New Year, New Season of Stories
The Bay Area’s weekly roundup of arts, culture, and community | January 2 to 8, 2026
As we all come down from the celebration of the holidays and the (sometimes anticlimactic) countdown to the new year, we still have things to look forward to. As we all make our resolutions, we can suggest one that can be immediately achieved: add more live performance and art into your life.
If you’re already a season subscriber or frequent purveyor of the theatre, maybe go out of your tried and trusted terrain and explore something completely new. If you love musicals, check out a drama; if you know Vivaldi and Beethoven backwards and forwards from frequenting the symphony, check out a dance company where the music fuels the movement.
If live performance is a once a year occurrence for you, try going to two or three shows this year. An easy way to commit to this resolution, is becoming a season subscriber for the 2026 season. While most performing arts organizations begin their seasons in September and end in June, there are a few that begin at the turn of the new year. Two of these organizations are Shotgun Players and San Francisco Ballet. Shotgun Players’ 34th season celebrates “BIG ART; bold gestures and adventurous aesthetics to confront the daily barrage of uncertainty and chaos.” SF Ballet welcomed audiences with their annual production of Nutcracker in December, but the season really begins this month with their first program of Eugene Onegin.
If this is a newsletter that you normally scroll through, glance at, or even delete right away, we hope that this time you’ll take a deeper look, and find something that speaks to you.
On the Stage
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with Live Orchestra
Film/Music | San Francisco Symphony
January 9 – 10 | Tickets
Klaus Badelt’s score—performed live to picture by the San Francisco Symphony—thrums with excitement and adventure.
More Events
- An Evening with David Sedaris | Berkeley Repertory Theatre | January 11
- A Beautiful Noise | Broadway San Jose | Now – January 4
- ASL Interpreted: January 3
- Audio Described & Open Captioned: January 4
- Sunday in the Park with George | Shotgun Players | Now – January 25
Next Line
- Selected from 1,500 worldwide applications, the 2026 class of Merolini artists has been announced by San Francisco Opera. These 28 singers, pianists, coaches, and stage directors represent the future of opera.
- Giving voice to artists who have historically been silenced, the Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performance Project will present a four-day festival this month at Berkeley Rep.
Subscribe to our Beyond the Stage newsletter for the best news and events from the Bay Area’s performing arts scene, every Friday.
