Walnut Creek's Fall Season of Fabulous Arts and Culture

We don't mind saying it: Walnut Creek is the center of the East Bay universe--certainly when it comes to arts, culture, culinary and other events. This is especially true in the fall when arts companies and local cultural organizations raise the curtain on their annual seasons of shows. 

This fall's cultural calendar features some new events--Savor Walnut Creek coming this Thursday--and the biggest party to hit town in years--the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Lesher Center for the Arts October 9. 

Yes, 'tis also the season for the film industry to roll out their prestige Oscar contenders. So, we expect to be camping out a lot at Century 14 Downtown Walnut Creek and at the Dome--er, Cinearts. But, there's nothing like going to see a live show, or trying a new wine or beer at any of the downtown culinary events scheduled for this fall. 

>>Food>> Savor Walnut Creek, Thursday, September 2
The Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association is hosting this first ever culinary event, inviting the public to sample dishes from top Walnut Creek restaurants, including Prima Ristorante, VeSu, Va de Vi, Sasa, Sunrise Bistro, Lark Creek, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Walnut Creek Yacht Club, Havana, Massimo, The Door and Artisan Wine Lounge. 7 to 11 p.m. at the corner of Bonanza and Locust streets. Tickets are $25 per person and includes two tasting tickets. To purchase tickets go to www.walnutcreekdowntown.com. 

>>Theater>> She Loves Me, September 3-October 10
Center Repertory Company presents the original 1930s musical on which several films, including the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romantic comedy You've Got Mail, were based. All versions depict two professional colleagues who initially clash in person before discovering that they are soul mates through an anonymous pen pal relationship. She Loves Me is from the same team that created Fiddler on the Roof, and it started out as Parfumerie, set in Budapest by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

 >>Theater>> Annie, September 10-October 2
Diablo Theatre Company gets busy with a family-friendly season opener. Based on Harold Gray's comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, Diablo Theatre Company presents the Tony Award-winning show about a spirited young girl and her unlimited zest.  Annie is scheduled for a Broadway revival in 2012, but why wait? Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>>Theater>> Not a Genuine Black Man, September 11 and 25 and October 2  After smash runs off Broadway, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Walnut Creek, Brian Copeland, the host of his own KGO810 radio show, returns his solo hit play to Walnut Creek. Copeland shares a story of identity and diversity by revealing a little-known chapter of Bay Area history. In 1971, San Leandro was named one of the most racist suburbs in America, and eight-year-old Brian and his African-American family decided to make it their home.  Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

>>Community >> The Walnut Festival: Walnut Festival Run, September 12: Twilight Parade, September 18, and the Festival, September 23-26
Now nearly 100 years old, the festival is Walnut Creek's official way of celebrating the harvest. In modern times, the festival kicks off with 10K Race and a 5K Run/Walk through downtown's streets on Sunday, September 12. The Twilight Parade, mostly starring the youth of our community parading down Main Street, starts  up at 6 p.m. Saturday, September 18. The following weekend, the festival kicks into high fear at Heather Farm Park, with rides, games, food and fundraising opportunities for local organizations. For more information, visit the Walnut Festival Association's website. 

>>Antiques>> Shadelands Ranch Antique & Collectibles Sale and Show, September 12 
Dozens of dealers offer a fascinating variety of collectibles and antiques for sale on the grounds of the Shadelands Ranch museum. A professional antique appraiser will be on hand to offer verbal evaluations of up to three items per person for a nominal fee on most items except jewelry, stamps, coins, or old guns. Tours of the Museum will also be given. Admission and parking are free. 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road.

