San Diego's Top Weekend Arts Events: From Paintings To Pointe Shoes

Speaker 1: 00:00 Warm weather means outdoor arts events like the popular art walk and Adams Avenue unplugged, or if you want to stay indoors, there's a dance performance of some favorite classical ballets. KPBS arts calendar editor, Nina Guerin joins me with your weekend preview. I, Nina. Hello. So Nina, and we'll start with some big news from the old globe this morning. Almost famous I hear is, is coming. Yes. The old clove announced the upcoming season and it's going to have three world premieres, one play into musicals, and one of those musicals is almost famous, which is written by Cameron Crowe, who grew up in San Diego. And this musical is kind of about him coming of age. What are some other highlights from the old globes new season? The old globe is bringing back August Wilson's Git me that play won a Tony Award in 2017 for best revival and then it'll be the west coast premiere of little women by Kate Hamill. Speaker 1: 00:55 There's a lot of buzz around her and around. This guy's so big news. They're very exciting. Uh, but there's other big things happening to mission. Federal art walk is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Why is this event so popular? This event is popular because it's in little Italy and in spring and it brings out all kinds of people who like bright colors and art. You can see everything from painting to jewelry. Um, you can see artists creating things live. There's always just a creative energy there. So what can people expect this year? Well, there's like hundreds of booths of art, of stages with live music. There's a dance stage, there's food vendors. It's basically your perfect southern California kind of festival. Nice. And, and of course the idea is for people to actually buy art. So does that really happen? Yeah, I mean you don't have to, but people definitely come to check out their favorites. Speaker 1: 01:51 And if you have a little bit of extra cash, they do sell things that are affordable and you can own an original piece of art. So that's always good to have at the back of your mind. And this year they're doing a surfboard art auction. Ah, and this isn't the only art walk event, right? Right. There's another art walk that's a little more mellow called artwalk liberty station. That's an August. And then there's one in Carlsbad, September 21 and 22 all right. Mission federal art walk happened Saturday and Sunday throughout little Italy also happening. Adams Avenue unplugged. Tell me about what happens there. Musicians perform in venues from university heights to Kensington all along Adams Avenue. And you go and you'd check out different artists at different places and it leads to a big concert at the end of the night at the normal heights, the United Methodist Church with headliners, Gabby Moreno and David Lindley. All right to let's listen to a song by David Lindley. This is your old lady. Speaker 2: 02:49 Yay. Speaker 1: 03:01 Good Speaker 2: 03:02 me Speaker 1: 03:12 right along with the national headliners. I this festival really spotlights local talent. Is there anyone you recommend? Yes. So there's a really young singer who I like. His name is Piatt punned. He's also in the theater scene. He's a great musician. I would keep my eye out on him. Um, the klezmer favorite nail Strom. It's going to be there. And the singer Songwriter Marie had Dodd. And let's listen to Maria Dodd. This is Gita. Speaker 2: 03:38 Ooh, Speaker 1: 03:59 and you mentioned the other headliner at Adams Avenue unplugged. We spoke with Gabby Moreno yesterday on midday edition and you can listen to that interview and here are some of her music on our website. Adams avenue unplugged happened Saturday along Adams Avenue and also a San Diego ballet is known for its innovative jazz and belly shows, but this weekend they're going back to the classics. Tell us about romance and point. This is a show that has excerpts from some beloved classical ballets, Don Quixote, GSL and Romeo and Juliet and these are all pretty lengthy ballet's. How will they be presented? The choreographer, have you had Velazco? He has a way of getting to the heart of the story like in Romeo and Juliet and he takes out a lot of the extra sword fights and Chisel is going to have kind of like a south bay romantic flavor to it. So what do you mean by South Bay Flavor? Speaker 1: 04:53 The rumor is that he is setting it in Chula Vista, which is where Javier grew up, and so it's going to have more of a Latin flavor than what we usually see in a classical way. Nice. And can you tell us what these ballets are about? Yes, I'll do quick summaries. DSL is about a girl who dies of a broken heart. Don Quixote is based on the survey Montay's novel, and it's really, I don't even understand what it's about. It's a romance and dreamy. And then of course we all know Romeo and Juliet, the tale of forbidden love. All right, let's listen to a song from Romeo and Juliet. This is dance of the nights. I can just visually see all of the powder blue rays. That is my favorite piece of classical music. I it, it's fantastic. Romance and point happened Saturday and Sunday at the California Center for the Arts Escondido. For more weekend events, be sure to check k pbs.org/arts Nina Garren, KPBS arts editor. Thanks for joining us. Thanks. Have a great weekend.