you'd-expect performer lights on the Marsh like a gangling bird of prey, devouring every cultural cliché, vacuous dramatic trope, or everyday inanity a deeply middling civilization has to offer. The easily offended will not be disappointed. Devoutly sacrilegious and scrupulously inappropriate, as well as refreshingly off-the-wall, Franken's the surreal thing. (Avila)

High Standards New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $20-80. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (no show Dec 24; Dec 31, additional show at 10:30pm); Sun, 3pm (no show Dec 25). through Dec 31. Wesla Whitfield sings the songs of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, and others in her new show, accompanied by Mike Greensill.

The Hopper Collection Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $20-50. Extended run: Tues-Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 2:30pm. Through Dec 18. Starting Dec 20, runs Tues-Thurs, 8:30pm; Fri, 5 and 9pm; Sat, 2:30pm. Through Dec 31. Magic Theater presents the world premiere of playwright Mat Smart's muddled and ultimately empty comedy-drama about a wealthy art dealer (Andy Murray) and his kooky, not to say deranged, wife (Julia Brothers), battling out some tortured history and secret trauma while entertaining, in their posh Frank Lloyd Wright home, a young man (Zac Jaffee) fresh out of brain surgery who happens to share the wife's same obsession with painter Edward Hopper. The tumor victim (a strained sympathy ploy whose headache is nothing compared to our own) comes to gawk at one particular masterpiece in the older couple's possession (hanging there in the living room but obscured from the audience's line of sight), and is simultaneously treated to a visit by a young woman (Anna Bullard) who, seemingly answering to two different names, may or may not be the love of his life. It probably sounds more promising than it is. Characters and relationships never ring true, the witty and whimsical dialogue often tries too hard, and the plot's mysteries barely interest us (turning out, moreover, as trite as they are preposterous). Artistic director Chris Smith's production is pretty as a picture, but Smart's play is bad John Guare. (Avila)

House of Blue Leaves Actors Theatre of San Francisco, Main Stage, 533 Sutter; 296-9179, www.ticketweb.com. $10-40. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Dec 17. Zookeeper Artie Shaughnessy is about as trapped as the animals he cares for. It's 1965, and he's stuck in Queens, New York, when he'd rather be writing songs for Hollywood films. His deranged wife, aptly named Bananas, pretends she's a dog, and his girlfriend, Bunny Flingus, won't cook for him until he marries her – apparently she's more expert in the kitchen than she is in bed. His AWOL son is plotting to blow up the pope on his visit to town. A dark comedy written by John Guare in 1971, House of Blue Leaves examines our obsession with celebrity and magnifies the more absurd aspects of our human condition. This production, helmed by Michael Medici, is more outrageous comedy than dark comedy. While some of the shenanigans are great fun to watch and Michael Soldier as Artie proves an entertaining singer, some actors are so over the top the moment they step on stage they aren't able to explore the characters' tragic sides. Thus, they don't quite earn the play's shocking ending. (McKevitt)

*Irving Berlin's White Christmas Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market; 512-7770, www.ticketmaster.com. $40-85. Wed-Sat, Dec 20, and 26-27, 8pm (no 8pm show Dec 28; additional shows Wed, Sat, Dec 22, and Dec 26-27, 2pm; no 2pm show Dec 31); Sun, 2pm (also Dec 18, 7:30pm; no shows Dec 25). Through Dec 31. Welcome to Irving Berlin's White Christmas, a 1950s musical landscape of fresh-faced optimism and unabashed patriotism, a place where worried people who can't sleep count their blessings instead of sheep. But all is not the epitome of Norman Rockwell contentment. A retired general's Vermont inn faces a mountain of debt and a heat wave that threatens a white Christmas. So two of his former privates-turned-song-and-dance men, along with their love interests and a chorus of performers, decide to put on a show (where else?) in the barn of the inn. During the rehearsals, the show is "threatened" (but not really) by lovers' spats, a slower-than-molasses local stagehand, and an overstressed director. White Christmas is all about Berlin's music – and musical theater aficionados as well as those seeking 1950s nostalgia won't be disappointed with such numbers as "Sisters," "Snow," "Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me," and, of course, the "White Christmas" finale, when it does indeed snow in San Francisco. Some may find this show rather sweet and hokey, but with terrific tap dance numbers, a beautifully detailed set, and winning performances by the lead actors, White Christmas might just be the remedy for any holiday cynic. (McKevitt)

Menopause the Musical Theatre 39 at Pier 39, Two Beach St; 433-3939, www.menopausethemusical.com. $46.50. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed, 2pm and Sat, 4pm); Sun, 2pm. Open-ended. Jeanie Linders's musical comedy celebrates women who are facing "the change."

