ANTIOCH
Vagbond Players, Campanil to present ‘Boys Next Door’
The Vagabond Players are gearing up for their next play, “The Boys Next Door,” at 2 p.m. June 3 at El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St.
An unusal story with unusual protagonists, the play centers on four men of differing mental abilities who live in a group home under the care of their social worker, Jack, in New England. The story gives a humorous commentary on the men’s lives, taking a surprising turn when one character’s father comes to visit and their caretaker accepts a new job.
The play about four mentally handicapped men who live in a home together in New England. Their social worker Jack, is becoming burned out with his job, and his life. Lucien P. Smith and Norman Bulansky are mentally retarded. Barry Klemper is a brilliant schizophrenic who fantasizes that he is a golf pro, and Arnold Wiggins, the ringleader, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer. Though Lucien cannot read, he is always checking out armloads of books from the library.
Director Sharon Redman says it is one of the best plays they’ve produced in these past 12 years, the actors “are amazing.”
While playwright Tom Griffin treats his characters with compassion and respect, the play is quite a bit funnier than it might sound.
After El Campanil Theater, the play will be at the Campbell Theater in Martinez beginning June 8-17.
Cost is $20 general admission, $18 for seniors, $15 for youths. For more information, go to www.elcampaniltheatre.com.
TV pilot will be screened at El Campanil
Think Post Productiosn presents a screening of the TV pilot “Adult*ing” at 7 p.m. June 9 at El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St.
Think Post Productions is a San Francisco-based group of four individuals, coming together sharing their passion for film and storytelling.
“Adult*ng” was the group’s first “pet project,” the catalyst for continuing more projects to come from Think Post Productions.
The story centers on Simon, a freshly divorced father of two, who begins a new chapter in his life when he moves into a new apartment complex full of characters who make up the ” N.eighborhood W.atch A.ssociation, ” which he finds himself a new — and reluctant — member of.
Admission is free. Four tickets per order. Go to www.elcampaniltheatre.com or call 925-757-9500.
Spencer Day to give cabaret performance
Singer/songwriter Spencer Day will perform at 2 p.m. June 9 at El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second St.
Day is a No. 1 Billboard recording artist and versatile singer and pianist, has headlined venues as diverse as Birdland in New York, the Hollywood Bowl, Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco, Jazz Alley in Seattle, the Pacific Rim Jazz Festival in Manila, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Yoshi’s, the Plush Room, the Great American Music Hall, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the list goes on. He has also been featured on national television on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and topped bills internationally in England, Japan, Australia and Mexico.
Crediting his success to his musician mother’s love of music, her talent, and her encouragement, Spencer also says he finds inspiration in the works of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon and many others.
His intimate concert will include several new numbers from his current album as well as favorites from the Great American Songbook, plus some classic jazz, some blues, some pop, all with the engaging delivery and his signature honey baritone vocals.
Cost is $20 general admission, $18 for seniors and youths. Go to www.elcampaniltheatre.com or call 925-757-9500.
BRENTWOOD
ABBA tribute band sets performance June 3
Supertrouper, an eight-member ABBA tribute band, will perform at 3 p.m. June 3 at Summerset Orchards, 770 Centennial Place.
The band will bring one of the greatest pop performances back to life, with iconic hits including “Mamma Mia,” “Dancing Queen,” “S.O.S.,” “Money, Money, Money,” “Winner Takes All” and many more.
Tickets for this great show are $15 and may be purchased in advance at our clubhouse between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. If still available, they may be purchased at the door, but call first (925-513-2640). Doors open at 2 p.m. with seating at 2:30 p.m.
Mural unveiling set for June 4
The Liberty High School Public Art and Design Academy Interns will host a grand unveiling and ribbon cutting of the city of Brentwood Arts Commission-sponsored “Night Sky” mural public art project.
The event is set for June 4 at 2 p.m. at Creekside Park, 1010 Claremont Drive. Light refreshments will be served.
ECCHS Museum now open for the season
East Contra Costa Historical Society’s Museum is now open for the season.
The museum, at 3890 Sellers Ave. near Sunset Road, is open from 2 to 4 p.m. every Saturday and the third Sunday from now through October. Tour the 1890s home, one-room school, new resource center and other features from East County’s past. For more information, call Dawn at 925-513-3247.
Summer Art Classes scheduled at the Delta Gallery
Delta Gallery Community Art Center kicks off its summer season with a new line-up of art classes for children, teens and adults. The setting is Delta Gallery, where students are surrounded by the inspiration of colorful, multi-media exhibits featuring local and regional artists.
Art Exploration for Kids is a fun new series of summer art camps led by instructor Jo Olney. Young artists can also sign up for Kids’ Oil Painting Workshops with Carol Ligon and themed classes with Nancy Roberts that include Paint Play, Fantasy Art and Fashion Art.
