Arts and entertainment roundup: Here’s what’s happening in Sacramento this month
Live music is back at Ace of Spades and live shows return to B Street Theatre and more as the Sacramento arts scene fires back up. Check for mask and vaccine requirements before attending.
August 5 to November 7: “Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit” returns to the California Museum. First presented in 2015, the traveling exhibition features contemporary images taken by photojournalist Paul Kitagaki, Jr., a Sacramento Bee staff photographer. The show echoes historic images by U.S. War Relocation Authority photographers who documented the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Updated and expanded for 2021, “Gambatte” returns with 30 new photographs, audio interviews with some of the subjects and a behind-the-scenes video, highlighting the resilience of Japanese Americans who persevered over their mass incarceration. The first-ever public display of artifacts from the incarceration of Kitagaki’s family at the Topaz War Relocation Center provides new insights into his personal connections to his work exploring the Japanese concept of “gambatte” (to triumph over adversity).
Every Friday, August 6 through 27: The Crocker hosts a guided tour of the art featured in “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection” along with other glass art in the Crocker’s collection. Free with museum admission. Advance registration required. See more at crockerart.org.
August 8: Capital Stage virtually presents “Ripe Frenzy” by Jennifer Barclay, directed by Michael Stevenson. Set against the bucolic simplicity of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize Winning play “Our Town,” “Ripe Frenzy” examines what has become a tragic American norm and questions our own culpability in the perpetuation of mass shootings in our country. Advisory: Disturbing content and imagery used in the production. For more information, go to capstage.org.
August 12: The Crocker hosts a tour of masterworks by American artists featured in “For America: Paintings From the National Academy of Design” and “Legends from Los Angeles: Betye, Lezley, and Alison Saar” in the Crocker Collection. For more information visit crockerart.org. Advance registration required, but the tour is free with admission.
August 13: The Crest Sacramento will host a showing of “Lady Bird,” at 8 p.m. For more information see crestsacramento.com.
August 13 through 15: Golden 1 Center presents Monster Jam. Featured trucks include Grave Digger, Zombie, El Toro Loco, Alien Invasion, Obsessed and Wild Card. For more information go to golden1center.com.
August 17: “Beartooth — The Below Tour” will be at Ace of Spades. Featured artists include: Beartooth, Wage War, Dragged Under. More information is available at aceofspadessac.com.
August 19: The Crocker will present, “In Motion: A Panel Discussion About Dance on Film.” This virtual event is for ages 18 and up. Over the course of her career, Elsa Rady — whose mother danced for the Martha Graham Dance Company — broke from the production of traditional, static vessels to explore dynamic, nonfunctional sculptural forms inspired by Art Deco architecture and the swirling dresses of dancers. Art is currently on display in “The Edge of Elegance: Porcelains” by Elsa Rady. Amy Seiwert, founder of San Francisco contemporary ballet company Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, filmmaker Adam Dillon, and dance artist, choreographer, and educator Bernard Brown take the virtual stage to discuss creating new works, share snippets of recent film projects and expound upon the ways in which they move seamlessly across a variety of artistic media. For more information go to crockerart.org.
August 21: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performs at the Crest Theatre at 7:30 p.m. More information can be found at crestsacramento.com.
August 21: B Street Theatre presents “Ron Cunningham’s ‘Peter and the Wolf.’” Delight in the loveable characters and whimsical music in this children’s ballet choreographed by Ron Cunningham. The performance will have a sensory friendly design so that everyone, especially the autistic community, feel welcomed and accepted into an inclusive theater environment. For more information on this all ages show, see bstreettheatre.org.
August 27: The Crest Theatre hosts The Chevalier Project at 7:30. For tickets go to crestsacramento.com.
August 28: The B Street Theatre presents “Mick Martin’s Big Blues Band.” Music fans in Northern California probably know Mick Martin for his 30 years as the host/producer of “The Blues Party” on Capital Public Radio and the leader of Mick Martin & the Blues Rockers for over 40 years. An award-winning harmonica player and singer-songwriter who has toured the U.S., Canada, England, Italy and Belgium, Martin’s accomplishments include over 20 CDs (four in Europe), performing with jazz organist Jimmy Smith at Carnegie Hall’s “Blues in Jazz” event and topping his 17-year association as lead singer and harp player with guitar innovator Harvey Mandel (Canned Heat) at West-Fest, the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. For the Mick Martin Big Blues Band, he has assembled a group of accomplished musicians with pedigrees as impressive as his own: Danny Sandoval (saxophone), Andrew Little (guitar), Aj Joyce (bass), Ralph E. Davies (trombone/arranger), Mike Caselli (Hammond organ/piano) and Jim Caselli (drums). Tickets available at bstreettheatre.org.
August 30: Ace of Spades presents PVRIS. Featured artists include PVRIS, Eliza & The Delusionals, Royal & the Serpent. For tickets go to aceofspadessac.com.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 9:53 AM.