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Another great weekend lies just ahead — and we have seven spectacular suggestions for how to spend it, from stunning stage twists and scary and heartbreaking movies to a chowderfest and a tiki Hula-ween. (Yes! It’s tiki and spooky and boozy all at once!)
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Now let’s get started on the fun!
1 SEE: A mind-blowing new play at Berkeley Rep
“Fairview,” a stunning new stage drama by Jackie Sibblies Drury, depicts a trying night for an African-American family and, well, things get strange from there as the show sort of turns the tables on the audience (to give any more away would be like a Class A misdemeanor in the theater world). Suffice to say it will make you think, says our reviewer. If a more traditional musical is your cup of tea, the Broadway classic “Miss Saigon” is playing in San Francisco, as is “Waitress,” the acclaimed new show by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles.
2 SIP: Trader Vic’s Hulaween
Get your zombie on at this spooky Hulaween cocktail workshop at Emeryville’s premiere tiki hut Friday night. The $85 tab includes tiki drinks, devilish treats and plenty of mixology mojo.
3 HEAR: A skyrocketing pop star rock or an iconic Britpop band
Sixteen-year-old pop wunderkind Billie Eilish has wowed critics and quickly developed an ardent fan base with her twisty, feisty blend of electropop. Expect a strong reception when she headlines in Oakland this weekend. Meanwhile, veteran, moody British rockers the Arctic Monkeys hold forth two nights at the Bill Graham Civic in San Francisco. Deets on both shows are here.
4 EAT: Chowderhounds, take note!
If you’ve ever wondered which Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant makes the best chowder, ponder no longer. San Francisco’s big Wharf Fest Chowder Competition is this Saturday, with 10 professional entries going, er, clam to clam for bragging rights. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the tasting starts at noon — and you’ll need to get your tickets ahead of time. Yum.
5 SEE: Movies that will tug at your heart or make you shriek
What’s new in theaters? How about Steve Carell ditching his comedy chops to play the father of drug-addicted son in “Beautiful Boy” (co-starring the dreamy young actor Timothee Chalamet)? Or a return to the classic horror franchise “Halloween,” with Jamie Lee Curtis back to tussle with masked menace Michael Myers? We’ve got a rundown of your movie options here.
6 SIP: Pliny the Elder in Windsor
Long known for its stellar brews and crazy-long lines of Pliny-obsessed beer lovers, Russian River Brewing has finally opened its new brewery and brewpub in Windsor and the place is all kinds of fab — with an 85,000-square-foot complex that houses a restaurant, bar, tasting room, brewery and soon, behind-the-scenes tour. Take a peek inside, then check it out for yourself this weekend.
7 VOTE: On the ending of a Dickens murder mystery
Charles Dickens never finished his final novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” — and never named the killer — which makes it kind of a tough story to tell on stage. But a 1985 musical version takes care of this problem by introducing us to a cast of sordid maybe-murderers and letting the audience vote on who done it. The musical is playing in San Jose, and details are here.
