Other Stage Standouts This Fall

Beach Blanket Babylon
The venerable musical revue just keeps going and going and going. Ongoing at Club Fugazi at 678 Green (at Powell), S.F. $25-$80; 421-4222 or www.beachblanketbabylon.com.

Romeo & Julien
Boxcar gives Shakespeare's Juliet a transgendered makeover. Sept. 10-Oct. 3 at Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma (at Sixth St.), S.F. $20-$30; 776-1747 or www.boxcartheatre.org.

The Second Attack of the Killer B-Movies
Stage Werx serves up another series of B-movie homages, this time with Blue Velvet (Sept. 10-26), The Bride of Frankenstein (Oct. 1-17), and Barbarella (Oct. 22-Nov. 7). Stage Werx, 533 Sutter (at Powell), S.F. $20-$25; www.foulplaysf.com.

This World in a Woman's Hands
Shotgun Players unveil a musical about the women who worked at the Richmond Shipyards in World War II — who became known collectively as Rosie the Riveter. Sept. 10-Oct. 11 at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby (at Martin Luther King), Berkeley. $5-$19; 510-841-6500 or www.shotgunplayers.org.

Tings Dey Happen
Dan Hoyle returns to the Marsh for a brief run of his hit one-man show about Nigerian oil politics, just before embarking on a tour of Nigeria sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Sept. 10-26 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia (at 22nd St.), S.F.. $15-$50; 826-5750 or www.themarsh.org.

South Pacific
Bartlett Sher's universally adored Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's otherwise mediocre musical finally makesits way to San Francisco. Sept. 18-Oct. 25 at Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor (at Market), S.F. $30-$99; 551-2000 or www.shnsf.com.

Sex and the City Improvised
If you can't make it for Jane Austen Unscripted at BATS Improv this weekend, drop by in a few weeks for an off-the-cuff send-up of Carrie Bradshaw and friends. Sat., Sept. 19. Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center (Marina and Buchanan), S.F. $15-$18; 474-6776 or www.improv.org.

Loveland
Ann Randolph follows up last season's Squeeze Box with another solo show at the Marsh, this time concerning a woman whose life is falling apart on a flight from L.A. to Ohio. Oct. 1-Nov. 14 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia (at 22nd St.), S.F. $20-$50; 826-5750 or www.themarsh.org.

Rent
The hit musical returns to S.F. with original Broadway cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. Oct. 6-18 at the Curran Theatre, 445 Geary (at Taylor), S.F. $30-$99; 551-2000 or www.shnsf.com.

Mrs. Whitney
In this new sequel to his play Goldfish (also playing at the Magic Oct. 7-Nov. 8), John Kolvenbach considers true love from the perspective of a woman who would seem too cynical for all that. Oct. 21-Nov. 22 at the Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center (Marina and Buchanan), S.F. $15-$45; 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.

Blastosphere!
Central Works debuts a new comedy about Pop Rocks (along with other explosive subjects) co-written by Aaron Loeb, the man behind Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party. Oct. 24-Nov. 22 at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant (at Ellsworth), Berkeley. $14-$25; 510-558-1381 or www.centralworks.org.

Drip
Crowded Fire premieres Christina Anderson's study of a dying woman making amends with her grandson. Nov. 1-22 at Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma (at Sixth St.), S.F. $TBA; 255-7846 or www.crowdedfire.org.

Large Animal Games
Following the success of 2006's Cartoon, Atlanta-based absurdist Steve Yockey returns to Impact Theatre with the premiere of another enjoyably inscrutable concoction. Nov. 6-Dec. 12 at La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid (at Hearst), Berkeley. $12-$17; 510-464-4468 or www.impacttheatre.com.

Cirque du Soleil Presents Ovo
The world's most elaborately outfitted contortionists show you what it's like to be a bug. Nov. 2-Jan. 3 at AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza (at King), S.F. $42-$250; 800-450-1480 or www.cirquedusoleil.com.

The Threepenny Opera
Shotgun finds the right way to cap off an economically challenged year — with Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's adaptation of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Dec. 2-Jan. 17 at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby (at Martin Luther King), Berkeley. $5-$19; 510-841-6500 or www.shotgunplayers.org.

The 39 Steps
Alfred Hitchcock gets a farcical makeover in a touring version of 2008's ecstatically reviewed Broadway production. Dec. 9-Jan. 3 at Curran Theatre, 445 Geary (at Mason), S.F. $TBA; 551-2000 or www.shnsf.com.

Fall Arts Guide

Opera/Classical
• Nicola Luisotti by Chloe Veltman
• Five Classical Music and Opera Events to See This Fall by Chloe Veltman

Dance
• Margaret Jenkins Dance Company by Bonner Odell
• Fall Dance Picks by Bonner Odell

Theater
• Other Fall Stage Events by Chris Jensen

Visual Art
• Harpoons and Harbingers:This fall, visual artists bite, reflect, and cannibalize by Traci Vogel
• Art listings compiled by John Graham

Literary
• HUM525: Hitting the Books: Your required reading for the fall semester by Jonathan Kiefer