Mere Mortals

SF Ballet

Inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s Jar, Mere Mortals explores our relationship with artificial intelligence, its boundless potential, as well as the unforeseen consequences. Originally commissioned for Tamara Rojo’s inaugural season, the program returns as a fusion of electronic music, festival culture, and contemporary ballet. Merging the choreography of Aszure Barton with the visionary music of composer Floating Points, this is a critical reimagining of an ancient tale in the context of our modern, tech-driven age. Post performance after party! Immediately following the evening performance head to the Main Lobby for the after party. Enjoy food and drinks for purchase on the Basement and Main Lobby, and dance to the beats of one of our DJs Nooka Jones (@nookajones) and Mozhgan (@mozhyjooon).

Hadestown

Broadway SF


COME SEE HOW THE WORLD COULD BE. Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and original director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today... and always. HADESTOWN intertwines two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.

The Monsters

Berkeley Rep


By Ngozi Anyanwu, Directed by Tamilla Woodard, West Coast premiere: For years, LIL has observed her estranged brother from the shadows — watching, waiting, studying every punch he throws. BIG, an aging but respected force in the local Mixed Martial Arts circuit, remains unaware his little sister has been tracking his career from afar…until she appears unexpectedly on his doorstep. Award-winning playwright Ngozi Anyanwu (Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, The Last of the Love Letters) writes and stars in this West Coast premiere of a sibling love story that grapples with reunion and buried resentments. Raw and riveting, The Monsters delivers an emotional knockout and wrestles with the demons we must face to reconnect, rebuild, and forgive. The Monsters was developed in The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. Post show discussion: Stay behind after the show for a discussion guided by members of Berkeley Rep’s artistic team!

So Many Stars Book Talk with Author Caro De Robertis

Free event! Including dinner, giveaways for signed copies of the book, and pictures with the author!
Award-winning novelist Caro De Robertis offers a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of queer and trans elders of color, from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens to tell their stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance, all in their own words.
So Many Stars knits together the voices of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer and two-spirit elders of color as they share authentic, intimate accounts of how they created space for themselves and their communities in the world, how they pursued their passions, and how they continue to be at the vanguard of social change. This singular project collects the testimonies of over a dozen elders, each a glimmering thread in a luminous tapestry, preserving their words for future generations—who can more fully exist in the world today because of these very voices. De Robertis creates a collective coming-of-age story based on hundreds of hours of interviews, offering rare snapshots of ordinary life: kids growing up, navigating family issues and finding community, coming out and changing how they identify over the years, building movements and weathering the AIDS crisis, and sharing wisdom for future generations. Often narrating experiences that took place before they had the array of language that exists today to self-identify and to describe life beyond the gender binary, this generation lived through remarkable changes in American culture, shaped American culture, and yet rarely takes center stage in the history books. Their stories feel particularly urgent in the current political moment, but also remind readers that their experiences are not new. Young trans and nonbinary people of color today belong to a long lineage. The anecdotes in these pages are riveting, joyful, heartbreaking—so full of life and personality and wisdom, and artfully woven together into one immersive narrative. In De Robertis’s words, So Many Stars shares “behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant—and still means—to create an authentic life, against the odds.”

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Cal Performances


Alicia Graf Mack, artistic director
Matthew Rushing, associate artistic director
From its first public performances in 1958, to the premiere of the masterpiece Revelations in 1960, through the struggles of touring in the Civil Rights Movement, to the tragic loss of its founder in 1989—across so much social upheaval and cultural change, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has thrived as a model of Black resilience and unparalleled artistic excellence.
More change lies ahead as the company welcomes exciting new leadership and its first Berkeley performances under incoming artistic director Alicia Graf Mack. With brand-new commissions from next-generation creators and beloved works by Ailey himself, this revered institution continues to embody the values and vision of its founder through performances of exceptional power, beauty, and grace.
Wednesday, April 8
MAIJA GARCÍA, Jazz Island* (2025) • music: Etienne Charles
FREDRICK EARL MOSLEY, Embrace* (2025) • music: various artists
ALVIN AILEY, Revelations (1960) • music: traditional spirituals
Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10
JAWOLE WILLA JO ZOLLAR, SAMANTHA FIGGINS, CHALVAR MONTEIRO, The Holy Blues* (2025) • music: various gospel songs
MEDHI WALERSKI, Blink of an Eye* (2011/2025) • music: Johann Sebastian Bach
JUDITH JAMISON, A Case of You** (2004/2025) • music: Joni Mitchell
RONALD K. BROWN, Grace (1999) • music: Duke Ellington, Peven Everett, Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Ravi Shankar Ensemble

