The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society regularly presents some of the best artists that classical music has to offer. But even by the all-volunteer organization's first-rate standards, the latest performers it's lined up likely exceed expectations.

ZOFO Duet, featuring solo pianists Keisuke Nakagoshi and Eva-Maria Zimmermann, is one of only a handful of duos worldwide devoted exclusively to piano duets. That is, Nakagoshi and Zimmerman perform, together, on one piano, bringing "dazzling artistry and outside-the-box thematic programming for piano-four-hands." according to MVCMS producers.

ZOFO Duet performs at the Chamber Music Society's regular venue, Mount Tamalpais United Methodist Church, on Sunday, March 18 at 5pm. The concert program includes Casella: Pupazzetti; Nakagoshi: Synaesthesia (2012); Schubert: Fantasy in f-minor; Stravinsky: 3 Movements from Petrushka; Nicholas Pavkovic: Chimaera (arr. 2012); and Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The Grammy-nominated and prize-winning Steinway Artist ensemble is known "for its bold exploration and commission of new works from noted composers and its rediscovery of hidden gems of the traditional one piano, four-hands repertoire with a strong dedication to 20th and 21st Century works," organizers say. 

Since joining forces as a professional duo in 2009, ZOFO has performed for audiences from Carnegie Hall to Tokyo, Japan and has received praise from national music critics and reporters, including those representing the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Bachtrack and San Francisco Classical Voice.

The non-profit, all-volunteer Mill Valley Chamber Music Society was founded in 1973 to present exceptional classical musicians in Mill Valley at affordable ticket prices. For its 2017-18 season, the organization has kept a new wrinkle it unveiled last year: offering free admission for young adults 18-years old and under (audiences members 15 years old and under must be accompanied by an adult).

​The 411: The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society presents ZOFO Duet, featuring solo pianists Keisuke Nakagoshi and Eva-Maria Zimmermann, on Sunday, March 18 at 5pm at the Mount Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Ave. Tix $35 for general admission, under 18 free. MORE INFO & TIX.​

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Sausalito's landmark artistic space ICB, or Industrial Center Building, celebrates its 50th anniversary later this year. So when six of the artists working there, all members of the ICB Art Association's board of directors, sought to spotlight the revered history of the building tucked into the Marinship district at the north end of Sausalito, they decided to do what they do best: showcase the abstract paintings they've created at ICB.

Throughout March and for the Mill Valley Arts Commission's First Tuesday Artwalk on March 6, (5:30-7:30pm), artists Terri Froelich, Margot Hartford, Bibby Gignillat, Kathryn Keller, Sharon Paster and Kate Zimmer are doing just that, exhibiting their work at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center under the title of "Essence of Spring: Abstractions by Six ICB Artists."

"We are keenly interested in helping to strengthen our community," the artists said in a statement. "We are all inspired by the Marin landscape and energized by Marin’s creative spirit."

​While each artists has their artistic home at ICB in common, they all take different approaches to work. Froelich "enjoys discovering and then replicating rustic details," trying to "reconcile diverse and sometimes conflicting experiences into a balanced piece of art that exposes strong personal meaning." Gignilliat, meanwhile, is a self-taught artist who "has always had a creative bent and has applied that creativity to building businesses, professional cooking and art."

Hartford makes her living as a commercial photographer, but she "is continually experimenting with paint, paper, wax and found materials as a way to step away from the computer. Keller's work "layers nature that assault the senses, with "the freshness of new greens and layers of soft colors reflected in various cultures."

In Paster’s art, "everything pulsates with life, on the verge of movement and change:" and she "layers oil colors, plays with space, and contrasts the solid with the ephemeral—the fixed with the fluid—to show the forces of nature continuously at work." Lastly, Zimmer's paintings "are visual manifestations of an internal journey made external. Through the use of color and gestural mark-making as a means to show energy and movement, the art seeks to inspire feeling, and at the same time is interesting and beautiful."

The 411: Artists Terri Froelich, Margot Hartford, Bibby Gignillat, Kathryn Keller, Sharon Paster and Kate Zimmer showcase their work throughout March and for the Mill Valley Arts Commission's First Tuesday Artwalk on March 6, (5:30-7:30pm) at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center under the title of "Essence of Spring: Abstractions by Six ICB Artists."