*Not a Genuine Black Man Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. $15-22. Extended run: Thurs-Fri, 8:30pm; Sat, 5pm. Through Jan 21. What, the unapologetically middle-class Brian Copeland asks, is the real meaning behind the phrase "a genuine black man"? By way of an answer, the stand-up comic and KGO radio host offers up a simultaneously funny and disarmingly frank story about growing up African American in the racist suburb that was San Leandro in the early 1970s. Letting his narrative bounce back and forth between his boyhood memories and a period of depression that overtook him as a parent in 1999 – and interlacing the autobiography with verbatim utterances from both sides of the fight his family joined to desegregate the city – Copeland brings admirable chops as a comedian to bear on some difficult and disturbing, if ultimately hopeful, material. (Avila)

Porcelain Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy; 675-5995, www.crowdedfire.org. $18-30. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Dec 17. Racism and homophobia confine like the bars of the prison cell where a profoundly lonely 19-year-old, John Lee (played by Jason Wong with intriguing, unfolding complexity), sits for the murder of his lover (John Atwood), having confessed to firing six bullets into his body in a public bathroom in London. Lee, the son of a Singaporean immigrant and restaurant owner, barely registers any hardship in his incarceration, having long been shunned twice over – as Asian and gay – by the British society he grew up in. Instead he sits quietly folding red paper cranes. Porcelain brought American playwright Chay Yew instant award-winning recognition when it premiered, in London in 1992 (it had its Bay Area premiere the following year, in a production at Theatre Rhinoceros). This acclaim clearly had less to do with its fairly conventional plot devices, half-developed subthemes, or occasionally amateurish passages than its daring look at the interplay of racism and homophobia, including their internalized dimensions, in the life and mind of its protagonist. Crowded Fire opens its ninth season with Yew's play, and director Mei Ann Teo gives Porcelain an elegantly designed, smoothly executed production, though one lacking enough in necessary intensity that the play's clunkier aspects can overwhelm it. (Avila)

Prelude to a Kiss SF Playhouse, 536 Sutter; 677-9596, www.ticketweb.com. $18-60. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Dec 17. If you're in the mood for a familiar romantic comedy with a feel-good ending, then SF Playhouse's competent production of Craig Lucas's popular fairytale might be just what you're looking for. After a whirlwind romance, Peter and Rita are set to get hitched. But on their wedding night, a strange old man kisses Rita, and poof! – Rita's not acting like herself, and somewhere there's an old man who doesn't know who he is anymore. Of course, true love prevails: Peter realizes that his mate's soul has been switched, and soon he's having intimate conversations with Rita in the old man's body. These scenes, with Christopher W. Jones as Peter and Joe Bellan as the old man, are surprisingly touching. The comic delight is Lauren English as Rita after the transformation. Whether checking out her own body or trying to make out with Peter, English revels in bringing out the old man inhabiting Rita's body. Prem Lathi's apt costuming adds to the effect. The first half of the play is less successful: Though the scenes move quickly and smoothly under Bill English's direction, we never fully get the passion between Peter and Rita, making the play's final message about the power of love seem empty like the relationship between them. (Shalson)

