By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: September 2, 2010
The new touring production of Dreamgirls by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger, as part of SHNâs Best of Broadway series and now playing at the Curran Theatre, happily surprised this reviewer. How could a new production possibly top the fabulous 1981 original mounting of glitz and guts with those three diva stars: Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine?! Okay, perhaps this one does not top the classic, but it surely makes its own name for itself. A dream of a show!
Moya Angela stars as Effie Melody White, and Syesha Mercado plays Deena Jones. The story follows R&B-and-pop all-gal group, The Dreams, and the companyâs meteoric rise to â and for some, awful fall from â fame. Angela made her Big Apple debut with Dreamgirls (and starred as the Gazelle in The Lion King). Here, she manages to snag THREE power ballads, with the classic âAnd I Am Telling...
That Kid Can SING! Rewarding, Inspiring
By Laurie Bushman Published: September 2, 2010
Produced by San Francisco Childrenâs Musical Theater, That Kid Can SING! is a musical revue featuring a cavalcade of young talent, ages 4 to 25. Yes, a real cavalcade! With each of the 30 performers singing a solo number, the two-hour program requires some audience stamina, but that...
SF Fringe Festival 2010: LGBT from A to Z
By Tom W. Kelly Published: September 2, 2010
From Sept. 8-19, the San Francisco Fringe Festival offers a bounty of LGBT-interest shows. Featuring over 250 performances of some 43 different theatre pieces, itâs easy to see 4 to 5 shows a day. And fun! A complete schedule of the 19th annual Fringe Festival is available at...
Eat Our Shorts - Enjoy Some Fun Short Plays!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: September 2, 2010
GuyWriters proudly presents Eat Our Shorts, a quirky collection of short plays by SF writers. People innocently move throughout the City, unaware of what is happening all around them. Humorous and/or sexual exploits are laid bare when GuyWriters follow up their successful December 2009 debut to expose the...
Trouble (Ahead, Behind) In Mind
By Lily Janiak Published: September 2, 2010
To those who speak of post-racial societies, who donât think a play about race written in 1955 could have relevance for contemporary audiences, I offer you the following moment at a recent performance of Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress at the Aurora Theatre (currently running). In the...
Antony and Cleopatra â Love and Diplomacy In Rome and Egypt
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: September 2, 2010
Marin Shakespeare Companyâs production of Antony and Cleopatra (currently-running) is Shakespeareâs continuing saga of ancient Rome, which begins with Julius Caesar (which Marin Shakes produced last summer). And director Lesley Currier is a brave woman to tackle this seldom-produced historical play. Her production of this drama of love...
The Grand Spectacle of Disneyâs Beauty and the Beast
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 26, 2010
Venerable lore has always brought the story of alienation, of âThe Other.â And Disney has a veritable knack for bringing ancient stories into the current vernacular. Their 1991 animated film retold the traditional fairy tale about a valiant prince beset by a curse and his princess savior, and itâs...
Entertaining Show But Not the Greatest
Published: August 26, 2010
By Michael Platania
I learned about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in elementary school in the â70s, back when it was still the âGreatest Show on Earth.â Barnumâs FUNundrum, the 140th edition from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, which recently performed at San Joseâs HP Pavilion,...
SF Improv Festival 2010 Rocks On
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 26, 2010
If you are a couple and want to have your story told onstage, just volunteer your names to âHow We First Met.â At the SF Improv Festival 2010, held recently at the Eureka Theatre, audience members âLaura and Ericâ got to see their courtship played out by four...
A Powerful Gem of the Ocean
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: August 26, 2010
Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson deals with the legacy of slavery and what still exists in a free environment. Multi-Ethnic Theaterâs currently running production at The Next Stage features a fine ensemble and strong directing by Lewis Campbell. The script gives tremendous insight into what African-Americans...
A Nightmarish Macbeth at Cal Shakes
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: August 26, 2010
Under the cool summer skies over Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, the forewarning hooting of real live owls reminds viewers of the curses placed upon theatres performing Macbeth throughout the centuries. The California Shakespeare Theater production of Macbeth recently opened in this most appropriate natural setting. And so far this...
Fifi & Fannyâs Whorehouse Was Packed!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: August 19, 2010
After resigning last month as the artistic director of the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, Stephanie Lynne Smith has landed quickly on her creative feet ... or uh, back? She and comedic partner, Carolyn Eidson, performed their fabulous Fifi & Fanny: LIVE at the Texas Whorehouse musical comedy...
Glass Menagerie: Tenn Will Shines New Light
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 19, 2010
Boxcar Theatre has mounted an innovative, very successful new interpretation of Tennessee Williamsâ The Glass Menagerie, currently running in their black box South of Market theater (extended to Sept. 5). Despite the intimate space, they add six more characters to the original four, serving to flesh out and humanize...
Table Manner: Norms, or Norman??
By Lily Janiak Published: August 19, 2010
Great theatre directors exercise a jurisprudence of balance. They approach their characters with infinite mercy but unyielding justice, respecting the needs and claims of the individual but reserving their highest veneration for the conflicts that those needs and claims produce.
They do not champion, but juxtapose; not endorse,...
This is All I Need - A Show About Stuff
Published: August 19, 2010
By Michael Platania
Stuff. Do we define it or does it define us? This is a question asked in the Mugwumpin production of This is All I Need, currently running at the NOHspace. Four performers â Madeline H.D. Brown, Joe Estlack, Erin Mei-Lling Stuart and Christopher W. White â take us...
Disneyâs Aladdin - Theatre Magic
By Lily Janiak Published: August 19, 2010
Although Disneyâs animated features from the early â90s remain immensely popular, for members of my generation (who were children when the films premiered) they meant - and still mean - something special. It was as though those cinematic events, those magical worlds, were created especially for us. Disneyâs...
Leanne Borghesi is Definitely Divalicious!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: August 12, 2010
Divalicious, the delightful cabaret showcase starring Leanne Borghesi with G. Scott Lacy on piano, directed by Stephanie Temple, is currently running at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Some know Borghesi by her alter ego, Faux Queen Anita Cocktail. But here, she is full-on diva to the max. The concept...
A Streetcar Named Desire
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 12, 2010
Intricacies of the Human Spirit
For the remainder of August (and extended to September 5!), Boxcar Theatre presents Tenn Will, three award-winning Tennessee Williams plays in repertory. Williams won Pulitzer Prizes for A Streetcar Named Desire (1948) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and the...
Sex Tapes for Seniors: A Read Crowd-Pleaser
Published: August 12, 2010
By Michael Platania
I donât have kids, but I know the feeling of watching a niece, nephew or a neighborâs child in a show. And now I have a sense of what itâs like to watch, instead of a child, a parent or grandparent in...
Show and Tell at Thick House
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 12, 2010
Choosing material for the opening show of a newly formed theatre company is challenging, especially when oneâs mission is âto never have more male than female roles in any given show and never more male than female actorsâ union contracts.â Current gender imbalance in theatrical union contracts is...
The Buzz and Bee-havior of Humble Boy
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: August 12, 2010
Humble Boy by British playwright Charlotte Jones opens to the âFlight of the Bumblebeeâ which set the tone for this production. Produced by Marin Actorsâ Workshop and deftly directed by Terry McGovern, Humble Boy is currently running at the Novato Theater Company Playhouse.
The title character, Felix Humble...
Night of One-Act Plays : Point/Counterpoint
By Tom W. Kelly Published: August 5, 2010
âMemory is your only escape.â And indeed memory plays an integral role in both short works that comprise A Night of One-Act Plays, recently performed at (and produced by) the Victoria Theatre. The two one-man shorts, both written by Robert Correa, feature actor Gerrad Bohl in startlingly different...
Rent: Where Are The Lesbians?
Published: August 5, 2010
By Michael Platania
Rent, the â90s Broadway phenomenon with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson and based on the Puccini opera La Boheme (now playing at the City Lights Theater in San Jose), still resonates today. The play begins on Christmas Eve, in a loft apartment where filmmaker Mark...
In A World⊠Where Improv Adheres to Its Principles
By Lily Janiak Published: August 5, 2010
The art of improvising is the art of saying âyes.â As Keith Johnstone wrote in Impro, the defining text on improvisation theory, âThere are people who prefer to say âYes,â and people who prefer to say âNo.â Those who say âYesâ are rewarded by the adventures they have,...
Carol Channing is Coming to San Francisco, (Part 2)
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: August 5, 2010
On Aug.15, theatrical legend Carol Channing appears at the 16th Edition of Help Is on the Way, a star-studded musical revue produced by the Richmond Ermet AIDS Foundation. Subtitled âThatâs Entertainment,â this edition features Melissa Manchester, James Darren, Lisa Vroman, Bruce Vilanch, Paula West and many more! And...
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Maggie in Your Face
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 5, 2010
Boxcar Theatre has distilled one essence of a classic American play in their abbreviated version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. As one of their three-show series called Tenn Will (which also includes Williamsâ A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie in repertory),...
Theatre at its Finest: Superb Lion in Winter
Published: August 5, 2010
By Jeanie K. Smith
Occasionally a show comes along that reminds you why you love the theatre, and this is one of them. Shakespeare Santa Cruz has mounted a near-perfect production of The Lion in Winter by James Goldman (currently running) with wonderful design elements and a smart script...
30 Days in September: Taut and Riveting
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: July 29, 2010
Attending a dress rehearsal of 30 Days In September was a very moving experience. I was able to speak personally with director Rooben Morgan who told me that the play was about child abuse and incest. Produced by IndiStage, 30 Days In September, an intricate and in-depth look...
The Taming of the Shrew Under the Stars
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 29, 2010
Marin Shakespeare Company again brings innovation to one of the classic comedies by The Bard of Avon with their production of The Taming of the Shrew. The works of the Elizabethan-era poet have, over the centuries, been recast in many different styles, but probably not ever before in...
Alzheimerâs Alzheimerâs Cha Cha Cha And The Stripping Granny
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 22, 2010
Septuagenarian comedienne Lynn Ruth Miller bids you welcome to the âFinal Gasp Residential Homeâ in her one-woman cabaret show Alzheimerâs Alzheimerâs Cha Cha Cha (currently running). Her lively performance includes singing, a striptease and free condoms. Miller might be aged, but she only acts creaky for effect. She...
Mrs. Warrenâs Profession: So Contemporary
By Lily Janiak Published: July 22, 2010
If Shakespeare had a runner-up - a fellow playwright whose themes were so broad, whose characters so full and whose conflicts so timeless as to deem him second choice for the singular voice of the English language - surely George Bernard Shaw would be him. How fitting, then,...
Nymph OâMania is Delightful
Published: July 22, 2010
By Michael Platania
Nymph Oâ Mania, a new comedy by local playwright Morgan Ludlow (currently playing at Stage Werx Theatre), is billed as âa modern twist on A Midsummer Nightâs Dream.â Produced by Wily West Productions and directed by David Stein, Nymph is a musical-chairs story of love and...
The Middle Ages: Time Passes, Love Remains
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: July 22, 2010
Playwright A.R. Gurney has (like Philip Barry before him) appointed himself a chronicler of the American monied classes. And Ross Valley Players is currently presenting his wryly comedic drama The Middle Ages, which predates his best-known play The Dining Room. In both plays, the story is effectively told...
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Hisses and Claws
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 22, 2010
Tennessee Williams wrote about societyâs sexual and religious outcasts, âothersâ like himself. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrightâs 1955 masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, now running in a fresh new production at Actors Theatre of San Francisco, opens a gripping insight to the plight of a questioning gay...
Each Hit & I: âFâ Bombs The Rrazz
By Mike Ward Published: July 15, 2010
If youâre a fan of jokes about rimming, farts, scat, bestiality, STDs and lesbians (with every variation of vaginal derivation and secretion imaginable) while the âFâ bomb and its variants are hurled with clockwork regularity, The Kinsey Sicks in Each Hit & I at The Rrazz Room wouldnât...
Cowardly Things: Non-Stop Entertainment
Published: July 15, 2010
By Michael Platania
Where else can you find love, Paris, rolling pins and leather whips, but in the New Conservatory Theatre Centerâs fun-filled production of Cowardly Things, currently running. Part of NCTCâs Summer Cabaret series, Michael Phillis directs Scrumbly Koldewyn and Cindy Goldfield who laugh, dance and sing through...
PIAF - Love Conquers All: Hearts Will Melt
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: July 15, 2010
âMy professional life is fantastic, but my love life is not so good.â So said Edith Piaf, a French chanteuse at the height of her career whose passion for music, men and eventually morphine is celebrated in Piaf: Love Conquers All by Roger Peace, presented by Tone Poet...
