Weekend Preview Weekend Preview (November 23, 2005)

Friday

Cantor Arts Center Cantor Arts Center, located at Palm Drive and Museum Way on the Stanford campus, will remain open Thanksgiving weekend, Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibitions include "Fired at Davis: Figurative Ceramic Sculpture"; "Revolutionary Tides: Art of the Political Poster 1914-1989"; and "Food, Frogs and Fido: Works on Paper by David Gilhooly." Free. Call (650) 725-4177 or go to stanford.edu/dept/ccva.

"Gone with the Wind" returns to the big screen at Spangenberg Theatre at 7 p.m. at Gunn High School, 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto. Also showing Saturday. Tickets are $5. Call (650) 354-8263 or go to www.spangenbergtheatre.com.

Open Stables Large-scale meditative paintings, a flying kimono and darkly comic deer portraits are among the works on view by four artists at SPUR Projects, 888 Portola Road, Portola Valley. The exhibit runs through Jan. 10, Tue.-Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (650) 529-2040 or go to www.spurprojects.com.

"The Nutcracker" Pacific Theatre Ballet performs the holiday classic on Friday and Saturday Nov. 25 and 26 at 1 and 6 p.m. and Sunday Nov. 27 at 12:30 and 4 p.m. at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts MainStage, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are $23 to $18. Call (650) 903-6000 or go to www.mvcpa.com.

Saturday

Reading Jerry Garcia Dennis McNally reads "Jerry Garcia: The Collected Artwork," a book written by the late Grateful Dead guitarist and published to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Garcia's death. Reading takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Art21 Gallery, 539 Alma St., Palo Alto. Call (650) 566-1381 or go to art21.us/Garcia_items/artbook.htm.

Sugar Plum Sweets Party Mingle with Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, mice, soldiers and a host of other characters, when special dancers in costume attend a party after the Pacific Theatre Ballet's matinee performance of "The Nutcracker." The party's on at 3 p.m. in the lobby at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are $10. Call (650) 903-6000 or go to www.mvcpa.com.

Sunday

Best of San Francisco Comedy CompetitionChase away that leftover turkey malaise with laughter at this venerable annual event at 7:30 p.m. at Little Fox Theatre, 2209 Broadway, Redwood City. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Call (650) FOX-4119 or go to www.foxdream.com.

Construction Toys in MotionA giant Ferris wheel, rocket-jet ride, cog railway and paddlewheel riverboat are among the operating construction toy models on view at The Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave., Palo Alto. The exhibit runs through Jan. 29. Free. Call (650) 321-1004.

In the coming week

Artifactory Fair Cooperative crafts fair runs next Friday through Sunday, Dec. 2 through 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hoover House, 1120 Hopkins, Palo Alto. (near Lucie Stern Theater). Call (650) 625-1736.

"For Man Must Work," an activist film, explores questions about the future of the working stiff versus technology and the knowledge sector. Will the end result be economic apartheid in which a third of humanity is made redundant? The thought-provoking film will screen Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church Main Hall, 505 E. Charleston Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $5 to $10, by donation. Call (650) 326-8837 or go to www.worldcentric.org.

"Into the Woods" TheatreWorks stages this Tony Award-winning musical, which follows iconic fairytale characters into the woods, where they discover what really happens after "happily ever after." Music by Stephen Sondheim. Performances run Nov. 30 through Jan. 7 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $32 to $54 for adults, $34 for seniors and $20 for students. Call (650) 463-1960 or go to www.theatreworks.org.

Master of Noh This performance of the ancient Japanese theatrical art form by master Junnosuke Watanabe and his troupe from Tokyo combines poetry, drama, gesture, dance, music and elaborate costumes. A sake reception will follow the exclusive U.S. performance, which takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Community School of Music and Art's Tateuchi Hall, 230 San Antonio Road, Mountain View. Tickets are $75. Call (650) 917-6800, ext. 335 or go to www.arts4all.org/tickets.

Smuin Christmas Ballet Smuin brings its eclectic blend of dance genres, from ballet to tap and swing, to the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts MainStage, 500 Castro St., Mountain View, on Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. Six vignettes from Christmas ballet's past will be performed, along with favorites such as tap-dancing Christmas trees and "Santa Baby." Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 to $50. Call (650) 903-6000 or go to www.mvcpa.com.

Stanford University Singers Fifty-voice singers opens the holiday season with a concert of seasonal music, including Schutz's The Christmas Story at Stanford's Memorial Church on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 general, $9 seniors and $5 students. Call (650) 725-2787.

Ying Quartet with Mike Seeger Innovative classical musicians Ying Quartet team up with folk musician Mike Seeger for a program that explores America's musical legacy, including modern classical and American folk music on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. at Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford. Tickets are $40 to $44 for adults and $20 to $22 for students. Call (650) 725-ARTS or go to livelyarts.stanford.edu.

In Friday's weekend edition:

Theater

A preview of the new TheatreWorks musical revival "Into the Woods" and a review of Bus Barn's romantic comedy "Romance in D."

Dining

A review of Palo Alto's upscale Caffe Riace.

Movies
text:Reviews of the new comedies "The Ice Harvest" and "Just Friends."
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