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Nearly 30 years ago, Michael Bay’s film “Armageddon” told the story of a Bruce Willis-led oil rig crew that’s given the task of drilling into a Texas-size asteroid and putting a bomb in it to break it into pieces, before the asteroid hits the Earth.

The film is largely remembered for two reasons: it raked in more than $550 million at the box office, and it was laden with laughable, “fantastically inaccurate” science. But while the film is punchline-worthy, the actual threat posed by asteroids impacting our planet is not – there are 10,000 known near-Earth asteroids that cross near our planet and occasionally hit it – and likely millions more.

The race is on to identify all those asteroids that could impact Earth, and Danica Remy, a fourth generation Marinite and a 43-year Mill Valley resident, is among those leading that effort. Remy is the president of the B612 Foundation, an organization that was co-founded by Apollo 9 astronaut and former Tiburon resident Russell “Rusty” Schweickart in 2002 and named after the asteroid in Antoine de St. Exupéry’s story The Little Prince. Remy works out of B612’s downtown Mill Valley office, while some of her colleagues work at offices in Menlo Park, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Boulder, Colo. and around the world .

Any doubts that the threat was real were wiped out five years ago this month. On Feb. 15, 2013, a small asteroid – approximately 20 meters in diameter – “exploded in an airburst creating a shockwave that injured over 1,500 people and damaged 7,000 buildings across six cities in Western Russia (footage here). Our work at B612 and the research carried out at our Asteroid Institute will help predict these surprises in the future,” Remy wrote in a recent blog post.
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“Our job is to find the asteroids before they find us, because if you don’t know where they are, there’s nothing you can do about it,” the organization says in the video clip below.

B612’s recent work has centered around its Asteroid Institute’s efforts to build “a dynamical map of the inner solar system and the millions of asteroids we know are out there but have yet to discover,” Remy says.

The map, dubbed ADAM (Asteroid Decision Analysis & Mapping), represents a pivot by B612 from its Sentinel Mission, a fundraising campaign to launch a space telescope dedicated to finding those hundreds of thousands of near-Earth objects. That effort became redundant when the LSST, a “large synoptic survey telescope” on a mountaintop in Chile mountaintop site that represents a thousand-fold increase in capability over current facilities, was funded.

“We don’t care where the data comes from – we just want the data to know where the asteroids are,” says Remy. “When we launched five years ago, there was no opportunity to get that range of asteroids. Now that there is, we’re building a cloud-based software platform to leverage all of the data that is coming in from LSST so that we can start to build a dynamic map and track and predict their path. We’re basically building an orbit propagation tool, which goes well beyond just identifying these asteroids.”

“The thing about our work is that it is truly global and it’s going to require a global response and global coordination,” she adds.  

But for Remy, there’s also a local aspect to her work, especially living in Mill Valley. “I always love to talk about asteroids,” she says. “There are a lot of folks in town who work in the tech industry and who have a deep sense of doing right by humanity. Mill Valley is one of those unique places where people think local but a good portion of our community really does have a global grasp of things that have a really deep impact – no pun intended!”

Remy and her B612 colleagues are already ramping up their plans for Asteroid Day, an Earth Day-style event designed to raise awareness of the potentially catastrophic risk of an impact. The event is held worldwide each year on June 30, the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event in 1908 that was the most harmful known asteroid-related event on Earth in recent history. Remy co-founded the event along with Schweickart, filmmaker Grigorij Richters and Brian May, Queen guitarist and astrophysicist.

Remy says Asteroid Day 2018 will be the largest single-day space event in the world, featuring 24 hours of asteroid-related programming via satellite and on the web and social media. In Mill Valley and beyond, the event is an opportunity for astronomy clubs and school groups to participate, Remy says.
“It would be fabulous to see people here in town host their own Asteroid Day events,” she says.

The 411: B612 Foundation is entirely funded by private donations. MORE INFO.

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For those in the know, the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands is one of the true wonders of the Bay Area, treating more than 600 animals a year and serving as one of the largest marine mammal hospitals in the world to combine animal rehabilitation with an onsite research lab – all on the repurposed site of a former Nike missile silo.