The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson; 978-2787, www.42ndStMoon.org. $20-38. Wed/7, 7pm; Thurs/8-Fri/9, 8pm; Sat/10, 6pm; Sun/11, 3pm. Forty-second Street Moon essays Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley's offbeat 1962 musical, lending an unusual if slightly off-key note to the company's current season of concert-format musical theater revivals. The play (which initially bombed in England, nixing its London premiere, but went on to major success on Broadway in 1965) has more theme than plot, taking place in an abstract realm where a tyrannical Victorian gentleman named Sir (Craig Jessup) bullies and swindles his half-starved, lower-class counterpart, Cocky (Kristopher McDowell), in a game whose features are forever changing and whose outcome is always rigged. Fleshing out this class allegory are a chorus of street urchins, Sir's young lackey (Annie Donahey), Cocky's dream girl (Brandy Collazo), and The Black Man (Brian Yates Sharber), whose unexpected arrival has a consciousness-raising effect. In addition to unevenness in performances (minus strong character work by Jessup and McDowell) Roar too often seems less ethereal than merely stagnant, summoning little forward motion, though some worthy songs and repartee (the latter turning generally on revealing malapropisms like the one in the title). Director-choreographer Cindy Goldfield otherwise helms the play like a conventional musical, the result being (without doing much justice to either side) something like a cross between Beckett and Oliver! (Avila)

'Safe Words – Loud Silences: The Shorts Project' Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter; 503-0437, www.lveproductions.com. $17-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Dec 18. One might call the overarching theme to La Vache Enragée's program of short plays and silent films "the animating power of love." Anyway it crops up, and in fairly unexpected places – like the deathbed of a still-spunky young woman (Kate Emswiler) in Don Nigro's The Sin-Eater, a hilarious faux-gothic tale directed by LVE artistic director Jennifer Dean. It's there, too, in Tennessee Williams's romantically comic Case of the Crushed Petunias, an uneven piece directed by Rachel Rajput, whose heroine Dorothy Simple (Sylvia Kratins) has her defenses (said petunias) stormed by a mysterious gentleman caller (Fred Pitts). Steve Martin's The Zig-Zag Woman, handily directed by Christopher Jenkins, meanwhile laughs at love with a warm-hearted absurdism distinctly Martin's own, as a waitress (Dana Lau) literally goes to pieces attracting the attention of a frenetic young regular (Todd Brotze), amid proffered wisdom from two older gentlemen-customers (Jeff Bredt and Pitts). Of four original films, only Neil Ira Needleham's Consenting Adults is very interesting, an archly nostalgic and wistful patchwork of kissing couples and a lone woman whose intensifying repetitions set up a rhythm perfectly complimented by pianist-composer Christine McClintock's fresh-sounding score for piano, flute (Sky Grealis), and tenor violin (John Nikolatos). While definitely hit-and-miss, a likeable cast and musical score help weave a divertingly varied and well-paced evening. (Avila)

*The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey, and Dean Post Street Theatre, 450 Post; 771-6900, www.ticketmaster.com. $37-69. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm); Sun, 3pm. Open-ended ("holiday" version of the show runs through Jan 8). You know you've made it when God is your warm-up act. And while it may be little more than a convenient, tossed-off premise, God (voice of the late Buddy Hackett) recalling the Rat Pack from their heavenly lounge to play one last gig has about the right ring of latter-day hokeyness and chutzpah to it. If it sounds cheesy, as soon as the sizzling band strikes up the first tune and Frank (Tom Tiratto), Sammy (Louie Velez), and Dino (Andy DiMino) belt out a flawless "Where or When," you realize it's also very much the real deal. The brainchild of Hackett's son Sandy (who, in addition to writing and directing, holds his own alongside veteran performer-impersonators as an excellent Joey Bishop), The Tribute infectiously recreates those storied Las Vegas evenings of the early 1960s when Sinatra, Davis, Martin, and dead-pan comedian Bishop (who, incidentally, dwells not in heaven but in Santa Monica) sang, joked, horsed around, boozed up, and caroused, while making their audience feel like they were partying with the Rat Pack. Notwithstanding a certain concession to the session (toning down the decidedly off-color humor and raunch of an earlier era), this is hep history come alive. (Avila)

V the Ultimate Variety Show V Theater, Pier 39; 39-VSHOW, www.vtheshow.com. $24-44. Nightly, 6 and 8pm. Ongoing. A revolving array of variety acts highlight this family-friendly show, originally produced in Las Vegas.

