In Love and Warcraft Madhuri Shekar City Lights Theater Company Generously peppered with words such as “damage dealers,” “mage food,” “debuffs,” and “battle rez,” the script of Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft might appear at first bluff as a near impossible challenge for non-gamers who have never pounded the keys of their PC while playing the video superstar … [Read more...] about In Love and Warcraft
Noises Off
Noises Off Michael Frayn Palo Alto Players “Doors and sardines. Getting on, getting off. Getting the sardines on, getting the sardines off. That's farce. That's the theatre. That's life.” Perhaps no line better summarizes the challenge and the fun potential of both the fictional director and the actual stage director of Palo Alto Players’ latest opening, Michael … [Read more...] about Noises Off
Takes All Kinds
Takes All Kinds Dan Hoyle The Marsh In the fall of 2022, Dan Hoyle found himself at a “40s-something” party where during the chit-chat of chardonnay sipping, someone said to him, “So you do journalistic theatre? But aren’t they both kinda collapsing?” Given an insatiable drive to discover core truths about a community, culture, and/or even an entire country; a … [Read more...] about Takes All Kinds
DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale
DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale Adapted by Chris Steele from Bram Stoker’s Dracula Poltergeist Theatre Project, Potatoes Mashed Comedy & Oasis Arts The 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker not only is now considered one of the great classics of English literature, the Transylvanian tale of vampires, blood, and sexual suggestions by … [Read more...] about DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar Hershey Felder (Book); Sergei Rachmaninoff (Music) TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Little doubt but that there is a very real love affair between the San Francisco Bay Area and Hershey Felder. This is particularly true for the audiences of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley who have reveled in so many of his past musical biographies of famed composers … [Read more...] about Rachmaninoff and the Tsar
Waitress
Waitress Jessie Nelson (Book): Sara Bareilles (Music & Lyrics) San Francisco Playhouse Every day she bakes twenty-seven pies, including one each day that she creates as a new recipe on the spot – pies with names like Big Guy Strawberry, Polka Dot Peach, Lost Shepard’s, and Deep (Shit) Blueberry. At Joe’s Pie Diner where everyone wants once again to know “What’s … [Read more...] about Waitress
Theatre Eddys: Touring the World Now; Back In January 2025
Dear Loyal Subscribers to TheatreEddys.com: After posting 70+ reviews between mid-January and mid-July, you may have noticed that I have been noticeably absent since (except for one post of the 40+ shows my hubby Hernán and I saw at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of our favorites places to go in the entire world). Like the past couple of years, we are spending … [Read more...] about Theatre Eddys: Touring the World Now; Back In January 2025
TheatreEddys Goes to the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Beginning in 1947 with 8 productions performed uninvited on the ‘fringe’ of the first Edinburgh International Festival, today’s annual, 3.5 week Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s largest performing arts festival with 262 venues, 3317 productions, and 51,446 individual performances. And only saw 41 in the nine days we are here … my 6th and Hernan’s 3rd Fringe. Since this is … [Read more...] about TheatreEddys Goes to the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Accused!
Accused! Patricia Milton Central Works Politicians and police ranting against immigrants and the crimes they bring. An invading plague blamed on other countries. Threats and fears of domestic terrorists and possible bombings. Suspicion of corrupt public officials. People of color ignored by police. Women’s opinions ridiculed and outright dismissed by the men in … [Read more...] about Accused!
The Best of The Second City
The Best of The Second City The Second City Berkeley Repertory Theatre For sixty-four years emanating from its Chicago birthplace has come generation after generation of some of the world’s greatest comedian superstars, all getting their start doing improv and ensemble acts at The Second City. The likes of Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Tina Fay, Chris … [Read more...] about The Best of The Second City
Who’s-Dead McCarthy: Stories by Kevin Barry
Who’s-Dead McCarthy: Stories by Kevin Barry Kevin Barry Word for Word In its 31st year of transforming “the page to the stage,” Word for Word once again celebrates the literary genre of the short story by bringing to the intimate stage of Z Below three delightful gems by a much awarded, contemporary, Irish writer in Who’s-Dead McCarthy: Stories by Kevin Barry. The stories … [Read more...] about Who’s-Dead McCarthy: Stories by Kevin Barry
Evita
Evita Andrew Lloyd Webber (Music); Tim Rice (Lyrics) San Francisco Playhouse With music that ranges from solemn classical, hip-swishing Latin, and grinding rock to soaring ballads and anthems, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita leaves any audience member with enough memorable earworms for a full night’s worth of dreams. The endurance of Webber’s music coupled with lyrics by … [Read more...] about Evita
Chaplin and Keaton on the Set of Limelight
Chaplin and Keaton on the Set of Limelight Greg Lam The Pear Theatre One was known worldwide for his bamboo cane, derby hat, toothbrush mustache, too-small black jacket, and a walk more like a penguin than a man. The other’s big screen image familiar to all was a clean-shaven face smothered in thick, white makeup; a deadpan expression with smile totally absent; baggy … [Read more...] about Chaplin and Keaton on the Set of Limelight
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express Adapted by Ken Ludwig from the Novel by Agatha Christie Palo Alto Players For many of us, there is nothing better than curling up in a comfy chair and opening the first page of an Agatha Christie novel to see what devilish deed Hercule Poirot will solve this time. Perhaps the only thing better is to see all the suspense, speculation, and … [Read more...] about Murder on the Orient Express
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor Otto Nicolai (Composer); Salomon Hermann Mosenthal (Original Libretto); Donald Pippin (English Version, Libretto) Based on Play by William Shakespeare Pocket Opera With a measure of self-worth and a confidence in his own attraction to the fairer sex that are almost as mammoth as his rotund belly, Shakespeare’s Falstaff has through the … [Read more...] about The Merry Wives of Windsor
