Immersive Entertainment Awaits: A Guide to the Best Live Shows in the Bay Area June 8-11 and Beyond

Key Highlights :

1. There are a lot of great live shows in the Bay Area to catch this weekend and beyond.

2. The show "In the Heights" often seems relegated in theater discussions to being "that Lin-Manuel Miranda musical that 'Hamilton,'" a designation which unfairly overlooks many of its wonderful attributes.

3. First off, the music and choreography are beautiful and exhilarating and practically guaranteed to put you in great mood.

4. The show immerses viewers in a vibrant Dominican American neighborhood in northern Manhattan for a three-day stretch with a fascinating cast of characters and storylines.

5. While it is not given credit, as "Hamilton" was, of rewriting the rules of the contemporary theater, it was groundbreaking in its own ways.

6. Opening a decade before "Hamilton," "In the Heights" featured a primarily Latin cast and score heavy on Latin and hip-hop songs — aspects that were certainly forward-looking in their time.

7. The main thing is the show is tremendously entertaining, and you can see for yourself in Walnut Creek, where Center Repertory Company is staging the Tony Award-winning show at the Dean Lesher Center for the Arts.

8. The production is helmed by Nicholas C. Avila, with musical direction by Nick Perez and choreographed by Sara Templeton.

9. Through June 24; 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek; $45-$70; 925-943-7469, .

10. Fellow devotees of the Latin American Songbook, Venezuelan-born pianist Edward Simon, the longest serving member of the SFJAZZ Collective, and Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera, just released the gorgeous collaboration "Femininas," an album celebrating the music of epochal women songwriters.

11. They perform June 8 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center and June 9 at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, ranging across Latin America to interpret beloved pieces by composers such as Chile’s Violeta Parra, Brazil’s Rosa Passos, Peru’s Chabuca Granda, and Cuba’s Marta Valdes (all filtered through a deeply informed jazz sensibility).

12. With bassist Rueben Rogers and drummer Adam Cruz, Simon’s trio is among the best on the scene, and the addition of Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero only raises the bar.

13. Based in New York City since 2008, Herrera hasn’t performed often in the Bay Area, though last month she livened up Sonoma State’s Weill Hall with the adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider singing Latin American standards and settings for Spanish-language poetry.

     The Bay Area is a hotbed of entertainment this weekend and beyond. From the Tony Award-winning musical “In the Heights” to the Latin American Songbook collaboration “Femininas” to San Francisco Opera’s “El Ultimo Sueño de Frida y Diego” to the Native American culture festival “Many Nations One Land,” there is something for everyone. Here is a guide to the best live shows in the Bay Area June 8-11 and beyond.

     For a vibrant and exhilarating experience, be sure to catch Center Repertory Company’s production of “In the Heights” at the Dean Lesher Center for the Arts. The show immerses viewers in a Dominican American neighborhood in northern Manhattan for a three-day stretch with a fascinating cast of characters and storylines. The music and choreography are beautiful and the show was groundbreaking in its own ways with a primarily Latin cast and score heavy on Latin and hip-hop songs. Through June 24, “In the Heights” will be sure to put you in a great mood. Tickets are available for $45-$70.

     Venezuelan-born pianist Edward Simon and Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera have released the gorgeous collaboration “Femininas,” an album celebrating the music of epochal women songwriters. Catch them performing June 8 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center and June 9 at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, ranging across Latin America to interpret beloved pieces by composers such as Chile’s Violeta Parra, Brazil’s Rosa Passos, Peru’s Chabuca Granda, and Cuba’s Marta Valdes. With bassist Rueben Rogers and drummer Adam Cruz, Simon’s trio is among the best on the scene, and the addition of Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero only raises the bar. Tickets are available for $42 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center and $30 at SFJAZZ Center.

     San Francisco Opera’s summer season productions continues with “El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego” (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), by Bay Area composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. With Alfredo Daza and Daniela Mack in the title roles of husband-and-wife artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, this dazzling, dreamlike new opera examines the enduring power of art and love on the Day of the Dead in 1957 — three years after Kahlo’s passing. Frank, a Berkeley native known for her incorporating sounds from her Latin heritage in her works, has had her more than 25 compositions performed by the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Chanticleer and the China String Quartet, among others, and has collaborated with artists ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to Wu Man. Tickets are available for $26-$410.

     Oakland’s The Bobby Young Project (whose namesake guitarist played with John Lee Hooker) and Native American hip-hop artists C-Log, Stewie G and — hailing from the Apsaalooké (Crow) Nation — Rezcoast Grizz are just a few of the performers at the second annual Native American culture festival “Many Nations One Land.” There will also be demonstrations of beadwork and corn-husk dolls, a Native artisan market with locally made jewelry, accessories and clothing, Indigenous food tastings, and more. Hosted by Oakland stand-up comedian Jackie Keliiaa, this free event is a perfect Saturday outing and so ‘Bay Area.’

     With so much to choose from, there is something for everyone to enjoy in the Bay Area this weekend and beyond. Don’t miss out on these amazing live shows!

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