SF Jazz


A sparkling all-star ensemble assembled by Ravi Shankar’s wife and daughter honor the legacy of one of the greatest musicians of all time. The Ravi Shankar Ensemble is a multi-generational collective of world class musicians dedicated to the masterful compositions and enduring legacy of the uniquely legendary musician. They present a special program featuring visual elements from the Ravi Shankar archives alongside a dynamic selection of his soul-stirring music. In a moving tribute to one of the most beloved figures in the SFJAZZ family, this season also marks the launch of the Annual Zakir Hussain Sangam Concert. Named in honor of our late friend and legendary tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, this ongoing series will celebrate his profound musical legacy by spotlighting some of the greatest Indian classical musicians from around the world. The inaugural performance of this annual event will take place this season and marks the beginning of a new tradition rooted in the cross-cultural artistry Zakir championed throughout his life.

Flex

SF Playhouse


By Candrice Jones, Directed by Margo Hall
It’s 1997, and the high school girls on the Lady Train basketball team in Plainnole, Arkansas, are inspired by the successes of the WNBA. With aspirations of going pro, they must first navigate the pressures of being young, Black, and female in the rural South. Will their fouls off the court tear their team apart, or can they keep their pact to stick together through hell or high water?
About the Playwright
Steinberg playwright, CANDRICE JONES, is from Dermott, Arkansas. Her mission is to write love letters for women of the American South. A VONA Playwriting alum and CalArts Critical Studies MFA recipient, she has been a fellow at the Playwrights’ Center and MacDowell. Her play, FLEX, was developed at VONA, Ground Floor, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, then received a co-world premiere at TheatreSquared and Theatrical Outfit. Since, it has been produced at Lincoln Center Theater and Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul. Candrice has received virtual commissions from People’s Light and Actors Theatre of Louisville. In the spring of 2022, Candrice’s play, A Medusa Thread (KILROYS 2023) was developed in UC Santa Barbara’s Launchpad Series. Candrice currently lives in New York where she is working on commissions.

NO/NO in NY!

Broadway New York

Are you going to be in New York City between March 20th to March 29th, 2026? Night Out / Night Off is offering subsidized tickets for Broadway shows in New York during Spring Break! Join NO/NO in NY for the same amazing shows, same process, just in a new location!
Tickets are EXTREMELY LIMITED! More information here.

MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical
HADESTOWN
STRANGER THINGS: The First Shadow
EVERY BRILLIANT THING (Starring Daniel Radcliffe)
SIX
THE LION KING
WICKED
HAMILTON

MJ: The Musical

Broadway SF


Back by overwhelming demand, the multiple Tony Award®-winning musical MJ is making a victorious return to San Francisco. Created by Tony Award-winning Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ goes beyond Michael Jackson’s singular moves and signature sound, offering a rare glimpse at the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Don’t miss your chance to experience the show that’s electrifying sold-out crowds on Broadway!

Drum Tao

Cal Performances


Masters of thunderous spectacle and jaw-dropping athleticism, the taiko drummers of Drum Tao conjure “a visual cornucopia” (Broadway World) in their high-energy productions. The Japanese troupe blends cutting-edge stagecraft with centuries-old drumming traditions and breathtaking choreography to dazzle audiences worldwide. Contemporary music fuses with traditional instruments, vibrant costumes, and dramatic lighting for an unforgettable experience!