What Mama Said About 'Down There' Our Little Theater, 287 Ellis; 921-8234, www.celebrateclitoris.com. $15-20. Extended run: Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Dec 17. Sia Amma's comedy about mothers and daughters returns for an extended run.

Bay Area

Brundibár and Comedy on the Bridge Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $15-64. Tues and Thurs, 7:30pm (also Thurs, 2pm; no matinee Thurs/8); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm; no shows Dec 25); Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm; Dec 24, shows at noon and 5pm). Through Dec 28. Playwright Tony Kushner and illustrator-children's author Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) transpose (back) to the stage their 2003 picture-book version of Brundibár, Czech composer Hans Krása's 1938 children's opera, in a lavishly designed, well-cast production at the Berkeley Rep, overseen by artistic director Tony Taccone. An allegory of good and evil, Brundibár concerns a young brother and sister thwarted in their attempt to buy milk for their ailing mother by the town's reigning bully, the organ grinder Brundibár, until three talking animals lead them and the rest of the town's children in a revolt. Born amid the rising tyranny of the Nazis, and famously performed by imprisoned children of Terezín (Hitler's "model ghetto," from which both composer and most of his child-cast were sent on to die at Auschwitz), Brundibár's kooky fairytale comes wrapped in an aura of deep and mixed emotion – brought out equally in Krása's lush, dynamic score (performed by members of the Berkeley Symphony) and Kushner's subtle translation-adaptation of the libretto. But if unable to deny the persistence of evil, Brundibár insists that freedom and human solidarity overcome the greatest obstacles when understood as synonyms for each other. Beautifully presented, together with an equally fine staging of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu's contemporaneous Comedy on the Bridge (in which a group of citizens find themselves absurdly, dangerously trapped on a bridge between two warring towns), Berkeley Rep's unique holiday program is a lively, wise, and gently wistful treat for the senses. (Avila)

Cabaret Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; (510) 841-6500, www.shotgunplayers.org. $15-50. Thurs-Sun, 8pm (no shows Dec 22-25; additional show Dec 18, 5pm). Through Jan 15. Shotgun Players performs the Joe Masteroff-Kander and Ebb musical.

Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 464-4468, www.impacttheatre.com. $10-15 (Thurs/8, pay what you can). Thurs/8-Sat/10, 8pm. Impact Theatre performs Sheila Callaghan's new drama about a mother and daughter who have difficulty moving on when the girl's father dies.

Into the Woods Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield, Palo Alto; (650) 903-6000, www.theatreworks.org. $20-54. Tues, 7:30pm; Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm; no 8pm show Sat/10); Sun, 2 and 7pm (no 7pm show Jan 1). Through Jan 7. TheatreWorks performs Sondheim's fractured-fairy-tale musical.

Marius Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $28-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Dec 18. As director Tom Ross notes, it's only fitting that Aurora Theatre Company presents Marius, the first installment of Marcel Pagnol's Fanny trilogy. After all, several Berkeley restaurants have been named after the infamous French characters Panisse, Cesar, and Fanny. Marius first premiered in the late 1920s, and its tale of a young man torn between 18-year-old Fanny and the lure of a sailor's life hasn't been modernized in this new translation by Zack Rogow, which is just fine. Marius is an absolutely charming play with beautiful ensemble acting. Jessa Brie Berkner as Fanny is sweetly flirtatious, while relative Bay Area newcomer Daniel Hart Donoghue plays Marius with a subtle, filmic quality. Veteran actors Robert Ernst (as Marius's father, Cesar) and George Maguire (as Panisse), along with Lynne Soffer as Fanny's mother, are great fun to watch playing off each other in some comedic interludes. (Another local veteran, Julian Lopez-Morillas, takes over the part of Panisse after December 12.) In all, Marius's ingredients add up to one marvelous dish. (McKevitt)

