The Music Man Meredith Wilson (Book, Music & Lyrics) Palo Alto Players Musicals often burst onto the stage with numbers that arouse an audience to peak attention and leave fond impressions (and earworms) that can last a lifetime. Among the dozens of opening numbers that are my big-sound, big-number favorites are the likes of Belle entering the village in Beauty and the … [Read more...] about The Music Man
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams San Francisco Playhouse As we enter the theatre, we immediately notice at the stage’s corner a young man intently smoking, looking one moment longingly into a non-descript distance and writing the next with much intent into a small notebook clasped tightly in his hand. In between, he rummages through a collection of records, … [Read more...] about The Glass Menagerie
The Chinese Lady
The Chinese Lady Lloyd Suh The Pear Theatre A young girl barely fourteen dressed and in make-up of her traditional, royal Chinese background sits in a small room surrounded by reminders of her Chinese heritage. With sparkling personality and sweet smile, she tells us that while her lips are moving, she is not speaking; that the words we hear are not hers; and that the … [Read more...] about The Chinese Lady
Love Letters
Love Letters A.R. Gurney The Pear Theatre A.R. Gurney’s 1989-premiering Love Letters has been performed hundreds of times by theatres on-and-off-Broadway, coast-to-coast, and internationally, featuring thousands of couples – often the biggest names in show biz – who generally star in the two-hander show only one night. By design of the playwright, actors do not see a … [Read more...] about Love Letters
Adventures with Alice
Adventures with Alice Ava Roy Adapted from Lewis Carroll We Players Leave all logic behind; put away the need for plotline; forget understanding exactly what is happening at all times; readily accept questions with no answers and riddles with no solutions. Anyone ready to meet these requirements is more than eligible to plunge into a two-hour, thirty-minute whirlwind … [Read more...] about Adventures with Alice
Blue Door
Blue Door Tanya Barfield Aurora Theatre Company Like Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge, Lewis heads to bed, soon to toss and turn and to spend a night confronted by the ghosts of his life – in his case, direct-line ancestors stretching over a hundred years. As one ghost announces, “This is a summoning” for this distinguished, Black, mathematics professor who before … [Read more...] about Blue Door
Forever Plaid
Forever Plaid Stuart Ross (Book); James Raitt (Musical Continuity, Supervision & Arrangements) 42nd Street Moon If ever there were a musical whose subtitle should be “Oldies But Goldies,” it would have to be Stuart Ross’s (book) Forever Plaid, a 25+-song collection from close-harmony, all-male (and usually white) groups of the 1950s like the The Four Aces, The Four … [Read more...] about Forever Plaid
Something Rotten
Something Rotten Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell (Book); Wayne & Karey Kirkpatrick (Music & Lyrics) Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory With eyes sparkling their excitement and a spry body moving almost like a stringed puppet, the Minstrel sings, “Welcome to the Renaissance, where we ooh and ahh you with ambiance ... where everything is new.” Touting … [Read more...] about Something Rotten
A Strange Loop
A Strange Loop Michael R. Jackson (Book, Music & Lyrics) American Conservatory Theater, in Co-Production with Central Theatre Group Two minutes until the intermission of The Lion King ends. The usher – who just happens to be named Usher – dings the ‘bing-bong-bing’ warning to scurry folks back to their seats. Recurring thoughts begin swarming in his head – often … [Read more...] about A Strange Loop
Cunning Little Vixen
Cunning Little Vixen Leoš Janáček (Music & Original Czech Libretto) Donald Pippin (English Version of Libretto) Pocket Opera An old badger waddles outside its bushy abode, batting away a horde of buzzing, pesky insects. A spry frog hops onto a nearby rock while one by one, other forest creatures happily hop, prance, and sniff as a butterfly and blue dragon flit and fly … [Read more...] about Cunning Little Vixen
Florencia en el Amazonas
Florencia en el Amazonas (Florence in the Amazon) Daniel Catân (Music); Marcela Fuentes-Berain (Libretto) Based on the Writings of Gabriel Garcia Márquez) Opera San José The romantic drama of multiple loves lost, denied, and finally found intertwine with the Amazon’s alluring myths and fantasy in Opera San José’s magnificent dip into the waters of Daniel Catán’s … [Read more...] about Florencia en el Amazonas
The Tutor
The Tutor Torange Yeghiazarian New Conservatory Theatre Center, In Partnership with Golden Threads Productions “Everyone knows that everyone is lying … Eventually you learn what you can get away with publicly, and the rest, you manage privately … It may seem like a lot to juggle; but practice, daily practice makes perfect," declares the young Baran, soon after … [Read more...] about The Tutor
The Skin of Our Teeth
The Skin of Our Teeth Thornton Wilder Los Altos Stage Company Alert! Alert! It’s the coldest day of the year, and it’s only August. An ice wall has moved the Cathedral of Montreal into Vermont; and in Excelsior, New Jersey, dinosaurs and mammoths alike are getting as worried about their survival as are the mounting number of refugees who are heading southward … [Read more...] about The Skin of Our Teeth
Tiger Style!
Tiger Style! Mike Lew TheatreWorks Silicon Valley The thirty-something Chen siblings’ lives are a mess, and they are looking for someone to blame. Sure, MD/PhD Jennifer is a successful oncologist and also a classical pianist who has played Carnegie Hall; but her do-nothing boyfriend of three years is walking out on her because she is too dominant and no fun. … [Read more...] about Tiger Style!
King Liz
King Liz Fernanda Coppel City Lights Theater Company With Jay Z blasting through the office’s speakers, Gabby serves as a cool DJ in shades while her boss, Liz, enters the office dressed in 5th Avenue glamor – and also in dark shades – lip synching the rap lyrics that help her pump up for the day’s money-making ventures: “As sure as I made it here, I could make it … [Read more...] about King Liz