Everyone from longtime fans to those with their head in the sand have an opportunity to learn even more about the organization at a free, public event at the Outdoor Art Club on Thursday, March 1 at 1pm.

The event features animal care volunteer Mitch Fong talking about the story of the center, the exciting work happening there and plans for its future. The center relies on more than 1,200 volunteers and a staff of 60 people to do its work, which includes caring for more than 200 animals at once and advancing global ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research and public education.

The 411: On Thursday, March 1 at 1pm, the Outdoor Art Club hosts a talk from Marine Mammal Center animal care volunteer Mitch Fong. Free and open to the public, with light refreshments served. Attendees are encouraged to bring old towels to donate for use with the animals. 1 West Blithedale Avenue.

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More than almost any other longtime downtown Mill Valley institution, the customers of Peet's Coffee & Tea aren't exactly known for embracing wholesale change. Heck, the beloved bench outside Peet's at 88 Throckmorton Ave. was taken away for a couple of days late last year and an online near-riot ensued, complete with hashtags like #BringBackTheBench ... #forPeetsSake.

So when Peet's ​Store Manager Matt Borello got the long-awaited green light in late 2017 to do some interior improvements to the landmark community gathering space at 88 Throckmorton, his excitement was mixed with slight trepidation for the ensuing reaction from the longtime loyal customers of the cafe, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in Mill Valley in 2017.

​"I really didn't know what to expect," he says. "I knew that we needed to update the space and make it more inviting and lively and fun, but I also respect our customers and didn't want to anyone to be unhappy about it."

The changes were significant, with new lighting and a lighter-and-brighter coat of paint throughout the space. The small circular tables were replaced with a larger, high communal table, freeing up for a few more seats and a generally more open floor plan. There were some expected grumbles, which Borello says he's open-minded about, but overall the changes have been a boon for the cafe in the ever-crowded coffee landscape in Mill Valley.

"It's had an overwhelmingly positive impact for us in terms of our customers' reaction and just overall business for the past two months," Borello says. "It's also just really made the space more lively and gotten some new people to stop in to check us out. We're really excited."

The 411: Peet's Coffee & Tea is at 88 Throckmorton Avenue.

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Buckeye Roadhouse.

Piazza D’Angelo.

Tamalpie.

Playa. 

El Paseo.

La Ginestra.

Joe’s Taco Lounge.

Bungalow 44.

Hungry? Glad we’ve gotten your attention.

Aside from delicious food, those notable local restaurants all have one thing in common: they all use Mill Valley Insurance for their insurance brokerage needs. The firm’s client list spans some of the best restaurants in Mill Valley as well as more than 400 Bay Area businesses, including hospitality and live music venues.

“Our bread and butter over the years has really been in the restaurant and hospitality space,” says Greg Busby, the 12-person firm’s director of finance.

That reputation dates back to Al Gurewitz, the firm's founder who started Mill Valley Insurance in 1983 to offer comprehensive business insurance services to all types of Bay Area businesses. Gurewitz was a huge music fan, and attended concerts many landmark concerts in San Francisco's Fillmore and Broadway districts. He made fast friends with many club and venue owners in those historic years when the Bay Area music scene exploded, including larger than life rock impresario Bill Graham.

Those relationships led to business partnerships, with Gurewitz often arranging programs for some of the Bay Area’s most venerable music institutions and restaurants. Fast forward to today, and Gurewitz’s son, President Ron Gurewitz, who spent many years as a working musician in the Bay Area, leads a team that is well versed in developing insurance and risk strategies for the hospitality business. steeped in the insurance needs of the hospitality business. Co-owner and Vice President Derek Andros, a jazz guitar aficionado, now insures many of the venues that he frequents as a music fan.

“It all just kind of snowballed from there,” says Busby, who himself managed a restaurant for many years. “We take the time to listen, then make recommendations based on the unique and specific needs of these restaurant owners, particularly when they are first opening. We then help them make critical decisions and guide them through the wide range of options."

