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Dance | Film | Music | Opera | Performing Arts Centers | Theater
Sophisticated, offbeat, and often ahead of the curve, San Francisco’s performing arts scene supports world-class opera, ballet, and theater productions, along with alternative-dance events, avant-garde plays, groundbreaking documentaries, and a slew of spoken-word and other literary happenings.
The best guide to the arts is printed in the “Datebook” section and the “96 Hours” section of the San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com). Also check out the city’s free alternative weeklies, including SF Weekly (www.sfweekly.com) and the San Francisco Bay Guardian (www.sfbg.com).
Online, SF Station (www.sfstation.com) has a frequently updated arts and nightlife calendar. San Francisco Arts Monthly (www.sfarts.org), which is published at the end of the month, has arts features and events listings, plus a helpful “Visiting San Francisco?” section. For offbeat, emerging-artist performances, consult CounterPULSE (www.counterpulse.org).
Tickets
City Box Office.
This charge-by-phone service sells tickets for many performances and lectures. You can also buy tickets online, or in person on weekdays from 9:30 to 5:30. | 180 Redwood St., Suite 100, off Van Ness Ave., between Golden Gate Ave. and McAllister St., Civic Center | 415/392–4400 | www.cityboxoffice.com.
San Francisco Performances.
SFP brings an eclectic array of top-flight global music and dance talents to various venues—mostly the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Davies Symphony Hall, and Herbst Theatre. Artists have included Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Midori. Tickets can be purchased in person through City Box Office, online, or by phone. | 500 Sutter St., Suite 710, Financial District | 415/392–2545 | www.performances.org.
TIX Bay Area.
Half-price, same-day tickets for many local and touring shows go on sale (cash only) at the TIX booth in Union Square, which is open daily from 10 to 6. Discount purchases can also be made online. | Powell St. between Geary and Post Sts., Union Sq. | 415/433–7827 | www.tixbayarea.com.
Dance
Fodor’s Choice | San Francisco Ballet.
For ballet lovers the nation’s oldest professional company is reason alone to visit the Bay Area. SFB’s performances, for the past three decades under direction of Helgi Tomasson, have won critical raves. The primary season runs from February through May. The repertoire includes full-length ballets such as Don Quixote and Sleeping Beauty; the December presentation of The Nutcracker is truly spectacular. The company also performs bold new dances from star choreographers such as William Forsythe and Mark Morris, alongside modern classics by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Tickets are available at the War Memorial Opera House. | War Memorial Opera House,301 Van Ness Ave., at Grove St., Civic Center | 415/865–2000 | www.sfballet.org | Weekdays 10–4.
Film
Fodor’s Choice | Castro Theatre.
A large neon sign marks the exterior of this 1,400-plus seat art-deco movie palace whose exotic interior transports you back to 1922, when the theater first opened. High-profile festivals present films here, and classic revivals and foreign flicks also unfold. TIP Lines for the Castro’s popular sing-along movie musicals often trail down the block. | 429 Castro St., near Market St., Castro | 415/621–6350 | www.castrotheatre.com.
Music
Fodor’s Choice | San Francisco Symphony.
One of America’s top orchestras performs from September through May, with additional summer performances of light classical music and show tunes. The orchestra and its charismatic music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, known for his daring programming of 20th-century American works, often perform with soloists of the caliber of Andre Watts, Gil Shaham, and Renée Fleming. The symphony’s adventurous projects include its collaboration with the heavy metal band Metallica. TIP Deep discounts on tickets are often available through Travelzoo, Groupon, and other vendors. | Davies Symphony Hall,201 Van Ness Ave., at Grove St., Civic Center | 415/864–6000 | www.sfsymphony.org.
SFJAZZ Center.
Jazz legends Branford Marsalis and Herbie Hancock have performed at the snazzy center, as have Rosanne Cash and world-music favorite Esperanza Spaulding. The sightlines and acoustics here impress. Shows often sell out quickly. | 201 Franklin St., Hayes Valley | 866/920–5299 | www.sfjazz.org.
Music Festivals
Fodor’s Choice | Stern Grove Festival.
The nation’s oldest continual free summer music festival hosts Sunday-afternoon performances of symphony, opera, jazz, pop music, and dance. The amphitheater is in a beautiful eucalyptus grove, perfect for picnicking before the show. World-music favorites such as Ojos de Brujas, Seu Jorge, and Shuggie Otis get the massive crowds dancing. TIP Shows generally start at 2 pm, but arrive hours earlier if you want to see the performances up close—and dress for cool weather, as the fog often rolls in. | Sloat Blvd. at 19th Ave., Sunset | 415/252–6252 | www.sterngrove.org.
Opera
Fodor’s Choice | San Francisco Opera.
Founded in 1923, this internationally recognized organization has occupied the War Memorial Opera House since the building’s completion in 1932. From September through January and June through July, the company presents a dozen or so operas. SF Opera frequently collaborates with European companies and presents unconventional, sometimes edgy projects designed to attract younger audiences. Translations are projected above the stage during most non-English productions. | War Memorial Opera House,301 Van Ness Ave., at Grove St., Civic Center | 415/864–3330 tickets | www.sfopera.com | Box office: 199 Grove St., at Van Ness Ave.; open Mon. 10–5, Tues.–Fri. 10–6.
Performing Arts Centers
Fodor’s Choice | War Memorial Opera House.
With its soaring vaulted ceilings and marble foyer, this elegant 3,146-seat venue, built in 1932, rivals the Old World theaters of Europe. Part of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, which also includes Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theatre, this is the home of the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet. | 301 Van Ness Ave., at Grove St., Civic Center | 415/621–6600 | www.sfwmpac.org.
Fodor’s Choice | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Across the street from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and abutting a lovely urban garden, this performing arts complex schedules interdisciplinary art exhibitions, touring and local dance troupes, music, film programs, and contemporary theater events. You can depend on the quality of the productions at Yerba Buena. Film buffs often come here to check out the San Francisco Cinematheque (www.sfcinematheque.org), which showcases experimental film and digital media. And dance enthusiasts can attend concerts by a roster of city companies that perform here, including Smuin Ballet/SF (www.smuinballet.org), ODC/San Francisco (www.odcdance.org), the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (www.mjdc.org), and Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet (www.linesballet.org). The Lamplighters (www.lamplighters.org), an alternative opera that specializes in Gilbert and Sullivan, also performs here. | 3rd and Howard Sts., SoMa | 415/978–2787 | www.ybca.org.
Theater
American Conservatory Theater.
One of the nation’s leading regional theater companies presents about eight plays a year, from classics to contemporary works, often in repertory. The season runs from early fall to late spring. In December ACT stages a beloved version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. | 415 Geary St., Union Sq. | 415/749–2228 | www.act-sf.org.
Fodor’s Choice | Teatro ZinZanni.
In a fabulous antique Belgian dance-hall tent, contortionists, chanteuses, jugglers, illusionists, and circus performers entertain audiences who dine on a surprisingly good five-course dinner. The show, which ran for 11 years on a waterfront pier, is scheduled to debut in its new permanent home in 2015. During summer and on most weekends, reservations are essential. | Broadway and the Embarcadero, Northern Waterfront | 415/438–2668 | www.zinzanni.org.