Hurricane Diane Madeleine George Aurora Theatre Company Climate, comedy, and catastrophe are the unlikely combination in Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane, now in its Bay Area premiere at Aurora Theatre Company. The laugh-out-loud, in-your-face warnings about our potentially disastrous future features in its stormy center a lesbian, permaculture gardener who just … [Read more...] about Hurricane Diane
The Dignity Circle
The Dignity Circle Lauren Smerkanich Central Works “Hi, y’all. I’m Angela. I work in real estate. I live in Westlake, Sacramento, California. … I have a question for you. What would you do if right now I handed you forty thousand dollars? In cash. No strings attached?” Maybe “a trip, a new car, a new guest bathroom, a new forehead?” Or how about just “a way to … [Read more...] about The Dignity Circle
Orpheus in the Underworld
Orpheus in the Underworld Jacques Offenbach (Music) Hector Crémieux & Ludovic Halévy (Original French Libretto) Donald Pippin (English Adaptation) The plights of Orpheus and Eurydice have fascinated audiences from the times of ancient Greeks through the works of Ovid and Virgil up until today’s multiple versions of their ill-fated journey into Hades as told in … [Read more...] about Orpheus in the Underworld
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book) Los Altos Stage Company “Order.” “Design.” “Tension.” “Composition.” “Balance.” “Light.” As each word is announced by the artist whose science of painting is guided by these exacting principles, the members of his most famous composition move into place, aided by his … [Read more...] about Sunday in the Park with George
She Loves Me
She Loves Me Jerry Bock (Music); Sheldon Harnick (Lyrics); Joe Masteroff (Book) Based on a Play by Miklós Lázló 42nd Street Moon At 42nd Street Moon, it is Christmas in June; and an old favorite is under this year’s tree, She Loves Me. The multi-Tony-nominated 1963 musical by Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics), and Joe Masteroff (book) started as a 1937 play … [Read more...] about She Loves Me
Othello
Othello William Shakespeare San Jose Stage Company The more Iago’s seeds of deceit begin to take root and wind their deadly vines around the too-receptive Othello, the more brilliant becomes Director Kenneth Kelleher’s decision to place San Jose Stage Company’s production of the Bard’s tragedy in a barely lit, black-walled jazz club of the 1950’s. With the background, … [Read more...] about Othello
Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias Robert Harling TheatreWorks Silicon Valley It’s the ‘80s in the little, rural town of Chinquapin, Louisiana; and the regulars are coming into Truvy’s Salon for their Saturday morning snipping, ratting, and spraying to get their do’s touched up to perfection, to hear the latest in town gossip, and most importantly, to be together in a place where no … [Read more...] about Steel Magnolias
The Road to Mecca
The Road to Mecca Athol Fugard Weathervane Productions at Z Below Light vs. Darkness. Love vs. Trust. White vs. Black. Old vs. Young. Friendship vs. Loneliness. Acceptance vs. Prejudice. Apartheid vs. Freedom. Christian Values vs. Eastern Values. Opposites continuously intercede, sometimes blend, and often explosively collide in Athol Fugard’s thought-provoking … [Read more...] about The Road to Mecca
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz Frank Baum (Book); Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg (Music & Lyrics); Herbert Stothart (Background Music) American Conservatory Theater Let’s be clear: Not only are we not in Kansas anymore, in the current American Conservatory Theater production, we are also definitely not in the same version of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz that we read in … [Read more...] about The Wizard of Oz
The Riverbride
The River Bride Marisela Treviño Orta City Lights Theater Company A fairy tale is supposed to have an air of magic, a sense of mystery, and a promise of “happily ever after.” Certainly Marisela Trevino Orta’s The River Bride, as directed by John R. Lewis and presented by City Lights Theater Company, meets these criteria and more. From the opening moments of this … [Read more...] about The Riverbride
Yerma
Yerma Melinda Lopez (Adaptation & Translation) Based on the Play by Federico García Lorca Shotgun Players An opening scene of passionate lovemaking; a happy realization of a late period; and a pregnant, young woman singing sweetly a mesmerizing lullaby are still not enough to belie the feeling that all is not going as well as it at first seems. The fact that the … [Read more...] about Yerma
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) Richard Wagner (Music & Libretto) West Bay Opera First a French horn and then a trumpet raise clarion calls demanding attention, soon to be followed by conversing, melodic strings and winds as projected clouds gather on the stage before us. As a storm’s fury increases, all sections of the orchestra respond, with the … [Read more...] about Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
The Confession of Lily Dare
The Confessions of Lily Dare Charles Busch New Conservatory Theatre Center As two old friends reminisce before a grave whose tombstone they describe as alabaster white due to regular cleanings of baking soda mixed with Jack Daniels whiskey, one notes lovingly and admiringly of the grave’s occupant, “She wouldn’t let a geezer squeeze her tits for less than a twenty.” … [Read more...] about The Confession of Lily Dare
Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In Jack Thorne, Stage Adaptation Based on the Novel & Film by John Ajvide Lindquist Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Presenting The National Theatre of Scotland Production) Two kids meet at night in the courtyard between their families’ two flats and quickly become friends. One is a boy; the other appears as a girl but says is not. One is twelve; … [Read more...] about Let the Right One In
Into the Woods
Into the Woods Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book) The Mountain Play What better way to get in the mood to enjoy an afternoon of Into the Woods than to walk on a path through a forest of mighty trees after traveling by bus, car, or even foot halfway up a mighty mountain? Now far away from the Bay and a City that can be seen through a gap in the … [Read more...] about Into the Woods
