Performance, Theater

Sunday in the Park with George – ShotgunPlayers

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“Sunday in the Park with George”
Shotgun Players, Berkeley
Friday, November 28, 2025 7PM

“Genius Revisited”

The background is this: “Sunday in the Park with George” is 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine; inspired by Georges Seurat’s painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette.”

The first act depicts the creation of the painting (showing the artist’s frustration and the grief of his times). The second act is 100 years later, presenting the ‘legacy’ of the work “though the eyes of Seurat’s great grandson, also named George”.

Shotgun Players has enlisted an extraordinary group of actors, who sing, mime and interact with one another in short, staccato events that echo the Sondheim’s music. The whole play is an extraordinary production: set, music, acting, movement, all wonderfully depicting the script, the style, the score and the painting itself.

The painting looks, at first, like an ordinary depiction of an afternoon by the river, as it is. Looking closely the observer can learn the ‘point by point’ method so amazing for its time.

The cast features Kevin Singer and Laura Domingo (though many actors take many roles) and ten others. (I may need correction here since the performers are so versatile). The musicians, who are artfully hidden in the “above” are Daniel Alley, David Moschler, Andera Landin, Carolyn Walter and Christina Walton. Their sound, timing and accompaniment is extraordinary.

Susannah Martin, director and David Moschler, music director deserve high praise, endless applause and this audience’s gratitude for their superb work in bringing “Sunday in the Park with George” to Berkeley.

In difficult times, such as now, this evening’s entertainment revitalizes one’s energy to enjoy and. “go on”.

Additional note: Choreography

Twelve, sometimes thirteen performers and set pieces occupy the set of “Sunday in the Park with George”. The stage is small, much smaller than that of several local theater. Yet, Susannah Martin (and whoever is her choreographic assistant) is able to contain, move, assemble and amazingly! stage the show so that the paintings are depicted, the groupings reenforced and clear. It is an artful, amazing skill. This reviewer, a choreographer, admires how artfully and beautifully It is accomplished.

Government, Oakland, Privacy, Security

Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission (PAC) needs new commissioners.

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Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission (PAC) needs new commissioners.

Established over 10 years ago as a response to an attempt to blanket Oakland
with a surveillance apparatus through a “Domain Awareness Center” (DAC)
which would cover Oakland with cameras and microphones, Oakland’s PAC is
possibly the only actually functioning civilian oversight body in the country.

The commission’s charter, described on the city’s website
(https://www.oaklandca.gov/Government/Boards-Commissions/Privacy-Advisory-Commission)
is to review city activities with regards to privacy and surveillance and to
recommend to the City Council regarding the balance between the costs and the possible
harms due to loss of privacy and the gains due to the increased capture of information
about people in Oakland.

The commission, which meets in City Hall on the first Thursday of the month, from 5-7 PM,
has established and maintains productive relationships with city departments
and agencies, including OPD and has worked with them to produce a balance between privacy
and security and the legitimate needs and role of law enforcement. This balance is
reflected in policies which specify when and how data can be obtained, when it is
not permitted, how long the data will be retained and annual reporting on the
actual functioning of the programs. You can see and hear how the commission has
functioned by looking at/listening to the recordings of the meetings linked to
on the commission web page.

I have been on this commission since its inception and am proud of the work we have
done. Although my term has expired, I am able to remain on the commission until a
replacement is brought forward, which I hope will be soon. There are 4 vacancies
right now, including mine and 1 other which is being filled by holdovers until replaced.
The commissioners are appointed by the Mayor, on advice of the council members.
You can apply through the website
(https://oakland.granicus.com/boards/forms/168/apply?board_name=Privacy+Advisory+Commission)
and should also contact your councilmember.

The current federal government is attempting to accumulate as much information as they can
about everyone, to use arbitrarily against anyone who disagrees with them or challenges
them or is a convenient target against which to exercise uncheckable power. This commission
is at least a small stumbling block in their way.

Lou Katz
Commissioner, District 4
lou@well.com

Commentary, Dance, Performance

Paris Opera Ballet

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Paris Opera Ballet
“Red Carpet” (North America Premiere)
Friday October 3, 2025, 8 PM
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley

AMAZING GRACE

If one reads the announcement of “Paris Opera Ballet”, the assumption might be … ’the performance is French (no!); the show has something to do with an opera story (no!); or that the dance/movement partakes of the ‘classic’ vocabulary of the centuries old tradition of dance developed in European theater. Yes and no. Dance training cannot avoid what has been and is.

Choreographer Hofesh Shechter, originally from Israel, who now works internationally, prefaces his notes on the work with the title “Between Glamour and the Grotesque.” Among many other thoughts and reflections on his work, he says… “The uncomfortable dimension of the grotesque also interests me; it allows us to show the bad and dirty side of reality; the ways humans organize themselves.”

The fourteen dancers first appear in ‘gorgeous’ gowns (one long red gown that can never be ignored) and outfits of various sorts, from formal dress to tailored shorts. A spectacular light chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The musicians (drums, cello, double bass and wind instruments) are seated in an alcove above the dance floor. It all proceeds with vigorous energy, the dancers (seemingly partnering [or not]..one another in endless variations. There are countless small group interactions. All appear to be endlessly ‘improvising’ with one another and yet… the choreography is tight, rhythmically exact, the skill perfect.

Can we grasp what’s going on? Are we meant to…or do we just enjoy the skill, the movement shapes and above all the choreography that challenges the audiences’ ability to watch? There is a musical interlude during which we enjoy the skilled ‘improvisation?’ of the four person ‘band’. They produce wonderful sound.

The dancers all reenter, now all dressed in white leotards. Similar, but more closely knit dance phrases are performed as before, but now seem slower, more careful. We are graced by a few markable solos. All the timing and gesture, that appears random at first, is, if closely watched, exact, precise and skilled.

Shechter in this work, “Red Carpet” has redefined the term ‘ballet’, the expectation of dance ‘narrative’ and thoroughly mixed the vocabulary of ‘ballet’ and contemporary dance.

Thank you… Cal Performances. We, the Berkeley audience may not get to Paris, Israel or other European sites for dance…but we have had the privilege of seeing “Red Carpet” here.

See Cal Performances on line for all program details.