While Mill Valley Insurance has longstanding specialization in the hospitality industry, its suite of client services also includes personal insurance lines, life insurance, programs for property owners, technology firms, consultants and contractors. “Nobody likes to spend time thinking about or wants to to talk about switching their insurance coverage," Busby says. " We know how to leverage our decades-long insurance carrier relationships for the benefit of our clients, whether large or small.  Each program is tailored to the client's unique objectives."

Mill Valley Insurance’s deep ties to the Mill Valley community extend beyond brokering insurance for local restaurants and hotels. The firm regularly supports the Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade and the annual Winterfest celebration.

“We’ve always made it a priority to give back to the community,” Busby says.

The 411: Mill Valley Insurance is at 124 East Blithedale Avenue. MORE INFO.

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With the 18-month Miller Avenue Streetscape Project largely in the rearview mirror, we have a beautiful, safer, multi-modal, less flood-prone road to show for it.

Now it's time to look ahead at making Miller Avenue an even more vibrant place to eat, drink, shop, do business and gather, and we want to hear from you. The 500 Miller Ave. project is in the early stages of construction, with its proposed 4,948-square-foot commercial building that includes approximately 2,000 square feet of retail and 3,000 square feet of office space. There's also the 16-unit residential development at 542-548 Miller, which will bring considerably more activity to that stretch of the commercial street.

With an eye towards making Miller Ave. an even better commercial district for local residents – and in the interest of reducing the cross-town traffic we all sit in each day – what types of new businesses would you like to see open on Miller in the coming months and years? What would complement the already amazing group of shops, restaurants and businesses on Miller, and help you run errands along Miller without jumping in your car to go across – or out of – town?

LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

In the midst of travel bans, the revocation of protected status and threats to not extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, among others, many communities around the United States have sought to promote inclusion. A group of local leaders have stepped up to do just that in Mill Valley on Valentine's Day with "Love Includes Everyone: A Musical Rally," set for Feb. 14, 4-5pm in the Depot Plaza. 

The event is being organized by the Marin Interfaith Council's Love Lives in Marin initiative and Mill Valley Community Action Network, aka MVCAN, which formed in the aftermath of the 2016 election to "stand up for American values and democracy" and "use the many modes of lobbying and peaceful protest available in our democracy, and practice inclusion and acceptance."
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"Join us as we celebrate the importance of inclusion and welcoming everyone in our community," says MVCAN member and Mill Valley resident Barbara Rowe. "It’s a great local opportunity to celebrate a special Valentine’s Day in Marin."

The event will feature musical performances by the likes of Group Ukulele Jubilee & Ukulele Friends, as well as Ohana Freedom Singers—Gonna Take Us All. In addition, a number of speakers will address the crowd, including Fatima Hansia of the Islamic Center of Mill Valley, Mill Valley Councilwoman Sashi McEntee and Tam High Principal J.C. Farr,

The 411: The Marin Interfaith Council's Love Lives in Marin initiative and Mill Valley Community Action Network, aka MVCAN, are holding a "Love Includes Everyone: A Musical Rally," set for Feb. 14, 4-5pm in the Depot Plaza. MORE INFO.

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The Outdoor Art Club hosts speakers on a vast range of subjects throughout the year. Rarely will the garden-loving organization's members find one who speaks their language better than Michelle Slatalla.

Slatalla, a former New York Times style columnist who lives in the Sycamore Triangle neighborhood, speaks at the OAC on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 1pm, an event that is free and open to the public. Slatalla launched the Gardenista website, a sister site to the interior design site Remodelista, in 2012 as "the definitive guide to stylish outdoor spaces" in search of the "best design ideas, from fragrant old French roses to midcentury house numbers ... whether your outdoor space is a city balcony or a sprawling garden."

The site has taken off ever since, so much so that Slatalla published a book on the subject in 2016. She touted Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces as “a version of Gardenista you can dog-ear." Slatalla says her focus on gardens is guided by the principle that "outdoor space is living space, and should be as carefully considered as any other room in your home."

​Please tell a friend and bring a friend to this Free Public Event. No tickets are required. Light refreshments will be served.