 >>Books>> An Evening with Gail Tsukiyama, September 14
Follow brothers Kiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto through war and hardship in Tsukiyama's latest novel, Street of a Thousand Blossoms. Pre- and post-war Japan is the setting for the prize-winning author's sixth novel. Recognized for her in-depth research, Tsukiyama will kick off the new library's One City, One Book fall festivities with a reading and talk at 7:30 p.m. (tickets, $5). Sumo East and West, a documentary film about Sumo wrestling and the affect foreigners are having on the Japanese tradition, follows September 16 with a free screening at 7 p.m. Both events take place at the Walnut Creek Library, 1644 North Broadway. 

>>Newsmaker>> Peter Greenberg, Lesher Speaker Series, September 15 
The Lesher Speaker Series continues to provide fascinating, thoughtful and provocative discourse with its lineup of renown public figures. Investigative travel reporter Peter Greenberg is the first speaker for the 2010-11 season. While the series is officially sold out, individual tickets are typically available on the day of the event. Contact the Lesher Center box office, 925-943-7469 or www.lesherartscenter.org. 

 >>Wine>> Fall Wine Walk, September 15
The third annual Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association's wine walk invites guests to stroll through unique downtown retail shops and restaurants and enjoy fine wines from local wineries. Last fall's wine walk brought in more than 750 attendees; this past spring's wine walk brought in 950.  Taking place 6 to 9 p.m., the Wine Walk is presented by Pro Home Systems and Mechanics Bank. Pick up will-call, or purchase tickets at Pro Home Systems (1561 Civic Drive). To purchase tickets, go to www.walnutcreekdowntown.com. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 on the day of the event. 

>>Arts and Crafts>> Pacific Fine Arts Sidewalk Festival, September 25-26. Artists and craftsmen will display their works in a street show on North Main, Cypress and Locust streets, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 

>>Music>> Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, September 29
For its 30th season, the orchestra presents selections from Mozart, including the Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, the beloved "Jupiter" Symphony No. 41 in C Major performed on period instruments, and a U.S. premiere of fragments of newly found works for the fortepiano and orchestra by pianist Robert Levin. Walnut Creek's Lesher Center is a new venue for this orchestra, which is dedicated to historically informed performances of baroque, classical and early-romantic music on original instruments. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>>Community>> OktoberCreekFest 2010, October 1 and 2
The annual festival, sponsored by the Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association, returns and features live music, German cuisine, wine and, of course, beer. Noon to 10 p.m., Locust at Cypress streets and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. For more information, go to the association's website.

>>Visual arts>> The American Scene: New Deal Art 1935-1943, October 3-December 19
The Bedford Gallery presents this stunning collection of work created during the Great Depression as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)'s Federal Art Project. Developed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the WPA was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions to carry out public works projects. The Federal Art Project (FAP) put thousands of artists to work. The exhibition showcases photographs by the great American documentary photographer Dorothea Lange, including her famous 1936 photograph, "Migrant Mother." www.bedfordgallery.org

>>Music>> California Symphony's "Tribute to the WPA," October 3
In collaboration with the Bedford Gallery's exhibition of work by WPA visual artists, the California Symphony presents a concert that recognizes the "profound influence" that the WPA's Composers' Forum-Laboratory and the Federal Music Project—both in existence just five years--had on the development of American music. The symphony will present "Remembering Ansel Adams" by the late composer Ernst Bacon, who died in Orinda in 1990. He served as the supervisor of the WPA project in San Francisco and conducted its orchestra from 1935 to 1937.  He was also friends with Ansel Adams and shared his love of the environment. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>> Newsmakers >> The Capitol Steps, October 7 
The 2010-11 Lesher Speaker Series continues with the political satire troupe The Capitol Steps. While the series is officially sold out, individual tickets are typically available on the day of the event. Contact the Lesher Center box office, 925-943-7469 or www.lesherartscenter.org. 

