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Theatre Eddys

Theatre Eddys

San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

Archives for December 2019

Theatre Eddys Recalls Ten Bay Area Theatre Highlights, 2010-2019

December 31, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Looking back over ten years of seeing nearly 1500 theatrical performances (plays, musicals, and solo shows) in the San Francisco Bay Area (and another near 500 globally), I am both pleased and surprised what productions/events are now remembered most vividly – ones that I find myself returning in order to relish the productions’ creative accomplishments.  The following are what … [Read more...] about Theatre Eddys Recalls Ten Bay Area Theatre Highlights, 2010-2019

Theatre Eddys’ Top Bay Area Productions for 2019

December 30, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

This year, Theatre Eddys attended and reviewed 129 shows locally along with nine shows in Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and forty-two shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Of the 129 local productions that were plays, musicals, and solo performances, a top “5 E” rating was awarded to productions of 25 different companies.  The most “5 E” ratings for … [Read more...] about Theatre Eddys’ Top Bay Area Productions for 2019

Head Over Heels

December 22, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

What happens when a Renaissance tale of royal romance written in iambic pentameter collides head-on with the jukebox music of the 1980s all-female group, the Go-Go’s?  And what if twists and turns of the story inspired by Sir Philip Sidney’s The Arcadia (1580s) now include same-sex love, gender-bending left and right, and a “non-binary, plural” Oracle of Delphi?  New … [Read more...] about Head Over Heels

Becky Nurse of Salem

December 20, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

“Before there was this Dunkin’ Donuts, they killed women here they called witches.  Before that, they killed Indians.  Before that, they had Thanksgiving.” Standing in front of her shopping cart with a mannequin of her great, great, great, great grandmother that she has stolen from the Salem Witches Museum, Becky Nurse gives her first tour at $20 an hour, telling her version … [Read more...] about Becky Nurse of Salem

Vinegar Tom

December 19, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

A day cannot go by without hearing the accusation of “it’s a witch hunt” by the likes of Trump (i.e., his impeachment) and Netanyahu (i.e., his indictment).  How ironic that two male, ultra-conservatives should be crying victim using a term that beckons to a period in seventeenth-century, European and American history when tens of thousands of truly innocents – mostly women – … [Read more...] about Vinegar Tom

Love in the Time of Piñatas

December 17, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

Body covered in skin-tight fishnet (black, of course), shoulders bedecked in a cape of shaking circles of metallic colors, beard sparkling with glitter to match his highlighted eyes, and high tops that light up as he prances about, Baruch Porras Hernandez enters the intimate setting of Z Below announcing to his cheering fans: “Hellooooo, everyone!  I’m just your friendly, … [Read more...] about Love in the Time of Piñatas

Groundhog Day The Musical

December 12, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

Phil is pissed, big time.  That Pittsburg’s best-known, TV weatherman has to drag himself on February 2 to the podunk town of Punxsutawney, PA to provide live coverage for the stupid tradition of having someone declare if a so-called groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not is totally insulting.  To make it worse, on his way to the annual ceremony on Gobbler’s … [Read more...] about Groundhog Day The Musical

Pride and Prejudice

December 12, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

The month of December, Broadway composer Paul Gordon, and Director Robert Kelley have a special, intertwined relationship that time and again has resulted in heartwarming, big-smile-producing gifts for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley audiences.  Multiple musicals of the Tony-honored Paul Gordon have appeared and often premiered on that stage, with two of them reprising in Decembers … [Read more...] about Pride and Prejudice

Scrooge in Love

December 8, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds

  Each year in December, the Bay Area is awash with annual holiday productions that have often been running for decades: The Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theatre), The Nutcracker (San Francisco Ballet); Home for the Holidays (The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus); Kung Pao Kosher Comedy; The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes, to name a few.  After its … [Read more...] about Scrooge in Love

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Theatre Eddys Ratings Legend

5 E's - Loved It
A classic, would see it a second time.
4 E's - Really Liked It
Excellent, strong production.
3 E's - Liked It
Good production but something is lacking or not clicking.
2 E's - Just OK
Below average but had at least one interesting component.
1 E - Did Not Like It
Waste of time.

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Musical5 Eworld premiereMUST SEE4 ETheatreWorks Silicon ValleySan Francisco PlayhouseNew Conservatory Theatre CenterPear TheatreBerkeley Repertory Company4.5 EMarin Theatre CompanyAmerican Conservatory TheatreShotgun PlayersPalo Alto PlayersAurora Theatre CompanyThe MarshHillbarn TheatreCity Lights Theater CompanyOregon Shakespeare Festival

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Theatre Eddys reviews performances throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

About Eddie

Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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