Top Tickets: May 20-26

Diablo's picks for the can't-miss events of the coming week: Center REP's Cabaret, Monty Python's Spamalot, Smuin Ballet season finale, San Ramon's Art & Wind Festival, and touring and flying WWII aircraft in Livermore.

Enjoy Memorial Day weekend with some of the best theater performances of the season. Or, better yet, experience what it was like to be a fighter pilot in World War II with flight training in Livermore. Here are your Top Tickets…

May 21–June 27: Cabaret
Center Repertory Company ends its season with the Tony Award-winning Kander and Ebb hit, Cabaret. Set in the underworld of 1930s Berlin, the musical is part free-spirited, as American writer Cliff Bradshaw relishes in life at the seedy Kit Kat Club—and part dark, as Nazi Socialism creeps into German society. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, $29–$21, (925) 943-7469, tickets: lesherartscenter.org, more info: centerrep.org.

May 22–July 5: Spamalot
Monty Python and the Holy Grail comes to life onstage with even more silliness from the quest of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Starring John O’Hurley, the hit Broadway show includes all the flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen, and show-stopping musical numbers you can handle. Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St., San Francisco, $30–$99, (415) 551-2000, tickets: shnsf.com, more info: montypythonsspamalot.com.

May 22–24: Smuin Ballet
It’s all about blues and romance in Smuin Ballet’s final performance of the season. The phenomenal San Francisco-based company presents three pieces: Michael Smuin’s narrative St. Louis Woman: A Blues Ballet; The Naughty Boy, a Cupid tale set to Mozart, and the romantic pas de deux and pas de quatre of Bouquet. Lesher Center, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, $40–$55, (925) 943-7469, tickets: lesherartscenter.org, more info: smuinballet.org.

May 24–25: Art & Wind Festival
This annual outdoor festival features 150 artist booths, kite flying demonstrations, kite-making workshops, a children’s play area, food, and live entertainment on three stages. Come early Monday morning for a close-up view of the hot air balloon launch and hang-gliding demonstration at 6 a.m. Central Park, 12501 Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., (925) 973-3200, artandwind.com.

May 24–26: Wings of Freedom
Experience history this Memorial Day by touring vintage B17 and B24 bombers at the Livermore Airport. If taking pictures, walking through the planes, and talking to the crew isn’t enough, private flights are available for $425. And for $2,200–$3,200, you can get behind the controls of the TP-51C “Betty Jane” in a flight training session (reservations required). Livermore Municipal Airport, Airway Boulevard, Livermore, 12–4 p.m., tours: $6–$12 (veterans free), (978) 562-9182, collingsfoundation.org.

For even more events happening this week, browse the complete listings on Diablo’s Community Calendar.

Posted at 11:13 AM in Best Of Editor Picks | Permalink