Summer workshops for adults and teens include Oil Impressions: Water-Mixable Oil Painting with Carol Ligon, Pocket Sketch On-the-Go with Paulette Lagana, and Open Studio, an opportunity for artists to work on their own projects in a casual, uninstructed setting hosted by Jo Olney.
For class details and registration visit www.DeltaGallery.com. Delta Gallery is in the Streets of Brentwood Shopping Center, 2485 Sand Creek Road, Suite 128, Brentwood. Call 925-516-5935.
Community Center hosts Suburban Sketchers exhibit
The city of Brentwood’s Public Art Walls Program will host a Suburban Sketchers Plein Air Exhibit through June 29 at the Brentwood Community Center.
The Suburban Sketchers are a group of local artists who get together to sketch, paint and photograph at scenic outdoor locations in Contra Costa County and beyond. The tradition of painting outdoors, or “en plein air,” was pioneered by the Impressionists and is going strong in California today. Plein air artists are intrigued with the effects of sunlight and color and enjoy the challenge of capturing fleeting moments in time.
This exhibit will include watercolors, acrylics, oil paintings and photography created by Suburban Sketchers while exploring the beauty of the Bay Area.
Along with the Suburban Sketchers, work by several other local artists will also be showcased. The Brentwood Community Center, 35 Oak St., is open Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All exhibits are family-friendly and admission is free.
MORAGA
Moraga Art Gallery hosts ‘Cabochon’ jewelry, watercolors
The Moraga Art Gallery will present “Precision Beauty, from June 6 to Aug. 11, featuring interpretations of nature in the form of jewelry by member artist Kuniko Kay Nitta of Walnut Creek and watercolor paintings by Oakland’s Karen Kramer.
Kuniko draws her inspiration from the simple aesthetic beauty of Japanese nature, which influenced her formative years in Japan. She specializes in “cabochons,” semi-precious stones individually cut, shaped, ground, and polished with extreme precision to reveal their embedded colors and unique patterns to create one-of-a-kind pendants, pins, and earrings.
Guest artist Kramer, back for an encore of her acclaimed 2014 exhibit at the gallery, whimsically transforms groups of leaves, neighborhood groves and gardens, majestic mountains, tropical jungles, endangered birds and more into lyrical fantasias of shapes and blended colors.
The show also includes work by the gallery’s 13 other members. An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will take place on June 9 from 5 to 7 p.m. The gallery is in the Rheem Shopping Center, at 522 Center St., Moraga. Its hours are Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m . For more information, visit www.moragaartgallery.com or call 925-376-5407.
PLEASANT HILL
Free concert featuring East Bay Mudd classic soul
Downtown Pleasant Hill invites the community to enjoy a free summer concert featuring East Bay Mudd, a powerhouse classic soul and R&B band, on June 7.
The concert, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., will be in the plaza near Jack’s Restaurant, 105 Crescent Drive.
For more information, visit http://shopdowntownpleasanthill.com/ events-and-promotions.
PLEASANTON
Three-week Alameda County Fair to open on June 15
The annual Alameda County Fair is set to runs Wednesday through Sundays, June 15 through July 8 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
Downtown Pleasanton will again pay tribute to its Wild West beginnings as the Fair’s Opening Day Cattle Drive returns for an encore on June 15. The live procession will feature cowboys, cowgirls, a big herd of steers, fair entertainers and loads of surprises. The event will start at Del Valle Avenue and head on to Main Street in Downtown Pleasanton at approximately 10:30 a.m.
LeAnn Rimes, Smash Mouth, En Vogue, 38 Special, Clay Walker, The Tubes, Blue Oyster Cult, Sir Mix-a-Lot, WAR & More will perform in the fair’s 2018 Big O Tires Concert Series.
Ticket prices vary by show & section and include Fair admission. Tickets for some shows are available now, with additional shows to go on sale each week. Visit alamedacountyfair.com for more concert information.
For more on the fair, go to http://www.alamedacountyfair.com/
LIVERMORE
See Owens’ ‘Suburbia Re-Visited’ exhibit at Bankhead
The work of local photographer Bill Owens will be featured in “Suburbia Re-Visited,” a new exhibit in the Gallery at the Bankhead Theater.
A former staff photographer for The Independent newspaper in the late 1960s, Owens gained worldwide attention with his book “Suburbia”in 1972 and its reflection of the changes emerging in American daily life. His photos now are in the permanent collection of prestigious museums and galleries around the globe.
“Suburbia Re-Visited” will be on display in the Gallery at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St. in downtown Livermore through June 25.
An opening reception for “Suburbia Re-Visited” and book signing with Bill Owens was held May 18. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information go to bothwell.lvpac.org.
Do you have an arts or entertainment item to submit? Write to Judith Prieve at jprieve@bayareanewsgroup.com.