*Splittin' the Raft Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; (415) 388-5208, www.marintheatre.org. $29-47. Wed/7, 7:30pm; Thurs/8-Sat/10, 8pm (also Sat/10, 2pm); Sun/11, 2 and 7pm. Marin Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Scott Kaiser's very entertaining, rather postmodern adaptation of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Set in a visually heightened version of a 1970s grade-school classroom with all the familiar amenities (overhead projectors, film strips, writing desks, etc.) and a central merry-go-round serving as raft to Huck (Stacy Ross) and Jim (Aldo Billingslea), a four-actor ensemble divides up a word-for-word narrative interweaving Twain's morally and politically complex adventure tale with the stirring oratory and firsthand knowledge of the great abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass (Billingslea). Throughout, director Danny Scheie's excellent cast (which includes Karen Aldridge and Mark Farrell) manipulates or acts opposite a variety of maps, diagrams, and film clips that add comic touches while unfolding an evocative and provocative landscape of cultural signs and symbols. Meanwhile, accompanist John Florencio lays out a pastiche of iconic period music on an upright piano. Unflagging in energy and skill – with Scheie's lively and imaginative staging making full use of Kate Boyd's exquisitely stylized set – Splittin' the Raft strikes one or two intentionally discordant but not entirely successful notes, especially at the end (where the subtlety of the production as a whole collapses into a more narrowly conceived political point). But in general its intentional splitting, complementing, and juxtaposing of voices, images, narratives, and truths is fresh and stimulating. (Avila)

dance

David Dorfman Dance Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California; 292-1233, www.jccsf.org/arts. Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. $22-28. See Critic's Choice.

*Janice Garrett and Dancers Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 345-7575. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. $18-25. I can't think of a better local example of fabulous, thrilling ensemble work by a septet (or so) of exciting, gifted performers who give their all to the common effort and yet who always are themselves. Whether it's Nol Simonse soaring or pouting, Kara Davis leaping or cowering, or Heidi Schweiker racing or freezing, you can see the dancers' individuality shining through Janice Garrett's choreography. This latest home season has no big surprises except that the world premieres demand even more of these valiant dancers. In terms of speed alone, Garrett raised the demands a notch. Fast Brass, danced in black outfits (including berets), is a fun, though inconsequential, precision race through some fabulous show-off gypsy brass music. It served as good introduction to Charles Moulton's 18 Person Precision Ball Passing (1988), a juggling piece of overlapping patterns, explosions, and waves that kept everyone at the edge of their seats. Audience included. Garrett's Brink used a lot of by-now familiar gestural language and intricate partnering – some of which, on opening night, looked rather tense. Even excellent dancers need time to settle into new work, particularly if it seems inspired by the fast forward button. (Felciano)

Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company ODC Theater, 3157 17th St; 863-9834, www.odctheater.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $20. The company performs the world premiere of two selected movements from The Lost of the Red_Tassled Spear, as well as excerpts from Southern Girl and Beyond.

'Orbit: Notes from the Edge of Forever' Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia; 626-3311, www.theintersection.org. Thurs, 7:30pm. $5-15. The ESP Project, Intersection, and community members participate in this Open Process series performance project focusing on alien life.

Project Bandaloop Project Artaud Theatre, 450 Florida; 392-4400, www.projectbandaloop.org. Fri-Sat and Thurs/15, 8pm; Sun/11, 3pm. Through Dec 17. $22.50-25. The aerial and vertical dance company performs Loft! An Evening of Selected Works.

JoAnn Selisker, Dance Ceres, Anne Carol Jon Sims Center for the Performing Arts, 1519 Mission; 554-0402. Sun, 7pm. $10-15. The performers collaborate on To belong, or not to belong..., a work about approaching differences in relationships.

Bay Area

Terrain Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 848-4878. Sat-Sun, 8pm. $12-15. The dance and performance collective, comprised of choreographers and visual artists, presents WinterDances~breaking new ground.

performance

'Actors Run Wild!' Next Stage, 1620 Gough; 508-1808. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. $10-12. RubberMatchSeriez presents four one-act plays by playwrights Rey Carolino, Vonn Scott, and more.

'Agnes of God' Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum Way; 337-4713, www.sffct.org. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 3pm. Diana Brown, Gabrielle Motarjemi, and Jamie Beth Platte perform a play by John Pielmeier, directed by Elise Everett.

