'Elixir of Love for Families - the Movie': opera

Maybe your introduction to opera was humming along with Bugs Bunny or Elmer Fudd as a kid - and a new generation of young operagoers might just be captivated by the catchy and familiar tunes after seeing a colorful, family-friendly version of 'The Elixir of Love' at the Herbst Theatre. The film screens three times on Sunday and Jan. 30.

Ruth Nott, education director for the San Francisco Opera, says the hourlong movie - filmed during its 2008 production - was created specifically to help introduce youngsters to the world of opera. Nott says the first such film - based on the opera's 2009 production of Mozart's 'Magic Flute' - was produced for use in schools and community outreach programs, but it received an overwhelmingly positive response from families.

'Elixir of Love for Families - the Movie': opera...

Chinatown Alleyway Tours guided by local youths

In San Francisco's Chinatown, many tourists - indeed, many longtime Bay Area residents - never make it past the silk purses and bamboo backscratchers in shops lining Grant Avenue. But if you want to get to the heart of Chinatown, see it through the eyes of the kids who grew up there and who now lead the Chinatown Alleyway Tours, offered every Saturday morning from Portsmouth Square.

These are not your typical tours, pointing out only the cosmetic highlights of one of San Francisco's oldest immigrant communities. The guides who lead the tours - usually a few of them at a time - are savvy, lively storytellers and knowledgeable politically, as well as historically. A couple of hours spent with them walking down the byways and alleys will help you get to know a side of the neighborhood behind the touristy side of the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.

Chinatown Alleyway Tours guided by local youths...