"Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble."…read more I had the good fortune of seeing "Macbeth" recently, on a warm summer evening. The theater is just a short (and beautiful!) walk up the hill, but they have a free shuttle if you prefer to ride. The resident dramaturge, Philippa Kelly, gives a scholarly lecture before the show. She set the historical context for the play. I appreciated getting the background on Macbeth, and especially the purpose of the 3 witches. The amphitheater is a comfortable venue, and suits either the comedies or the tragedies. (I have seen both here.) For Macbeth, the stage had clear partitions, behind which the characters (and the witches) could traverse. This was also a handy place for the witches to toss "blood" in several scenes. I sort of knew it was coming, but the red gore still had a big impact on me. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Macbeth. The actors had clearly studied hard, and the play was professionally executed. I was especially impressed with Lady Macbeth, played by Liz Sklar. Of course, she has a meaty role, sleepwalking in one scene, and trying to get the blood off her hands in another. For cold nights, the staff has blankets for a nominal charge. I was delighted to also see many food options, as well as beer and wine. There are lots of wood tables to sit at and enjoy your meal. The only criticism I have is that for Macbeth the audio was spotty in a few places. For instance, the loud, background effects drowned out the 3 witches in one scene. I thought the ticket was pricey, but of course, buying a season pass is a better value.

"WAR OF THE ROSES" - FOUR SHAKESPEARES' PLAYS INTO ONE…read more My last class I ever took as an undergrad at UC Berkeley was Shakespeare. In fact my final semester Shakespeare was the only class I took as I had completed all my courses for my Art History major the previous semester. So I wanted to really enjoy learning for my final semester at UC Berkeley. From that Shakespeare course I read and studied plays such as Twelfth Night, Othello, Merchant of Venice,Taming of the Screw, Hamlet, Anthony and Cleopatra, and Richard III. I came here to watch the "War of the Roses" last month. One of my co-worker she saw the play "War of the Roses", which comprises of 4 Shakespeare's plays - "Henry VI (Parts I, II, and III) and Richard III - into one. I've read Richard III but never read Henry VI - Parts I, II, and III. That was a unique concept as each play can be at least 3 hours when performed. The snipets from each play resulted the play of "War of the Roses" 3 3/4 hours performance. A little history note "War of the Roses" is about the English Civil War between two branches of the Plantagnet family - The House of York and House of Lancaster. Also the "War of the Roses" influenced the HBO show "Games of Thrones." The magazine at the theater provided an insight for the summary of the play. This was helpful to understand the flow of the play. One thing I was fascinated was the stage as it was a two-story stage. Most of the acting was the first level stage, but the upper stage was also used as The Tower of London for "Richard III". During the play I was fascinated how the actors were playing two roles where in "Henry VI" they would play one role and "Richard III" in another role. That shows skills from the actors learning lines of two characters. Since the theater is small you can a great view of the play - there are no nosebleed seats. As an outdoor theater I recommend bringing a jacket as the weather tends to get cold at night. Another recommendation is instead of paying tickets online where the prices can be over $40 depending on the seats call the ticket office to get $20 tickets on the day of the show. As stated before since this is a small theater the seating is close to the stage so it's better to call the ticket office on the than order online. If you like Shakespeare and want to watch one of his plays I recommend coming here to this theater.

It's really great to have a local theater that flexes to have live music regularly. A beautiful…read morevenue as well with adult beverages and snacks to enjoy. Parking in the lot is a bit of a complication but you can get 3 hours of validation from the box office.

The 2025 SF Silent Film Festival took place here this past weekend, as the renovated Castro Theatre…read morein the city has not yet reopened. At first glance, I noticed that some of the exterior lights were broken. Then, chaos at entry, as the lobby is cramped and not ideal for crowds of visitors swarming in at the same time, with a basic concessions stand smack in the middle to interrupt flow even further. But the theater still had a classic charm to it. Lovely artwork along the walls of the auditorium, colored lighting with an 80's vibe, and two levels of seating, old cushioned seats that were comfortable enough to sit in for a couple of hours. I sat in the very last row in the back, and the viewing and sound was just fine. There were technical difficulties, they couldn't get the english language captions on the screen (only french and german). Unable to resolve the issue, they ended up using a translator (not a professional one but it's the best they could do). It wasn't ideal, but the show must go on. Watched Saxophone Susy, featuring Anny Ondra's character who fakes her way into being a dancer in an entertaining display of physical comedy and slapstick humor. It was quite hilarious. Not to mention great musical accompaniment, mostly on the piano and drums but of course the saxophone too. There was mimimal interaction with staff, but the SF Silent Film Fest organization and service rarely disappoints, no matter the location.

