This week, the Arts Blog illustrates that art, music, food and biodiversity all go together. Read on. Have a great weekend, and sample these arty, foody, events. Karen Nikos-Rose, Arts Blog Editor

Oboe and more at noon concert Thursday

Grains of Connection: Art, Food & Conversation at Manetti Shrem Museum Saturday

1–5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, Manetti Shrem Museum, 254 Old Davis Road, free and open to the public

Join the Manetti Shrem Museum and university partners for an afternoon of art, communal bread breaking, connecting across cultures, and conversation. 

Anchored by the exhibition Sahar Khoury: Weights & Measures, the program weaves together dialogue and za’atar making with award-winning Bay Area chef and community organizer Reem Assil and Charlotte Biltekoff, the UC Davis Darrell Corti Endowed Professor in Food, Wine and Culture; guided tastings; hands-on art and agriculture activities; pop-up  gallery talks; and discussions with people as books in a Human Library.

Presented in partnership with Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, UC Davis Library, UC Davis Student Farm, American Studies Department, Department of Food Science and Technology, Middle East/South Asia Studies Program and Human Library Organization. 

This event features a variety of interactive experiences such as guided tastings of bread and olive oil, hands-on art and agriculture activities, and pop-up gallery talks with Associate Curtor Susie Kantor.

• Hear stories from “human books” about others’ lived experience with support from the Human Library Organization and the UC Davis Library. (1-2 p.m.)
• Participants can sample foods from Reem’s California and UC Davis’ Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science; plant seeds from the Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library with the UC Davis Student Farm; try their hand at grinding wheat; and sculpt dough with herbs and spices, among other experiences. (1-3:30 p.m.)
• Reem Assil & Charlotte Biltekoff Talk: Dialogue and za’atar making with award-winning Syrian-Palestinian chef and community organizer Reem Assil and Charlotte Biltekoff, the UC Davis Darrell Corti Endowed Professor in Food, Wine and Culture (3:30-4:45 p.m.)

Direct link to web listing with schedule and speaker biographies 

New murals installed to celebrate biodiversity day

The grand opening to celebrate two newly installed murals will take place at 3 p.m., Saturday,  Feb. 21 during UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day.

The 15th Annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day showcases 12 museums or collections.

BioDiv is a free and family-friendly event  known as "Super Science Day," a day you can view the displays (within varying times from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and engage with the scientists.

This day will involve a grand opening and celebration of two newly installed large-scale murals located behind the Plant Nursery of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden on Garrod Drive, across from the School of Veterinary Medicine.

The murals are the work of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, associate professor and director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program and her students.  See the full story and information here.

- Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Rising Stars of Opera sing at Mondavi Center Sunday

Next week:

UC Davis Presents Tony-Award Winning Musical Comedy 'The Drowsy Chaperone'

Winner of two Tony Awards, for Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Golden Age of the Broadway musical. The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance presents the hilarious musical in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall, and runs Feb. 26, 27, 28 and March 5, 6 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 28 and March 7 at 2 p.m.

“The Drowsy Chaperone is thriving in a collaborative environment, with students, guest artists, and faculty all bringing creativity and commitment to the process,” said director and choreographer Rhett Guter, the winter 2026 Granada Artist-in-Residence in the theatre department. “Working with students as they step into the rhythm and energy of musical theater — seeing the choreography come alive and the production unfold — is as thrilling as it is magical.”

Featuring an original book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone pokes fun at all the tropes that characterize the musical theatre genre. As the show opens, a lonely man plays his favorite cast recording, The Drowsy Chaperone, a fictitious 1928 musical. He tells the audience about the musical, which comes to life in his sparse apartment. The plot features two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a scatterbrained hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, an egotistical Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone; combining to create madcap delight.

Guter’s choreography has earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his innovative work on West Side Story at Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre and a Broadway World Best Choreography Award for Cabaret at PCPA. His choreography credits include: The Music Man, Anything Goes, and Peter and the Starcatcher at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival; Bat Boy at the Griffin Theatre; and A Christmas Story: The Musical at the Paramount Theatre. Last year he played Rooster in the national tour of Annie, performing at Madison Square Garden opposite Whoopi Goldberg for which The New York Times noted Guter was “oozing with charm” and “a terrific dancer.”

Patrick Burns is the music director for The Drowsy Chaperone. An artist and leader who bridges musical theatre, advocacy and education, he has worked as a music director and conductor for regional theaters, universities and national tours, including associate conductor for the national tour of Spamalot. He also served as Production Manager at Broadway Sacramento. As a composer and lyricist, he wrote Life Sentence, which explores the prison industrial complex, and scored Madwomen and Ready Player Three.

Faculty member Ian Wallace designs the scenery, Tasa Gleason (MFA, drama, ‘20) designs the costumes, Assistant Professor Ethan Hollinger designs the lighting, and staff member Megan Kimura is the sound designer. Undergraduate students Mario Sandoval and Mikayla Freeman are the stage manager and assistant choreographer, respectively.

-Michael G. French

The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. For information about other department productions, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.