The book, like the website, seeks to identify and influence garden trends through an eclectic selection of plants, tools, hardscape details, garden furniture, color schemes and various uncategorizable objects, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Photographs show many of the editors’ favorite gardens, both their overall design and close-up shots of details. Also shown are 100 stylish and useful objects you might want for your garden. A section called “Expert Advice” tackles topics such as “Ten Things Worth Spending On”; “Ten Ways to Save”; how to be environmentally friendly; and how to work with a garden designer. There is also a 10-point Gardenista Manifesto, in which point No. 10 is: “A little wildness in a garden is a good thing," according to the Chronicle.

The 411: Gardenista founder Michelle Slatalla speaks at the Outdoor Art Club on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 1pm, an event that is free and open to the public. 1 West Blithedale Avenue at Throckmorton Avenue. 

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Budding photographers seeking to learn how to tell a compelling visual story won't find a better opportunity to do so than ​an upcoming three-class series at The Image Flow, Mill Valley's community photography hub.

For its Develop Your Photographic Narrative class, the Image Flow has lined up Pulitzer-Prize winning documentary photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice, the former San Francisco Chronicle photographer who has created content for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, National Geographic and been honored by American Photography Awards, PDN Photo Annual, Pictures of the Year International, NPPA Best of Photojournalism, and the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. Fitzmaurice's work is part of the permanent collection at the Newseum, and is part of their traveling exhibition of Pulitzer-winning photographs. 

For the class, which kicks off March 31 and meets again on April 10 and April 15, Fitzmaurice will use her own Pulitzer Prize-winning story as an example to discuss how to find a photo story (or what to do when a story finds you), and how to develop that story into an engaging photographic narrative. She'll teach students how to approach people to gain trust and access in order to capture with their camera what is authentic and how it contributes to the documentary narrative style. Students will learn the skills to create a visually compelling photographic narrative, whether it’s for a personal project or a story for a magazine, website, corporation, foundation, or nonprofit.

Each student will come to the class with their own photo story ideas and will develop their own project during the course of the week. Fitzmaurice and her producer Amy will help students refine their cultural, issue-based or human-interest stories ahead of the class. 

The 411: Pulitzer-Prize winning documentary photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice is teaching a Develop Your Photographic Narrative class at The Image Flow, 401 Miller Ave., Suite A. Classes March 31, 9:30-5:30pm, April 10, 7-9pm and April 15, 9:30am-5:30pm. Cost is $725. MORE INFO & SIGN UP.

NOTE: The Image Flow has set the dates for its annual Teen Summer Photography Program in Cuba for July 7-18. MORE INFO.

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There's no bigger star in the theater universe these days than Lin-Manuel Miranda, and for its next dramatic production, the Throckmorton Theatre crew is turning to the Hamilton creator's past, diving into the first major musical he created, the Tony Award-winning In the Heights. The shows are set for March 16-18 and March 23-25.

In doing so, Throckmorton Artistic Director Lucy Mercer and theatre and education directors Amy Marie Haven and Reba Gilbert have assembled a team of Bay Area stalwarts to lead the musical, which is set in the largely Hispanic neighborhood of New York City's Washington Heights, exploring three days in the characters' lives, with a dazzling score that features hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul music. 

San Rafael High alum Kevin Allen is making his directorial debut with In the Heights. He's joined by choreographer Stacey Printz, whose dance company has performed in San Francisco, across the U.S. and internationally for the past 17 years, while she's also taught locally for A.C.T.’s MFA program, at Alonzo King’s LINES Dance Center and at Roco Dance in Tam Valley. For the music, Allen and Printz will lean on bassist and composer Curtis Aikens, who directs for YES, a youth arts organization and plays with his band Suenos.

In a letter Allen sent to the cast on day one as a reference point for his creative process, "To loosely quote Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda: 'Who lives, who dies, who tells our stories?' I believe each one of our actors and artists working on this show have a unique story that only they can tell on stage as a part of this production."

"While this show has a good deal of well-known lead characters, I want to stress this is an ensemble focused and dance-heavy show," Allen continues. "Everyone will be working together as a team to create the world of Washington Heights. This is an amazing show that I believe will link communities, cultures, generations, families and friends together. I cannot wait to embark on this journey together!"

"I am so excited that we had more 90 people audition for this show and we have a primarily Latino cast," says. Amy Marie Haven "The cast we’ve assembled is incredibly diverse in background, age and experience level; our actors age range from 9-24 and 90 percent of our leads identify as people of color.”