'Alamat' Diego River Theater, City College of San Francisco, 50 Phelan; 255-0440, www.alamatlegends.com. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $15-20. Bindlestiff Studio players perform playwright Rodolfo Carlos Vera's piece about Filipino-American history and folklore.

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg B, Marina at Laguna; 474-8935, www.improv.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm: "Stories of the Season," $12-15. Sun, 8pm: "Sunday Players Micetro," $8.

Big City Improv Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter; (510) 595-5597, www.bigcityimprov.com. Fri, 10pm. Ongoing. $15. The improv troop performs.

'The Buddy Club' Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way; (510) 236-7469, www.thebuddyclub.com. Sun, 11am-noon. $7. Earthcapades performs a children's show.

'Confessions of a Sitcom Nerd' Darkroom, 2263 Mission; www.darkroomsf.com. Wed-Thurs, 8pm. $15. Actor Dan Frischman (Head of the Class) performs a one-man show.

'Dirty Little Secret' Empire Plush Room, 940 Sutter; 885-2800, www.empireplushroom.com. Ongoing. Fri-Sat, 11pm. $25. This evening of performance is a "roaring twenties revue."

'Fauxgirls!' Marlena's, 488 Hayes; 864-6672, www.sfdrag.com. Sat, 10pm, free. Victoria Secret and Alexandria host this fabulous drag extravaganza featuring Davida Ashton, Daffney Deluxe, Nikki Starr, Chanel, Tia Dora, and others.

'Holiday Shorts III' Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason; 433-7827, www.brookside-art.org. Thurs, Sun, 8pm. $14-16. Through Dec 18. Brookside Repertory Theatre presents a collection of holiday themed short plays by Bay Area playwrights.

'Improv Revolution All-Star Jam' Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission; 897-6477, www.cafearts.com. Thurs, 8pm. $5-10. Christopher Hayes hosts.

'Lucky Rake "Tori-no-ichi" Festival' NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa; 621-7978, www.theatreofyugen.org. Sun, 2-5pm. Free-$5. Theatre of Yugen performs Kyogen comedy Persimmon Mountain Priest and holiday Noh dances.

Karen Mason: The Winner Takes It All Marines Memorial Club, 609 Sutter; 392-4400, www.bayareacabaret.com. Sun, 5pm. $45. The cabaret artist performs.

'On a Personal Note' Marsh, 1062 Valencia; www.themarsh.org. Wed, 8pm. $5-7. These five original theater pieces focus on the themes of obsession and relationships.

'PanTease II' CounterPulse, 1310 Mission; 626-2060, www.counterpulse.org. Sat, 9pm. $12-20. Burlesque-esque, Big Burlesque, Hot Pink Feathers, The Diamond Daggers, and No Knockers Burlesque perform.

'RSK Arts and Drumming Productions' Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 2550 Taylor; www.ya-nc.org. 1pm, free. RSK drumming ensemble performs with master Nigerian drummers Rasaki Aladokun and Olusola Adeyemi.

San Francisco Improv Cooperative Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission; 368-9909, www.sfimprovcooperative.com. Ongoing. Mon, 8pm. $5. The improv collective hosts a "Monday Night Jam."

'Situation Abnormal: Performances You'll Never See on Broadway' Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon; www.exploratorium.edu. Thurs, 8pm. Free-$13. Multimedia artist Kristin Lucas performs her piece Dry Run.

Mary Wilson Empire Plush Room, York Hotel, 940 Sutter; 885-2800, www.empireplushroom.com. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. $47.50-55. Mary Wilson, former member of vocal group the Supremes, performs.

'Zero Cabaret' CounterPulse, 1310 Mission; 626-2060, www.counterpulse.org. Fri, 8pm. $15. Contortionist Ember Bria Wyss, trapese artist Emily Leap, aerial fabric performer Kerri Kresinski, and other circus artists perform.

Bay Area

'Club Evolution' Kimball's Carnival, 522 Second St, Oakl; (510) 845-5044. 7pm, $10 sliding scale. Congolese drummers, spirit dancers, poet Morgan "two fires" Kazembe, and Marvin X perform.

