Out & About in May and June 2024

From Boyz II Men harmonizing at Thunder Valley and Pearl Jam lighting up the G1C, to the tapping feet of 42nd Street kicking off Broadway at Music Circus. Here are 10 reasons to get out and paint the town.
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men (Photo courtesy of Thunder Valley Casino Resort)

Cry It Out 

May 1–June 2 Motherhood—in all its unglamorous glory—is showcased in this 2017 dark comedy by playwright Molly Smith Metzler and directed by Hollywood actress Judith Moreland (Bosch). Based on the playwright’s own struggles raising a newborn and meeting other moms, the show makes its Sacramento debut at Capital Stage. capstage.org

The Cher Show

May 9-12 If we could turn back time, we could see a teenage Cher singing backup on ’60s classics like “Be My Baby.” This 2018 Tony-winning jukebox musical, which stops by the Harris Center this spring, tells the story of the single-monikered icon through the decades via a string of illustrious hits, from “I Got You Babe” to “Believe” and beyond. harriscenter.net

Don Giovanni

May 11 With an internationally renowned cast (including Italian-born bass-baritone Stefano de Peppo in the title role), the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera concludes its season by visiting Mozart’s Seville. To raise the operatic stakes, an expanded orchestra will move from the pit to join the cast and chorus onstage. sacphilopera.org

Disney’s Fantasia

May 12 The Auburn Symphony will conclude its season by performing a live accompaniment of scenes from this 1940 Disney masterpiece and its sequel, Fantasia 2000, at the Mondavi Center. Featured works will include Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. mondaviarts.org

Fantasia (©Disney, Courtesy of Disney Concerts)

Pearl Jam 

May 13 Over 30 years on from their ’90s grunge roots, these 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees are very much still alive. Following April’s release of their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, Eddie Vedder and Co. bring their world tour to downtown’s Golden 1 Center. golden1center.com

Pearl Jam (Photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of the band)

Boyz II Men

May 18 Motownphilly’s back again. Less than a year after making California State Fair attendees swoon and sway, the best-selling R&B group in history will return to town to showcase their three-part harmony at Thunder Valley on chart-toppers like “End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You,” “On Bended Knee” and “One Sweet Day.” thundervalleyresort.com

The Newlywed Game

June 5–July 14 Drawn from her own experiences as an Arab/Italian American with a Chinese American husband, Alyssa Haddad-Chin’s The Newlywed Game took top prize in last year’s B Street New Comedies Festival. Now the play—which follows a multiracial couple as they announce their engagement to their traditional families at Thanksgiving—comes to the company’s main stage. bstreettheatre.org

Phil Rosenthal 

June 7 The Guardian describes the Netflix hit Somebody Feed Phil as “dropping the world’s most delighted man into some of the best food towns on Earth.” Now the show’s foodie star (and Everybody Loves Raymond creator) Phil Rosenthal hits Sacramento for delicious stories and an audience Q&A at the Crest Theatre. crestsacramento.com

42nd Street 

June 11-16 Come and meet those dancing feet on the avenue that Broadway at Music Circus is taking you to. Expect plenty of glitz and glam at this summer’s production of the Great White Way classic, which nabbed the Tony Award for best musical in 1981 and best musical revival in 2001. broadwaysacramento.com

Ronny Chieng

June 15 As Ronny Chieng recently told GMA, “All I wanted to do was stand-up comedy in America. It’s the best.” With funnyman skills sharpened across nearly nine years at The Daily Show—not to mention Hollywood turns like Crazy Rich Asians—the Malaysian-born comic delivers a unique perspective on everything from health care to race relations. His latest tour, “Love to Hate It,” brings his hilarious insights to the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center. safecreditunionconventioncenter.com

Ronny Chieng (Photo by Lucas Goldman, courtesy of Sechel PR)