Traveling Light: Multiple Entendres
By Lily Janiak Published: July 15, 2010
Traveling Light, the title of Joe Goode Performance Groupâs revived dance installation currently playing in the Old Mint Building, works on (at least) three levels. First, it encapsulates the performanceâs main and most unusual conceit: that the audience (not to the mention performers) must travel through different spaces...
Josephine the Pirate Queen: A Musical World Premiere at the Knox Center
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: July 15, 2010
That dynamic duo, Pamela Barnes and Ellen Hoffman, have created a new hit musical, Josephine the Pirate Queen, which recently ran at the Knox Center for the Performing Arts at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. Josephine boasted a multi-racial cast of 72 (mostly students, ranging from under...
Travesties: Marin Shakes Makes the Most of It
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 15, 2010
Tom Stoppardâs play Travesties, now playing at Marin Shakespeare Company, is densely populated with clever witticisms and somewhat abstruse literary references. Director Robert Currier has mounted this play as a truly physical, almost vaudevillian, comedy while sensitively paying attention to the intellectual content and artfully making it accessible...
Left of Oz: Butch Dykes and Fem Dykes And Beers, Oh My!!
Published: July 8, 2010
By Michael Platania
Dorothyâs not in Kansas anymore. This time sheâs headed to San Francisco in Left of Oz, a Stephanieâs Playhouse production currently running at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley. An original musical (book, original music and lyrics) by Stephanie Reif with songs that ranged from intimate solos...
Beijing, California: Timeliness vs. Timelessnesss
By Lily Janiak Published: July 8, 2010
The best aspect of Beijing, California, produced by the Asian American Theater Company and now running at the Thick House, may be its premise: a not-too-distant future in which China rises, America falls, and the former conquers the latter. One can imagine this scenario more easily with each...
Teatro ZinZanniâs Love, Chaos, Couture!
By Mike Ward Published: July 8, 2010
Teatro ZinZanni hits the runway the fun way with a passion for fashion in Love, Chaos, Couture: All Dressed Up with Someplace to Go!, now playing at their lush Spiegeltent (SFâs Pier 29). Like many other Bay Areans, I wrote off Teatro ZinZanni as upscale tourist entertainment....
Posibilidad: Enjoyable (Despite Challenges)
Published: July 8, 2010
By Michael Platania
The San Francisco Mime Troupe opened its 51st season with Posibilidad, or Death of the Worker, on July 4th in Dolores Park. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, a light cool breeze, and a full-capacity crowd. Posibilidad, written by Michael Gene Sullivan...
Young Frankenstein Feels Good!
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: July 8, 2010
If you like Borscht Belt humor, youâll love Mel Brooksâ new musical Young Frankenstein! Now playing at the Golden Gate Theatre, SHNâs latest offering in the Best of Broadway series has some of the best choreography and well-sung songs that bring a crazy 1974 classic movie back to...
Carol Channing is Coming to San Francisco (Part 1)
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: July 8, 2010
On August 15, theatrical legend Carol Channing will appear at the 16th Edition of Help Is on the Way, a star-studded musical revue produced by the Richmond Ermet AIDS Foundation. This Edition, subtitled âThatâs Entertainment,â features Melissa Manchester, James Darren, Lisa Vroman, Bruce Vilanch, Paula West and many...
Blackbird: Eisen Portrays Pansy Divas
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 1, 2010
Elegant and beefy drag queen Seth Eisen pays loving tribute to singing female impersonators in his show Blackbird, now at Mama Calizoâs Voice Factory. He gives elaborately-costumed interpretations of their performances and styles, accompanied by a two-piece combo. Essentially, the show is a cabaret performance covering celebrities and...
How the Other Half Loves: A Comedy of Errors
By Lily Janiak Published: July 1, 2010
As a theatre critic, I often seek subtlety in the productions I review. I look for understatement â in design, in performance â to counter what is inherently exaggerated and confrontational in the medium: the makeup, the motions, the emotions and conflicts that flare up right in front...
Memphis: Mountain View to Manhattan â Tony Magic
By Mike Ward Published: July 1, 2010
Going into this yearâs Tony Awards, MEMPHIS, a big-hearted musical with Bay Area roots, had already won four awards each from the Outer Critics Circle (OCC) and Drama Desk (DD), though with enough variation as to question which of the eight Tony nominations would transmute into awards. At...
Aging Bull! Something C.O.O.L. to Do
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 24, 2010
âWeâre âThe Little Festival That Couldâ and âThe Best Kept Secret in San Francisco!â,â jokes Tom Orr, our own musical comedy, cabaret, porn star and lyricist, who also adds to his resume âdrag queen and legitimate stage actressâ (after his stint as the Widow Norton in Theatre Rhinoâs...
Durang Me! Wickedly Funny Satire
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 24, 2010
Growing up gay and simultaneously saddled with the guilt-inducing dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, actor Christopher Durang laughed and evolved into a satirical dramatist whose fiercely comic works have been produced on Broadway, Off Broadway, and around the world. Custom Made Theatreâs Durang Me! couples the acidly...
Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life By Pomo Afro Homos
By Rink Published: June 24, 2010
A lucky audience experienced a 20th anniversary of one of the best shows about Black gays and some of their stories on June 15 at the San Francisco Main Library. Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life by Pomo Afro Homos was as fresh,uplifting and outrageous as...
Krappâs Last Tape: The Foibles of Youth⊠And of Age
By Lily Janiak Published: June 24, 2010
If an actorâs body is an instrument, Paul Gerriorâs is like a set of bagpipesââ presuming his portrayal of the title role in Krappâs Last Tape, currently running at the EXIT on Taylor, is representative of his artistry. Here, at least, Gerrior works like the Scottish musical lungââ...
Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Love and Revenge
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: June 24, 2010
Porchlight Theatre Company opened their 10th anniversary season on June 19 with Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton with co-directors Ann Brebner and Ken Sonkin.âLes Liaisons Dangereuses marks the 50th anniversary of Ann Brebnerâs arrival on the Bay Area theatre scene and her founding of the Marin Shakespeare...
Speech & Debate: Teenagers Discovering the Truth
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: June 24, 2010
What has such a dull title, Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam, got to do with the playâs content concerning a sex scandal? Not until we see the play do we understand a threesome of maladjusted teenagersâ efforts to comprehend and eventually bring freedom of expression and tolerance...
The Fantasticks: Post-Apocalyptic Re-Imagining
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 24, 2010
The musical love story The Fantasticks by Tom Jones (book and lyrics) and Harvey Schmidt (music) celebrates its 50th anniversary! And Bill English and his crew at SF Playhouse have cleverly produced this venerable comedy (currently running) with some of the finest Bay Area talent. Englishâs directing presents...
Topsy-Turvy: Comically Defying Stereotypes
Published: June 17, 2010
By Michael Platania
Topsy-Turvy, a presentation of two one-act plays by local writers, turns the age-old stereotype of promiscuous gay men and relationship-obsessed gay women on its head. The plays, performed one weekend only at the Metropolitan Community Church as a fundraiser, celebrated the churchâs 40th anniversary.
The evening opened...
Androcles and the Lion: One Good Turn...
By Tom W. Kelly Published: June 17, 2010
How strong are your convictions? Would you be willing to die for your beliefs? In Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw, produced by San Francisco Free Civic Theatre (currently running at the Eureka Valley Rec Center), a band of Christians bravely face imminent death with a...
The Marshâs 20th Year Performance Marathon
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 17, 2010
On June 19, from noon to midnight (ending with a late-night party), The Marsh celebrates its 20th anniversary with a Performance Marathon of solo work. Stephanie Weisman, Marsh Founder and Artistic Producing Director, has invited 45 Marsh performers, old and new, for non-stop performances and reminiscences (plus open...
Woody Guthrieâs American Song Still Relevant
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: June 17, 2010
Woody Guthrieâs American Song is a musical revue of Guthrieâs best-loved material, and it follows the singer from the Great Depression through the Dust Bowl and on to the promised land. Recently opening to a standing ovation, Marin Theatre Company has a hit on their hands!
Conceived, adapted and...
The Pastures of Heaven: Cal Shakes Moves from London to Salinas
By Lily Janiak Published: June 17, 2010
In opening its current season with The Pastures of Heaven, Octavio Solisâ play based on the short stories by John Steinbeck, California Shakespeare Theater broadens â and takes advantage of â its horizons. This is the first world premiere the Bruns Amphitheater has housed, and as a celebration...
In their current production of Godâs Ear by Jenny Schwartz, the Shotgun Players are not shy about foreshadowing motifs before the show begins. The program looks like an old-fashioned plane ticket. The usher tells you to âenjoy your flight.â The pre-show announcement sounds like an in-flight safety demonstration,...
Forever Never Comes: Too Much to Take
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 17, 2010
How many twists can you put into a Southern gothic tale? In Enrique Uruetaâs Forever Never Comes â A Psycho-Southern Queer Country Dance Tragedy, currently running at The Boxcar Playhouse, there are at least six.
First in this Crowded Fire production is the suicide by hanging of Ricardo (Shoresh...
Gay Stereotypes Survive in New Century
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 10, 2010
Paul Rudnickâs play The New Century, now running at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, delves deeply into shallow gay stereotypes. It explores the heroically long-suffering mother of three gay children, the flamboyant public television host in Florida who was âtoo gayâ for New York and the simple homespun...
The Golden Girls are Back for Pride Season!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 10, 2010
Those four gay guys who play four old broads are back treading the boards at Mama Calizoâs Voice Factory for their fourth Pride Season with two hilarious new episodes. The Golden Girls is a clever live stage play using scripts from old Golden Girls TV episodes and a...
This Many People: CounterPULSE Premiere
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 10, 2010
Closets, AIDS, and centuries of injustice have long threatened the history of individual LGBT seniors and elders. But This Many People, an original theatrical production by OutLook Theater Project, brings these stories out of the closet and into the spotlight (this weekend) as part of the National Queer...
Itâs All the Rage (Not Just Another Family Tragedy: This One Kills)
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 10, 2010
The Pittmans were normal. Dad was a World War II hero. Mom was editor of her college yearbook. They were happy for 24 months. And then there were the other 47 years of their marriage. In 60 riveting minutes, Marilyn Pittman tells the story of her parentsâ murder-suicide...
Boxcarâs Rhino by Ionesco is Hard-hitting
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 3, 2010
Rhino, a very quick (45 minutes) ensemble-generated work inspired by Ionescoâs Rhinoceros, is the finest serio/comic, site-specific, movement-based performance of the Spring season. Ending a four-weekend run, it completes Boxcar Theatreâs âReimagining the Familiarâ series. In this tightly and brilliantly directed (and imagined) work by Evren Odcikin (also...
Simultaneously temporary and eternal, live performing arts exist in these polar-opposite states. Beethovenâs immortal music is only black glyphs upon white backgrounds until life is breathed into them in performance. In its regional premiere at TheatreWorks (opening soon), Michael Hollingerâs play titled Opus explores this contrapuntal conceit â...
Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 3, 2010
Social Theory and Non-Violent Revenge Mix Well
The world premiere of The Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry by local playwright William Bivins is currently running at the SF Playhouse as part of their Sandbox Series (dedicated to promoting new works with top-notch directors and actors, using minimal...
Boys Will Be Boys
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 3, 2010
Candy-Coated Rainbow Gay Pride
Boys Will Be Boys: An OUT-Rageous New Musical Revue is so sweet youâll want to brush and floss your teeth right after. Itâs a delicious piece of taffy. A sticky gummy bear. A mouthful of pink cotton candy. And it is soooooo...
Rhino Benefit Spectacular Truly Trotted Out the Talent
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 3, 2010
Theatre Rhinoceros held its annual Benefit Spectacular on May 25 at one of its new digs, the Eureka Theatre, featuring the local talent of Rhino regulars and newcomers. Dave Dobrusky was the musical director and piano accompanist with Rhino producer/ executive director John Fisher as the very animated...
Peter Pan Flies! And So Does Tinkerbell!
By Albert Goodwyn Published: May 27, 2010
Peter Pan flies alongside Tinker Bell (his âFairy with an attitudeâ) in the new stage presentation of Peter Pan, currently running at The threesixty Theatre, a brand new, 1350-seat, state-of-the-art 360-degree CGI theatre pavilion in SFâs Ferry Park. Inside the huge white tent, the London smash hit of...
All My Sons: Dramatic Repercussions
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: May 27, 2010
All My Sons by Arthur Miller, produced by the Actors Theatre of San Francisco, is currently running and continues through June. This powerful script by one of Americaâs most brilliant playwrights offers a subtle message about responsibility to others.