'Musical Night in Africa: Sharing Our Humanity' Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo, Berk; (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com. Sat, 8:30pm. $13-15. A free vegetarian African dinner precedes performances by The West African Highlife Band, Baba Ken Okulo and the Nigerian Brothers, and Village Drum Circle.

'Persia in Motion' Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck, Berk; 828-6196. Sat, 7pm; Sun, 2pm. $8-15. Shahrzad Dance Academy performs classical Persian dance.

'A View of the Heart' 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton, Mill Valley; (415) 383-9600, www.142throckmorton.com. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. $20-60. Karen Black performs her solo show about American women.

'Voices in Peace V: Psalms and Canticles of Praise and Comfort' Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Blvd, Oakl; Fri, 8pm; St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way, Berk; Sat, 3pm. (510) 531-8714, www.coolcommunity.org/voci. $15-20. Voci Women's Vocal Ensemble performs.

comedy

Brainwash 1122 Folsom; 861-3663. Thurs, 7pm: "Brainwash Comedy Open Mic," with host Tony Sparks, free.

Canvas Gallery 1200 Ninth Ave; 504-0010. Tues, 8pm: "Comedy Open Mic Night," free.

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight; 552-6949. Mon, 9pm: "Stand-Up Showcase: Iron Comic," with rotating hosts Leah Eva and Sam Arno, free.

Cobb's Comedy Club 915 Columbus; www.cobbscomedyclub.com, www.ticketweb.com. Wed, 8pm: "All-Pro Comedy Showcase," $10. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Fri-Sat, 10:15pm): Christopher Titus, $18-22.

Luggage Store 1007 Market; www.luggagetuesdays.blogspot.com. Tues, 8pm: Comedy open mic, free.

Mock Cafe 1074 Valencia; 826-5750, ext 5, www.themarsh.org. Sat, 9:30 and 11pm: Stand-up comedy, $7.

Niebaum-Coppola 916 Kearny; 291-1700, www.sfcomedycollege.com. Mon, 8:30pm: "Comedy Coppola Style," with host Kurtis Mathews, free.

Our Little Theater 287 Ellis; 928-4060, www.celebrateclitoris.com. Wed, 8pm: "Bay Area Comedy Showcase," $10-15.

San Francisco Comedy Club 50 Mason; 398-4129, www.laughalotproductions.com. Wed, 7:30pm: "Laugh Dammit!," $10. Fri, 8pm: "Friday Night Comedy," with host Eric Peterson, $10.

San Francisco Comedy College Clubhouse 414 Mason, Ste 705; www.sfcomedycollege.com. Wed, 8pm: "Funny Femmes Comedy Show," free. Fri, 6pm "SFCC New Faces," free. Fri, 8pm: "The Arsenal," free. Sat, 6pm: "The Petri Dish," free. Sat, 8pm: "The Stand-Up Project," free.

SF LGBT Community Center 1800 Market; 541-5610, www.karenripley.com. Mon, 7:30pm: "Monday Night Gay Comedy," with host Karen Ripley and comedians Lisa Geduldig, Erin Souza, Nick Leonard, and more, $8-15.

Bay Area

Throckmorton Theatre 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley; 383-9600, www.throckmortontheatre.com. Fri, 8pm: "New Jew Revue," with Brent Weinbach, Moshe Kasher, Louis Katz, and others, $15.

spoken word

Open mics take place almost every night in cafés throughout the Bay Area. If you want to perform, show up about half an hour before start time to put your name on the list. A day-by-day guide to spoken word events and featured readers:

Wednesday: Canvas Gallery 1200 Ninth Ave, SF; (415) 504-0060, mike@westcoastvideo.net. "Open Mic Talent Showcase," 7:30pm, free. Mechanics' Institute 57 Post; (415) 393-0119 ext 192. "Candle Sticks," with the Mechanix Poets, 6-7:30pm, free. North Beach Public Library 2000 Mason; (415) 355-5626. Poets Daniel Richman, Alice Rogoff, and Stephen Kopel read, 7pm, free.

