Hot Ticket in The Town this week: Shaun Landry and Hans Summers improv nights<\/p>\n
The Pan Theater<\/a> has been teaching improv in Oakland since 2002. This weekend, the theater welcomes Shaun Landry and Hans Summers for two performances. The duo has been performing together since 1986 and founded the Oui Be Negroes, a predominantly Black improv and sketch comedy ensemble. Landry has performed with Woody Harrelson,\u00a0 Danny Glover and the late Robin Williams, and co-starred with Sean Penn in the biopic \u201cMilk.\u201d She will\u00a0 offer her award-winning workshop, The Art of the Improvised Monologue, at the theater on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. \u2018Stereo Dynamic\u2019 exhibit at Creative Growth<\/p>\n The newest exhibit by the artists of Creative Growth\u00a0celebrates work inspired by the world of music, and includes a special exhibition tour designed for low-vision and blind artgoers. The work includes handcrafted instruments, hand-painted vinyl records, and an intricately embroidered portrait series featuring Gladys Knight and the Pips. The exhibit also features a rotation of artist-curated playlists. Rockridge Branch 30th Anniversary Party<\/p>\n This branch of the Oakland Public Library first opened its doors in 1919<\/a> at the corner of College and Miles avenues. It moved to Birch Court in 1987 and finally to its current location in 1996. To celebrate this milestone, the volunteer organization Friends of the Rockridge Library<\/a> is hosting a party to celebrate the occasion. There will be cake, supplies for attendees to design a tote bag, a bouncy house for kids, historical photos, and remarks by Mitchell Schwarzer, author of the book \u201cHella Town: Oakland\u2019s History of Development and Disruption.\u201d Screening of \u2018Alice Street\u2019 at OMCA<\/p>\n This weekend, the museum\u2019s Spotlight Sundays series offers a screening of the 2021 documentary \u201cAlice Street.\u201d<\/a> The film by Spencer Wilkinson explores the saga of a mural<\/a> at the corner of 14th and Alice streets that was obscured in 2016 when an apartment tower was built, ultimately exploring how artists and residents grapple with gentrification in their neighborhoods. The screening, hosted by Oakland Chinatown organizer Lailan Sandra Huen, includes Chinese subtitles. Oakland arts organizations featured in the film, associated with the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, will open and close the program, with a drum offering by Bantaba Drum Call to call in ancestors and a performance by Dimensions Dance Theater. Montclair Village\u2019s Picnic on the Plaza presents: Salsa & Sangria<\/p>\n Picnic on the Plaza is a new series designed to bring people out in the Montclair Village neighborhood. This weekend, DJ D\u00edmelo will be behind the turntables for an afternoon of salsa dancing. Don\u2019t worry if you\u2019re not a salsa dancer pro; there will be beginner-friendly lessons courtesy of the Oakland Salsa Club. Or just grab drinks and food from the many restaurants nearby and eat at one of the community tables set up throughout the plaza. Coming soon to The Town: \u2018Luna Mexicana\u2019<\/p>\n The Oakland Ballet\u2019s \u201cLuna Mexicana,\u201d which tells the story of a girl named Luna who is visited by her ancestors while she is setting up her Day of the Dead altar, celebrates its 10th anniversary<\/a> with two presentations, and a collaboration with Esteban Hern\u00e1ndez, principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet. Attendees can buy separate tickets for an encore celebration<\/a> after the Saturday performance on the Paramount\u2019s mezzanine, featuring food and a conversation with the ballet\u2019s artistic director, Graham Lustig. Tickets for the celebration support the ballet\u2019s educational programs. “*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a tactile, immersive exhibit, improv performances, the screening of a film about artists and gentrification, a library…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144,5499],"class_list":["post-464991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-this-week-in-oakland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sept. 19, 8 p.m., $20 cash at the door<\/a>, 120 Frank Ogawa Plaza<\/p>\n
Opening Friday, Sept. 18, 5 to 8 p.m., free<\/a>, Creative Growth, 355 24th St.<\/p>\n
Saturday, Sept. 19, 12 to 2 p.m., free, 5366 College Ave.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Jazmine-Quezada-in-Luna-Mexicana.-Photo-by-John-Hefti-2-1600x1133.jpeg\")
Oakland Ballet dancer Jazmine Quezada as Luna \u201cLuna Mexicana.\u201d Credit: courtesy of John Hefti<\/p>\n
Sunday, Sept. 20, 1 to 3 p.m., $10<\/a>, OMCA, 1000 Oak St.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday, Sept. 20, 12 to 4 p.m., free<\/a>, Village Plaza at Antioch Court, 2066 Antioch Ct.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 1, 2:30 p.m., $35.55+<\/a>, Paramount Theatre, 2055 Broadway<\/p>\n