This weekend is all about shifting your perspective, whether it’s a new look at the world of Harry Potter, baseball songs interpreted by the symphony, or a modern way of looking at grand European art.
"Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic"
Theater
Did you ever wonder what the Hufflepuffs were up to while Harry Potter and his friends saved the world from evil? The new play "Puffs" imagines that very scenario.
"Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic & Magic" is an off-Broadway hit that debuted in San Diego this month.
The story follows three friends — no, not Ron, Harry and Hermione — but Wayne, Oliver and Megan, friends who were sorted into a house devoted to loyalty, friendship and herbology.
See what was happening while the rest of us were watching Voldemort.
Details:8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through July 21. PowPAC Community Theatre, 13250 Poway Road, Poway. $25; find tickets to "Puffs."
Star Spangled Pops, Symphonic Celebration of the Padres
Music
We love outdoor concerts in San Diego, but Bayside Summer Nights is a particular favorite. The new season kicks off this weekend with the "Star Spangled Pops."
The San Diego Symphony pays tribute to U.S. history with patriotic favorites and beloved songs from movies and Broadway. Plus each night ends with fireworks. The concert features Broadway star Ross Lekites ("Frozen," "Kinky Boots") and the San Diego Master Chorale.
And new to the opening weekend is "A Symphony Celebration Of The Padres At 50," a concert where you'll hear classical interpretations of baseball-themed songs, joined again by Lekites, San Diego Master Chorale and Bianca Marroquín (known as the first Mexican actress to go straight to Broadway with a starring role, as Roxie Hart, in "Chicago").
Details:Star Spangled Pops is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Padres tribute is 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Embarcadero Marina Park South, 200 Marina Parkway, downtown. $20 to $200; find tickets to Bayside Summer Nights.
Roman de Salvo's "Electric Picnic"
Visual Arts
The Timken Museum of Art is known for exhibiting European masterworks dating back to the 1500s. But starting this weekend contemporary sculptor Roman de Salvo will also have his work on display.
As part of the museum’s artist-in-residence program, de Salvo created a sculpture based on the Rococo-era "Blindman’s Buff" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. De Salvo’s piece is titled "Electric Picnic" and will be on view through the end of August.
The San Diego-based artist is known for his large-scale works using ordinary materials and objects and mixing them with natural elements like wind, water, fire and other forms of electricity.
Details: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; noon to 4:30 p.m. Sundays. On view through Aug. 28. Timken Museum of Art, 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free; find exhibition details.