Taking place during World War II and centering on next...
Breath of Life - Spare Stage Spares Us a Payoff
By Lily Janiak Published: May 27, 2010
Americans suffer from exceptionalism and litigiousness. They coin abhorrent terms like âclosureâ (for the conclusion of the grieving period). David Hare, the British playwright, could hardly make his disdain for this country more manifest in The Breath of Life, produced by Spare Stage and currently running. Yet to...
In the Wake: Sex, Politics and Sexual Politics
By Albert Goodwyn Published: May 27, 2010
Berkeley Repertory Theatre in a co-production with Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles presents the world premiere of Lisa Kronâs In the Wake which explores sex, politics and sexual politics. The show follows the career of an outspoken, ultra-liberal journalist through the Bush II years, the high points...
Top Girls - A Feminist View of Success
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: May 27, 2010
Top Girls by feminist playwright Caryl Churchill recently opened, and is currently running, at Ross Valley Players. Set in 1980s London at the Top Girls Employment Agency, Top Girls tells the story of an ambitious and successful career woman, Marlene (Loring Williams) who has just been appointed head...
Margaâs Minority Within a Minority
By Albert Goodwyn Published: May 20, 2010
Marga Gomez celebrates Pride Month early with an updated return of her one-hander Proud & Bothered, now at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. With her frenetic comic delivery and her New York City brashness, she weaves together the stories of her personal experiences as a professional mistress of...
In the Heights at the Curran
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: May 20, 2010
A view of the George Washington Bridge soars between apartment buildings on Anna Louizosâ Upper Manhattan set of In The Heights - a new musical brought to the Curran Theatre by Carole Shorenstein Hays. Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also wrote the music and lyrics) with book by...
Penn, Baez & Friends Join for âEvening of Giving/Saving Livesâ
By Mike Ward Published: May 20, 2010
Bay Area artists and public figures have long been at the forefront of combining talent forces for humanitarian causes. âAn Evening of Giving and Saving Livesâ - a one-night-only performance extravaganza focusing on the supporting the relief efforts in Haiti - is one such synergistic happening.
The Tuesday, May...
Tender Stone: Words and Images are Different Animals
By Lily Janiak Published: May 13, 2010
A glance at the program of Tender Stone, an Artship Ensemble exploration of Persian myth, reveals a production thoroughly aware of its strengths. With an entire page devoted to the companyâs image-based philosophy and another to its costume design, the publication primes audiences to expect great things in...
Hot Greeks: Smokinâ Hot Cockettes Revival
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: May 13, 2010
It helps to know the ancient myth of Lysistrata to appreciate Hot Greeks, the Cockettesâ modernization of Greek playwright Aristophanesâ comedy.
[Peace-loving Lysistrata talked the women of Greece into refusing sex with their warrior husbands until they end the Peloponnesian War against Sparta.] Add to the ancient tale...
Terroristka: The Inner Psychology of a Suicide Bomber
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: May 13, 2010
Threshold: Theatre on the Verge recently opened its new poetic docudrama, Terroristka by Rebecca Bella at the Berkeley City Club (currently running). Based on a true story, it centers on Zarema Muzhakhoyeva, who was arrested in Moscow for having carried a bomb that she decided not to detonate.
Director...
ACTâs Ayckbourn Goes Round and Round the Garden
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: May 13, 2010
One of the most frustrating experiences attending the theatre is knowing that the playwright whose work you are about to see is a fine craftsman, the cast of players are carefully chosen and perfectly competent, and the designers and director are all of good repute. And yet, the...
Very Warm for May: Lighthearted Spoof
By Albert Goodwyn Published: May 13, 2010
The tradition of Broadway musicals is kept alive by San Franciscoâs 42nd Street Moon. Their latest revival, now playing at the Eureka Theatre, is a lighthearted spoof of typical summer-stock rehearsals in Connecticut. In Very Warm for May by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, teenage girl May escapes...
The 14th Annual Best of PlayGround Festival
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: May 13, 2010
PlayGround recently opened (and is currently running) The 14th Annual Best of PlayGround Festival, featuring seven full productions of original short plays by emerging playwrights. Receiving this yearâs SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circleâs prestigious Paine Knickerbocker Award, PlayGround was recognized for its outstanding and continuing support of...
Some Like it Hot at Something C.O.O.L. Summer Cabaret Festival
By Mike Ward Published: May 13, 2010
With a hot line-up of local cool cabaret cats coming up soon (May 27 to June 27) at the Eureka Theatre, Something C.O.O.L. Summer Cabaret Festival has enough variety to spice up the summer nights for all. C.O.O.L. (a kind of acronym for Carly Ozard, Tom Orr and...
Echoâs Reach: WOW!!
By Laurie Bushman Published: May 6, 2010
Arriving at Brava Theater Center to see Echoâs Reach (written and directed by Tim Barsky), I wasnât sure what to expect from my first experience of Urban Circus Arts. As described by City Circus, Urban Circus Arts is âa cross platform performance discipline that unites traditional circus arts...
Beach Blanket Babylon Stages New Edition
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: May 6, 2010
About to celebrate its 35th year, Beach Blanket Babylon is the longest-running musical revue in theater history. This laugh-a-minute musical romp, known for its over-the-top costumes, wacky wigs and humungous hats, was created by the genius of Steve Silver, whose vision continues under the guiding hand of...
SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards
Published: May 6, 2010
On Monday, May 3, 2010, the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle hosted their 34th Annual Awards Ceremony to celebrate and applaud Bay Area theatre excellence during 2009. Over 300 dapperly dressed theatre folk attended the event at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre Lobby. And the mood...
Fringe of Marin, Spring 2010 â âThe Little Princeâ Wins Top Honors
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: May 6, 2010
The Fringe of Marin and the Dominican University Community Players recently celebrated their silver anniversary, with grateful thanks going to their founder Dr. Annette Lust, Artistic Director and Festival Coordinator. And on May 2, Theatre Criticâs Circle Awards and Peopleâs Choice Awards for the Spring 2010 festival were...
Everything the Traffic Will Allow
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: April 29, 2010
Klea Blackhursttâs Knockout Merman Tribute
Ethel Merman was called a lot of things in her life, including âthe undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage.â Some people loved her and still do, some really didnât and still donât, and some have never even heard of her....
Fringe of Marin Spring 2010, Program Two
Published: April 29, 2010
By Jeffrey R Smith
The Fringe of Marin, a festival of one-acts plays, started by Dr. Annette Lust precisely 25 years ago, has, like a good Bordeaux, qualitatively evolved. Produced by Dominican University Community Players, it is now a substantial theater event for Marin County. And the current Spring...
SexRev: Hysterical History of Revolutionary Drag Empress
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: April 29, 2010
Sondheimâs words, music and puzzle-and-puzzling-people affinity provide inspiration for Roundabout Theatreâs docu-revue-tribute-musical hybrid Sondheim on Sondheim. Conceived and directed by James Lapine â currently running at Studio 54 in a very limited engagement â a stellar ensemble of eight (under the...
An Accident at The Magic
By Lily Janiak Published: April 29, 2010
Itâs difficult to imagine why the Magic Theatre selected An Accident by Lydia Stryk as the closer for its 2009-2010 season. Sure, the theatre was otherwise without a female playwright for the year, but could it not have found another way to check off that pesky demographic box?...
Girlfriend: Agony and Ecstasy of First Gay Love
By Tom W. Kelly Published: April 22, 2010
Who was that sentimental fool crying at the end of Act One of Girlfriend? Oh, it was me. I never thought Iâd live long enough to see a boy-meets-boy love story at a major theatre set to music by a famous composer and with such incredible production values.!...
Fringe of Marin Spring 2010, Program One: Ushers In 25th Season
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: April 22, 2010
Last Friday, April 16, 2010, Artistic Director Dr. Annette Lust welcomed us to the 25th season of the Fringe of Marinâs new discoveries.
The first half of the program is devoted to Dr. Lustâs amazing adaptation of The Little Prince by St. Exupery, which is imaginatively directed by Sasha...
The Wind and Rain: Ghost Story
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 22, 2010
As part of this yearâs DIVAfest at the EXIT Theatre (currently running), three women play in a tragic love story titled The Wind and Rain. Writer/director Claytie Mason has dramatized an Irish ballad by that name, and the performers sing, dance and/or fiddle. The 90-minute tale tells of...
To Kill a Mockingbird: Slow to Progress
By Tom W. Kelly Published: April 22, 2010
Social progress is painfully slow. And while viewing TheatreWorksâ sumptuous stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the 1960 novel about 1930âs small-town life, acknowledgements of racism in todayâs world plague the audience. The stunning visuals and superb script (dramatized by Christopher Sergel from the novel...
Sandy Hackettâs Rat Pack Show: Kings of Cool in the Desert Shadowss
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 22, 2010
Legendary comedian Buddy Hackett comes back from the dead in his sonâs new show titled Sandy Hackettâs Rat Pack Show, currently running at Marinesâ Memorial Theatre. Buddy appears as the disembodied voice of a fallen angel introducing a devilishly good show featuring his compatriots from Vegas: Dino, Sammy,...
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: So Much Talent
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: April 15, 2010
Which came first, the musical or the film? In the case of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, it was the 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. Now playing at Broadway by the Bay (directed by Brooke Knight), the 2005 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical (originally with John Lithgow and...
Lady of the Loin: Lively and Perceptive
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 15, 2010
âDonât push back the curtain,â host Sean Owens says in his Lady of the âLoin, currently running at the EXIT Theatre as part of DIVAfest 2010. As chanteuse Shannon Day sings his plaintive âLook Again,â he asks, âIs your gender so fixed? Do you bend?â His remarkably poetic...
John Gabriel Borkman: Substituting Images for Dramaa
By Lily Janiak Published: April 15, 2010
The opening image of John Gabriel Borkman, at the Aurora, may be the productionâs best. When the lights rise, the title character is hunched over a desk upstage â yet, motionless and cocooned in heavy linens, he seems more corpse than character. Downstage, on a settee, sits his...
Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? Irreverently Engaging
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 15, 2010
The irreverent monologist Josh Kornbluth has ten righteous people for his minion. As a prayer service, his new show Andy Warhol: Good For The Jews? gathers the faces of Jews who have had a lasting impact on society, the same faces Warhol used for his controversial 1980 screen...
ShortLived 3.0: For a Good Time⊠with Prizes
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: April 15, 2010
Going to the theatre doesnât have to be a serious affair where you sit quietly with your hands folded. In ShortLived 3.0, currently playing at the Off-Market Theater, PianoFight producers Rob Ready and Dan Williams encourage enthusiastic response. They begin the evening by asking the audience questions and...
Fifi & Fanny Are Running a Whorehouse
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: April 15, 2010
Stephanie Lynne Smith is leaving her post as artistic director of the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco to join up with fellow L/G Chorus member Carolyn Eidson to form their new musical comedy act âFifi & Fanny.â Their inaugural show, Fifi & Fanny at the Texas Whorehouse, is...
Scalpel! Cutting Edge Musical Comedy
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: April 8, 2010
Fans of edgy, comic rock musicals filled with outrageous drag queens and crazed bio-females should rush out to see Scalpel! The Killer Rock Musical at Brava Theater Center. This totally rock-out farce is by writer/ director DâArcy Drollinger and features a cast of local favorites that is guaranteed...
Master Class - A Lesson in Art and Life
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: April 8, 2010
A superb production of Terrence McNallyâs Master Class recently opened at the New Conservatory Theatre Center (âNCTCâ), and thanks to the more intimate setting (under 99-seat house), I liked this presentation better than the 2004 run in a much larger venue (at Berkeley Rep). Actress Michaela Greeley, a...
Lady, Be Good! More Than a Good Start
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: April 8, 2010
In the first of their Ira Gershwin Celebration Shows this season, 42nd Street Moon has done the master proud. Lady, Be Good! with its medley of memorable show tunes has put the fascination in âFascinatinâ Rhythmâ and the good in the title song!
Written by Guy Bolton and Fred...
Vigil: Less-Than-Vigilant Direction at A.C.T.
By Lily Janiak Published: April 8, 2010
As a theatre critic, I cannot help eavesdropping, occasionally, on other audience membersâ thoughts about a play. Sometimes a conversation vindicates my opinions, more often it challenges them, but rarely am I made to feel as I did during the intermission of American Conservatory Theaterâs Vigil. A woman...
Bear-ing it All: P.A. Cooleyâs Bearlesque
By Mike Ward Published: April 8, 2010
Coming up at the New Conservatory Theatre Center from April 14-17, P.A. Cooley (also known as Bay Area Cub 2010) brings his âFour Nights Onlyâ Bearlesque. Talented local actor and funnyman Cooley has brought the gift of laughter to a multitude of Bay Area theatre audiences over the...
