Hadestown, Ballet, Film: SF's Late April Lineup

San Francisco’s late-April arts calendar clusters three marquee events into one week: *Hadestown* at the Orpheum, Smuin Contemporary Ballet at Fort Mason, and the Balboa Theatre’s 100th-anniversary film series. (us.atgtickets.com, smuinballet.org, balboamovies.com) The national tour of *Hadestown* runs Tuesday, April 21, through Sunday, April 26, at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre. The official ticket page lists access performances on Friday, April 24, with American Sign Language interpretation, and Sunday, April 26, with audio description. (us.atgtickets.com) The touring production arrives with Broadway credentials that help explain the attention around a one-week stop. The show won eight Tony Awards in 2019, including Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album. (hadestowntour.com, media.umbraco.io) Across town, Smuin Contemporary Ballet opened its spring program, *Future Forward*, on April 17 and continues in San Francisco through April 26 at the Cowell Theater in Fort Mason Center. Smuin’s event page says concert pianist John Wilson performs live at select San Francisco shows, except the 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, April 25. (smuinballet.org, fortmason.org) That program includes two world premieres, Andi Schermoly’s *Jane Doe* and Amy Seiwert’s *Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes*, alongside Michael Smuin’s *Symphonic Dances*. Local News Matters reported that Schermoly’s piece responds to violence against women, while Seiwert’s work reimagines Aaron Copland’s score. (localnewsmatters.org) The film piece of the week sits at the Balboa Theatre, where a weeklong 100th-anniversary celebration runs April 13 through April 19. The theater’s anniversary page says the series spotlights costume designer Aggie Rodgers and includes a party on Saturday, April 18, starting at 6 p.m. (balboamovies.com, localnewsmatters.org) The Balboa’s centennial gives the week a neighborhood angle that the touring and dance events do not. The single-screen Richmond District theater opened in 1926, and its anniversary programming centers on repertory film rather than first-run releases. (balboamovies.com, 48hills.org) Taken together, the schedule maps neatly onto the city’s arts geography: Market Street for a Broadway tour, the northern waterfront for contemporary ballet, and Balboa Street for a centennial movie house. For San Francisco audiences, the busiest stretch lands between Friday, April 17, and Sunday, April 26. (us.atgtickets.com, smuinballet.org, balboamovies.com)