Just because you’re stuck at home during the COVID-19 shutdown doesn’t mean you can’t explore the greater world. Here’s a sampling of virtual, and occasionally in-person, family-friendly shows, concerts, activities and other events over the next several weeks.
In-person
Historical Walking Tours of History Park: 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. A museum guide will lead small groups of visitors through San Jose’s History Park discussing the historical and architectural background of each building. $0 to $12. historysanjose.org
Steam and Diesel Train Rides: Limited capacity rides 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through May, Niles Canyon Railway, Sunol Depot, 6 Kilkare Road, Sunol. $15-$30. www.ncry.org/ride/rides-2021/
“Trees I have Known and Loved”: April 9 through May 2 at Gallery 621, 309 First St. in Benicia. Brian Rothstein will show his large-scale tree “portrait” oil paintings as well as smaller water media paintings of trees. https://gallery621.com
Virtual
A Celebration of Musicians around the Bay: 7 p.m. April 10 through midnight April 18. A virtual showcase of the talent and diversity of our Bay Area artists. $25. http://www.berkeleychamberperform.org
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour Virtual Screening: Now through Oct. 24. This year’s tour features a streaming collection of action, environmental and adventure films and benefits the Rio Theatre Santa Cruz and Banff world tour. $15. http://bit.ly/3asD8VJ
BATS Improv Online Shows: This San Francisco-based improv group will stream free shows each week to bring a little improv magic into homes via Zoom. At 7:30 p.m. on the night of each show, click the link next to the show you want to see to connect to the BATS virtual theater. www.improv.org/online-shows/
Bay Area Children’s Theatre Creativity Corner: This virtual “playborhood” offers kids stories that unfold via video, plus follow-up activities they can do on their own, inspired by the make-believe they’ve seen. Parents can submit their children’s creations to BACT, which is planning to share examples online. https://bactheatre.org
Beat the Lock Escape Room: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Solve a virtual escape room with your friends via an audio/video call and live feed that lets you play by instructing a game master to search for clues. $25. www.beatthelock.com
Bringing BADM to You: Bay Area Discovery Museum offers a series of fun, engaging learning experiences to enjoy as a family. Explore three different themes — science and math; body and brain; and talk and play — designed to develop skills for children to succeed in school and life. Within each theme, you’ll find step-by-step videos and activities with instructions written out. bayareadiscoverymuseum.org/bringing-badm-to-you
Broadcast Platform, Marshstream: 7:30 p.m. nightly. Programming varies by night with offerings including short performances, book/writer discussions, singalongs, storytelling, game nights and more. Find more information at: www.themarsh.org.
Chef’s Kitchen Virtual Cooking Experience: A series of interactive cooking demonstrations with local chefs sharing their favorite seasonal dishes and techniques. Attendees will receive the full recipes and how-to videos. “Mediterranean Flair,” April 12. The series benefits Alameda Family Services. $100 per event or $250 for the series. http://alamedafs.org/chef.html
City of Berkeley’s Holocaust Remembrance Day program: 2 p.m. April 8. Honoring Holocaust survivor Edith Heine, who will speak about her experiences. The program will also feature music, poetry and a candle lighting. Free. http://bit.ly/3vbQjCz
Concord Couch Concerts: 8 p.m. first Friday of the month. This showcase for local indie bands and artists will be streamed on Facebook Live and YouTube. www.facebook.com/concordcouchconcerts; www.youtube.com/c/concordcouchconcerts.
Diablo Symphony Orchestra Virtual Concerts: First Thursday of each month, featuring works that have been performed and recorded at Lesher Center for the Arts in past years. www.diablosymphony.org
Dynamic Duet Performing “It’s All Right”: 7 p.m. April 10. Bay Area vocalists Daniela Innocenti Beem and Julie Ekoue-Totou, together with Jake Gale, will share their favorite songs in a delightful cabaret to benefit the Novato Theater Company. Free, donations appreciated. www.novatotheatercompany.org
18 Reasons Cooking School: Check out a slate of new online classes. You may not have everything listed in the equipment and shopping list, but instructors will give you guidance on how to adapt their recipes to what you have access to. Learn new recipes and techniques. https://18reasons.org/
“Erma Bombeck, at Wit’s End”: Now through April 3. Erma Bombeck gave up her dreams of being a foreign correspondent to be a housewife but ended up one of the most widely-read writers in the country for more than 30 years. $15 to $50. www.tabardtheatre.org
“FantasticLand”: Through April 7. After a major hurricane destroyed the popular Florida theme park FantasticLand, employees and parkgoers fought for their lives to survive the wreckage and each other. $25. www.townhalltheatre.com/
Festival Napa Valley’s Remote Ensemble Project: This virtual performance of the “Va, Pensiero” chorus from Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” features instrumentalists and singers from 26 states, eight countries and five continents. They represent two dozen orchestras, ensembles, opera companies and music conservatories, such as the Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The performance can be seen on Festival Napa Valley’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/jHV9wLvNYxA