Equivocation: A Perfect Storm
By Mike Ward Published: April 8, 2010
Bill Cainâs Equivocation â currently running at Marin Theatre Company in its Bay Area premiere â is as close to theatrical perfection that one will see in this lifetime. Anna Bullard, Lance Gardner, Andrew Hurteau, Craig Marker, Andy Murray and Charles Shaw Robinson give sterling performances (99.7% pure...
The Diary of Anne Frank Opens for Passover
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 8, 2010
The Diary of Anne Frank, produced by the Custom Made Theatre Company and currently running at The Next Stage, chillingly portrays what it must have been like to grow up under house arrest during the Nazi occupation of Holland. And the play also unflinchingly reveals thirteen-year-old Anneâs attraction...
Girlfriend for Boyfriends â Young (Gay) Love Takes Center Stage
By Mike Ward Published: April 1, 2010
Across the Bay, something sweet is soon appearing at Berkeley Repertory Theatreâs Thrust Stage. Matthew Sweet, that is. And Girlfriend, a musical of first, young love between two high school boys (portrayed by Ryder Bach and Jason Hite) is based on Sweetâs album âGirlfriend.â Director Les Waters (Berkeley...
BABY: A Musical Gestates on Mission Street
By Albert Goodwyn Published: April 1, 2010
Strap-on baby bumps abound in Ray of Light Theatreâs BABY: A Musical now playing at the Off-Market Theatres. Pregnancy â or the lack thereof â is the driving theme behind this plot. The six happy actors and an ensemble of five depict the trials and tribulations of couples...
Enemy of the People: All Too Timely
By Tom W. Kelly Published: April 1, 2010
We havenât come a long way, baby. At least not as far as corrupt politicians are concerned. In An Enemy of the People, written in 1882 by Henrik Ibsen, capitalism rules, and anyone who gets in the way of the rich getting richer is summarily squashed. Currently running,...
âTo be suspected, framed to make women false. The Moor is of a free and open nature,â states Iago in the Bardâs Othello. Originally intended for a male actor, in African-American Shakespeare Companyâs smartly-taut Othello, it is a female Iago, and a lesbian at that, who plots the...
The Boys Next Door: Slow but Sure, Funny and Insightful
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: March 25, 2010
Tom Griffinâs 1984 play, The Boys Next Door, features four mentally-challenged men living in a group home. Ross Valley Players stages this heartwarming drama with a cast of talented local actors directed by Kim Bromley. Humor is the emphasis in Griffinâs sensitive script, and Bromleyâs able cast captures...
Ainât Misbehavinâ: A Reimagining that Bodes Ill for the Modern Imagination
By Lily Janiak Published: March 25, 2010
Fats Waller, the early jazz musician, found success in paradox. As a pianist, he was all flourish; as a singer, all foible. His hands built him up, the right flitting through frills on top of the leftâs ragtime rhythm, but his words knocked him down: âI donât stay...
Jesus Does Moonwalk the Mississippi
By Albert Goodwyn Published: March 25, 2010
The
Cutting Ball Theater and the Playwrights Foundation are currently
mounting a deeply moving and challenging poetic drama of a spiritual
journey punctuated by a spiritually-uplifting church service and Motown
choreography. In this play âŠand Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi,
Oakland playwright Marcus Gardley uses the...
DâLoâs Ramble-Ations IS DâLovely, DâLightful!
By Mike Ward Published: March 25, 2010
âYour ticket allows you to be an honorary Sri Lankan, gay, vegetarian. Now you can laugh at the pain!â And thus begins one of the most remarkable one-man shows to hit the Bay Area in ages. Ramble-ations: A One DâLo Show, on Bravaâs second stage, is performed...
The Little Mermaid: Brains, Beauty & Brine
By Mike Ward Published: March 25, 2010
Rarely does a set of talents converge to redefine performing arts history. But audiences at the opening night of SF Balletâs production of John Neumeierâs sparkling, deep and quixotic The Little Mermaid â swimmingly-danced to penultimate perfection by Yuan Yuan Tan in the title role and guest artist...
Spirits of the Dead Haunt the Living in The Sugar Witch
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: March 18, 2010
Local gay playwright Nathan Sandersâ macabre full-length play, titled The Sugar Witch, is receiving its San Francisco premiere (and currently running) at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. This is the second in The Sugar Bean Trilogy (following The Sugar Bean Sisters), and this Southern Gothic tale is set...
Den of Thieves â A Modern Morality Play
By Lily Janiak Published: March 18, 2010
How can you be a âgoodâ person? Must you abide by the law, contribute to civic life and give to charity? Or, conversely, is your best hope only to recognize how âbadâ a person you are? If so, should you just do the best you can and try...
Two Dozen Stars Unite to Toast Sondheim
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: March 18, 2010
Tomorrow! Productions presents The Night Stephen Sondheim Kissed Me, a one-night-only all-star cabaret birthday soiree concert to celebrate the 80th birthday of living legend and Broadway treasure Stephen Sondheim, on Monday, March 22, 7 p.m. at Martuniâs, 4 Valencia Street.
This beloved and iconic lion of the musical theatre...
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: March 11, 2010
A chainlink fence with a gap large enough to peer through separates the audience from the stage, which is strewn with newspapers and other detritus. A few actors drag in a washtub, laundry basket, valise. A resounding boom and a bank of lights descends at an angle stopping...
Concerning Strange DevicesâŠ
By Lily Janiak Published: March 11, 2010
...and Structural Contrivances
As historians, playwrights can escape burdens that academics must bear. Modern artists need heed neither the myth of objectivity nor its constraints on style and structure. In Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West, which just opened at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, playwright Naomi Iizuka...
Over Our Heads for One Weekend Only
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: March 11, 2010
This weekend Over Our Heads, the worldâs longest-running all-women improv troupe, celebrates 25 years of laughter and original music with a reunion appearance. Annie Larson and Karen Ripley, both talented comics and members of OOH, took some time to answer a few questions regarding the show. There are...
Bringing Broadway to San Francisco
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: March 11, 2010
Fans of Broadway musicals recently received a treat with the staging of Forever Broadway at the Herbst Theatre. The cast of over 60 local singers, dancers and choreographers presented a multitude of songs from favorite Broadway musicals! The talented performers sang and moved rhythmically to precise choreography (all...
Hats Off to The Rrazz Roomâs 2nd Anniversary!
By Mike Ward Published: March 11, 2010
Hatâs off, here they come, those beautiful girls â and guys! â celebrating the 2nd Anniversary Gala of West Coast jazz/cabaret nightspot, The Rrazz Room. The Headmistress of Hats, Jan Wahl, hosts the event that includes a stellar line-up, and Kelly Park is musical director. The event also...
The Beebo Brinker Chronicles:
By Laurie Bushman Published: March 4, 2010
Pulp, Camp and History
The West Coast premiere of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, presented by Brava! For Women in the Arts, brings the iconic lesbian pulp novels written by novelist Ann Bannon in the â50s and â60s to life. If youâre not already familiar with these books,...
Tennessee Williamsâ Suddenly Last Summer
By Lily Janiak Published: March 4, 2010
Tennessee Williamsâ Suddenly Last Summer poses a formidable challenge to any cast. The story â for all its love, deception, and avarice â runs the risk of boring its audience because almost everything has already happened before the play begins. And we donât even learn whatâs happened until...
Bay One Acts Festival Full of Spirited Plays
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: March 4, 2010
Ranging in length from 5 to 30 minutes, this yearâs selection of spirited one-act plays in the Ninth Annual Bay One Acts Festival (aka BOA) varies in genre, tone and style. The large number of plays are broken into two programs which rotate in a weekly repertory.
Under the...
The Real Americans: No Easy Answerss
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: February 25, 2010
âBless the Founders of our country who were liberal elitists and not fundamentalist Christians.â
So prays writer/performer Dan Hoyle consoling himself at many challenging moments while on the road among the middle Americans he encounters in his latest show The Real Americans, now running at The Marsh. Inhabiting character...
The Position: Vying for the Key to the Kingdom
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: February 25, 2010
The Position is the third of five world premieres by local playwright William Bivins opening this season (upcoming are Altered Landscape in February at the Bay One-Acts Festival and The Apotheosis of Pig Husbandry in May at SF Playhouse). It ventures into a world ravaged by 80% unemployment...
Ann Bannonâs Butch Beebo Brinker Swaggers onto San Francisco Stage
Published: February 25, 2010
By Katharine Holland
On Feb. 26, Brava! for Women in the Arts Theater Center opens the West Coast premiere of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. Ann Bannon wrote pulp novels during the â50s and â60s, three of which inspired this dramatization by Kate Moira Ryan and Linda S. Chapman (which...
The Safe House Kicks Off The Sandbox Series
Published: February 25, 2010
The Safe House, written by Geetha Reddy and originally commissioned by PlayGround, recently opened (and is currently running) at the SF Playhouse. This co-production with PlayGround is the first production of the SF Playhouseâs The Sandbox, a series of world premieres and an interesting look at promising new...
Mahalia: A Gospel Musical
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: February 25, 2010
I was born a Baptist, bred a Baptist and soon Iâll be a Baptist gone!â proclaims the legendary Mahalia Jackson. Jeanie Tracy, an acclaimed recording artist portrays the title character in Lorraine Hansberry Theatreâs inaugural production of Mahalia: A Gospel Musical by Tom Stoltz in their new...
tick, tick⊠BOOM! Goes Off with a Bang!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: February 18, 2010
Believe it or not, MEN have biological clocks, too. No, not like reaching an age when they really have to have a baby. Itâs more like getting to a point in oneâs life where you feel youâll never truly create something important. The clock is ticking. So it...
Beauty of the Father: Poetry and Realism Fuse
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: February 18, 2010
Pulitzer Award-winner Nilo Cruzâs Beauty of the Father, produced by Off Broadway West Theatre Company, develops the story of Emiliano (energetically played by Durand Garcia), a conflicted bisexual artist. Currently running at the Phoenix Theatre.
Emiliano is conflicted between his responsibility to his estranged daughter Marina (Natasha Chacon) and...
Rooted Deeply in Personal Memory, The Syringa Tree: Cools in the Shade
By Mike Ward Published: February 18, 2010
Among the most impressive works in the performing arts are one-person, multiple-character solo shows. Lily Tomlinâs The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and Anna Deavere Smithâs Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 come to mind. And now, add to that list Pamela Gienâs solo-actress/24-character saga, The...
Coraâs Recipe For Love: A Slyly Crass Act
By Albert Goodwyn Published: February 18, 2010
Waitress Cora Values at the Gas âNâ Gulp slings not only hash, but also heaps of love and laughter in her current show about recovering from Valentineâs Day. In Coraâs Recipe For Love, currently running at the EXIT Theatre, the holiday hostess out on the highway tells stories...
The First Grade: Morality is Elementary
By Lily Janiak Published: February 11, 2010
The First Grade by Joel Drake Johnson, now in its world premiere at the Aurora, doesnât quite cohere. Hokier moments in which a dysfunctional family trades barbs in an effort to conceal their abiding affection for one another evoke a dark Everybody Loves Raymond. Yet other scenes conjure...
Oedipus el Rey: Updated Classic at the Magic
By Lily Janiak Published: February 11, 2010
Many accuse theatre of losing its cultural relevance. The classics are based on systems of belief that no longer apply, so the claims go, and newer works pertain only to affluent whites. Oedipus el Rey, a reimagining of the archetypal Greek tragedy, now running at the Magic Theatre,...
The Wave, A Musical, Has Hit The Shores
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: February 11, 2010
Opening to an enthusiastic and sold-out house at The Marsh, Ron Jonesâ The Wave sailed in with just a few choppy moments along the way. Currently running, this eagerly anticipated world premiere musical has been extended to February 14.
The script is based on an actual classroom experiment in...
FabrikLegend is Inventive and Poignant
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: February 11, 2010
It takes puppets to bring poetry to the surface. And to echo truth without speaking. So goes the true story of Moritz Rabinowitz, a Polish Jew, brought back to life as a puppet to tell his story. Written, directed and produced by Wakka Wakka Productions (NYC-based theatre group...
Fiddler on the Roof Feels Good!!
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: February 4, 2010
A perennial hit since it first opened its Tony Award-winning 1964 production (directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins), Fiddler on the Roof has enjoyed great critical acclaim. Overall, this passionate story is about the ups and downs of family life. Family life, that is, in Russia in a...
