'Beehive - The '60s Musical'
Theater
New Village Arts theater has been in residence at the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch since April, and "Beehive — The '60s Musical" has been their first long-running production; while the flowers were in bloom, the theater company swapped out performances nearly every weekend. "Beehive" closes Sunday, so there's just a few more chances to check it out. The show centers around dozens of hits — from jazz to pop to soul to everything in between, and it's definitely a singalong situation as the characters navigate their way through feminism and a changing culture. Eboni Muse, Rae Henderson, Natasha Baenisch, Erin Vanderhyde, Brittany Carrillo, Bibi Mama and Megan Carmitchel make up the all-female cast. The flowers may not be in bloom right now, but you likely won't mind.
Details: Friday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. 5704 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad. $28-55
Sparks Summer Showcase
Visual Art
Collaboration is the name of the game in the latest exhibition at Sparks Gallery. They've teamed up with five other galleries in San Diego to host a takeover at Sparks. You'll find works from Thumbprint Gallery (don't miss work by artists Mary Jhun and Ivonne Garcia), Arredon Art, Fresh Paint Gallery, Salazar Fine Art and Visual Gallery + Design. This is a great chance to not only support the smaller galleries that keep the engines running in San Diego's art scene, but to get your eyes on new works by emerging artists.
Sparks Gallery is in a lovely building downtown, and while there you can check out the large scale sculptural installation, "Requiem for (our) Mother Natures" by Siobhán Arnold and Meagan Shein (Sien Collective). It's a bunch of suspended flowers made of recycled sheer plastic, and you can read more about that work in "5 Works Of Art To See In San Diego In May."
Details: Sparks Gallery is open M-F from noon to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The takeover exhibition runs through July 30, 2021. 530 Sixth Ave., Downtown.
'On The Move'
Dance
This weekend City Ballet returns to the stage, and the audience to their rightful seats. At the Horton Grand Theatre, they'll perform two new works by company choreographer Geoffrey Gonzalez, "Unbroken" and "Within the Hourglass Desert." These works will be a blend of classical and contemporary ballet, and they seem to be really profound and thoughtful choices for this transition back to stages and in-person audiences. "Unbroken" speaks to the resiliency we all scrounged up during the last year, and "Within the Hourglass Desert" promises to be a reflection on time. From what I've seen of Gonzalez's choreography — and the performances of these dancers — this promises to be a welcome blend of power, nuance and effortlessness.
Details: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. 444 Fourth Ave., Downtown. $29-49
DNA New Works Series
Theater
The La Jolla Playhouse's annual celebration of new works of playwriting is back. These are readings of the play, two readings for each of the four offerings — so it's not a staged, produced work. That said, it's an excellent opportunity to get in on the ground floor for intimate readings of what's new in theater. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a big prop-filled production (the last show I saw at La Jolla Playhouse before the pandemic involved Storm Lever literally launching herself through the air as Wendy in "Fly"), but there's something special in that closer look a reading offers and that glimpse into the playwright's process.
This weekend, you can catch "Sumo," by Lisa Sanaye Dring, set in a sumo wrestling training center, or "All The Men Who've Frightened Me," by Noah Diaz, about trans fatherhood and hauntings. Two more works will be available next weekend.
Details: "All The Men Who've Frightened Me" runs Friday, July 23, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.; "Sumo" runs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. 2910 La Jolla Village Dr., La Jolla. Free.
Britton Neubacher | 'In The Middle Between This And That: Guardians Of The Fertile Void'
Visual art
South Park's Trash Lamb Gallery and shop recently opened a new exhibition of "plant taxidermy" style sculptures by artist Britton Neubacher. Neubacher is a former dancer with roots in the punk and DIY scene. Her sculptures pull from the natural world, blending animals and plants, as a way of exploring the complicated relationship between people and plants, and the balance between natural order and disorder.
Her works are intricate sculptures — think succulents stuck into skulls. The works on view at Trash Lamb are a mixture of photographs of her creations, as well as a few actual sculptures — including one massive work full of moss and teeth. The gallery supplies magnifying glasses to help you get a closer look (if you dare).
Details: Thursday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m., or by appointment, through Aug. 8. 2365 30th St., South Park. Free.
Julianna Zachariou, Caroline Kingsbury And Ny Oh At Soda Bar
Music
If you're ready to get back to live music, check out San Diego-based indie pop artist Julianna Zachariou, who'll headline. I featured Zachariou's latest single, "Becky" in the "5 Songs To Discover In San Diego In July" but to get a sense of Zachariou's performance, check out the delightful video for "Avoiding."
The New Zealand-born, L.A.-based Ny Oh will perform, as will L.A.-based Caroline Kingsbury. Kingsbury's new album, "Heaven's Just a Flight" is fantastic. Listen to the dreamy and propulsive "Fall in Love," here.
Details: Saturday at 8 p.m. (doors). 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. $12.55.
More music: Check out my feature this week on artist Hugo Crosthwaite. The artist animated a stop-motion music video for local rockers The Color Forty Nine, in a track with Rubén Albarrán. The band will perform a record release show on Friday at the Casbah, including projections of Crosthwaite's drawings and animation. Carrie Feller and Rosa Rossa will also perform.
For more arts events, or to submit your own, visit the KPBS/Arts calendar here. And be sure to sign up for my weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter here.
