Culture Calendar: 17 Things to Catch in April 

April 5-May 27

On The Office, actor Rainn Wilson emerged as an unlikely star with a winning combination of dry wit and seemingly constant self-consciousness. These qualities serve him well in this world premiere farce by Chicago native Matthew-Lee Erlbach. Wilson plays a hapless American drawn into intercontinental chaos when he's mistaken for a wealthy British aristocrat who's suffered an untimely accident just before signing a critical African copper deal. In the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production, expect hilarity, along with a timely look at how the world's back-room-deals are truly made. 1650 N. Halsted St.; steppenwolf.org.

Apr. 6-22

Now in its 60^th season, Nebraska’s sole opera company proves it’s also one of the country’s most adventurous. To celebrate its anniversary, the company launched the ONE Festival, dedicated to the continued expansion of the art form, and featuring over 50 multi-disciplinary performances, installations, conversations, and explorations. Two premieres anchor the festival: the first fully-staged, professionally-sung production of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up, about a Nebraska family pulled apart in the years after the Civil War; and Fiona Shaw’s production of Cherubini’s Medea. Various venues; onefestivalomaha.org.

Apr. 11-22

Known as one of South America’s most important cinema gatherings, the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year with over 100 national and international premieres in 36 venues throughout the city. This year’s fest also hosts an intriguing foreign visitor: director John Waters, who will present his breakthrough film Pink Flamingos and introduce several of his camp classics. festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar

Apr. 11-Oct. 9

Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology is itself a work of art: an undulating edifice constructed with three-dimensional white ceramic tiles, overlooking the Tagus River in the city’s historic Belem district. The interdisciplinary exhibits inside are just as groundbreaking, like its second-ever international “manifesto-exhibition” exploring the theme of climate change with over 35 participating international artists. While visiting MAAT, be sure to see the recently opened installation by artist Tomas Saraceno, whose A Thermodynamic Imaginary comprises a set of gravity-defying sculptures. Av.Brasiia, Central Tejo; maat.pt.

For over a decade, international and notable Brazilian galleries have flocked to São Paolo for SP-Arte, one of South America’s pre-eminent showcases for modern and contemporary art. In addition to the traditional main and solo sectors, this year’s fair—set in the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Bienal Pavilion—includes a Repertorio section focused on works produced up until the 1980s by both historically-significant Brazilian and international artists. The relatively new Design sector, meanwhile, highlights the country’s history of design and promoting independent and emerging talent. There is also a Performance sector, where experiential events will run continuously all day each day of the fair. Av. Pedro Alvares Cabral; sp-arte.com.

Opening Apr. 12

The first new Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s tragic romance in more than two decades is worth the wait. The two stars, Joshua Henry as Billy Bigelow and Jessie Mueller as Julie Jordan, are among Broadway’s most talented, and the supporting cast, including soprano Renee Fleming as Nettie Fowler, Lindsey Mendez as Carrie Pipperidge, and Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow, is top notch. The choreography, a highlight of any production of the show thanks to Agnes de Mille's historic involvement in the original, is a marquee element, with New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer Justin Peck crafting the famed second act. Imperial Theatre, 249 W. 45th St.; carouselbroadway.com.

Apr. 13-May 20

An astounding 70 years after it premiered on Broadway, Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke returns to the New York at the always insightful and intimate Classic Stage Company. As a quintessentially Williams story—in turn-of-the-century Mississippi, a minister's daughter and the neighborhood doctor tread the fine line between a pious and passionate existence—it feels refreshingly contemporary. In this new production by the imaginative Transport Group, Marin Ireland takes on the lead role of Alma Winemiller, and the score is provided by the great Michael John LaChiusa. 13 E. 13th St.; classicstage.org.

Apr. 14-21

For one week this spring, Baltimore's waterfront, from the Inner Harbor to Harbor East, will be transformed into a glowing outdoor gallery via 21 light art installations by an illustrious group of global creatives. Touching on timely themes like sustainability, social justice, and Baltimore's history, the installations range from the haunting (the floating "Whale Ghost" from French team Pitaya) to the jagged ("Elantica," from Belgium, composed of e-waste materials and solar panels). Pedestrians can also explore the Neighborhood Lights, an immersive community artist-in-residence program placing 12 artists' visual and performance pieces in neighborhoods throughout the city. lightcity.org. 

Apr. 15-July 29

No need to mourn the closing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s blockbuster David Hockney exhibit; the quintessential Los Angeles artist’s work comes back to his hometown thanks to this LACMA exhibit. Hockney’s saturated marine blues and witty eye are evident in this set of portraits, all executed between 2013 and 2016, portraying famous art-world faces like John Baldessari, Larry Gagosian, Frank Gehry, and Celia Birtwell alongside those of Hockney’s family, friends, and studio staff. Hockney asked all subjects to commit three days for what he’s called a “20-hour exposure,” painting them all seated in the same chair against a similar backdrop– in the process capturing vividly individual personalities. 5905 Wilshire Blvd.; lacma.org.