Doubt is a Powerful Parable at NCT
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: February 4, 2010
New Conservatory Theatre Center well presents John Patrick Shanleyâs Doubt, A Parable. Directed by Ben Randle, this 2005 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play exposes the fundamental constraints of âcertaintyâ within a larger framework of unassuming bigotry.
The uninterrupted 78-minute play takes place in 1964 at the St. Nicholas...
Red Light Winter is Remarkable!!
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: February 4, 2010
Custom Made Theatre Companyâs currently running production of Adam Rappâs Red Light Winter is a spellbinding and haunting masterpiece. The story of two young American men â a successful white publisher and his disheveled black buddy, an aspiring playwright â and the prostitute they engage explores the toxic...
Sunlight Exposes Flaws in Ideologi
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: February 4, 2010
âSunlight is said to be the best of disinfectantsââSupreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, 1914.
The winner of Marin Theatre Companyâs 2009 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, Sharr Whiteâs Sunlight is the story of the last hour and a half of a liberal university presidentâs tenure as the head...
Daddy Long Legs Strides into TheatreWorks
By Mike Ward Published: February 4, 2010
Continuing their artistic adventure and celebrating 40 years of great theatre-making, TheatreWorks mounts the world premiere (with Rubicon Theatre Company and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) of Daddy Long Legs, the musical adaptation of Jean Websterâs novel. And this charming, two-person chamber musical (direction/book by John Caird...
A Round-Heeled Woman: Breathtaking
By Mike Ward Published: January 28, 2010
Or When âCagneyâ Gets Racy
âBEFORE I TURN 67 - next March - I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like.â If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me.â
From a simple personal ad begins one of the most...
Coming HomeBrings a Relevant Message
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: January 28, 2010
Award-winning playwright Athol Fugardâs Coming Home, currently running at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, is a delightful adventure into storytelling. Based on the memories of living in a small South African town, itâs told by Veronica, her deceased father, and long-time family friend Alfred. Yet beneath the lyricism of these...
Patience, and Then Some
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: January 28, 2010
The Lamplighters Music Theatreâs presentation of Patience, directed by Jane Erwin Hammett, may require a little (patience, that is), depending upon your point of view. For Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiasts, it will no doubt be a frolic in the park. Patience was the longest running G&S show, first...
Animals Out of Paper: In the Fold
By Lily Janiak Published: January 28, 2010
To understand the characters in Animals Out of Paper, now in its West Coast premiere at SF Playhouse, one must look at their creations. Freestyle raps, poems, random acts of kindness, a journal of blessings, an origami book called Folding What I Lost and works of origamiââ these...
PhĂšdre: Ancient Meets Modern
By Lily Janiak Published: January 28, 2010
What distinguishes Jean Racineâs PhĂšdre (in a gorgeous new translation by Timberlake Wertenbaker) is that it is both distinctly classical and unmistakably modern. The play adheres to the structure of an Aristotelian tragedy: a flaw sets in inexorable motion a terrible downward spiral, which, facilitated by the will...
Women on the Way Festival: Secret Agents and Crackpot Croness
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: January 21, 2010
Mary Alice Fry, Artistic Director of Footloose Dance Company, continues her version of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. This year is the 10th anniversary of the annual Women on the Way Festival and features 19 different works by women in dance, theatre, and music at 3 separate SF...
Wretch Like Me: The One-Sinner Show
By Albert Goodwyn Published: January 21, 2010
Writer/performer David Templeton oozes religiosity in almost every minute of his two-act monologue titled Wretch Like Me, currently running at 142 Throckmorton Theater. But in the end he admits he was brainwashed into being a self-confessed âJesus freak.â His story of a Southern California adolescence where he found...
Leslie Jordan Serves a Southern Slice in From Whence I Came
By Mike Ward
âIn the South we donât put crazy people away, we put them out on the porch so everyone can enjoy them!â Itâs an accurate view of the world of televisionâs favorite Southern Sissy (Sordid...
The Miser: A Merry Romp with Moliere
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: January 21, 2010
While thinking about how to review Ross Valley Players new production of Moliereâs The Miser (with an updated translation by David Chambers), I mulled over something serious to structure my thoughts around or some deep literary concept one could say runs through this comic classic. Perhaps itâs the...
The Sisters Rosenweig Search for Love
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: January 14, 2010
Wendy Wassersteinâs The Sisters Rosensweig, currently running at The Jewish Theatre San Francisco, offers sharp truths on what divides relatives and what draws them together as well as explores how women define themselves through romances, careers and family. Though Anton Chekovâs The Three Sisters is an intentional influence,...
Dames at Sea: A Brilliant Parody!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: January 14, 2010
The Dames at Sea musical, now running at the New Conservatory Theatre Center and extended until Jan. 31, is a brilliant parody of those larger-than-life, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-type MGM movie spectaculars where an understudy straight from the sticks and just off the bus steps into a role...
Circus Finelli: A Hearty, Delicious Chucklee
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: January 14, 2010
âInstead of sunscreen, Vitamin D, or a good, stiff drink, try Circus Finelliâs presentation of Frau Bachfeifengesichtâs âSpectacle of Perfectionâ to counteract the post-holiday slump pervading the Bay Area. The all-women extravaganza, directed by Michael Gene Sullivan, is an Alice in Wonderland experience of the purest order, pulling...
Lesbian Latina Comedy NYE Spectacle
By Rink Published: January 7, 2010
Lesbian Latina Marga Gomez reached a new height in her career as an edgy comic at her New Yearâs Eve show at the Victoria Theater. The event was presented by Theatre Rhinoceros, and Rhinoâs artistic director John Fisher was the bouncing, twirling MC who clearly enjoyed himself on...
Tom Orrâs Holiday Show at Eureka Theatre
By Rink Published: January 7, 2010
Singer/Composer/Actor Tom Orr âs Jingle Bell Jock Show at the Eureka Theatre on Dec. 27 was a unapologetic and blatant erotic-themed holiday extravaganza that is fresh and authentic. In direct contrast to holiday shows across the Bay Area, Orrâs show was full of hilarious homoerotic word changes rammed...
The Best of the Best in 2009 Bay Area Theater
Published: January 7, 2010
With well over 300 theatre and dance companies in the SF Bay Area, there were more than a thousand productions during the year 2009. And the SF Bay Times reviewers covered as many of them as possible. Each writer sees 50-150 shows annually and reviews most of them. ...
Jingle Bell Jock! Will Knock Your Socks Off!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: December 24, 2009
For the latest Tom Orr parody production, Jingle Bell Jock!, the Eureka Theatre stage is set with two trees: one for Christmas hung with jock straps, and the other a blue Hanukkah bush decorated with bagels, dreidels, and blueballs â er â blue balls. Itâs fun to figure...
A Heartwarming Christmas Memory
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: December 24, 2009
Theatre Rhinoceros in collaboration with Word for Word recently presented a one-night only production of A Christmas Memory. Truman Capoteâs humorous and heartbreaking tale of growing up in rural Alabama in the â30s and his great Christmas adventure played to a sold-out house!
A Christmas Memory is Capoteâs largely...
Black Nativity Perfect in its Imperfection
Published: December 24, 2009
By Mike Ward
San Francisco has a full platter of holiday treats, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theatreâs Black Nativity is potentially among the tastiest. The companyâs signature piece, staged by LHT co-founder Stanley Williams, evolves each year with featured artists.
This year gospel recording artist Debra Henderson gives a master...
Threepenny Opera: Sex, Drunks and Punk-Rock & Roll
Published: December 24, 2009
By Mike Ward
âWho is the greater criminal? The man who robs a bank, or the man who founds one?â asks the timeless 1928 Brecht/Weill epic-theatre-piece, The Threepenny Opera. And Shotgun Playersâ must-see, darkly-brilliant and currently-running production, staged with raw, seductive power by Susannah Martin, answers the question. A...
The Greatest Bubble Show On Earth: A really good time!
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: December 24, 2009
âBubbles are not solid, liquid or gas. Theyâre here and theyâre gone, like life. They teach you the ephemeral quality of life.â So says the âPope of Soapâ Louis Pearl, professional Bubble-ologist in The Greatest Bubble Show On Earth, currently running at The Marsh.
Pearl, the Amazing Bubbleman, makes...
The Coverlettes Cover Christmas - Too Much
By Lily Janiak Published: December 24, 2009
The Coverlettes, now performing The Coverlettes Cover Christmas at the Aurora Theatre, do best when they highlight what is great in both the oldies and the Christmas carols that they perform. But ultimately itâs at the expense of themselves as individual vocalists.
Thereâs a reason why 1960s girl group...
Katya Returns With Raucous Russki Holiday
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: December 17, 2009
Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, that fabulous red-headed Russian drag queen countess, is back again for a brand new Holiday Spectacular! Katya will entertain you with her usual zestful, uproarious, broken English-Russian accented one woman show, featuring her gorgeous high soprano singing and kooky bantering about times âin the Old...
Hitchcockâs 39 Steps: Fast-Paced First Offering
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: December 17, 2009
Alfred Hitchcockâs THE 39 STEPS, the Tony Award-winning whodunit comedy currently running at the Curran Theatre, is the first production in the 2009-2010 Citibank Best of Broadway series season. Do not confuse it with the original 1935 film masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock. While the stage version is remarkably...
Fringe of Marin Award Winners
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: December 17, 2009
With grateful thanks to Dr. Annette Lust, Artistic Director and Festival Coordinator, the Dominican University Community Players and the Fringe of Marin just completed their 24th Anniversary Season. And on December 6 the Theatre Criticâs Circle Awards and Peopleâs Choice Awards for the Marin Fringe Festival were announced.
Theatre...
A Christmas Carol: Timelessly Relevant
By Albert Goodwyn Published: December 17, 2009
This seasonâs remounting of A Christmas Carol by American Conservatory Theater (currently running) brings a different life to the production. Director Domenique Lozano has added some clever fillips to Carey Perloffâs original stage adaptation of the Victorian novel by Charles Dickens. This retelling of the familiar story of...
The Santaland Diaries: A Christmas Treat
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: December 17, 2009
The eighth annual production of David Sedarisâ The Santaland Diaries (adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello) by Combined Artform and Beck-n-Call is a refreshing, candy-coated slice of joy in these gloomy days of recessionist reflexes. The 90-minute monologue, directed by Lux Obscura (ummh?), tells the story of...
An African American Cinderella
By Albert Goodwyn Published: December 17, 2009
Legendary tales are always subject to reinterpretation. Of the thousands of variations of the Cinderella story, African-American Shakespeare Company has brought to the stage a decidedly new version. This one is updated to an indeterminate time in an enchanted land. There are hints of the Louisiana bayou, but...
Dames At Sea Sets Sail With Flying ColorsDames At Sea Sets Sail With Flying Colors
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: December 10, 2009
The Dames at Sea musical, now running at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, is a brilliant parody of those larger than life, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley type MGM movie spectaculars in which an understudy straight from the sticks and just off the bus steps into a role because...
OVO: The Skyâs The Limit
By Lily Janiak Published: December 10, 2009
For the bugs in OVO - the U.S. premiere of Cirque du Soleilâs newest show now playing at AT&T Park - the sky looms close. The bulges in the big top canopy that envelop the playing space and its 2,600 seats create a cocoon-like shelter against which lights...
Golden Girls Bring Back Christmas
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: December 10, 2009
âThe Golden Girlsâ episodes - the ones acted by an all-drag live cast - are always a treat to watch. As a very special sugarplum for their fans, they are currently acting out the actual scripts from the classic TV series, The Golden Girls, with a seasonal theme...
Better Homes and Ammo: American Family Under Fire
By Albert Goodwyn Published: December 10, 2009
With dark humor and satirical wit, Wylie Hermanâs Better Homes and Ammo, currently running at the EXIT Theatre, examines the interactions of a family locked in a subterranean fallout shelter after surprise nuclear attacks. The apocalypse has landed. And the proprietor of a military surplus store has herded...
A Jubilant Jubilee at 42nd Moon
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: December 10, 2009
42nd Street Moon is currently producing their holiday musical, Jubilee â Cole Porter and Moss Hartâs classic take on British royalty run riot. Jubilee was 42nd Street Moonâs inaugural production in 1993, and it proved so popular that they brought it back in 1995. And Porter/Hartâs farce is...
Cotton Patch Gospel: Toe-Tapping Epic!
By Tom W. Kelly Published: December 3, 2009
For many, The Custom Made Theatre Companyâs production of Cotton Patch Gospel is an ideal holiday show. This backwoods, bluegrass musical tale by Tom Key and Russell Treyz (book) and Harry Chapin (music and lyrics) recounts the âsecond comingâ of Jesus with unabashed sincerity. The production values are...