>>Party>> On Broadway 20th Anniversary Celebration, October 9
It's safe to say that Walnut Creek's downtown and its arts scene wouldn't be what it is today without the Lesher Center, which annually hosts more than 900 arts and other events. The center opened 20 years ago, and the center's management and the Diablo Regional Arts Association are throwing a big party to celebrate. More than 500 people are expected to attend the party, which will take place in the Lesher Center and in a glittery tent on Locust Street. After a cocktail party and auction, guests will enjoy a sit-down dinner, followed by a headliner performance by the Manhattan Transfer, in the Lesher Center's Hofmann Theatre. To join the party visit www.draa.org. 

>>Music>>Diablo Symphony, October 10
For "Musical Metamorphoses," the symphony's Maestro Joyce Johnson Hamilton welcomes classical guitarist Yuri Liberzon and composer Ken Moody, whose work "The Composer" will be performed by the orchestra. Liberzon will play "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Joaquin Rodrigo. He also will perform "Eleanor Rigby" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Other selections include "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint- Saens and "Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber" by Paul Hindemuth. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>>Music>> Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra
For its concert "Made in America," the orchestra presents an evening of Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring," and a world premiere of Douglas Beavers American Transgressions for Orchestra. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>>Dance>> Diablo Ballet, October 14 and 15
 The Walnut Creek-based Diablo Ballet returns to the Lesher Center for a double header: school matinee performances of The Little Prince on October 14 and 15, and the world premiere of Tina Kay Bohnsted's "A Tribute to Lena Horne," October 15-16.  The company's stage-savvy dancers kick off the season with live music accompanying Bohnsted's test-the-limits premiere, a work by San Francisco Ballet's Val Caniparoli, and their customary flair for full-out production. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org.

>>Children's Theater>> Sleeping Beauty, October 15-16
Fantasy Forum Actors Ensemble revives its musical interactive take on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. The one-hour-long Fantasy Forum shows are perfect for young, first-time theatergoers, and kids are invited to sit on stage with the actors and to help the characters figure their way out of their fairy tale dilemmas. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org

>>Theater>> Dracula, October 22-November 20
Just as in the Twilight book and film series, Center Repertory Company will attempt to dramatize what makes vampire sagas so scary, sexy and alluring. This play goes back to a key source: Bram Stoker's classic novel about the mysterious and enigmatic Count Dracula. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org. 

>>Theater >> A Chorus Line, October 22-November 20
Contra Costa Musical Theatre dials the clock back twenty years, celebrating their 50th anniversary--and the Lesher's 20th--by presenting the same Broadway hit the company performed at the Lesher in 1990.  Seventeen dancers bare their souls as they leap, turn, and high-kick their way to the blue-collar front lines of Broadway. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org. 

>>Theater>> Becoming Britney, October 28-November 14
This production by Center Repertory Company asks a very profound question: How does a pop sensation wind up bald and trapped in her own musical? Becoming Britney was a hit at the New York Fringe Festival and chronicles the rise, dip and salvation of a celebrity phenomenon. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org. 

>> Community >> Downtown Trick-or-Treat, Friday October 29

>>Music>> Contra Costa Wind Symphony, November 6 
For its 30th anniversary season, the orchestra presents "Reach for the Sky," a program featuring its French horns performing Philip Sparke's "Morning Song for Horn Quartet," and new Principal Trumpet Eric Eidbo performing "Napoli--Variations On A Neapolitan Song." Other selections include music from the film Apollo 13 and flight sequences from the film scores by John Williams. Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church, 1801 Lacassie Avenue. For more information visit the symphony's website.

>> Newsmaker >> Soledad O'Brien, Lesher Speaker Series, November 15
The 2010-11 Lesher Speaker Series continues with CNN correspondent Soledad O'Brien. While the series is officially sold out, individual tickets are typically available on the day of the event. Contact the Lesher Center box office, 925-943-7469 or www.lesherartscenter.org.

>>Music>> Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, November 21
For its anniversary celebration, the orchestra features pianist Daniel Glover performing works by Schumann and Chopin. Also on the bill: Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and works by Stravinsky. Lesher Center for the Arts, www.lesherartscenter.org.