From a world-famous basketball team (not the Warriors) to great comedy and a memorial for a beloved lizard, there are a lot of fun and cool things to do this weekend.
Here’s a partial rundown.,
Go ga-ga for the Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2026.
The legendary basketball squad, which was founded in 1926, has been delighting sports fans and families now for a full century. So, you’re invited to help the Globetrotters celebrate the occasion when they bring their 100 Years Tour to Northern California. It’s your chance to witness one of the most famous sports/entertainment franchises of all time while being amazed by plenty of crazy trick shots, incredible no-look passes and humorous hi-jinks.
“From gravity-defying dunks to game-changing tricks, fans will feel the history, the joy, and the fun that only the Globetrotters can deliver,” promises a news release about the Globetrotters’ 100 Years tour.
The Harlem Globetrotters will be facing off against their usual revivals — the ever-hopeful Washington Generals — at four different NorCal venues.
First up, the Globetrotters will take the court at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, followed by 3 p.m. games at Tech CU Arena in San Jose on Jan. 17 and Chase Center in San Francisco on Jan. 18. They finish up the run with a 1 p.m. Jan. 20 contest at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Details: For tickets and other information, visit harlemglobetrotters.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Beloved lizard gets its due
He was snaggletoothed, the color of dirty Ivory Soap and ate tons of rats, but the Bay Area loved him just the same. R.I.P. Claude the albino alligator, taken too soon this December at age 30.
On Jan. 18, the institution that held the Louisiana-born beast for 17 years — the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco — will hold a celebration in his honor in Golden Gate Park. It’s thought there are fewer than 200 albino alligators in the world, and this memorial will pay tribute to Claude’s equally rare accomplishment: the “power of ambassador animals to connect people to nature and stoke curiosity to learn more about the world around us,” as the academy has put it.
The free event will feature stories, speeches and performances, as well as activities for all ages of alligator enthusiasts. Maybe you’ll learn that Claude loved to hang out on a warm rock with his close buds, a trio of snapping turtles, or that he loved back scratches and eating fish heads and previously frozen rats (“ratsicles”). For anybody who can’t make it, the celebration will be live-streamed; check the academy’s event page for details.
Details: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 18 (rain or shine); Golden Gate Bandshell near 75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco; free; calacademy.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Having a pun time
The annual SF Sketchfest, which opens this week, is back for its 24th year with another mind-blowingly humongous lineup that raises the obvious question: Who the heck ever thought they could pull this off?
The answer, of course, is David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, three Bay Area comedians, who founded the colossal event and still run it. For nearly 3 weeks – Jan. 15-Feb. 1 – Sketchfest delivers a staggering amount of comedy – some 200 shows featuring more than 500 performers at dozens of San Francisco venues. The events range from sketch and improv to Q&As to standup, to film and much, much more – there’s simply no way to summarize it all here. With so much laughter on tap, there is even some room for puns. Yes, the lowest form of humor stands tall at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 15 with the return of the annual Bay Area Pun-Off. The event is co-presented by Sketchfest and Worldwide Puns — which describes itself as “the incorrigible idiots responsible for a decade of sold-out, critically acclaimed shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.” This is the third time Bay Area Pun-Off has made an appearance at SF Sketchfest; after it was founded by Bay Area comedians Jonah Spear and Brady Gill. The concept seems simple enough – you can take a stab at delivering your best pun, or simply watch others try it.
Details: 7:30 to 9 p.m. Jan. 15 at Cobb’s Comedy Club, San Francisco; tickets are $30-$55; you can peruse the Sketchfest lineup at sfsketchfest.com, to check the hundreds of other events.
— Bay City News Foundation
San Jose native is a rising star
In the opening episode of the fourth shocking season of the HBO series “Industry,” San Jose native Myha’la — as Harper Stern, the self-made, highly motivated mover and shaker in London’s dog-eat-dog investment banking world — steps stylishly out of her sleek car and sweeps into her office. She carries this entrance off with a level of confidence and fashion forwardness that recalls Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada.”
This head-turning entrance, so delicious in every way, sets the tone for Harper’s cunning and kinky odyssey that plays out in “Industry,” which debuted in 2020 and kicked off its fourth season this month. But that scene doubles down as the ascent of Myha’la, the actress.
Not only can you watch this chameleon-like performer bring more dimension and sizzle to Harper in “Industry’s” Season 4 on HBO (the previous seasons are available on Fandango and HBO Max), but you can also catch her in a very different role, portraying rookie TV journalist Linda Page in Gus Van Sant’s best film in years, “Dead Man’s Wire.” The dynamite dramedy chronicles the real-life 1977 media firestorm that came about when an outraged mortgage customer took a bank exec hostage. It’s playing in theaters now.
Myha’la, who also appeared in the films “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and “Leave the World Behind,” is married to actor Armando Rivera, who also has ties to the Bay Area and appears with her in the upcoming thriller “They Will Kill You,” starring Patricia Arquette, Zazie Beetz, Tom Felton and Rivera. It opens March 27 in theaters.