Matlock: The Ladybug in Cirqueâs OVO
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: December 3, 2009
Some of us still harbor the romantic fantasy of running away to the circus. For classically-trained actress Michelle Matlock, an out and proud lesbian, it wasnât always the case. Now celebrating her first year of clowning as the beautiful Ladybug in Cirque du Soleilâs OVO â currently playing...
A Christmas Memory Opens Rhino Season
By Tom W. Kelly Published: December 3, 2009
Interview with John Fisher, Artistic Director of Theatre Rhinoceros
John Fisher, Artistic Director for Theatre Rhinoceros, recently took some time from his hectic schedule to spread the word about their upcoming one-night only performance of A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, co-produced this year with Word for...
Meet Madonna, As In The Virgin Mary
By Paul E. Pratt Published: December 3, 2009
Popular NYC Holiday Drag Musical Makes SF Debut Dec. 8 & 9
When Madonnaâs Christmas Celebration debuted in the Big Apple five years ago, hundreds raced to the small off-Broadway theatre hosting it - and those were just the protesters! According to Mimi Imfurst, the New...
She Stoops to Comedy: The Whole Worldâs A Drag Show
By Lily Janiak Published: November 26, 2009
In Shakespeareâs As You Like It, Rosalind, one of his wittiest heroines, manipulates her beloved, Orlando, by disguising herself as a man. In the Bardâs original productions, a man would have played Rosalind â in other words, a man playing a woman playing a man. In its West...
BOOM: Apocalyptic, Explosive Comedy
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: November 26, 2009
When Jo answers a casual-encounters ad for âsex to change the course of the world,â she has no idea that grad-student Jules actually fears that the apocalypse is at hand and is looking for a partner to repopulate the species. In BOOM, an explosive comedy about the end...
Pulp Scripture - OMG!!
By Tom W. Kelly Published: November 26, 2009
Consider for a brief moment those religious folks waving signs proclaiming âGod Hates Fagsâ and/or the devout who tooketh away Californiaâs same-sex marriage rights. Well, the perfect antidote to those poisonous proselytizers is found in Pulp Scripture. Here, playwright William Bivins humorously proves (in one too-brief hour) that...
ReOrient 2009 - The First Ten Years
By Tom W. Kelly Published: November 26, 2009
âWhen does love become a crime and blood an obligation?â In ReOrient 2009, a two-program rotating repertory of 9 short plays, many facets of love and aggression intermingle to varied effect. Produced at the Thick House by Golden Thread Productions (SF theatre company dedicated to exploring the Middle...
Rabbi Sam Stops at Nothing: Eternity is Near
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: November 26, 2009
It takes Charlie Varon and a widow to create a religious reality that would otherwise go unseen in Rabbi Sam, written and performed by Varon (developed and directed by David Ford with music composed by Bruce Barth). In just over two hours, Varon inhabits 12 characters, including Rabbi...
Beautiful Thing Shows How Far Weâve Come?
By Lily Janiak Published: November 19, 2009
It can be a good thing when a play shows its age. But while some plays aptly evoke worlds of the past, others are merely products of the past.
Beautiful Thing, now in its ten-year anniversary production at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, falls into the latter category. ...
A Body of Water: Identity Crises
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: November 19, 2009
Spare Stageâs production of Lee Blessingâs A Body of Water (currently playing at the EXIT Theatre) examines the nature of personal identity as defined by memory and the extent to which we choose what we remember, and in doing so, choose our identity.
Before the lights dim, the sound...
Afterlife of the Mind: an Imaginative Journey
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: November 19, 2009
How far will a person go to save a loved one? In the âanything is possibleâ world of Bill Bivinsâ play The Afterlife of the Mind, Lydia will stop at nothing â even if it means hosting her husbandâs brain in her own body! That may sound like...
Whoâs Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Outstanding!
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: November 19, 2009
Actors Theatre of San Franciscoâs production of Whoâs Afraid of Virginia Woolf, directed by Keith Phillips, is outstanding, exquisitely crafted and well worth seeing. It has been said that Edward Albee was never satisfied with productions of his work, and he preferred not to view them, having observed...
The Pearls Over Shanghai -Spectacular Show Made More So
By Rink Published: November 19, 2009
One of them most spectacular shows seen in San Francisco in years, The Thrillpeddlersâ Pearls Over Shanghai is riding a wave of popularity, and it has been sold out for months. Now the Cockette musical remounting has been held over through Jan. 23. The show is being presented...
Fringe of Marin Fall 2009 Opens to Big Crowd
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: November 19, 2009
The Fringe of Marin Fall 2009 recently opened its 24th season at Dominican University and is presenting thirteen new short plays and solos (Programs One and Two running in repertory) written, acted and directed by local Bay Area talent. Program Two features seven works (reviewed below).
Opening the evening...
November: Mamet Takes on Corruption
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: November 12, 2009
In November, David Mametâs latest comedy (currently running at American Conservatory Theater), President Charles Smith â the most corrupt boob ever to occupy the Oval Office â is in the last days of his bid for re-election. Not surprisingly, the country is a disastrous mess, and his polls...
How I Stopped Worrying and Lost My Virginity: Surviving Heartbreak Without Becoming a âHoâ
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: November 12, 2009
Aileen Clark does not consider herself to be a playwright, but she certainly knows how to tell a rich story. Produced by Guerrilla Rep and Ann Marie Productions, she does so with the help of co-writer John Caldon in How I Stopped Worrying and Lost My Virginity. Premiering...
Fat Pig â A Telling Comedy About Obesity
Published: November 12, 2009
By Annette Lust
Neil Labuteâs Fat Pig (currently running at Berkeleyâs Aurora Theatre) grabs and holds your interest with its witty and cutting repartee between Tom, his newfound fat girlfriend Helen, his protective friend Carter, and jealous ex-girlfriend Jeannie. But this highly comical repartee gradually turns to a dark...
Stateless: Wolf and Shepherd Find Their Roots
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: November 12, 2009
The Jewish Theatre of San Francisco (TJT) opens its first season under its new name (fka Traveling Jewish Theatre) with the world premiere of Dan Wolf and Tommy Shepherdâs Stateless: A Hip-Hop Vaudeville Experience.
Stateless begins with a narrator telling the performers (and thereby the audience as well) that...
The Miracle Worker: Communication Saves a Life
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: November 12, 2009
As the second production of their 80th(!) season, Ross Valley Players presents The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. This production commemorates the 50th anniversary of The Miracle Worker, which premiered October 19, 1959 at Broadwayâs Playhouse Theatre and ran 719 performances.
Set in Alabama in the 1880âs the play...
The Bald Soprano at EXIT Theatre: Would You Care for a Bite of Logic?
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: November 5, 2009
Written in 1949, EugĂšne Ionescoâs first play, The Bald Soprano, was created from his observation of the absurdity in British dialogue while he was learning English. Running slightly over an hour without intermission, The Cutting Ball Theaterâs production (currently running), directed and translated from the French original by...
Ghosts of the River: Seeking a Better World
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: November 5, 2009
âThe rio is a ghost of what it used to be, and all the people who live nearby are ghosts.â
But itâs not only a Halloween story. Octavio Solisâ Ghosts of the River are tales of love, loss, courage, and honor for the people who live at the border...
Mrs. Whitney: The Art of Persuasion
By Lily Janiak Published: November 5, 2009
âWas I convincing?â asks Mrs. (Margaret) Whitney, the title character of John Kolvenbachâs new drama, at the Magic Theatre. Though the query is nominally directed at Finn, the son of her ex-husband, this question of effective performance - of self, or some concept of it - is one...
Oleanna: Sexual Politics 101B
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: November 5, 2009
Expression Productions recently opened its production of Oleanna, written by David Mamet and directed by Andrey Esterlis, at Royce Gallery, one of the newer venues for theater in San Francisco. Royce Gallery is clean and comfortable and, true to its name, features work on its walls currently by...
Halloween in the Castro: A Horror Opera
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: October 29, 2009
If you have yet to experience Halloween in the Castro: A Horror Opera, thereâs still have time before All Hallowâs Eve is all but over. Composer and librettist extraordinaire Jack Curtis Dubowsky has created a monster of a hit show featuring the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco and...
The Whoâs Tommy: Sense-sational!!
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 29, 2009
So who had a rotten childhood? Well, in the rock musical The Whoâs Tommy, the titular character sure qualifies. And yet, in this tribute to life and music the worst of times (and upbringings) is overcome and sensationally celebrated. This Ray of Lightâs production, currently running at the...
The Creature Speaks!
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: October 29, 2009
Black Box Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of Trevor Allenâs The Creature, a staged re-telling of Mary Shelleyâs celebrated novel Frankenstein. In most versions of Frankenstein, the monster is nearly mute, expressing himself only in a series of inarticulate grunts and cries. In Allenâs version, the...
Tiny Kushner: Variable One-Acts
By Lily Janiak Published: October 29, 2009
Tiny Kushner, a series of five short plays by Tony Kushner takes us to (among other places) New York City, Indiana, two psychiatristsâ offices, heaven, and the moon. And the characters we encounter therein are no less diverse. But Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in...
I Heart Hamas: And Other Things Iâm Afraid to Tell You
By Albert Goodwyn Published: October 29, 2009
Jennifer Jajeh is a consummate impressionist as well as a dancer, actress, Arab, and a troublemaker. To be fair, trouble seems to follow her, as she recounts in her live show I Heart Hamas, extended 4 additional weeks at the Off-Market Theater until Nov. 21. For those with...
Albertâs Fear and Dogsbody:Two Diverging Views of Childhoodd
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: October 29, 2009
Two Diverging Views of Childhood In Albertâs Fear â one of four plays recently presented as part of the International Czech Theater Festival at The Marsh â actor/creator Vojta Svejda examines the triumphs of a small boy over his timidity and indecisiveness. In one short hour, solo artist...
The Hasheesh Eater: A Walk on the Wild Side
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 22, 2009
You know how storytellers like to clean up their tales for a mainstream audience? Well, NOT the SF Buffoons! The all-male collectiveâs currently running show, The Hasheesh Eater, rolls in the squalor of dirty gutters and gives audiences perhaps their most realistic glimpse of gold-rush San Francisco ever. ...
Zombie Town: Itâs a Metaphor
By Albert Goodwyn Published: October 22, 2009
Zombie Town by Tim Bauer (along with members of the Catharsis Collective) is a social and genre satire with a well-realized B-movie texture, even when interrupted by self-referential asides. Currently running at the EXIT Stage Left, the production focuses not only on the ridiculous theme of reanimated corpses,...
Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dionysus: Dazzling!!
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 22, 2009
From silver-sequined tube top and accessories to in-your-face stage presence, Trixxie Carr as the titular character ROCKS! Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dionysus may confuse at times, but it never fails to captivate. The music, visuals, and dance (supplied in abundance by a talented and supple young cast) wildly...
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical -The Doctor and His Demon
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: October 22, 2009
The Royal Underground Theatre Company is currently presenting a fresh new look at Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical, the smash Broadway musical hit based on the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage concept was by Steve Cuden...
The Clean House: Rationally Choosing Not To Make a Rational Decision
By Lily Janiak Published: October 22, 2009
In The Clean House (a Pulitzer finalist), Sarah Ruhl allows her characters to speak for themselves as few other playwrights can. The play, now being produced by Womanâs Will Theater Company, opens with soliloquies by each of the three female leads. Right away the brutally honest (âI did...
Goldfish: A Fish That Canât Be Trusted
By Lily Janiak Published: October 22, 2009
The artistry in Goldfish, now in its Bay Area premiere at the Magic Theatre, lies in its timing: Scenes always end in exactly the right places, and the confrontations within them are articulate and witty. But, in failing to differentiate his characterâs voices during these intellectual sparring matches,...
Shocktoberfest!! 2009 The Torture Garden
By Albert Goodwyn Published: October 15, 2009
Thrillpeddlers presents Shocktoberfest!! 2009 The Torture Garden, their tenth annual pageant of terror, now running at The Hypnodrome. The evening features two one-act plays: âThe Phantom Limbâ by Rob Keefe (commissioned by Thrillpeddlers) and âThe Torture Gardenâ by Pierre Chaine and Andre de Lorde (based on the book...
The Heidi Chronicles: Cerebral Excursions
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: October 15, 2009
The Custom Made Theatre Companyâs production of The Heidi Chronicles highlights this Pulitzer prize-winning play by Wendy Wasserstein that brought women and their political status to a primary, rather than a secondary, place on the stage. Directed by Brian Katz, the play chronicles the life of feminist art...
