Author: Alfredo Casuso

Media Contact:  DP&A, Inc. / David Perry 
(415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

November 25 – December 24
“Winter Wanderland” 

Holiday Market in Hallidie Plaza
Presented by The Union Square Alliance

WHAT:
Winter Wanderland in Union Square, the first holiday market for Union Square, turns Hallidie Plaza into a shining fairytale land. Local, handmade gifts, holiday tree decorations, sweets and warming drinks await as well as live entertainment, Santa’s Workshop and DIY crafts for kids and adults alike. Come celebrate and gather in our holiday market.

The holiday market, alongside the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink in Union Square, Macy’s Holiday Tree and the Bill Graham Menorah, will be the foundation of the Union Square Alliance’s holiday campaign. Winter Wanderland in Union Square will be linked together by magical illuminations to encourage visitors an enchanting exploration throughout the district.  Winter Wanderland in Union Square will illuminate the area and awaken the senses from twinkling lights and gentle snowfall to holiday carols, warm candied nuts, and hot cocoa. Guests will wander in awe, relax to the sounds of San Francisco’s finest entertainment and marvel at the variety of arts and crafts only San Francisco has to offer.  

The holiday market is a pilot collaboration between Willy Bietak Productions, owner and operator of The Safeway Holiday Ice Rink in Union Square and the Union Square Alliance. Hallidie Plaza is a public square located at the entrance to Powell Street Station on Market Street in the Union Square area of downtown San Francisco.

WHERE:
Hallidie Plaza in the Union Square District of San Francisco
(At the Cable Car Turnaround at Powell & Market Streets)

WHEN:
Friday, November 25 – December 24, 2022
Ribbon Cutting November 25: Time TBA

HOURS *:
November 25 – 27: 10am – 8pm
November 28 – December 16: 12pm – 8pm Monday through Friday; 10am – 8pm Saturday & Sunday
December 17 —  24: 10am – 8pm daily
*Hours are subject to change 

WEB:
www.visitunionsquaresf.com 

WHO:
About the Union Square Alliance:
The Union Square Alliance serves members and creates a high-quality visitor experience by managing and activating public spaces, attracting new investment, and advocating for the district’s future success. Union Square is the vibrant heart of San Francisco and an international destination where visitors come to enjoy exceptional retail experiences, luxury hotels, world-class cultural institutions, and great public spaces found only in the City by the Bay. A lively 27-block community surrounding Union Square Park in the heart of San Francisco makes up the Union Square Alliance. It is bordered on the north by Bush Street, on the east by Kearny Street, on the south by Market Street and on the west Taylor Street. For more information on the Alliance, go to www.visitunionsquaresf.com

Media contact:
David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry
news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER OPERA
UNBOUND

COMES TO PALM SPRINGS
October 20 – November 6, 2022

21 September 2022 — PALM SPRINGS, CA: Denver composer Nathan Hall’s acclaimed UNBOUND, a four-character contemporary chamber opera, comes to Palm Springs for its West Coast premiere in a limited run produced by Jerome Joseph Gentes and TigerBear Productions. Composed by Hall with a libretto by San Francisco writer Alan Olejniczak, the piece uses operatic singing against an electronic score to depict a young man’s erotic and emotional experience in a fetish club. UNBOUND will be performed October 20 – November 6 at Superbloom Studios, 292 West San Rafael Drive, Palm Springs. For tickets ($55-$95) and more information, the public may visit unboundopera.com or call (760) 636-6768.

UNBOUND is the third work in a trilogy by Nathan Hall that gives stories of queer desire and sexuality traditional operatic form. The young man at the center of the piece makes a few attempts at erotic connection at a sex club in Sweden, then meets another man who introduces him to Shibari, a specialized type of Japanese rope bondage art. As with its Denver premiere last summer, audiences will be immersed directly in the experience alongside the actors. “We’re allowing guests to wander even more freely around the actors as they sing and act,” said Gentes. “You’ll feel like you’re in the club with the characters, cruising and choosing and watching.” Varying ticket tiers will give attendees choice about the degree of immersion they want, from basic show-only attendance to a fuller, two-hour experience in the venue. Colorado Public Radio described UNBOUND as a work that is “striving to change audience perceptions of both desire and opera” and The Denver Post hailed Hall as “a seriously talented composer.”

Composer Nathan Hall is a former Fulbright Fellow and a McKnight Visiting Composer (2021), who holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) from CU Boulder. His works have been performed and exhibited in 14 countries and 12 American states by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the GALA Choruses, The Gay/Lesbian Chorus of San Francisco, International Orange Chorale San Francisco, pianist Adam Tendler, and a convention of roller coaster enthusiasts, among others. He has been awarded numerous grants including a New Music USA grant and the Denver Music Advancement Fund. His residencies include Bunnell Street (Homer, AK), Mattress Factory (Pittsburgh, PA), Denver Art Museum’s first Creative in Residence, Acadia National Park, and Boulder Public Library Maker in Residence. Hall is currently Adjunct Faculty in Composition at the University of Denver and Music Production at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. 