All My Sons

Berkeley Rep


By Arthur Miller, Directed by David Mendizábal. The American Dream comes at a price. But who truly pays it? Arthur Miller’s searing indictment of moral compromise erupts with new urgency in this groundbreaking production. Reimagined around a Puerto Rican family’s hard-won success, a father’s fateful decision sends aftershocks that ripple far beyond his own home and community. Berkeley Rep’s Associate Artistic Director David Mendizábal reexamines this American classic through a lens of race, ethnicity, and class, honoring Miller’s original text while sharpening its existing themes of justice and inequity. This powerful revival reveals a tragedy where the pursuit of prosperity collides with the reality of who America was built to serve. Post show discussion: Stay behind after the show for a discussion guided by members of Berkeley Rep’s artistic team!

The Notebook - Berkeley Students discount!

Broadway SF

February 10 - March 11, 2026: Use promo code CALBERKELEY1 and SAVE on tickets!
$10 from each ticket will go to Night Out / Night Off! Based on the best-selling novel that inspired the iconic film, THE NOTEBOOK tells the story of Allie and Noah, both from different worlds, who share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart. “Full of butterfly-inducing highs and beautiful songs” (Entertainment Weekly), THE NOTEBOOK is a deeply moving portrait of the enduring power of love. Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune says THE NOTEBOOK is “absolutely gorgeous, not to be missed,” and The New York Daily News calls it “a love story for the ages.” THE NOTEBOOK is directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, RENT) and Schele Williams (The Wiz, Aida), and features music and lyrics by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, book by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC’s “This Is Us”), and choreography by Katie Spelman.

Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band

Cal Performances


A truly one-of-a-kind ensemble, the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band celebrates and extends the contributions of Indigenous and Native musicians, composers, and bandleaders throughout the rich history of jazz. Indigenous artists like Russell “Big Chief” Moore, Mildred Bailey, Oscar Pettiford, and Jim Pepper ascended into the limelight as star performers, but many other players were never recognized. Today Keefe’s dynamic ensemble shines a light on that legacy, featuring a “who’s who” of Indigenous musicians from a range of tribal affiliations across North and South America. A Cal Performances debut

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre

Cal Performances


Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, Gathering. Cal Performances Company Debut, West Coast Premiere. Conceived, written, and directed by choreographer Samar Haddad King, Gathering explores themes of love, loss, trauma, and dislocation. Through movement, text, song, and puppetry, an international cohort of collaborating artists tells a fictional story of a village under siege, and one woman’s struggle to reconcile her fragmented memories. Part staged work, part interactive experience, Gathering invites audiences to join as participants and witnesses in the collective action. “An uncommonly deft combination of dance and verbal theater” (The New York Times).

Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience

The Freight


Mixing words, music, and movement, POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE: THE JUNE JORDAN EXPERIENCE is an intimate portrait of the legendary poet, activist, and teacher known for her fierce commitment to justice and self-determination for all people. Performed by six actors from the Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles production and Jordan's collaborator and partner, composer/pianist Adrienne Torf, the show features Jordan's poetry, interviews, and other writing, along with her work set to music by Torf, John Adams, and Bernice Johnson Reagon. POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE: THE JUNE JORDAN EXPERIENCE was honored with the Theater Washington Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play in 2023. This performance will be the only one outside of Los Angeles this year. *Premium tickets include admission to a postshow reception with the cast and sponsors.

Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies Department
Also check out these events sponsored by the department!
February 25: This Unruly Witness: June Jordan's Legacy
February 26: June Jordan's Poetry for the People: Legacies and Futures

Somi

Cal Performances

Riveting vocalist and composer Somi Kakoma, known simply as “Somi,” is truly a jazz artist for our globally connected times. The Midwestern daughter of parents who emigrated from Rwanda and Uganda, she found her musical voice traversing cultural bridges between Africa and the US, weaving Afropop, soul, and jazz into her sumptuous, elegant, deeply grooving body of work. A return to her singer-songwriter roots, the music on her latest release was composed in Lagos, Dakar, Paris, and New York, offering a sonic travelogue that weaves deeply personal storytelling with modern jazz and African sensibilities. “[Her music is] a party and a history lesson, it’s a manifesto and a poem, it’s a call to dance and think at once” (PopMatters).A Cal Performances Debut

Black Panther Party Museum Guided Tour

Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation

Join NO/NO for a guided tour of the Black Panther Party Museum!

