“The Nutcracker” ballet has been performed at Christmastime for more than 100 years, but not quite the way the Oakland Ballet is staging it this weekend. “Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker” isn’t set in the stuffy Victorian era, but in the looser early 20th century, when women had ditched their corsets and upped their hems, when they had sidestepped convention for free thinking. “A birth of intellectualism for women, when women were fighting for suffrage, riding bicycles and had a different…
On the side of a nondescript Temescal building, a tableau is coming alive in a vibrant array of blues, oranges and reds. An artist on a ladder, spray paint in hand, adds the final touches, catching the eye of a passerby, who yells, “It looks great,” as he drives by. Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith smiles and waves, then returns to her work. “Murals are cool because you’re out here connecting with other human beings,” the artist said. “Because you’re outside all day, I’m…
Alex Valle did not expect date night to begin blindfolded and on a stage. She sat across a divider from a potential match, a man who introduced himself as “Dennis,” as a lively audience listened to them banter. The experience was “exciting and abnormal,” Valle reported after removing her blindfold, and also short-lived — lasting just five minutes. But that was the plan. Each dater had a dozen or so other meetups scheduled for later that night. As young people…
The Oakland Comedy Festival returns this weekend for its sixth year, featuring dozens of up-and-coming and established talent. Mike E. Winfield, a comic who has been featured on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” will headline the event Sunday. Shoshanna Howard, Oakland Comedy Festival host and founder, said the event is all about bringing people together. With Bay Area comedy venues like Alameda Comedy Club, Cal Shakes, and San Francisco’s Milk Bar shutting down, Howard said…