The 411: The Throckmorton Theatre's production of In the Heights is set for March 16-18 and March 23-25. MORE INFO & TIX.

Here's the trailer from Lin-Manual Miranda's In the Heights on Broadway in 2008:

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Classical music fans looking to hear two of the genre's rising stars can do just that at the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society next performance, as the organization presents the only San Francisco Bay Area concert featuring violinist Bomsori Kim and pianist Drew Petersen. On Sunday, February 18, the pair will perform a program that includes Beethoven, Schumann and Ravel at the Mount Tamalpais United Methodist Church in Mill Valley. 

Kim, a 28-year-old South Korean violinist, has firmly established herself as one of the eminent, rising stars of the international concert stage. Kim won 4th Sendai International Music Competition in 2010, becoming the youngest winner of the competition, and is also a major prize winner at the Wieniawski, Montreal, Joseph Joachim, Tchaikovsky, Sendai, Sibelius and Qingdao Violin Competitions.

Petersen, 24, was honored as the 2017 winner of the American Pianists Award, as well as the Leeds International Piano Competition; Hilton Head International Piano Competition; Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition; New York Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and the Christel DeHaan Fellowship of the American Pianists Association. Petersen began his career as a pianist at an early age, first at Carnegie Hall at age 5 and later performing a solo recital at 9 years old for Steinway’s 150th Anniversary at Steinway Hall in New York City. Petersen graduated cum laude from Harvard at age 19 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Social Science and completed both his undergraduate and graduate music studies at The Juilliard School. A documentary short by filmmaker Kim A. Snyder, "Just Normal," (see video below) follows a 10-year-old Petersen and conductor Lukas Foss as the two prepared for Petersen's 2004 performance at the Music Festival of the Hamptons in Bridgehampton, New York.

The non-profit, all-volunteer Mill Valley Chamber Music Society was founded in 1973 to present exceptional classical musicians in Mill Valley at affordable ticket prices. For its 2017-18 season, the organization has kept a new wrinkle it unveiled last year: offering free admission for young adults 18-years old and under (audiences members 15 years old and under must be accompanied by an adult).

​The 411: The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society presents the violinist Bomsori Kim and pianist Drew Petersen on Sunday, February 18 at 5pm at the Mount Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Ave. Tix $35 for general admission, under 18 free. MORE INFO & TIX.

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One of the missions of the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts is to foster individual creativity. Few people have done more to support the arts and the artistic community in Mill Valley than Murphy Productions' Daniel Patrick and Erma Murphy.

So it makes perfect sense that Murphy and Patrick are hosting their latest Sunday Salon – a potluck-style meal that leads into attendees performing music, poetry, dance, storytelling and much more, this time under the theme of "The Art of Love" – at O'Hanlon, where Murphy serves as co-director.

The latest edition is set for Sunday, Feb. 11 from 5-8pm.

"These event tie into the tradition of the salon, which were an essential ingredient back in the day when different people like poets and artists and scientists and philosophers got together to exchange ideas," Patrick says. "That fertile ground really charged this whole creative surge in humanity - the Renaissance, essentially."

Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite dish and beverage to share and to share a poem, work of art or song that relates to the theme. Email Patrick if you plan to present at the event. Potluck is at 5pm. Performances start at 6pm. Cost is $10. MORE INFO.

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In the nearly three years since they opened their Office Hours shop at 18 East Blithedale Ave., Patricia Rudd and Heidi Blair grew accustomed to hearing a one-word refrain when people stepped inside for the first time: “Whoa.”

The utterance came upon seeing the store’s gorgeous, eye-popping inventory, which takes a few minutes to grasp. As Rudd put it: “Office Hours specializes in vintage, antique mid-century modern and industrial office and home furnishings, including desks, chairs, office accessories and accoutrements, leather goods – everything you might need for your office or home office.

What made Office Hours unique, and a welcome addition to the downtown Mill Valley landscape for many residents and visitors, is how different the office furniture and accessories are from the staid, homogenous home and professional office spaces everywhere we look.

