Weekend Preview Weekend Preview (September 21, 2005)

THURSDAY

"The Night of the Iguana" plays at the Pear Avenue Theatre at 1220 Pear Ave., Unit K in Mountain View through Oct. 2, with 8 p.m. performances Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays. Tickets range from $10 to $20. Call (650) 254-1148 or go to www.thepear.org.

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" is being staged by the Palo Alto Players through Oct. 2, with 8 p.m. shows Wednesday through Saturday and matinees at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Performances are at the Lucie Stern Theatre at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Call (650) 329-0891 or go to www.paplayers.org.

"Revolutionary Eye" displays the political poster art of the East German artist Wolfgang Janisch from 1979 through 1999, at the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion on the Stanford University campus. The exhibit runs through Dec. 16 and includes a video interview with Janisch. For more information, call (650) 723-2058 or go to www.hoover.org.

Mirang Wonne shows works in charcoal, pastel, collage and other media through Sept. 30 at the Bryant Street Gallery at 520 Bryant St. in Palo Alto. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with extended Thursday hours until 8:30 p.m. Call (650) 321-8155 or go to www.bryantstreet.com.

Ceramics by Barbara Brown and photography by R. "Ago" Agostini are on view through Oct. 15 at Gallery House at 320 California Ave. in Palo Alto. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Call (650) 326-1668 or go to www.galleryhouse2.com.

"Aida" is presented by the Bus Barn Stage Company through Oct. 1, with performances Thursday through Sunday (and one Wednesday show on Sept. 21). Tickets for the musical range from $22 to $28, and the Bus Barn Theatre is located at 97 Hillview Ave. in Los Altos. For ticket information, call (650) 941-0551 or go to busbarn.org.

Pastel paintings by Kim Fancher Lordier and pottery by Jean Prophet can be seen at the Portola Valley Art Gallery at 765 Portola Road through Sept. 25. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (650) 851-1563.

Chlorophyll prints by Binh Danh, in which old photos and documents are printed on leaves, are on exhibit at the Community School of Music and Arts at Finn Center, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (650) 917-6800, extension 305, or go to www.arts4all.org.

SATURDAY

The "Bella Strada Chalk Festival 2005" will feature kids following the 16th-century Italian art tradition of street painting with chalk today and Sunday in the parking lot of the Loyola Corners center, Fremont and Miramonte avenues in Los Altos. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and also includes face painting, ceramics painting, live music and food and wine. For more information, go to www.bellastradafestival.com.

At the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, docents give tours from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 25. Tours meet at the Russian Ridge parking lot near the intersection of Page Mill/Alpine Road and Skyline Boulevard. For more information, call (650) 691-1200 or go to www.openspace.org.

SUNDAY

"Crossing Boundaries" is the theme of a 5 p.m. event at the Pacific Art League at 668 Ramona St. in Palo Alto. It's an exhibit of music and artwork by contemporary composers who also create paintings. The second annual event will include music and art by Ofra Yitzhaki and Nurit Jugend. Call (650) 853-0741 or go to www.nuritjugend.com for more information.

"Romancing the Shadows," an exhibit of older styles of photography -- such as daguerreotypes and tintypes -- opens at the Palo Alto Art Center at 1313 Newell Road in Palo Alto today. The art center's other fall exhibits running through Dec. 23 are "Elsa Rady: The Cycladic Swing," which shows porcelain vessels inspired by marble figurative sculpture from Greece, and "Edward Eberle: Chaos & Classicism," which shows postmodern porcelain vessels. For details, call (650) 329-2366 or go to www.cityofpaloalto.org and choose "Art Center" under "Featured Sites."

A wine-tasting benefit to support Santa Clara County's "Healthy Kids" health insurance program for uninsured children is planned for 4 to 7 p.m. today at the Thomas Fogarty Winery at 19501 Skyline Blvd. in Woodside. Hosted by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Walsh and others, the event will include samplings of rare wines from regional wineries, live music, plein air painters, a dinner buffet and an auction. Tickets are $200. Call (408) 874-1912 or go to www.healthykidsfund.org.

The Tour de Menlo, a 50-mile bike ride, starts at Menlo-Atherton High School at 555 Middlefield Road in Atherton at 8 a.m. The hilly ride (which has 30- and 40-mile alternate routes) includes a major rest stop, drinks and snacks. The event, which has a $25 entry fee, benefits the scholarship and community service programs of the Rotary Club of Menlo Park. For more information, go to www.almanacnews.com.

ART
"Revolutionary Tides," an exhibit at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, shows 120 political posters from various countries, from World War I to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

THEATER
Reviews of Palo Alto Players' "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" and the Pear Avenue Theatre's "The Night of the Iguana."

MOVIES
Reviews of "The Corpse Bride," "Flightplan," and "Thumbsucker."

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