Apr. 17-July 22

As the National Theatre’s presentation of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece continues to draw raves on Broadway, another major production opens at the Berkeley Rep. Director Tony Taccone, who was artistic director of San Francisco’s Eureka Theater when, in 1991, Kushner held his first-ever staging of Angels, is at the helm. Stephen Spinella, who originated the central role of Prior Walter, returns as the magnetically monstrous Roy Cohn. The epic two-part drama couldn’t feel more timely, and Taccone’s new production is an especially enticing one, not only for his personal history but also for a cast which, in addition to Spinella, stars Queer as Folk’s Randy Harrison as Prior and Caldwell as the wise and witty nurse Belize. Roda Theatre, 1015 Addison St.; berkeleyrep.org.

April 20

One of America’s most relentlessly creative artists, Laurie Anderson defies categorization. Her multimedia performances blending music, storytelling, visual art, and technology are sublimely human yet somehow also otherworldly. In celebration of her new book of the same name, Anderson performs the West Coast premiere of her one-woman show reconsidering a diverse array of her past operas, installations, and other projects--a self-examination that turns into a rare peek inside a singular artist’s creative process. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd.; thewallis.org.

Apr. 20-May 6

Across the country from New York City Ballet, one of its most esteemed alumnae, Helgi Tomasson, is running one of the U.S.’s most talented and adventurous troupes at San Francisco Ballet. In celebration of the company's storied legacy, the “Unbound” festival will include 12 world premieres by 12 international artists, a group including some of dance’s most innovative minds today, including Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Stanton Welch, Arthur Pita, and Christopher Wheeldon (among others). Consider the 17 performances a perfect primer in all the reasons ballet is very much not a dead art form. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave.; sfballet.org.

Opening Apr. 26–July 1

Two American theater titans–Denzel Washington and director George C. Wolfe–unite for what should be a landmark production of a landmark American play. Washington takes on Eugene O’Neill’s tragic American classic, playing Hickey, the salesman of the play’s title who is awaited by a group of dreamers-deferred, and whose arrival throws their lives into turmoil. While it may be Washington’s name on the marquee, the rest of the cast is rounded out by a host of Broadway greats, including Tammy Blanchard, Bill Irwin, Frank Wood, and Colm Meaney, who should make this one of the season’s major events. Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45^th St.; icemanonbroadway.com.

Apr. 26-June 2

Written in 1984 by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, along with pop maestro Tim Rice, Chess wasn’t typical musical fare. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, it told the story of two of the world’s greatest chess masters at risk of becoming pawns of their respective governments in the midst of a pivotal international match (of course, there’s a love triangle involved too). But while it was tempting to dismiss the musical that brought us “One Night in Bangkok” as kitsch, the show has proven its staying power, gaining an increasingly passionate following in the decades since its premiere. Now, for the first time since its West End debut, Chess gets a major revival, in Laurence Connor’s production featuring the English National Opera’s orchestra and chorus. London Coliseum, St. Martin’s Ln.; chessthemusical.com.

Apr. 26-Aug. 19

The renowned jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, recently profiled in DEPARTURES, is also an inventive visual artist. Inspired by the central idea in jazz of the “set,” through which musicians come together to collaborate in improvisation, his sculptural and compositional works are intended to bridge the conventions of both mediums while drawing on his personal experiences. In this, his first museum show, the diversity of Moran’s work is on display, from his performances to his collaborations with other visual artists including Lorna Simpson, Glenn Ligon, and Theater Gates; highlights include Moran’s mixed-media sculptural vignettes drawing on storied music venues of the past. 725 Vineland Pl.; walkerart.org.

Apr. 27-29

As art fairs continue to proliferate, it’s increasingly difficult to tell one modern art showcase from the next. Enter If So, What? a new show focused on the intersection of art, design, music, and technology, focused on creating immersive experiences for visitors. The inaugural year’s highlights include an Augmented Reality digital sculpture garden, interactive media art, works created using artificial intelligence and an interactive projection installation driven by visitors’ sensory movements. Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St.; ifsowhat.com.

Apr. 27-Aug. 12

In her multimedia works, the Seoul-based artist Suki Seokyeong Kang uses painting, installation, and video to balance the abstract with the figurative and the organic with the geometric. The focus of the show is Kang’s first significant project, Black Mat Oriole, which comprises a choreographed installation and an immersive video triptych. An ambitious work five years in the making, it blends classical Korean poetry, calligraphy, and dance with a firmly contemporary context, in which audiences will be able to step into and “activate” the installation’s fluid environment. 118 S. 36^th St.; icaphila.org.