Thursday: 16th Street and Mission BART plaza 16th St at Mission, SF; (415) 255-9881. "CAI Street Arts Workshop," open mic, 9:30pm, free. EastSide Arts Alliance 2587 International Blvd, Oakl; (510) 533-6629. "Holla Back," open mic, 8:30-10:30pm, donations accepted. Mediterraneum Cafe 2475 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 526-5985. "Word Beat Reading Series," with featured readers Avotcja and Pablo Series, 7pm, free. Pegasus Books and CDs 2349 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 649-1320, pegdowntown@sbcglobal.net. "Poets for Peace," with featured readers C.B. Follet, Ilya Kaminsky, Elline Lipkin, and more, 7:30pm, free. Dalva 3121 16th St, SF; (415) 290-5048. "Poetry Mission Thursdays," open mic hosted by Elz with featured reader Liz Green, 7-9pm, free. Railroad Expresso 705 Monterey, SF; (415) 333-4009. Open mic, 7pm, free.

Friday: Three Dollar Bill Café 1800 Market, SF; www.threedollarbill.com. "Queer Open Mic," with featured performer Steven Schwartz, 8pm, $1-5. Deep Roots Urban Teahouse 1418 34th St, Oakl; (510) 436-0121. "Word Life," open mic hosted by Sun Ru Skywaka, 7-10pm, free. Pro Arts Gallery 550 2nd St, Oakl; (415) 255-9035, www.youthspeaks.org. "Oakland Mic," 7pm, free.

Saturday: Red Vic Peace Center 1665 Haight, SF; (415) 864-1978. "Open Mic and Hot Tamales," 5pm, free. Java Source 343 Clement, SF; (415) 387-8025. Open mic, 9pm, free. Make-Out Room 3225 22nd St, SF; www.writerswithdrinks.com. "Writers with Drinks," with featured readers Karen Joy Fowler, Beth Lisick, Midori, Killing My Lobster, and more, 7:30-9:30pm, $3-5. Ecology Center 2350 San Pablo, Berk; www.ecologycenter.org. "Poetryu of Witness and The Witness of Poetry," with featured readers Tim Nuveen, Kirk Lumpkin, Robert Roden, and more, 8pm, free. 380 Embarcadero West Jack Londond Square, 380 Embarcadero West, Oakl; (415) 359-7156, www.upperroompromo.com. "Love Jones," with featured readers Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Poetry, 7pm and 10:15pm, call for price.

Sunday: Cafe Prague 584 Pacific, SF; (415) 905-8837. Maria Helena reads, plus open mic, 4-5:30pm, free.

Monday: Purple Onion 140 Columbus; 217-8400, www.caffemacaroni.com. "Live at the Purple Onion," open mic hosted by the Kitchenettes, 7-10pm, $5. Priya Indian Cuisine 2072 San Pablo, Berk; berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com. "Poetry Express," with featured reader Doug Howerton, 7pm, free. Jewish Community Center 3200 California, SF; 292-1233, www.jccsf.org. Poet Adrienne Rich reads, 8pm, $10-15. La Onda 3159 16th St; www.14hills.net. "14 Hills Poetry/Fiction reading," 7:30pm, free.

Tuesday: Black Repertory Group Theatre 3201 Adeline, Berk; (510) 652-2120. "Twilight Tuesdays," open mic, 7-9pm, $5. Club Deluxe 1511 Haight, SF; www.thewordparty.com. "Poetry and Jazz Tuesdays," open mic hosted by Jennifer, Ingrid, and Daniel, 8pm, free. Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia, SF; perpetualmotionroadshow.com. "The Perpetual Motion Roadshow: Voodoo Fairy Tales," with featured readers Jordan Fry, Bret Fetzer, Lori Selke, and more, 7:30pm, free. San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin; www.sfpl.org. "Radar Reading," with featured readers Kim Addonizio, Patrick Califia, and host Bay Guardian contributer Michelle Tea, 6pm, free. Park Branch Public Library 1833 Page, SF; (415) 355-5656. "On the Page, Off the Page," open mic with host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 7pm, free.