Look Out, Sf, Sandra Bernhard is in Town!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: October 15, 2009
Sandra Bernhard, singer, satirist, and irreverent comic, is bringing her new show, âWhatever It Takesâ to the Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko. Bernhard was kind enough to give an interview to Bay Times.
(Bay Times) What is the meaning of the title of your upcoming SF appearance, Whatever It...
Loveland is Brilliantly Funny
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: October 15, 2009
Itâs a no-brainer. Ann Randolph is a comic genius⊠and not just any sort of hide-your-light-behind-a-bush kind of genius, but a hardworking, dare-to-put-it-out-there kind of genius. If you missed her first show Squeeze Box that played last year at The Marsh (and deservedly won Best Solo Show from...
My Name is Asher Lev - An Artist Caught Between Opposing Worlds
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: October 8, 2009
When does one know theyâre an artist? For someone named Asher Lev, it was early. At six years old he could not stop drawing pictures of his mother, his father and the Hasidic world of Brooklyn where he lived. In Aaron Posnerâs play adaptation of Chaim Potokâs novel...
Sins Invalid - A Reminder
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: October 8, 2009
Sins Invalid returned to San Francisco this past weekend, Oct. 2 - 4, with three evening performances at the Brava Theatre. Co-founded by Patty Berne and Leroy Moore in 2006, Sins Invalid is a performance project reflecting the sexual world of the queer and gender variant disabled, a...
Willows Theatre Needs You!
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 8, 2009
âWe need help!â
Harsh economic times have hit us all. And theaters are no exception. Currently, the Willows Theatre faces a financial crisis that may force it to shut down both its mainstage facility in Concord and its cabaret in Martinez. Reason? Growing debt. Their goal? $350,000 by October...
First Day of School
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: October 8, 2009
When The Kids Are Away, The Parents Will Play
The San Francisco Playhouse kicks off its new season with the world premiere of First Day of School by Billy Aronson.
Married couple Susan (Zehra Berkman) and David (Bill English) have dropped off their two children on the morning...
From Budapest to the Mill Valley Film Festival
By Erica Marcus Published: October 8, 2009
So I get off a plane from Budapest where I was helping out filmmaker and activist Douglas Conrad on a project about the recent threats against the queer community in Hungary and the dynamic Pride Celebrations that have been taking place in this Eastern European country for more...
Our Huckleberry Friends at NCTC
By Lily Janiak Published: October 1, 2009
In Little Dog Laughed, Mitchell (Matt Socha), an aspiring movie star, and his agent Diane (Michaela Greeley) are horrified at the prospect of his acting in a play. Truly, what could be worse for an acting career than a dalliance with theatre? The answer, as Diane constantly reminds...
Cain and Abel, Reimagined in Angry Red Drum
By Lily Janiak Published: October 1, 2009
The comparison of playwright Philip Kan Gotanda to Samuel Beckett is apt. In his new play, Angry Red Drum, now in its world premiere by the Asian American Theater Company, Gotanda creates a post-apocalyptic sense of imprisonment that can only be reminiscent of the existentialist master. As with...
Highlights of the San Francisco Fringe Festival
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 1, 2009
Blessing Her Heart â Subtle and Poignant
Three southern ladies speak their minds in three short solo pieces which comprise âBlessing Her Heartâ by local playwright Susan Jackson. Produced by Southern Railroad Company, this Fringe Festival entry excels with poignant writing, performances, and direction. Forsaking the prevalent wildness of...
No Ordinary Nut â Decidedly Different
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 1, 2009
âItâs insanity in stereo here.â Dwelling within a swirling miasma of madness, âNo Ordinary Nutâ written and directed by local gay playwright Jamie Daniel, perfectly fits the SF Fringe Festival goal to encourage âartists to take risks, explore ideas, pose questions and tell their stories in new and...
Spider Baby the Musical â Family Dis-chord
By Tom W. Kelly Published: October 1, 2009
Given the anything-goes nature of the 2009 SF Fringe Festival, the Bay Area premiere of Spider Baby the Musical introduces the audience to a bit of sensationalism via inbreeding, sexual repression, murder, and cannibalism. Remember the old-fashioned musical where boy meets girl, loses her, then gets her back? ...
No Musical Idiot at Berkeley Rep
Published: October 1, 2009
By Ben Sinclair
Overall I had a great time with American Idiot: The Musical. Director Michael Mayerâs adaptation of Green Dayâs last hit record exuberantly celebrates the tradition of the punk rocker within Americaâs mainstream. His embellished version - songs from the album rearranged with a couple politically relevant...
Marriage: Hope for a Queer Institution
By Tom W. Kelly Published: September 24, 2009
âItâs a very complicated issue,â states Garrison Harward, the writer and director of Marriage: a queer institution (part of the 2009 SF Fringe Festival), regarding homophobia and Proposition 8, both vital topics in todayâs glbt community. And with his innovative 60-minute play, this young Chico State University student...
Tings Dey Happen: Going to Nigeria
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: September 24, 2009
Dan Hoyleâs Tings Dey Happen, which has returned briefly to San Francisco prior to departing for a tour in Nigeria, is well deserving of all its critical acclaim. Directed by Charlie Varon, this one-man tour de force is nothing short of amazing. We find ourselves within the underbelly...
Noel Cowardâs Brief Encounter at ACT
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: September 24, 2009
Londonâs Kneehigh Theatre Presents Something to Write Home About!
Theatre really occasionally gives you an experience that proves its value even to the doubting Thomases that have given up completely on the genre. Kneehigh Theatreâs production of Noel Cowardâs Brief Encounter, co-produced by A.C.T. has done...
A Dream in the Woods with Cal Shakes
By Albert Goodwyn Published: September 24, 2009
All the whimsy of A Midsummer Nightâs Dream is accentuated in the current Cal Shakes production, and the director brought out the warmth of the human love, even for those blinded by magic herbs. The fairy world opens up on a fanciful stage. The actors present strong, definitive...
The Headless Woman: Privilege Reigns
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: September 24, 2009
The Headless Woman, written and directed by Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, tells a story of mishap and privilege in negative space, a technique far more compelling than linear narrative. In Spanish with English subtitles, running 92 minutes, it is the story of Vero (short for Veronica), played by...
Blue Velvet, the Movie, Comes to the Stage
By Albert Goodwyn Published: September 17, 2009
David Lynchâs movie Blue Velvet has become an underground cult classic since its release in 1986. Foul Play company has given it a live interpretation. On a small underground stage, they tell the same story as the movie, but with a distinctive technique that has the texture of...
Anne Galjourâs Engaging Solo at Artaud
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: September 17, 2009
You Canât Get There From Here opens the Z Space at Project Artaud
Anne Galjour hails from Southeastern Louisiana but sheâs lived in the Bay Area for 29 years and has been performing her solo work on the East and West coasts for many years. While earlier...
Shapiroâs Legs and All at The Fringe
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: September 17, 2009
Legs and All, the brainchild of Summer Shapiro, in collaboration with Peter Musante, Brandi Brandes and Jeremy Shapiro, is a brilliant translation of the details of conversant life as we know it, taking these details a few steps beyond Harold Pinter and flinging them with utmost precision into...
Theatre as Confession Booth?
By Lily Janiak Published: September 17, 2009
At the end of A (Bearded) Lady, a one-woman show at the Fringe Festival, our protagonist thanks her audience, âkindly priests,â for listening to her âconfession.â Yet, âconfessâ the Bearded Lady does not; such a word implies secrecy with compulsion to reveal. The Bearded Lady merely narrates.
Hers...
âPremiereâ to Open RVPâs 80th Season
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: September 17, 2009
The Ross Valley Players kicks off its 80th season with Premiere, the last play written by award-winner Dale Wasserman, the Tony Award recipient for his book of Man of La Mancha and the stage version of One Flew over the Cuckooâs Nest.
Author and journalist, Abby Wasserman, niece of...
Awake and Sing! Through the Depression
By Albert Goodwyn Published: September 10, 2009
Auroraâs current production of a Great Depression-era play provides intense involvement in the home-life of an impoverished Bronx family. Three generations populate this household, along with a boarder, a suitor and a well-off brother. Joy Carlinâs direction of Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets, brings together some venerable...
A Felt-tip Pen: A Chekhovian Gun?
By Lily Janiak Published: September 10, 2009
Art matters, says Art, Yasmina Rezaâs international dramatic phenomenon. Our reactions to even a single painting can reflect, or mask, deeply held beliefs, so what happens when different beliefs come into conflict? With what weapons should combatants wage a battle of aesthetics? Or, more importantly, a battle of...
Local Comic Geduldig Heads for New York City After El Rio Gig
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: September 10, 2009
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: September 3, 2009
Before I write anything more on the matter, I will warn you/ taunt you with the fact that in Tom Orrâs latest hilariously entertaining cabaret show, A Crass Act, the star appears totally nude - both frontal and backal â in a portion of his performance. Yes, I...
The Face of Yellow Explores Racial Identity
By Albert Goodwyn Published: September 3, 2009
The color of the face is a strong element of racial politics, but the feeling of otherness, in such a context, is a vital subtext in many of David Henry Hwangâs plays, like in M Butterfly and in the more recent Yellow Face, now at TheatreWorks. Hwang has...
August: Osage County in SF
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: September 3, 2009
A Long Dayâs Journey into Oklahoma
Itâs been over a year since Tracy Lettsâ August: Osage County garnered seven Tony nominations on Broadway, winning five including Best Play as well as snapping up a Pulitzer Prize. Now, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, itâs playing through September 6...
A Historical Tragedy of Betrayal and Revenge
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: September 3, 2009
Julius Caesar, now at Marin Shakes, is hardly a straight tragedy; and if it were, it would not be mainly Caesarâs. It falls in the tragic-historical category and if anyone is a hero, Brutus is. In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare comes close to making a play out of sheer...
Shame as a Grotesque Metaphor
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 27, 2009
Odd characters in eccentric costumes portray a sympathetic parody of gay life, customs and attitudes, using SF as a metaphor, in Shame! now at Mama Calizoâs. Subtitled An Original Grotesque Queer Performance, this acutely observed, very physical show uses elements of commedia dellâarte to satirize local notions, but...
El Otro: A Play Without Borders
By Lily Janiak Published: August 27, 2009
The set of El Otro, now in revival at Thick Description, looks empty at first: the lines of the black-box playing space are interrupted only by a cluster of candles in the upstage left corner. But once the action of this fluid play spills outward, the initial vacancy...
Good Boys and True at NCTC
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: August 27, 2009
Good Boys and True, which opened recently at New Conservatory, is a disappointing amateur production that fails to grasp fully playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasaâs underlying intent. The acting consists of line recitations and playing emotion rather than embodying characters who realize the situation and experience its emotional impetus. The...
Actors Theatre Does Justice to Grapes of Wrath
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: August 27, 2009
John Steinbeckâs seminal novel The Grapes of Wrath, adapted for stage by Frank Galati (Steppenwolf Theatre, university professor of drama and inductee to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of fame) is a powerful work that receives its just reward in Actors Theatreâs dynamic production, directed by Jennifer...
Two Minds in the Same Body
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 20, 2009
Impressionist Joshua Walters bares his psyches â both of them â to the audience in his show w Madhouse Rhythm, now at the Climate. His well-defined character transitions lead from a human beat box, through an Afro-centric uncle to a series of psychologists and herbalists. The show is...
Peopleâs âTheater You Can Eatâ Serves Up a Tasty Dinner Treat
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 20, 2009
In their second production in the uniquely intimate chamber theater at Pena Pachamama in North Beach, The Peopleâs Theatre has once more served up an entertaining and delectable treat with four humorous short plays about food. Under the larger title of Theater You Can Eat by local playwright...
Buried in Another Heavenly Day
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 20, 2009
From atop a jumbled pile of artifacts and clayey soil, a clear voice exhorts. In Samuel Beckettâs Happy Days, now at Cal Shakes, the clear voice is as jumbled as the soil heap, but cheery, even in the face of doom. Annie, buried in the soil up to...
Putting The Cock Back in The Cockettes
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: August 13, 2009
Newly Revised, Perversionized Pearls Over Shanghai
As you may know, at the June 17 opening, I gave a sterling review of Pearls over Shanghai, the all-singing, all-dancing Cockettes musical extravaganza produced by Thrillpeddlers â held over and now playing through September 20 at the Hypnodrome Theatre. My only complaint...
South Pathetic: A One-Man Streetcar
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 13, 2009
Jim David enacts A Streetcar Named Desire in his one-man show South Pathetic, now at New Conservatory. It would be difficult enough to play all the parts of the Tennessee Williams play, but to do it with a cast of small town southern losers at the worst community...