Full Moon Fridays — Live Cabaret Series: 8 p.m. Fridays. Featuring live cabaret style performances. https://www.facebook.com/42ndStreetMoon/
Funkmode Dance Studio Digital Workouts: Offering free dance videos, including breakdance, hip hop, youth dance party and more. Find the videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/FUNKMODE
Lamplighters Music Theatre Multimedia: Lamplighters brings their wit and musicality to the virtual stage with an inside look into the company and the rich history of Gilbert and Sullivan. The monthly assortment includes new interviews and video essays, alongside archival vignettes highlighting the best of the company’s 68-year performance history. Free. lmt.lamplighters.org/patreon
Livermore Shakes Educates: A Shakespeare resource webpage for kids and parents, this is an extension of the company’s “So Wise So Young” program for second, third and fourth graders. http://livermoreshakes.org/educates/
“Love & Secrets — A Domestic Trilogy”: Opera San Jose launches this digital production at 6 p.m. April 15, with a postperformance virtual “cast party.” The show will then be available on demand for a limited time. The story features a timely window, both comedic and poignant, into the lives of three couples confronting challenges, who must navigate a path forward together. $15-$40. www.operasj.org/
Moraga Art Gallery Virtual Tour: View the Moraga Art Gallery exhibit and hear artists talk about their work and what motivates them. Visit the Lamorinda Arts Alliance website for the link to the virtual tour: https://laa4art.org
Mount Diablo Peace & Justice Center 2020 Art & Writing Challenge: Middle and high school students in Contra Costa County are invited to submit visual art (any medium), creative writing and essays on the topic of “Our Connected Planet.” No fee. http://tinyurl.com/mdpjc-artandwriting2020
Pacific Beach Coalition’s Surf Movie: “Heart of the Sea” is the story of Rell Sunn, a pioneer in the world of professional women surfers. The evening includes added footage by Powerlines Productions, featuring Mavericks 20/21 Epic waves with interviews with Bianca Valenti, Peter Mel and Greg Cochran. Sliding scale, $10 and up. http://bit.ly/2OfSG6C
Persian and Central Asian Dance Classes: Take daily classes on Zoom with teachers from nations and regions all over the world including Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China’s Xinjiang region and more. $10 to $20. www.pomegranategardendance.com
San Francisco Orchestra, One Found Sound: Virtual watch party of “Spring” from 6 to 7 p.m. April 22. Enjoy live solo performances by the musicians of One Found Sound, new music videos and some special surprise collaborations. Free. http://bit.ly/2P4JXo2
School of Rock Remote Lessons: School of Rock is a performance-based music school for ages 5 to adult. Learn to play drums, guitar, keyboard, bass guitar and vocals by putting on seasonal rock shows. The school is offering a combination of one-on-one remote lessons and access to master classes on music theory, songwriting, instrument exploration and genre journeys. Cost varies. schoolofrock.com/sanramon
Shotgun Players — “Every Time I Feel the Spirit”: April 2-11. The world-premiere Zoom commission follows a young, lesbian pastor attempting to navigate her new congregation’s shift to online worship due to COVID-19. $8-$40. http://shotgunplayers.org/online/article/spirit
Smuin’s Virtual Classes: Dancers of all levels participate in Zoom-based drop-in lessons covering styles from ballet to contemporary, to hip-hop. All classes are “pay what you can”. https://bit.ly/smuinclasses
Square One Yoga: Stay fit and grounded practicing live, interactive yoga. Check out the schedule of classes available at bayareane.ws/2yfH3oc.
Sundays at Four — Telegraph Quartet: 4 p.m. April 18. Telegraph Quartet performs works from Britten, Beethoven and Brahms. www.crowden.org/telegraph-quartet/
Theatre Rhinoceros presents “Falling Skies”: 7 p.m. April 8. The Skylight Club is the best gay bar in all of Pittsburgh, but after the death of its lead entertainer, bartender Curtis Jackson must come to terms with the hatred of the world outside its walls and the appearance of an unexpected visitor. Free. http://therhino.org/
The Cello Madness Congress: April 4, 11, 24. An online concert series that features cello-based musical acts from the Bay Area and around the world. Expect live looping, improvisation, singing and more. $15. https://cellomadness.com/
The Art of Seeing exhibit: Viewing through April 18. Join 18 artists as they explore different aspects of perspective, from the raptor’s eye of ‘Owl,’ photographed by Jeff Torquemada and Wendy Sparks, to the mind’s eye of ‘Forest for the Trees,’ by Valerie Sobel. www.4thstreetfineart.com/theartofseeing.html
Theatre Rhinoceros — “Pandemic Performances:” 7 p.m. April 2. An evening of short video performances celebrating the creative output of Bay Area’s LGBTQ performers during the pandemic. A benefit event for Theatre Rhinoceros. hosted by Jesús U. Bettawork and Kim Larsen. http://www.TheRhino.org
The Escape Game Remote Adventures Virtual Escape Rooms: Your team will communicate with each other and a host at The Escape Game using Zoom. $30 per player. https://theescapegame.com/remote-adventures/
