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Mercury News Just another MediaNews Group Blogs weblog Ringling blasts off into new era of circus with Out of This World” August 22nd, 2016 by Karen D’Souza Ringling B ros. and Barnum & Bailey is boldly going where the circus has never gone before in Out of This World.” The classic American circus franchise, a brand older than baseball, has reinvented itself for the digital age. Gone is the old three-ring-trope, the elephants and the tangy smell of hay and sawdust you may remember from your childhood. Instead imagine a high-tech extravaganza that’s part Cirque du Soleil , part Disney on Ice, part sci-fi fantasy and all warp-speed . Crafted to tickle the millennial generation, this iteration of the greatest show earth” moves so fast you may not even notice that there is now a plot (a child-friendly fable about evil queens and intergalactic adventure) but you can’t help notice the space motif. My daughter Daphne, 5, liked the astronauts doing a hypnotic space walk” at the top of the show best of all. She had no idea that was unusual, of course, as this was her first circus. She also loved the skaters , contortionists, trapeze artists and especially the performing pooches. Mommy, on the other hand, couldn’t believe the act in which two ice skaters floated from the ice to the air, engaging in a high-risk aerial pas de deux. Of course, midair acrobatics is nothing new if you are familiar with the Cirque aesthetic but I can’t imagine pulling it off with sharp blades strapped to your feet. Daphne, for her part, didn’t understand why it was thrilling to watch seven motorcyclists zoom around inside a silver orb (yikes!) but she was impressed by the ring of fire at the climax of the show and we both adored the big cats. Indeed some of the tigers seemed downright cranky, swiping their gigantic paws rather close to the trainer’s face, which made the act all the more suspenseful. The pace of the circus is fast and furious so that even little ones won’t get bored, although sometimes there is so much to watch that it’s hard to know what to focus on. I also found myself missing some of the old-school circus feel I remember from back in the day. Of course, that’s not a concern for the cotton candy-craving target demographic, particularly in the tech-obsessed Bay Area, where next-generation audiences seem primed for a circus that combines lions and tigers and apps, oh my! Tags: circus Posted in Karen D’Souza , Theater | No Comments » John Leguizamo teaches Latin history for dummies at Berkeley Rep April 5th, 2016 by Karen D’Souza Latin History for Morons,” anyone? Get your freak on when badass monologuist John Leguizamo (Spic-O-Rama”) returns to Berkeley Rep with his latest outrageous riff on race and culture. The Emmy and Obie award winner breaks down the marginalization of Latinos in U.S. history, collapsing 3,000 years into 90 minutes. Developed at The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work , this co-production with New York’s famed Public Theatre picks up where Leguizamo’s 2010 Broadway hitGhetto Klown” (which was workshopped at Berkeley Rep). The solo show, which was originally titled Latin History for Dummies,” runs Friday, July 1–Sunday, August 14, directed by Tony Taccone. Posted in Karen D’Souza , Theater | No Comments » Thornton tosses a grenade — plus a more complete look at what Wilson said about the ‘C’ to season-ticket holders March 13th, 2015 by David Pollak SAN JOSE — I figured Joe Thornton might have something to say about Doug Wilson’s comments to season-ticket holders last night. I didn’t really expect him to toss a grenade. I think Doug just needs to shut his mouth. I think that’s the bottom line,” Thornton said. All I’ve got to say is I’ve been here every day working hard. I haven’t taken a sabbatical. He just needs to stop lying, shut his mouth.” Harsh words that I’m sure you’ve read elsewhere before now and the reaction has been predictably large. The story filed for Saturday’s print edition and available online here raises — but admittedly doesn’t answer — the bigger question: How fractured is this franchise? ****I’ve dipped into the comments section on the previous posting and see that there are issues about my role in all this. Fair enough and I can understand that. Wilson did say several times during that session — directing his comments at me in particular — that the information was not to leave the room. For one thing, I don’t actually work by those rules. Some 350 people in a room in this day of social media? The information could leave the room 350 different ways. Yes, I’d have to consider the consequences of reporting what I hear. I get that. But more importantly, the question about the captaincy was not one of those times when the general manager tried to keep a lid on his answer. Readers were also asking about the context of the comments and that’s fair, too. Quotes get boiled down in every story and this one was no exception. Most of that is clarity and readability, part of that is time and deadlines. The two self-guiding principles are 1) do not alter the meaning and 2) keep everything in context. So in the interest of transparency, I went back and transcribed the original question and Wilson’s entire response. You’ll see things were condensed. I’ll also mention that the story did preface Wilson’s quotes by saying he did praise Thornton before getting started. Here’s the source material: Read the rest of this entry » Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments » MasterChef” holding auditions in Bay Area September 8th, 2014 by Chuck Barney Do you like to cook? Do you enjoy watching the combustible Gordon Ramsay blow his top? If so, MasterChef” wants you. The Fox reality series will hold an open casting call for Season 6 this Saturday (Sept. 13) in San Francisco from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Prescott Hotel, 545 Post Street. Potential contestants must bring one prepared dish to be served to the food judges. You will be given three minutes to plate your dish at the casting call location, but there will NOT be a kitchen to cook or warm your dish up so come prepared. Visit www.masterchefcasting.com to pre-register to secure your place in line. Tags: casting call , Gordon Ramsay , MasterChef , Prescott Hotel , San Francisco Posted in TV | No Comments » Lockout breakthrough? NHL offers players 50-50 revenue split, reporteldy without rolling back current salaries October 16th, 2012 by David Pollak Yes, there is a newsworthy development today in the NHL lockout. The league’s latest offer calls for a 50-50 revenue split and, reportedly, no salary rollbacks. That last issue has been huge with the players, so if that’s an accurate representation, this is significant progress. NHLPA rep Donald Fehr treated the new offer as a legitimate one, said his executive committee would meet at 2 p.m. PDT today and get back to the league by tomorrow. No, I don’t think this means a settlement is necessarily in sight. There are always at least a dozen issues that all tie in — Does this call for no free agency before 35? I doubt it, but who knows. But this does provide the first glimmer of hope that hockey will be played since the lockout begain. Normally, I wouldn’t do what I’m about to do, but here’s the unedited press release the NHL just sent out. If we get something similar from Donald Fehr later, I’ll add that, too. BETTMAN: Good afternoon, everyone. Bill Daly and I just spent the last hour with Don and Steve Fehr, and I would like to briefly report to you on what was discussed. As I think all of you know we have been extremely disappointed, and that’s an understatement, that we’ve been unable to get these negotiations on the essential elements moving forward. So, today, we began by discussing with Don and Steve that if we were to drop the puck on November 2nd for the start of the regular season, we could preserve an 82-game schedule for the regular season and play full playoffs as we normally do and be done before...