My daughter has been with SingOut Theater throughout this entire year. She auditioned in to the…read morekids competition and performed 'Junglebook' with her team in Sacramento. An intense, exciting time! They won an award for choreography at JTF West! She also did Triple Threat and High school Musical this summer. So to say the least, We Are FANs! We feel so lucky to have Chelsea teaching our daughter! A lovely personality and mentor, a highly skilled dancer and choreographer, a patient and kind Director. The Music Director Kevin warmly and patiently builds the student's musical understanding and performances. His contribution keeps musical standards high and performances enjoyable. The Business Director/Producer Rachel adds the no nonsense behind the scenes taking care of business ballast for all this creativity. We are grateful for her expertise to keep SingOut thriving. My daughter is attending a performing arts school in the fall. We will still be attending Tue/Thurs Musical Theater at SingOut. It is top notch and she loves it!

There is something confusing about the discussions regarding the Diablo Light Opera Co & Diablo…read moreTheater Company. They were one and the same. Originally named DLOC in 1959 when they formed a company performing Gilbert & Sullivan Light Operas. Eventually they changed the name to Diablo Theater Co. They had a youth program called STARS 2000, which continues to this day to operate. Diablo Theater Co. that use to produce large scale Musicals & Light Opera productions at the Lesher Center For The Arts in Walnut Creek, is no longer in business. STARS 2000 continues as their own company. There is no other youth program that is under the auspices of the Diablo Theater Co. and in fact their studios were sold and are under the ownership of Performing Arts Academy.

Parents, please do not send your poor children here. They take your money and have no…read morequalifications to teach anything. I wouldn't even allow these people to pet sit let along try to educate. I sent my child here for close to a year to learn piano and she learned nothing. Here are my main concerns: 1) teacher showed up 10 minutes late every time for 30 mins session and of course they continued to charge me for the full session 2) they try to teach using technology but their Wi-Fi is down. Therefore the rest of the class they spend trying to figure out how to connect to Wi-Fi which first hand observing, was painful. 3) the place is owned by a clown with the biggest ego. I went in there to watch my child after realizing that the sessions were not helping her at all. The clown that owns this place was fumbling around trying to get tech support to turn his computer on. He refers to himself as a "doctor" which further shows what a narcissistic clown he is. He also was upset that I hadn't been in there before to introduce myself to him. I don't think the moron realizes that parents have to work to pay for extracurricular activities like his clown school. He literally was offended that I didn't come in to introduce myself!? 4) the pianos and other instruments looked like they were picked up at the local dump. I can't sing and I am more tuned than the piano my poor daughter was trying to learn on. 5) the worst part is that I asked them to cancel my daughters sessions. That night I noticed that he had gone in and quickly charged our credit card for next month. What a crook and phony. Horrible place disguised as a teaching institute.

Don't send your kids here. Angry owner in attack mode:…read more I had an appointment in the building of 99 Brookwood Rd, Orinda, CA 94563. The person I had an appointment with told me that I could park in the ATMA/ALMA spaces. My dad dropped me off and wanted to wait for me, so I told him to park in one of the ATMA/ALMA spaces since he would be waiting for an hour and could take a nap if he wanted.  When I was done with my appointment, I walked to my dad's car and we got ready to leave. We saw a car stopped on the street and thought the driver was waiting for the space. After we pulled out of the parking space, that driver waved my dad down and got out of his car. I thought, "oh, maybe we didn't close all the doors in our car and he was trying to be nice." Not the case. This man, while blocking traffic, walked towards my dad and took a photo, then started yelling that we can't park there and that we were disturbing the businesses. My dad doesn't speak fluent English, so he told me to explain to the man what we were doing there. I got out of the car to tell the man that I was here for an appointment in the building and was told that I could park in one of those spaces. That man did not stop yelling to hear my explanation. He continued to yell that it was his spot. There was no point to this, so my dad and I got back in our car and drove off. I called the person I had an appointment with and found out that the man who yelled at us was the landlord of the building. He received a complaint from a tenant, SaraBella (florist), who described my dad as a creepy man walking around. My dad was stretching and admiring the scenery outside of his car while waiting for me, nowhere near the florist, minding his own business. No one, not the florist nor the landlord, talked to us and just assumed that we did not belong. We were judged by our appearance and treated unfairly. What happened to my dad and me happens to many people and I'm not going to be silent about it. His name is Dr. James Fiatarone, aka Dr. Jim. He is a landlord and a music teacher at the Academy of Language & Music Arts (ALMA), located in that same building. Stated on his webpage, "James is a Bay Area native who holds a Ph.D. in language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley". I expect better language and understanding from someone with such esteemed credentials, at the very least a common decency to speak maturely. Instead of introducing himself as the landlord and seeking to understand, Dr. Jim chose to block traffic and cause a scene in order to exercise his own judgment and bias. I want to get my message out and let him know that the way he conducted himself is not okay, especially in a place of business.

