Stepping Out

Michael Kruse Craig/Special to the Town Crier
Stan (Tom Gough, left) enjoys a birthday surprise from his old friend Jessie (Kristin Walter) in Pear Theatre’s “Sweat.” Lynn Nottage’s play won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Blue-collar rage and the shifting of America’s self-image are at the heart of Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat,” scheduled to open this weekend at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View.

Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, “Sweat” follows a group of steel workers in Berks County, Pa. They have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against one another in a desperate fight to stay afloat.

Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra has scheduled two concerts this weekend.

The group is slated to perform 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Palo Alto High School Performing Arts Center, 50 Embarcadero Road, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave.

A collection of Bay Area artist and musician Mauricio Rodriguez’s artwork, “Meaning the Score,” is on display through Nov. 10 in the Mohr Gallery at the Community School of Music and Arts, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View.

The free exhibition of graphic music scores explores the dynamic relationship between music and its multiple forms of notation. Rodriguez described the works as “Tyscores” – hand-typed engravings produced on an old, heavy-duty music typewriter.

Courtesy of CSMA
Alli Gessner, left, and James Brinkman of Floboe Productions Studio are slated to perform a free show Saturday night at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View.

The Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View this weekend presents “Latin American Vacation,” a new performance by Floboe Productions Studio.

Floboe’s performing arts duo of Alli Gessner (oboe) and James Brinkman (flute) are set to take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Tateuchi Hall at CSMA, 230 San Antonio Circle. Admission is free.

Kevin Berne/Special to the Town Crier
Dan Hiatt plays the title role in TheatreWorks’ “Mark Twain’s River of Song.”

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s production of “Mark Twain’s River of Song” opened last week and is slated to run through Oct. 27 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.

Charting a journey down the Mississippi River, the new musical shares the stories of the mighty river by one of its most famous chroniclers, author Mark Twain.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Ilya Blinov returns to the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts to perform works by Chopin in a concert slated 5 p.m. Sunday on the SecondStage.

With support from Stephen Crocker, the performance combines music, narrative and visual aids in Blinov’s manner.