— Randy Myers, Correspondent
They’re creepy and they’re kooky …
The Addams Family, a delightfully eccentric and goofy collection of characters made popular by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, have proved such a hit in comic books, as well as on the big and small screen, that it’s only fitting that they earn accolades on stage as well.
That’s what happened when Andrew Lippa (music and lyrics) and Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (who teamed on the book) created “The Addams Family” musical comedy. The show made its Broadway debut in 2010 starring stage icons Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia. The show earned two Tony nominations and went on to win Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards.
Now the show is getting a run by Tri-Valley Theatre Company at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. The show follows the ghoulish family gripped in drama when daughter Wednesday Addams wants her parents to meet her “normal” boyfriend. Directed by Tri-Valley Theatre Board President Glen Riggs, “The Addams Family” stars Phillip Leyva (as Gomez), Shelly McDowell (Morticia), Jocie Purcell (Wednesday) and Luca Varela (Pugsley).
Details: Seven performances Jan. 17-Feb. 1; Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $45, with student and military discounts available; livermorearts.org, trivalleytheatre.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Here’s your freebie of the week
Anyone who’s been to the Orinda Theatre knows of the venue’s many charms – inside and outside. The landmark – described as a mix of art deco and moderne architecture styles – was opened in 1941 and has weathered some financial challenges but remains the physical and spiritual center of Orinda’s charming downtown. Inside there are three theaters, including the 750-seat grand theater with its circular ceiling and distinctive design elements. The programming features the kind of eclectic lineup movies you would expect from an independent theater these days – a mix of first- and second-run movies and a wide range of “movie events” that run the gamut from classics to cult favorites to releases that fall somewhere in between those two paradigms.
The third Thursday of each month brings a free screening and this week — Jan. 15 — falls decidedly under the classic category – “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s brilliant adaptation of the Mario Puzo novel about an aging crime lord’s final days and his family’s fitful transfer of power. The film won an Oscar for best picture as well as best actor for Marlon Brando, even though few people could understand what he was saying the whole film. And it turned Al Pacino into a star. And, sure, you can access the movie easily these days but we bet nothing would be as awesome as watching it in the Orinda’s stately grand theater with its huge screen. The screening starts at 6:30 p.m. The theater, which also hosts live concerts and other performances, has a fairly wide selection of snacks and drinks and the surrounding downtown and attached mini-mall offers a nice selection of shops and restaurants.
Details: More information is at www.orindamovies.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
Remembering 2 legends
The In the Name of Love concert, now in its 22nd year, was created as an annual remembrance of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., and – stop us if you’ve heard this one – that legacy is more golden than ever in an era that seems to be dominated by crass cruelty. But this year’s event on Jan. 16 invokes another musical legend as well, one rooted in East Bay history.
The concert will spotlight the era-defining songs of Sly and the Family Stone, the band that roared out of Vallejo in the late 1960s and changed the sound of popular music forever with its exciting and incendiary blend of soul, blues, pop, jazz and R&B found in songs like “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”
Once again arranged by musical director Kev Choice – who also leads the house band for the concert – In the Name of Love features a lineup of such local singers/musicians Martin Luther McCoy, Silk E, and Ashling “Biscuit” Cole, August Lee Stevens and B. Deveaux. So you have a collection of some awfully talented singers performing tunes from one of popular music’s most awesome songwriters, in an event that benefits organizer Living Jazz – which helps expose school kids to great music. That’s a win-win-win.
Details: 6 p.m. Jan. 16; Paramount Theatre in Oakland; $20-$90; www.livingjazz.org
— Bay City News Foundation
A harmonic convergence
In what could be dubbed a gathering of the potential future star players of the nation’s orchestras, the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival takes place on the Davies Hall stage in San Francisco at 3 p.m. Jan. 18. With KPIX anchor emerita Wendy Tokuda hosting the event, five of the region’s youth ensembles — the Marin Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra and the California Youth Symphony — will each strut their musical stuff separately, with the concert concluding with a performance by the Festival Orchestra itself, which is made up of players from each of the participating ensembles and will be conducted by the Berkeley-based YPSO’s music director David Ramadanoff. On the afternoon program are Verdi’s Overture to the opera “Nabucco,” a selection from Gabriea Lena Frank’s “Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra,” the Allegro giocoso movement from Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture” and his “Hungarian Dance No. 5,” the Allegro con brio from Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8, Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and the Andante-Allegro from Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.
Details: Tickets are $25-$70, half price for patrons 17 and under; sfsymphony.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Windy City players blow into town
Cal Performances at UC Berkeley plays host on Jan. 16 in Zellerbach Hall to a visit from one of the nation’s most prestigious symphony orchestras. With the recently appointed Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti conducting, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will give a Maria Manetti Shrem Great Artist performance that consists of Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, the Suite from Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “The Fairy’s Kiss” and that sinuous sensation from Maurice Ravel, “Bolero.” Muti, who served as the orchestra’s music director for 13 years until his current appointment there in 2023, made 12 recordings on the orchestra’s label, winning Grammys for four of them.
Details: 8 p.m. Jan. 16; $60-$225; calperformances.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
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