\November 28, 2024: Steven Bach – Charles Yu

KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Steven Bach

Steven Bach (1938-2009) author of the biography “Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl”, interviewed in 2007 by Richard Wolinsky. This podcast was first posted May 5, 2017.

Leni Riefenstahl was the film maker behind the Nazi propaganda films Triumph of the Will and Olympia. Reifenstahl, who died in 2003 at the age of a hundred and one, to the end of her life denied her work was political, that she was an artist.

Stephen Bach, who died at the age of 70 in 2009, had been a studio executive and began writing books with “Final Cut”, his memoir about the making of the film Heaven’s Gate. He followed that with a biography of the playwright Moss Hart, and then a biography of actress Marlene Dietrich, which as he says, led him to Leni Riefenstahl. The interview was recorded in the KPFA studios on May 7, 2007. Guardian Obituary.

In an interview perhaps more timely today than the year it was recorded, Bach compares Reifenstahl’s work to right-wing propaganda in America, and the use of the Hitler playbook. Complete Interview.

Charles Yu

Charles Yu, whose novel Interior Chinatown just won the 2020 National Book Award for fiction, is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky.

Interior Chinatown takes place in a meta-world in which Hollywood’s Chinese stereotypes are portrayed by Asian immigrants and second-generation Asian Americans in films and TV shows. The book uses tropes from screenplays as well as prose fiction to illuminate these tropes, switching between narrative, entertainment history, and polemic in a highly original way.

Charles Yu is the author of two previous short-story collections and one novel, has worked as an attorney, and also has worked in the writers’ room of several television shows, most notably during the first season of HBO’s Westworld. Interior Chinatown is now a television miniseries streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Complete Interview.

Review of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre through December 15, 2024.

Review of “The Antipodes” by Annie Baker, performed by the Actors Reading Collective, at Marin Shakespeare Theatre through Dec. 1, 2024./a>

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.

Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival See website for highlights from the 10th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, June 1-2, 2024.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings.

Live Theater Companies
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. See website for specific days and times, and for staged readings at LaVal’s Subterranean Theater.
Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC). The Antipodes by Annie Baker, through December 1, 2024. Marin Shakespeare Theatre, San Rafael.
African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar.
Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions.
American Conservatory Theatre A Whynot Christmas Carol, November 26-December 24, Toni Rembe Theatre.
Aurora Theatre Felonious, Bay Area hip-hop ensemble, special engagement, Dec 6-7; 13-14. The Heart-Sellers by Lloyd Suh, February 9 – March 9, 2025.
Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information.
Berkeley Rep. The Matchbox Magic Flute, October 18 – December 9, Roda Theatre. Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by by Jocelyn Bioh, Nov 13 – Dec 15, Peets Theatre.
Berkeley Shakespeare Company. See website for upcoming shows.
Boxcar Theatre. New Years Eve at the Speakeasy, Jan. 1, 2025. Magic Man, Jan 3 – June 2, Palace Theatre.
Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for current and upcoming productions.
BroadwaySF: See website for events at the Orpheum, Curran and Golden Gate. Kimberly Akimbo, November 6 – December 1, Golden Gate. See website for special events.
Broadway San Jose: Shrek, The Musical. December 17-22.
California Shakespeare Theatre Closed.
Center Rep: A Christmas Carol, December 12-22.
Central Stage. Leili & Majnun, written and directed by Torange Yeghiazarian. December 5-15. Central Stage, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond
Central Works Push/Pull by Harry Davis, March 1 – 30, 2025.
Cinnabar Theatre. Gutenberg! The Musical January 17-26, 2025, Warren Theatre, Sonoma State University.
Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings.
Contra Costa Civic Theatre A Charlie Brown Christmas, Nov. 23 – Dec. 15.
Curran Theater: See website for special events..
Custom Made Theatre. In hibernation.
Cutting Ball Theatre. See website for information and notice of a final production.
42^nd Street Moon. See website for upcoming productions.
Golden Thread See website for upcoming productions.
Hillbarn Theatre: Anastasia, December 5 -29, 2024.
Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions
Lower Bottom Playaz See website for upcoming productions.
Magic Theatre. the boiling by Sunui Chang April 3 -20, 2025. See website for additional events.
Marin Theatre Company Waste by Harley Granville-Barker, Feb. 6 – March 2, 2025.Transcendence Theatre: Broadway Holiday, December 12-15, 2024.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page.
New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) The Gulf, An Elegy by Audrey Cefaly, October 18 – November 24. Deep Inside, Tonight by the Kinsey Sicks, December 4 – January 5.
Oakland Theater Project. Ghost Quartet by Dave Malloy, Oakland Nov 1-24. Flax Art & Design (closed); San Francisco, Dec. 5-8. ODC Theatre.
Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming.
Pear Theater. The Agitators by Mat Smart, Nov 22 – Dec. 15. See website for staged readings and other events.
Playful People Productions. See website for upcoming productions and events.
Presidio Theatre. See website for complete schedule of events and performances.
Ray of Light: See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein’s at the Nikko and upcoming productions..
San Francisco Playhouse. Waitress, November 21, 2024 – January 18, 2025.
SFBATCO. See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows.
San Jose Stage Company: See website for upcoming schedule.
Shotgun Players. Thirty Six: Do You Like What You See by Leah Nanako Winkler. November 18 – December 22.
South Bay Musical Theatre: Urinetown, January 15 – February 15, 2025. Saratoga Civic Theater.
Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday.
The Breath Project. Streaming archive.
The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream.
Theatre Lunatico See website for upcoming productions.
Theatre Rhino Cabaret, November 21 – December 15. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, December 4- 29. .
Word for Word. See website for upcoming productions.

Misc. Listings:
BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA.
Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings.
Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season.
Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows.
San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings.
San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings.

Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [e-mail]

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