My fiance and I LOVE our Friday night salsa lessons with Tomaj. We have so much fun, and it's…read moreamazing how much you can learn in a progressive series class like his. We had occasionally dropped in at Allegro for salsa classes about two years prior to our beginner series with Tomaj, but neither of us remembered a thing by the time we started Tomaj's classes. By the end of the class, we actually knew a pattern and immediately signed up for the intermediate session. We've made a lot of new friends, and we're very excited to sign up for the next series. We are of the opinion that Tomaj is a very good instructor. That being said, there are plenty of people who disagree--we've had quite a few dropouts in our class, and a couple of the other students sticking with it complain about him. My observations are follows: people who take his criticism personally or want only "positive reinforcement" don't do so well with his teaching style. I don't think he's particularly harsh, but it can feel like he's picking on you at times. My fiance just laughs it off every time Tomaj shakes his head and stops the music because of some mistake he made. There is a really big difference between his beginner and intermediate classes. He's extremely patient in the beginner class, and it moves very slowly with lots and lots of repetition. Once we hit the intermediate class, we spent a good portion of the class confused and tripping over our own two feet because the degree of difficulty skyrocketed. To be fair, he does warn you in the beginning that the intermediate class is no joke. Also, from his perspective, he really does have to ramp it up, because he has people who have taken his intermediate class several times--if he kept it at the same slow pace, he'd never have repeat students. As a result, his intermediate class is definitely not for everyone. You have to be willing to keep trying and making a fool out of yourself. You can't give up or get too frustrated. And you absolutely cannot take his criticism personally. I also think that it's ultimately you who determines what you get out of the class. As I said before, we've gotten to know a lot of our classmates, and I think that's made a really big difference with our experience. There's a real sense of camaraderie when you're able to commiserate AND get advice from classmates.

I highly recommend Tomaj's classes. I've had lessons at 4 east bay venues (allego ballroom,…read moreshboom, etc.) - all are run by wonderful people, but Tomaj is the best - hands down. You just have to try them out and it will be immediately clear. He is focused, explains things very clearly and knows how to pace the class so that everyone learns. He's also the only one to have his classes on DVD so you can practice at home - this alone has immeasurable value as it's virtually impossible to take notes in a dance class. (Do yourself a big favor - if you're going to put the time investment into taking classes, start watching the DVDs and practice at home. They're inexpensive and you'll progress much faster.) He also has a wonderful staff that always jumps in to help balance out the gender ratio when needed - something more dance studios should do. And hey - he's a really nice fellow on top of all that!

I inquired about membership through email with a Keith. Sent information and a $100 check. a…read morerequirement. A medical situation changed my life. Requested a cancellation and return of $100.00. No return, call anything.

As a former employee who dedicated over ten years to Orinda Country Club, I feel it's important to…read moreshare my experience. During my pregnancy, I was asked by HR to work through what should have been my maternity leave. When I contracted COVID while pregnant, I received no support or consideration. After returning, I struggled to find any balance -- largely because there was still no support in place. Instead of being valued, I was repeatedly used as a talking point by the GM in board meetings, often humiliated and misrepresented. It became clear that ego, not leadership, was driving decisions. It was a painful and disappointing experience -- one no expecting mother should ever have to go through. I'm sharing this to warn others to be cautious before committing themselves to this workplace.

A great place if you're looking for original pieces…read more It is a beautiful art establishment that hosts different guest artists. The refreshments are top notch as well as you peruse the art. If you're looking for an original piece from a local artist, this is the spot.

Beautiful original pieces in a lovely space in downtown Orinda across from the movie theater.read more

We contracted Patricio and his Flamenco Trio for a wedding in Napa and his trio was amazing!…read moreThey're professional prompt and delivered a gorgeous performance and experience for everyone present! Additionally, we also hired his cigar rolling team and what a bonus!!! I highly recommend them and we now have a one stop shop for ALL Entertainment needs. Patricio delivered the upmost and overall service plus experience! I've recently recommended this company to a friend whose planning a wedding as they're seeking a Mariachi Band. Love Oye, Patricio and his entire team!!

Five-star service for decades! My company has worked with Oye Productions over and over, and they…read moredeliver every single time. True pros--we're batting 1000%!