San Diego Weekend Guide: Sept. 1-3 – Labor Day edition

Start – and end –this long San Diego weekend with free cultural celebrations. In between, enjoy music, comedy, a unique street art event and big doings at two major local theaters. Life is, after all, a cabaret, old chum.

The Marston House Museum and Gardens, off the northwest edge of Balboa Park, hosts “Music at the Marston” for the second year. The outdoor concerts, on three September Fridays, feature Americana, folk, country and blues performed by female singer-songwriters. First up, at 3 p.m. Friday, vocalists Annie Bethancourt, Suzanne Panza and Lisa Sanders. General admission is $12.

Tap into Native American culture at the Barona Powwow at the Barona Sports Complex in Lakeside. The free event, with drums, dancing, contests, food and more, continues through Sunday. Gates open at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The San Diego Civic Theatre hosts comedian, actress, director and author Ali Wong at 7 p.m. each night Friday through Sunday. She starred in Always Be My Maybe and directed Sheng Wang’s Sweet and Juicy. Limited tickets remain, starting at $46.

The curtain rises on two big plays, one a premiere, another a classic, at San Diego’s most heralded theaters:

• La Jolla Playhouse – Previews continue through Sunday for The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, commissioned by the theater. Gabriel Ebert plays the title role, inspired by Thompson, one of the most influential figures in the counterculture and journalism. Joe Iconis wrote the music and lyrics. Tickets start at $25 and the show runs through Oct. 8.
• Old Globe – The Balboa Park theater calls Cabaret a “reimagined and visionary new staging” of the classic tale of singer Sally Bowles and life in 1930s Germany. The title song is a classic of musical theater. Joanna A. Jones takes on Sally, while Lincoln Clauss plays the Emcee. The show, with previews beginning Friday, then opens Wednesday. The production also continues through Oct. 8. Tickets start at $52.

Note: Summer Shakespeare at the Old Globe wraps up Sunday. The Merry Wives of Windsor – with a ’50s spin, believe it or not – has three more performances, with tickets starting at $39.

Vanguard Culture hosts the ENVZN Urban Art Takeover at 5 p.m. Saturday, when artists drop into urban spaces along Commercial Street in Logan Heights, to fill it with dance, film, theater, music and more. The performances, fanning out from the Soap Factory, at 30th and Commercial streets, are 30 minutes each so participants easily can shift between their favorites, including puppetry, a fashion show and mini-film fest. See artists from the U.S. and Mexico. General admission starts at $40.

The House of Ukraine cottage at Balboa Park hosts the free Ukrainian Festival at 11 a.m. Sunday. There’s food to start – try for instance, potato and cheese varenyky, a dumpling, with sour cream and fried onions. Performances follow at 2 p.m. with the Chervona Kalyna Dance Group from Los Angeles, Iaroslava Caracosa, student artists and more.