GUIDED MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
Step beyond the headlines and into the heart of a movement that changed the world. Led by our expert museum staff, this 60-minute guided experience offers a comprehensive journey through the history and impact of the Black Panther Party. Together, we’ll explore the grassroots organizing, revolutionary social programs, and the enduring political legacy that began right here in Oakland. This is more than a history lesson; it is a deep dialogue on self-determination and the power of community action.

MISSION
The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation preserves and promotes the true legacy and ideals of the Black Panther Party. We commission public art, create educational tools and exhibitions, interpret historic sites, and maintain the largest archival collection on the Black Panther Party worldwide. To elevate our message, we founded and manage the Black Panther Party Museum, the first of its kind, in downtown Oakland, California.

VISION
The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation is a tax-deductible 501(c)3 founded in 1995 by David Hilliard, former Chief of Staff of the Black Panther Party, and Fredrika Newton, Panther and widow of Huey P. Newton. They founded the organization to protect the Black Panther Party legacy and assure it lives on despite COINTELPRO, the FBI’s program to discredit, disrupt, and destroy, Black leaders. In a period when activists, professionals, and scholars alike seek to connect prior and current movements, we created the Black Panther Party Museum for people around the globe to learn, engage with, and be inspired by the teachings of Huey P. Newton and the collective Black Panther Party.

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

Berkeley Rep

Written and performed by Jacob Ming-Trent, Directed by Tony Taccone, A co-production with Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater, World premiere
“America tried to take my life, and somehow a five-hundred-year-old white dude saved it.” In an autobiographical and music-filled tour-de-force, award-winning performer Jacob Ming-Trent dares to rescue himself from the “slings and arrows” of his past. Born with a gift for poetry but rejected as unfit to play the poet, his search for home yields results both hilarious and tragic. Invoking artistic geniuses like Biggie, Tupac, and Basquiat, he takes us on a propulsive ride that reaffirms the power of language and music. Directed by Tony Taccone, How Shakespeare Saved My Life begins with the Bard but becomes a ritual of communal salvation. Post show discussion: Stay behind after the show for a discussion guided by members of Berkeley Rep’s artistic team!

Dom Flemons

The Freight

Dom Flemons is known as “The American Songster" since his repertoire covers over one hundred years of American roots music. Flemons is a folk musician, black country artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music scholar, historian, actor, slam poet, record collector, curator, podcaster, cultural commentator, influencer, and the creator, host, and producer of the American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville. He is the Co-Founder and original member of the groundbreaking Carolina Chocolate Drops, the first ever black string band to win a Grammy Award. Over the past 25 years, he has received major awards, gained world-wide media recognition and has become one of the most influential and highly decorated voices in American roots music.

“Dom Flemons is one of the most accomplished American Folk Artists… few have pumped as much lifeblood into tradition as he has.” - MOJO Magazine

M. Butterfly

San Francisco Playhouse

David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly is a captivating drama that subverts Puccini’s Madame Butterfly through the true story of a French diplomat’s 20-year affair with a Chinese opera singer. As cultural and personal identities blur, the play challenges our assumptions about love, power, and deception. With its clever twists and poignant humor, M. Butterfly is a thought-provoking exploration of desire, illusion, and the complexities of human connection.

1988 Tony Award for Best Play
“A heated, intensely provocative show. It never lets up.” Deadline
“It will move you, it will thrill you, it may even surprise you. It is a play not to be missed, and it is a play once caught that will never be forgotten.” The New York Post