Bay Area arts: 8 great live shows and concerts to see this weekend

From Alonzo King LINES Ballet to a musical satire about Disney princesses, there are a lot of great live shows to take in this week in the Bay Area. Here is a partial roundup. Alonzo King has established himself as one of the dance world’s most innovative and distinctive choreographers over the years, with a series of works that explore a mind-blowing array of themes and incorporate musical styles from around the world and from a variety of eras.

This season King and his LINES Ballet will reprise some of his memorable works, beginning with a program being offered today through Sunday. On tap are revivals “Following the Subtle Current Upstream,’ a work originally commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which King describes as a “piece about how to return to joy,” set to music by Bay Area tabla master Zakir Hussain and South African singer Miriam Makeba. The lineup also includes King’s delicate “Dust and Light,” set to concerti by Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli and religious chants by Francis Poulenc; “Writing Ground,” (2010), drawn from a poem by Irish writer Colum McCann and set to sacred early music from Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions; “Resin,” set to music by Jordi Savall and various Sephardic field recordings”; “Suite Etta,” which pays homage to Etta James”; and “Child of Sky and Earth,” set to a score by jazz pianist Jason Moran and vocals by Gregory Porter.

7:30 p. m. Thursday through Saturday, 5 p.

m. Sunday; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; $40-$115; linesballet. org.

Disney princesses are so engrained in our entertainment landscape that it’s only right that they get the sendup treatment. With a little bite. And that’s exactly what you’ll encounter in “Disenchanted,” a musical comedy that San Jose Playhouse is reviving and which opens in previews today.

Described by organizers as “uncensored” and “occasionally profane,” the show finds such iconic characters as Cinderella, Ariel (from “Little Mermaid”) and Hua (“Mulan”) telling their own stories and touching on such issues as race, the patriarchy and gender politics. “This production is pure fun,” says company artistic director Scott Guggenheim, “but these princesses have so much to say and they do so by celebrating individuality, promoting that beauty is from within, and smashing all stereotypes of what a traditional Disney princess should look and be like. ” The acclaimed show was conceived by Virginia history teacher Dennis T.

Giacino, who sought to portray female historical figures in a more realistic light. “Disenchanted” got its off-Broadway debut in 2014. San Jose Playhouse previously presented it in 2019.

Today through Nov. 5; 3Below Theaters, San Jose; $25-$60; sanjoseplayhouse. org.

The return of “Lohengrin” and season-opening concerts by the Oakland and Berkeley Symphony orchestras highlight this week’s classical music calendar. “Lohengrin” returns to San Francisco Opera Sunday afternoon in David Alden’s new-to-San Francisco production, setting Wagner’s mythic romance in mid-20th century Europe. The story of a knight sworn to avenge the honor of a woman wrongly accused of her brother’s murder features tenor Simon O’Neill in the title role and soprano Julie Adams as Elsa; the cast also includes baritone Brian Mulligan as Telramund, bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as King Heinrich and mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi, making her American debut as Ortrud.

A special livestream performance is available. Sunday through Nov. 1; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $26-$426; livestream performance on Oct.

21, $27. 50; sfopera. com.

Pianist Awadagin Pratt joins the Oakland Symphony this week as soloist in a pair of era-spanning works: Bach’s Piano Concerto in A, and Jessie Montgomery’s “Rounds” for Piano and String Orchestra. Shiyeon Sung conducts the program, also featuring Valerie Coleman’s celebratory “Seven O’Clock Shout” and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances. ” 8 p.

m. Friday; Paramount Theatre, Oakland; $25-$90; oaklandsymphony. org.

American jazz is on the program when Berkeley Symphony opens its 52nd season; conducted by music director Joseph Young, the orchestra welcomes the Marcus Roberts Trio, performing James P. Johnson’s 1927 “Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody. ” Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” along with works by Barber and Peter S.

Shin, complete the lineup. Come early for the pre-concert talk, moderated by Andrew Gilbert, music writer for Bay Area News Group and other publications. 4 p.

m. Sunday; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $25-$80; berkeleysymphony. org.

One of the Bay Area’s best free musical marathons, now in its 16th year, is the daylong open house the nonprofit arts advocate InterMusic SF holds at four different venues within the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 401 Van Ness Avenue, taking place Oct. 15. SF Music Day features more than 25 artists, duos, trios and ensembles playing music that spans genres from classical to jazz to electronica to choral to blues to Western to hip-hop and more.

Performers will hold forth at the Herbst Theatre, the Taube Atrium Theatre, the Green Room and the Education Studio throughout the day, inviting attendees to pop in and out for a listen at their own choosing. Those scheduled to perform include the Telegraph Quartet, Brass Over Bridges, ZOFO Duet, Jaz Sawyer Trio, Quinteto Latino, Beast Nest, Where the Sun Grows and many more. noon to 6 p.

m. ; event will also be livestreamed through , where you can also sign up to register to attend. Amy Miller, Ali Wong, Sarah Silverman, Emily Catalano — the list could go on in terms of comics who established themselves through performing in “The Town.

” “Oakland is just so rich in having been a part of many very famous comics’ journey in becoming who they are” says Shoshanna Howard, founder and producer the Oakland Comedy Festival, which returns today through Sunday. “We see (OCF) as an opening for comics throughout the world to come and demonstrate their talent. ” The fest is a passion project Howard conceived of in 2018 after working for organizations centered on social change and climate justice and finding an absence of joy, given the heaviness surrounding the topics.

She decided to create a comedy festival “space” in Oakland where there hadn’t been one. Now five years strong, OCF 2023 boasts more than a dozen shows with some 60 comedians, including headliner Alice Wetterlund, from Los Angeles but with Bay Area ties, and many more local performers, including Samson Koletkar, Brooke Heinichen, Tammy Tea Love and Ashley Monique. “We want to be a part of their long-term journey (toward) becoming comics who are successful,” says Howard.

Oct. 12-15; various locations; $10-$50; 10 percent of proceeds benefit Oakland’s Transgender Law Center; oaklandcf. com.

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