Weekend Preview Weekend Preview (February 18, 2004)

"Candide" will open on Friday at Foothill College.

Flamenco dancer Phoebe Vernier, aka "La Fibi," will perform on Saturday at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
Thursday

"The Winter's Tale" will be presented through Feb. 14 at the Bus Barn Theatre, 97 Hillview Ave. in Los Altos. One of Shakespeare's last works, the play is a profound explanation of the simple miracles in life and the forces that shape them -- love, friendship, jealousy and forgiveness. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Tickets are $25. For more information please call (650) 941-0551 or visit www.busbarn.org
Friday

"Candide" will be presented by Foothill Music Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. at Foothill College's Playhouse, 12345 El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills. The play, featuring a score by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, follows the globe-trotting adventures of a displaced lad separated from his one true love. Show times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 13 at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. "Candide" will run through March 14. Tickets are $22 general; $20 seniors; $16 students; $10 children under 12. For tickets, call the box office at (650) 949-7360 (open Wednesday through Sunday, noon-3 p.m.), 24-hour charge-by-phone hotline at (650) 949-7414 or visit www.acteva.com/go/foothillboxoffice.

San Francisco Early Music Society will present Parnassus Avenue tonight at 8 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church, 600 Homer Ave (corner of Webster Street) in Palo Alto. The program will feature Handel sonatas and tunes from waterfront pubs and inns. Tickets (general seating) are $25 non-members; $22 members/seniors. For more information call (510) 528-1725 or visit www.sfems.org

"The Barber of Seville" will be presented by West Bay Opera tonight at 8 p.m. at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Additional show times are Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $43, with a special $21.50 youth ticket (for those under 18) for Sunday matinees only. For tickets or more information, please call the West Bay Opera box office at (650) 424-9999, Monday - Friday, 1 to 6 p.m., or visit www.wbopera.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Holt Building, 221 Lambert Ave. in Palo Alto.

"The Hobbit" will be presented today at 4:30 p.m. at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Additional performances are scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Children's Theatre Box Office Tuesday through Saturday, by calling (650) 463-4970.

Mixed-media painter Robert Haemmerling and computer artist Jeehee Lee will have their works exhibited through March 25 at Stanford Art Spaces, located on campus at the Paul Allen Center for Integrated Systems. Admission is free. The gallery is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call (650) 725-3622 or visit http://cis.stanford.edu/~marigros.

"Faces and Places," an exhibition of recent works by San Jose artist Sonya Paz, will be on display through Feb. 29 at Torrefazione Italia Cafe, 819 University Ave., Palo Alto. The cafe is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information call (408) 266-9941.
Saturday

Hidden Villa Farm and Wilderness Preserve will celebrate Black History Month with a special program tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Visitors Welcome Center, which is situated in a meadow at the entrance to the farm. The event will feature storyteller Yolanda Rhodes and West African drummer Perry Sayoma Quarshie. Tickets are $10 adults; $8 children 12 & under; $30 for a family of four. Scholarships are available for low-income families. Reservations are recommended. Please call (650) 949-8653 or visit www.hiddenvilla.org.

Festa di Carnevale a Roaring '20s costume ball, will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Menlo College's main dining hall, 1000 El Camino Real in Atherton. The program, organized by the Italian Educational Institute, will feature a buffet dinner, music and dancing (with a live orchestra) and prizes for best costumes. Tickets are $80 general; $70 IEI members. For more information, please call (650) 804-2583 or (650) 543-3946.

Theatre Flamenco will present "Disenos," a feast of dancing and live music, today at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. The program will showcase some of the Bay Area's leading Flamenco artists. Tickets are $30 general; $26 students and seniors, and can be purchased by calling the box office at (650) 903-6000.

Joanne Hammil will perform a family concert today at 3 p.m. at Spangenberg Theatre, 780 Arastradero Road in Palo Alto. Tickets are $10 adults; $5 children and seniors and will be available at the door. For more information please call (650) 329-3944 or visit www.joannehammil.com.

"Gizmos & Gadgets," is currently on display at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo, 1451 Middlefield Road. This new exhibition demonstrates how work can be made easier with simple machines such as levers and incline planes. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, please call (650) 329-2111 or visit www.pajmzfriends.org/membership.htm.

"Picasso to Thiebaud:Modern Contemporary Art from the Collections of Stanford University Alumni and Friends" will be on display through June 20 at the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. The exhibition will feature more than 70 prints, drawings and photographs from the early 17th century to the present, featuring artists as subjects. The center is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday until 8 p.m. Admission is free. Please call (650) 723-4177 or visit www.stanford.edu/dept/ccva

"Love and Lust" will run through Feb. 25 at the Pacific Art League, 668 Ramona St. in Palo Alto. The gallery is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information please call (650) 321-3891 or visit www.pacificartleague.org
Sunday

El Camino Youth Symphony's Benefit Recital 2004 will take place tonight at 7 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. (corner of Mercy). The program will feature violinist Alexander Barantschik, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony; cellist and ECYS conductor Michail Gelfandbein with pianist Irina Sharogradsky; violist Melissa Huang; and ECYS Flute Ensemble faculty, Monokrome Flute Quartet. Tickets are $35 general; $25 students and seniors, and are only available from the Mountain View Center Ticket Office, (650) 903-6000 or www.mvcpa.com.

"When Radio Was King," featuring classic radio receivers and radio memorabilia, will be on display through May 23 at the Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave. in Palo Alto. Regular exhibit hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information please call (650) 321-1004 or visit www.moah.org.

"Narrating Time," in conjunction with works by Jim Campbell, will be featured through April 25 at the Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road. The exhibition features 19th and 21st-century photographs in which the specific exploration of time is central to the artist's body of work. Exhibitions can be viewed Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m.; Thursday also 7-9 p.m. Call (650) 329-2366 or visit www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/artcenter/index.html.

"Silence of Memory," featuring monotypes by Arthur Krakower, will be on display through Feb. 29 at Café Borrone, 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. For more information please visit www.arthurkrakower.com
Music

A profile of El Camino Youth Symphony conductor Michail Gelfanbein, who will be performing in the symphony's annual benefit concert.
Opera

A review of "The Barber of Seville," the new production by West Bay Opera.
Eating Out

A review of Bistro Elan in Palo Alto.

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