Traveling Light Subtly Delivers A Powerful Message
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 13, 2009
In Traveling Light, the latest sight-specific work that played to sold-out audiences during its brief two week-end run at the Mint, choreographer/director Joe Goode providds a visceral experience that demonstrated the extent of his sensitive and brilliant ear to the pulse of our nationâs current dilemma. What is...
World Premiere of Ecstasy/a waterfable at Thick House Challenges the Linear Minded
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: August 6, 2009
Golden Thread Productions, whose aim is to nurture artists of Middle Eastern heritage, premiered Denmo Ibrahimâs Ecstasy/a waterfable last weekend at The Thick House. The ancient Sufi Story âWhen the Waters Were Changedâ, the inspiration for the theatre piece Ecstasy, recounts a time when Khidr, the teacher of...
Sondheim: A Little Light Music
By Albert Goodwyn Published: August 6, 2009
Stephen Sondheim has written many songs, all the way from such big hits as Sweeny Todd, A Little Night Music, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and abomination Merrily We Roll Along. Then conceived an evening of his hits, as well as lesser known...
An Urban Rock Musical at The Boxcar
Published: July 30, 2009
By Carol Dunne
They say that an existentialist attitude is an awareness of the absurdity of reality. If so, then Skid Row and its runaway teens are the quintessential existentialists, for their daily struggle to feed themselves and find a safe place to sleep would qualify as the ultimate...
All You Need Is Love, Mr. Shakespeare
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 30, 2009
The venerable works of William Shakespeare have been subjected to many different interpretations over the centuries, and Marin Shakesâ latest takes liberties The Bard could never have imagined. Co-director Lesley Currier described it succinctly as a journey to a âpsychedelic far out Illyria.â The seventies garb and rock...
Joely Fisher - One of Many Stars Who will Shine at REAF Fundraiser
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: July 30, 2009
The Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation (REAF) 15th Anniversary Gala, âHelp is on the Way XV: No Business Like Show Business,â is coming to the Herbst Theatre on Sunday, August 2. The amazing cast includes two Tony Award winners, an American Idol star, and a bevy of other Broadway, TV,...
Tinyard Hill Hicks Sing
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 23, 2009
The ages-old theme of love torn apart by war is explored once again in TheatreWorkâs world premiere of Tinyard Hill as part of their New Works Festival. This musical is full of songs and presents a story of small-town America being affected by âNam and a sophisticated New Yorker. Summer...
Six Lives of Loneliness and Desperation
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: July 23, 2009
The West Coast premiere of Alan Ayckbournâs Private Fears in Public Places opened last Saturday, produced by Ross Valley Players. This beautifully written play is about six lonely people whose lives intersect and overlap in ordinary places: offices, homes, bars, and hotels. The structure of the play is almost like...
On Writing and Moderating Well
By Lily Janiak Published: July 23, 2009
Performance art entails logistical complication: a lot of people, audience and artists have to be in the same place at the same time â often for an extended period of time. Yet, while ittâs difficult to attract an audience to a show, itâs impossible to bring them to a rehearsal,...
Jealous Passion and Revenge Sicilian Style
Published: July 23, 2009
By Dr. Annette Lust
One can see Arthur Millerâs View from the Bridge, performed by the Off Broadway West Company and staged by other companies, as though each were treating it as a different play, theme-wise. This is because of the wealth of emotional themes the play contains. Off Broadway West...
Summer in the Park with the Metropolitan Opera
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: July 23, 2009
Under a perfect sky on a balmy night in NYC, the Metropolitan Opera presented three young well-trained voices singing their hearts out to an enthusiastic crowd of 4,300 music lovers. The only distraction came from a few airplanes that flew surprisingly close. Opening the program were several selections of Mozart,...
Victorian Cross-Dressing at Marin Shakes
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 16, 2009
Oscar Wildeâs comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest is a spoof of the hypocrisy of upper middle class Victorian English society. Marin Shakesâ production of the play remains true to its origins while occasionally spoofing the play itself. On a three-level outdoor set, in three acts, the action...
Noel Cowardâs Private Lives
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 16, 2009
When exes make a chance encounter after five years apart, the still-smoldering embers of passion flare up, new life breathed into them by new marriages. Noel Coward wrote the play Private Lives about the aftermath of that unexpected meeting, and Cal Shakesâ current production is a masterful realization of the...
The Writerâs Reader, by the Writersâ Writer
By Lily Janiak Published: July 16, 2009
What do you do when youâre stuck on a train with the author of the book youâve brought along, and youâve got nothing else to read? Do you say something, do you just start reading, or do you do nothing at all? What if youâre the writer, and you see...
Carrie Fisher Explains Her Family Tree
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: July 16, 2009
Berkeley Repâs production of Wishful Drinking, written and performed by Carrie Fisher and directed by Tony Taccone, is a cozy, down-home visit with Hollywood celebrity and its harmful side effects. We join Carrie in her glass house, set appropriately as a living room with glass walls through which we view...
SF Mime Troupe Going Strong at 50
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: July 9, 2009
A Winning Tale of Folklore and Finance âToo Big to Failâ
Fourth of July would not be the same without a rousing crowd at Dolores Park celebrating not only Independence Day but also the half century mark of SF Mime Troupeâs foray into dramatized independent thought...
One Flew Over the Cuckooâs Nest
Published: July 2, 2009
By Carol Dunne
How can one hold onto joy in an increasingly controlled society that is, by its very nature, soul-denying? That is the premise of Dale Wassermanâs play now at SF Playhouse, One Flew Over the Cuckooâs Nest, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. Bravo to Director...
Porgy and Bess: A Rekindling of Hope
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: July 2, 2009
S F Operaâs final, sold-out performance of Porgy and Bess, by George and Ira Gershwin, was presented in its restored state as the Gershwins had written it, and was well worth experiencing. The original work premiered in 1935 and was subsequently revised to accommodate a shorter running time....
furyFACTORY 2009 Curates Serious Humor
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: July 2, 2009
In conjunction with the Network of Ensemble Theaters, San Franciscoâs own foolsFURY concluded their annual furyFACTORY last weekend at Traveling Jewish Theatre and NOHspace with an array of theatre artists re-examining the concept of America and its place in the world.
The three weeks of programming featured a diversity...
Moving Men Dance at the Garage
By Albert Goodwyn Published: July 2, 2009
As part of the National Queer Arts Festival, the SF Moving Men presented Dancing @ The Garage, a lively series of contemporary movement numbers. The nine short pieces by six artists explored many sensibilities. Moving Men is a new company of dancers that choreographer and Artistic Director of...
Look where Baby Butch Landed Tonight
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 25, 2009
Raquel Gutierrez and Butchlalis de Panochtitlan present The Barber of East L. A. as part of FURY Factory 2009. This three-hander by women monologists creates a borrida of Eastside characters. The tales of the barber, an actual woman barber with her own shop in Eastside, the predominantly Hispanic...
Jack Goes Boating at the Aurora
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: June 25, 2009
The Auroraâs latest production Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini is the perfect play for a summer evening in Berkeley. It opens on the Auroraâs intimate space where three quarters of the audience seated around the stage listen to a couple of New York limo chauffeurs, Jack (Danny...
Unfulfilled Russian Dreams
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: June 25, 2009
The award-winning, professional Porchlight Theatre Company opened its annual outdoor summer season with Anton Chekhovâs Three Sisters, a story that takes place in the Russian countryside in the early Twentieth Century.
Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search...
Beyond the Mirror at the Fury Factory Fest
By Dr. Annette Lust Published: June 25, 2009
In their West Coast premiere of their world wide tour of Beyond the Mirror, the New York Bond St. Theatre, that has for a number of years organized theatre projects in teacher training and youth programs in crisis areas, and the Kabul Exile Theatre, that began this multi-media...
Get Kidnapped at Pearls Over Shanghai
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 18, 2009
Because The Cockettes Are Back, And Better Than Ever
I fondly recall through a drug haze memory when the Cockettes played live at the Palace Theatre in North Beach for â70s midnight productions of such gems as Pearls over Shanghai. Four decades later, I heard a...
Peter Retreats But... in Albeeâs Zoo at A.C.T.
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 18, 2009
If youâve ever seen the oft performed 1958 one-act play Zoo Story by Edward Albee, you probably remember two strangers who meet in New Yorkâs Central Park. Jerry talks non-stop. Peter listens, sitting on a bench. What we learn about Peterâs life is what Jerry elicits from many...
Kenny Yun: Gaysian Salad Solo
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 18, 2009
It would be hard enough to waste your adolescence in âThe Salad Bowl of Americaâ Salinas California, but add the onus of being a 1980s gay Asian and the burden could become oppressive. Impressionist Kenny Yun finds humor and optimism in his recollections of personal experiences in just...
Opening Doors at MTC
By Lily Janiak Published: June 18, 2009
âWhy are there so many doors in here?â asks Dr. Rance in Joe Ortonâs What the Butler Saw, now at Marin Theatre Company. âWas it designed by a lunatic?â Itâs a humorous rhetorical question in the context of the mental hospital examination room where this classic farce is...
Golden Girls Are Back For Pride Season
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 18, 2009
The Golden Girls: More Gay Pride Episodes is now playing at Mama Calizoâs Voice Factory through June 26. Two new shows based on the original scripts of the TV series that ran for seven successful seasons, âGoodbye, Mr. Gordonâ and âScared Straight,â are delightfully acted by an all-drag...
Single Female Theatre Critic Seeks⊠Respite. (NSA).
By Lily Janiak Published: June 18, 2009
Jeffrey Selfâs My Life on the Craigslist, an autobiographical solo show now at New Conservatory, begins, as most lives have, before Craigslist came into being. Self grew up and discovered his homosexuality in Rome, Georgia, where âif you meet another gay person, you feel obligated to have sex...
Two Soloists Hit the Mark
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 11, 2009
Captain Stormfieldâs Visit to Heaven Itâs a joy to find good theatre writing that is well performed. Hearing Mark Twainâs words brought to life at the Peopleâs Theatre production in the intimate North Beach venue at Pena Pachamama is one of those joy-inducing experiences that makes for a...
Romeo Rocks Cal Shakes
By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: June 11, 2009
As pop/rock rhythms energize the youth, Cal Shakes launches its 35th Anniversary Season with Artistic Director Jonathan Mosconeâs production of Shakespeareâs Romeo and Juliet, a passionate tale of young lovers caught in a dangerous and threatening world. Moscone delivers a modern-dress Romeo as the tragedy of a violence-wracked...
Actors Theatre Takes On Betrayal
By Eryka M. Fraczek Published: June 11, 2009
Harold Pinterâs Betrayal, now at Actors Theatre, is a refreshingly intimate portrayal of the playwrightâs iconic story of infidelity. Skillfully directed by Keith Phillips and James Baldock, the inverted history of Jerryâs affair of seven years with Emma, the wife of Robert, Jerryâs best friend, is complemented by ...
âSome Men,â or All Gay Men, Ever?
By Lily Janiak Published: June 11, 2009
âThereâs a place for us,â sings a voice in the darkness at the beginning of Terrence McNallyâs Some Men, now in its West Coast premiere at New Conservatory. As the lights rise, the nine members of the all-male cast materialize, and âusâ suddenly refers to a new antecedent:...
Krapp at Cutting Ball
By Albert Goodwyn Published: June 4, 2009
Mister Krapp led a hard life in Samuel Beckettâs play Krappâs Last Tape. Not only that, he forced himself to relive it in excruciating detail through reviewing audio recordings he had made years earlier. Under Rob Melroseâs direction, Paul Gerrior plays Krapp with a strong sense of bemusement...
Gangster Wannabes and Postage Stamps
By Lily Janiak Published: June 4, 2009
At first, Mauritius seems a curious title for the thrilling new drama by Theresa Rebeck that just opened at The Magic Theatre. Sure, Jackie, our young protagonist, inherits a couple of rare postage stamps that hail from thereabouts. But what could be farther away from a dank stamp...
You, Nero: Ancient Roman Hijinks
By Tom W. Kelly Published: June 4, 2009
Hysterical! This theatrical romp through ancient Rome (64 AD) keeps the laughs coming. And with the jarring exception of some historically inaccurate homophobia, itâs bunches of fun. Berkeley Rep stylishly produces the world premiere of You, Nero by Amy Freed with great performances and stunning visuals. The 2-1/2...
Spamalotâs Wild and Wonderful Quest
By Linda Ayres-Frederick Published: June 4, 2009
Lovingly âripped-offâ from the internationally famous comedy teamâs most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Pythonâs Spamalot is deservedly the winner of three Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director (Mike Nichols), as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for...