Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
around $20 with a two-drink minimum, the city standard, but make sure you buy
tickets ahead of time if you really want to go, because the club is intimate and
there's no assigned seating. On Sundays at 8pm, $8 plus a two-drink minimum
buys you entree to check out SF Comedy Showcase, a roster of fresh, local talent.
Born out of the improvisational-comedy craze that swept America in the '80s,
BATS Improv
(Bayfront Theater at Fort Mason;
%
415/474-6776; www.improv.org)
is one of the last West Coast companies standing. Its weekend shows sell some
11,000 tickets a year. It's a little different from the
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
style
of improv (that show's Greg Proops is an alum) in that shows are geared toward
assembling a coherent story, not just 2-minute bursts of weirdness, even as the
audience calls out subjects and ideas. Regular shows are Fridays and Saturdays at
8pm and Sundays at 7pm. On the first, second, and fifth Sunday afternoon of each
month, the “Sunday Players,” students in the group's classes, take the stage in a sort
of game show, in which the audience gives points for the best performances and a
winner is ultimately declared. That's just $5 in advance or $8 at the door, or about
half the usual price ($12/$15).
Located below an average Italian restaurant, Caffè Macaroni,
The Purple Onion
(140 Columbus Ave., at Jackson;
%
415/217-8400; www.caffemacaroni.com)
has
been a North Beach institution for years, although it's only just now climbing out
of a long decline. Wednesdays at 9pm, the weekly Something People Like comedy
show is a mixed bill of young up-and-comers, short movies, and, sometimes, sur-
prise big names (Robin Williams has been known to slip in the back, observe the
show that's underway, and take the stage to test new material). Cover then is $8,
but there's no drink minimum. Most other nights of the week, the room is dead
(although its owner would love to build it back into an A-list club), but check its
schedule because fun one-off comedy events do crop up.
OPERA
Staging huge productions from September to early July,
San Francisco Opera
(War
Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave.;
%
415/864-3330; http://sfopera.com)
is the second-largest opera company on the continent. Productions span the clas-
sics to new works, such as an adaptation of local novelist Amy Tan's
The
Bonesetter's Daughter
in 2008. Although prime orchestra seats are $150, spots in
the back few rows of the second balcony are just $25. From 11am on perform-
ance days, $25 seats are sold to students, $30 seats to seniors age 65 or older and
to current military personnel; call before heading down to the box office to check
availability. The company shares its space with the San Francisco Ballet, so there's
not singing there every night.
GENERAL INTEREST
Many different companies, including the City Arts & Lectures, book fascinating
one-off events into
The San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
(www.sfwmpac.org)
at the Civic Center, which comprises the Louise M. Davies
Symphony Hall, the Herbst Theatre, War Memorial Opera House, War Memorial
Veterans Building, and the Green Room, a gold-leafed reception hall-cum-
performance space. These city-owned spaces are collected along Van Ness Avenue
on the western side of City Hall, and because they often host one-night-only
events, some of these tickets are among the city's hottest, such as world-famous