But sadly for the owners and their longtime customers, too many of those "whoa's" didn't translate into sales, Blair says, and the shop is closing at the end of March, with a closing sale of up to 40% off between now and then. Once the store closes, Blair will move the remaining inventory to Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma, where she has stall #59 open seven days a week.

"It is with great regret that we are saying goodbye," Blair says, noting that Rudd relocated in 2016 back to Louisville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised, to be closer to her family. "We are really grateful to all of our customers and we've really enjoyed getting to know you, conversing with you and, lately, crying with you."

Office Hours opened in late 2015 at 18 East Blithedale Ave., Suite 12 – the space formerly occupied by BJ Moore Gallery and Wee Threads before that.

The 411: Office Hours is at 18 East Blithedale Ave., Suite 12. 

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In 2016, Shakespeare lovers around the world marked the 400th anniversary of his death with an array of celebrations of the Bard, renewing global interest in the man widely regarded as the English language’s greatest writer.

Kitty Thompson loves the idea of anniversary-driven celebrations of Shakespeare. But she doesn’t exactly rely on them to jolt her own passion. In fact, that passion pulsates through her veins every day.

“I have no room for mediocrity in terms of commitment to this text,” Thompson says. “I really get excited about it.”

That commitment extends throughout her more than 25 years as an actress at The Orpheum, The Magic, Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco Playhouse, Pacific Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Theatre and Marin Shakespeare Company.

Thompson’s time and dedication in recent years have been increasingly dominated by her desire to pass along that love and commitment to kids, using Shakespeare's text as a vehicle for students to develop their self esteem, multicultural empathy, emotional authenticity, and in finding a richness in human capacity and imagination.

In 2014, three years after she moved with her family from Bernal Heights in San Francisco to Mill Valley, Thompson made that effort official, turning her Shakespearience concept of after-school programs and summer camps into a fully formed nonprofit entity.

Thompson, a Bay Area native who “grew up under (American Conservatory Theatre founder) Bill Ball,” who served as her mentor for many years, fell in love with Shakespeare at the very young age of five.

“I made it my focus as a very young actress,” she says.

The idea for Shakespearience first germinated at her son’s school, St. Finn Barr School in San Francisco, where the principal asked her to create a drama program. “I said, ‘Absolutely not – but I will run a Shakespeare program for you,’” she says. “Theater programs can get really hokey really fast.”

Thompson’s passion for Shakespeare took root at St. Finn Bart School, so when the family moved to Mill Valley in 2011, she found out that Mill Valley MIddle School was looking for a new Shakespeare program.

Fast forward to 2018, and Shakespearience continues to work with both of those schools on inter-curricular programs, as well as Old Mill School and several others in San Francisco, Berkeley and elsewhere in Marin.

Thompson and her team, which also includes lead teachers Derek Fischer and Trish Tillman as well as Director of Combat Danielle O'Dea, also run after-school programs and summer camps at places like the Almonte Clubhouse and in Old Mill Park. And as the after-school program moniker “Swords, Scenes and Soliloquies!” indicates, Shakespearience’s programs to not shy away from the Bard’s love of swordplay, using “age-appropriate stage combat (hand to hand, rapier, broadsword) in concert with Shakespeare's text” to “learn movement and dialogue, and benefit greatly by observing one another's scenes and physicality.”
“Kids get so into the text,” Thompson says. “And if you get to do the text and do a broadsword fight, you’re going to absolutely love Shakespeare – no doubt about it.”

Thompson hopes to take Shakespearience into other channels as well, particularly for children on the autism spectrum and those living in impoverished neighborhoods. That includes launching a pilot program this summer in Mill Valley for special education students.

“I want to reach all types of kids with these powerful tools we have,” she says.

Thompson has stepped back a bit from her acting career of late to focus her attention on Shakespearience.

“This has taken on such great import to me that I don’t want to do anything but it,” she says. “It is so fulfilling to watch these kids take the text and own it and bend and tweak it. It ascends their self esteem and lets them feel eloquent and lets them have credence and allows them to be visceral and kinesthetic. But it is all just so very fun.”

The 411: Shakespearience offers an array of inter-curricular programs, after-school programs and summer camps in Mill Valley. MORE INFO.

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