Alan Olejniczak is a San Francisco playwright and opera librettist. He is the Playwright in Residence with The Proscenium, a London-based online theatre company whose first season included his plays Next of Kin, Helt, Texas, and his adaptation of A Christmas Carol with David Ricardo-Pearce. ​His first opera, Death of Ivan Ilych with music by John Young, premiered as a co-production in 2021 with Opera Orlando and Chicago’s Thompson Street Opera Company. Next year his play Concerto will premiere with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, and his opera Dreams Americanos with music by Chris Pratorius Gómez will premiere in Houston with I Colori dell’opera. Olejniczak was the Artist in Residence and the first playwright resident with the National Parks Arts Foundation. He is currently an artist in residence with Nocefresca in Sardinia.

UNBOUND is being presented by Jerome Joseph Gentes and TigerBear Productions. Based in Palm Springs, Gentes is a multi-disciplinary creative producer and writer on a mission to produce and create diverse stories through diverse experiences. A two-spirit Standing Rock Lakota and Fort Belknap A’aninin, Gentes co-produced the Musical Cafe Showcase Series, a Berkeley-based performance series for new musical theatre projects. He co-produced Sheherezade’s Last Tales (2015 Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Anthology) and PCSF PlayOffs (2016 Theatre Bay Area Finalist for Outstanding Anthology). He is the Producer for New Play Development at the legendary Magic Theatre in San Francisco. This summer his company, TigerBear Productions, produced Prince Charming, You’re Late in NYC, and Deal With The Dragon, a hit of the 2016 Edinburgh Festival, in San Francisco. For Modernism Week 2021, in collaboration with Nickerson-Rossi Dance and the Paniktem Bird Singers of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Gentes presented “Lines of Movement, Lines of Modernism,” a cross-disciplinary experience that connected traditional local Native bird singers and dancers, modern dance, and architectural modernism. 

2022/2023 Season Kicks Off October 7, 8 & 9 with “Bond. James Bond”
Featuring Classic Theme Songs from James Bond / 007 Films 

All Three Performances at CV Rep

Special Guest Artist Sheila Ellis

www.acabbello.org 

20 September 2022 – Palm Springs, CA: To coincide with the 60^th anniversary of the first James Bond film, the talented all-male ensemble A Cabbello (www.acabbello.org), will perform theme songs from some of the classic 007 films in an evening entitled “Bond. James Bond” at CV Rep (68510 E Palm Canyon Dr, Cathedral City) as the kick-off to their 2023 Season. Featuring special guest soloist Sheila Ellis, the performances are: Friday, October 7 at 7pm; Saturday & Sunday, October 8 & 9 at 4pm.

“The sweetest words in show business are ‘back by popular demand,” says Linda Moran, Artistic Director for A Cabbello. “The audience response earlier this year to our first live concert in a theatre in two years was overwhelming and emotional. We’re thrilled to start our fall season featuring the theme music from the classic James Bond films.”

Founded in 2016, A Cabbello is the Coachella Valley’s premiere all-male vocal ensemble.  A Cabbello is committed to pursuing excellent, fervent and innovative music-making with the message of love, hope and unity, that fosters an enlightening artistic and spiritual experience for our members and audiences. 

Media Contact: Anne Abbott / anne.abbott@me.com / (252-581-0000)

Young boy’s courageous battle against cancer continues 5 years after his passing.

5th Annual Race for CHAnge in support of pediatric cancer research set for Saturday, October 8, 2022.

24 August 2022 — Richmond, VA: The Race for CHAnge will host its 5th annual 5K, Fun Run and Silent Auction at Kindred Spirit Brewing in West Creek Business Park 12830 West Creek Parkway on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 9:45 am. The event, which celebrates the lives of children who are battling cancer and in memory of those who have lost their fight, will begin at 9:45 AM with a Fun Run appropriate for kids 2-12 and a 5K will follow at 10 AM. This year’s event will also feature a Silent Auction with fantastic prizes donated by local businesses all over Virginia and the Outer Banks of NC.

The Race for CHAnge began to honor the memory of a Richmond boy, Cooper Henry Abbott, who battled cancer for six years, eventually succumbing to the disease at the age of nine. With the hope that something good might come from Cooper’s untimely passing, family and friends organized the event and have since raised more than $120,000 to fund pediatric cancer research grants. Proceeds of past events have funded research at Children’s National Hospital, Johns Hopkins and Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Our Cooper was so strong, he could have continued fighting but there wasn’t a treatment within our reach. We continue his battle against cancer with the hope more kids will be cured of cancer. I know that if he could, Cooper would be right here fighting with us, never giving up!” said Anne Abbott, Cooper’s Mom and the race coordinator.

This year’s event will be held a few days before what should be Cooper’s 14th birthday and will take place on the heels of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month which is September. For tickets and additional information on the Race for CHAnge, please visit runsignup.com/raceforchange and follow updates on Instagram at raceforchangerva