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Lizzy & the Triggermen
Filoli’s Summer Stage series – several nights of live music in a picturesque meadow setting – kicks off with a performance by L.A.-based jazz group Lizzy & The Triggermen, a band that melds retro glamour with modern savvy, presenting swing music rooted in the classics but influenced from a variety of genres. Lead singer Lizzy Shaps, who’s also an Emmy-nominated comedy writer, has been compared to Amy Winehouse and Eartha Kitt. Other acts in the series coming up include Mustache Harbor, Iam Tongi, Fleetwood Mask, The Alex Lucero Band, and Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Food trucks and bars will be on site and attendees are allowed to bring lawn chairs or blankets.
Aug. 9, 5:30 p.m (main act starts at 7 p.m.).; Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside; $69; https://filoli.org/summer-stage.
Rico Jones
New York-based saxophonist and composer Rico Jones takes a democratic approach to the art form, highlighting its history as music for the people, according to his bio. He counts George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Bobby Watson and Bennie Maupin as mentors and has worked as a sideman with an array of artists, including the Mingus Big Band, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Sylvia Cuenca, Cyrus Chestnut, Philip Harper, Bobby Watson and Essiet Essiet. He debuted last year at the venerable Blue Note NYC club as a featured guest with bassist Esperanza Spalding. Also in 2025, he released “Blood Lines,” a debut album of thoughtful originals that garnered a four-star review from DownBeat and other critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. He performs at Meyhouse Palo Alto with trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr., pianist Dave Kikoski, bassist Billy Edwards and drummer Mike Clark.
Aug. 7, 5 and 8 p.m., at Meyhouse Palo Alto, 640 Emerson St., Palo Alto; $38-$48; meyhousejazz.com.
‘Whispers Through the Trees’
Artist Sophia Lee leads a series of public art workshops in Palo Alto connected to her ArtLift project “Whispers Through the Trees” (part of the ArtLift Grants Program through the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program). Participants will create “fortune cookies” out of reclaimed canvas, paint and decorative materials and include a hidden message. The soft-sculptural “cookies” will then become part of the “Whispers Through the Trees” installation at the California Avenue Caltrain station in coming months.
Upcoming workshops will be held Aug. 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mitchell Park, Aug. 20, 5-8 p.m., at 414 California Ave. and Aug. 27, 2-5 p.m. at College Terrace Library; free; paloalto.gov.
‘Public Benefit: Pop-Ups in the POPOS’
For the playful “Public Benefit: Pop-Ups in the POPOS” series, supported in part by the Palo Alto Public Art Program’s ArtLift Grant program, artist Lisa Van Dusen leads activations of the city’s privately owned public open spaces, or POPOS. Coming up on Aug. 8, “The Compliment Dept.: Office Hours” will pop up 9-10 a.m. at Edgewood Plaza, offering customized compliments to members of the public by request, along with live music from Charline Pelloux-Gervais. And from 5:30-6:30 p.m., Plaza Ramona will host a “Summer Laughter Party,” featuring a laughter yoga session led by Carla H. Brown. Both pop-ups are part of the Magical Series, in partnership with Magical Bridge, according to Van Dusen.
Aug. 8, 2080 Channing Ave. (9-10 a.m.) and 250 University Ave. (5:30-6:30 p.m.), Palo Alto; free; paloaltopopos.org/events-activations.
New Works Festival
A perpetual highlight of the local theater season, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s annual New Works Festival gives audiences the chance to witness shows under development in staged-reading format, along with special events.
This year’s crop of staged readings includes Jaime Lozano and Tommy Newman’s “Roja,” a new twist on the Little Red Riding Hood story, incorporating Mexican folk music and Mestizo folklore set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution (Aug. 9 at 3 p.m., Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m., and Aug. 16 at 3 p.m.); Margot Melcon’s “Floor 37,” about a woman dealing with anxiety and finding community after a catastrophic event (Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 15 at noon); the “upside down” romcom “Re-,” by Kimber Lee, about two people digging through their past (Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 16 at noon); the pairing of Carlos Aguirre’s hip-hop musical adaptation of “The Tell Tale Heart” and Austin Dean Ashford’s “Rap Monologues,” about a storage unit trainer who performs rap verses as monologues (Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.); and the musical “Vienna,” by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, which explores four different timelines intersecting in Vienna at different points in history (Aug. 15 at 3 p.m. and Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m.).
Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning actor Mariska Hargitay kicks off the festival with three performances (Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 8 at 2 and 7 p.m.) of the solo show “Every Brilliant Thing,” written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, in which she recently made her Broadway debut. Proceeds will benefit TheatreWorks and TheatreWorks and Joyful Heart Foundation, which supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse and was founded by Hargitay. At the Aug. 8 matinee, Hargitay will have a panel discussion with her sisters,TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli and Las Vegas producer and event specialist Pietra Sardelli about the show and Hargitay’s documentary “My Mom Jayne,” on her late mother Jayne Mansfield.
Aug. 14, “Come From Away” creators Sankoff and Hein will present “Cut From Away,” which features songs and characters cut from the final production of the Broadway hit.
Aug. 7-16, Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road Palo Alto; $95 festival pass (does not include “Every Brilliant Thing” or “Cut From Away”) or individual tickets for each regular festival show available for $25; individual tickets for “Every Brilliant Thing” are $450 general admission for the Aug. 7 and 8 evening shows and $500 for the Aug. 8 matinee with panel discussion; Tickets for “Cut From Away” are $125; theatreworks.org/new-works/nwf.
