Thiebaud bakes a Google cake

UC Davis art professor emeritus Wayne Thiebaud, famed for his they-look-good-enough-to-eat paintings, prepared a cake for Google’s 12th birthday this week.

The Google logo is on the cake, well, all of the logo except for the “l,” which is represented by a striped candle.

The Web giant served up the cake on the Google home page and on search results pages.

Free opera at the Mondavi

The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and and pianist Mark Morash accompany two "rising stars of opera" for an Oct. 9 concert, set to begin at 8 p.m. in Jackson Hall.

This event is free to the community through the generosity of Mondavi Center benefactor Barbara K. Jackson.

Tickets can be obtained without a handling fee at the box office during regular business hours: noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Processing fees will apply when reservations are made by telephone, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or online.

The singers are San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow David Lomeli, a tenor, and Karen Slack, soprano, an alumna of the Adler Fellows.

Adler Fellows "are a select group of exceptionally gifted young singers will soon be gracing celebrated opera house stages throughout the world," according to the Mondavi Center.

The program:

• Mascagni — Intermezzo sinfonico from Cavalleria rusticana

• Donizetti — "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amore

• Puccini — "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca, and Rodolfo and Mimi’s final scene, Act I, from La bohème

More at the Mondavi Center

• Bayanihan — The National Folk Dance Company of the Philippines. 8 p.m. Oct. 1, Jackson Hall.

• Dianne Reeves — Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist, in a program in a program entitled "American Songbook." 8 p.m. Oct. 2, Jackson Hall.

• Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers — The legendary comedian plays a mean banjo! 7 p.m. Oct. 3, Jackson Hall. Sold out. Did you miss out on Martin tickets? See the next item.

• Los Lobos — An American roots-rock institution. Tickets are limited in availability. 8 p.m. Oct. 13, Jackson Hall.

Tickets and more information. Or call (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787.

Follow Martin to Reno

Acknowledging high demand for tickets to Steve Martin's Oct. 3 concert, and that it is sold out, the Mondavi Center announced that it has arranged a special deal with the Artown Festival in Reno — where people can see Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers two days after their Mondavi Center appearance.

The Reno concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 5 at ticket prices of $40, $55 and $70, and accommodations are available at the Grand Sierra Resort for $55 to $80. For tickets, call (800) 648-3568. For reservations at the Grand Sierra Resort, use the offer code STEVE; the special rates are for one night only, Oct. 5.

Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love

Munich 1917. A hotel room. A jar of poison. A failed suicide. A lone actress.

This is the set-up for Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love, a world premiere from Sideshow Physical Theatre Company in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Tilly No-Body follows the tumbling thoughts of Tilly Wedekind, wife and muse of celebrated German playwright, Frank Wedekind (Spring Awakening and Lulu). Weaving together biography, personal letters, drama and original songs, Bella Merlin, professor of acting, traces the Wedekinds’ passionate marriage, leading to Tilly’s attempted suicide and Frank’s premature death.

The director is Miles Anderson and the composer is David Roesner

Production times and dates are 8 p.m. Oct. 14-16 and 21-23, and 2 p.m. Oct. 17 and 24 in Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Read the Department of Theatre and Dance news release.

Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.