The story originating from Puccini’s much-beloved opera Madame Butterfly is well enough known that most audience members arrive – as they might for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – anticipating the tragic ending to its ill-fated love story. Decade-long runs both in London and New York in the 1990s as well as continual, packed-house tours worldwide these past twenty years also … [Read more...] about Miss Saigon
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Testmatch
Cricket – a sport created by England and played today mostly by the mother country and countries of her former Empire – becomes the backdrop for Kate Attwell’s Testmatch, now in its time-traveling, gender-bending, hard-reality-and-parody-prolific world premiere at American Conservatory Theater. A Pandora’s Box of issues bursts open in the course of the ninety-minutes, including … [Read more...] about Testmatch
The Chinese Lady
“What is happening is a performance. For my entire life is a performance. These words that you hear are not my own. These clothes I wear are not my own. This body that I occupy is not my own.” In 1834, two traders of Far East Oriental imports to New York arranged for a Chinese girl of fourteen and of the wealthy class to come to the United States for two years in order to … [Read more...] about The Chinese Lady
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
If there is anyone who is curious why President Trump has a picture of Andrew Jackson watching over him in the Oval Office, that person need only sit through a production of Alex Timbers’ (book) and Michael Friedman’s (music and lyrics) Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, now playing at Custom Made Theatre Company. Lyrics like the following make that pretty clear, as Jackson at one … [Read more...] about Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
“Dance Nation”
Dance Nation Clare Barron San Francisco Playhouse The Cast of Dance Nation Thirteen. Oh, God, when I remember thirteen, I get this strange knot in my stomach and a wave of brief nausea. I was already six-foot, two-inches, and stuck out like a sore thumb in the school hallway. I was awkward and stumbled over my size-twelve feet; my voice squeaked; my thick glasses … [Read more...] about “Dance Nation”
“Hickorydickory”
HickorydickoryMarisa WegrzynDragon Productions Theatre CompanyZoe Lytle, Troy Johnson, Allie Bailey, and Sarah HaasIn the imagination of playwright Marisa Wergzyn, the so-called “mortal clock” is a pocket watch every human carries within – one whose chain is wrapped around our hearts, with our death date and time engraved within. A swirling mixture of mystery, science … [Read more...] about “Hickorydickory”
“Macbeth”: Day 3, Play 3, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
MacbethWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalDanforth Comins & Any Kim WaschkeHow much do we actually control our own choices and fates in the decisions we believe we are making independently, or how much do we become the puppets of others’ suggestions they have purposely implanted within us to lead us in directions they desire? In the current Oregon … [Read more...] about “Macbeth”: Day 3, Play 3, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“Grease”
GreaseWarren Casey & Jim Jacobs (Book, Music & Lyrics)Broadway by the Bay Nick Quintell, Katharine Andrade & CastWhy are over one thousand people inside the Fox on a sunny Sunday in order to see yet one more Grease, this time presented by Broadway by the Bay’s cast of twenty-two? Probably it is because we just cannot get enough of songs like … [Read more...] about “Grease”
“Life Sucks”
Life SucksAaron PosnerCustom Made Theatre CompanyThe Cast of Life SucksThe cast comes on stage to prepare us. The seven cast members banter about what the play we are about to see is all about, with suggestions that it is about “love,” “longing,” “loss,” and “how fucked up the world is.” With that final, upbeat proclamation and a few of the regular warnings about … [Read more...] about “Life Sucks”
“110 in the Shade”
110 in the ShadeN. Richard Nash (Book); Harvey Schmidt (Music); Tom Jones (Lyrics)Based on the Play, The Rainmaker, by N. Richard Nash42nd Street MoonElliot Hanson, James Schott, Andrea Dennison-Laufer & Jesse CaldwellEven in the best of productions – like the outstanding 2007 Roundabout revival in New York starring the incomparable Audra McDonald along with Steve Kazee and … [Read more...] about “110 in the Shade”
“Adiós Mamá Carlota”
Adiós Mamá CarlotaLuis ValdezThe Stage in association with El Teatro CampesinoAlison F. Rich and Will Springhorn, Jr.Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino partner with The Stage to premiere a play about a short, little known period of Mexican history when the younger brother, Maximilian I, of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph was named in 1864 by Napoleon III to be Emperor of Mexico, … [Read more...] about “Adiós Mamá Carlota”
“KILL THE DEBBIE DOWNERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM OFF!”
KILL THE DEBBIE DOWNERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM OFF!Mark Jackson & Beth WilmurtShotgun PlayersNathaniel Andalis, Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, Gabby Battista, Sam Jackson & Billy RaphealFirst, I must make an upfront confession. Either I missed all the particular “Saturday Night Live” shows between 2004 and 2010 when various versions of Rachel Datch’s character, … [Read more...] about “KILL THE DEBBIE DOWNERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM OFF!”
“Steve”
SteveMark GerrardNew Conservatory Theatre CenterGreg Ayers, Clove Galilee, Joey Alvarado, Shawnj West & Daniel RedmondFive long-term friends – two gay couples and their mutual lesbian BFF, Carrie – are meeting for drinks to celebrate Steven’s birthday. Steven arrives in a grouchy mood, snapping with a snarl every time his partner of sixteen years opens his mouth and … [Read more...] about “Steve”
“Spending the End of the World on OK Cupid”
Spending the End of the World on OK CupidJeffrey LoPear Theatre Michelle Skinner and Tasi AlabastroA modern day prophet for the last six months has been screaming his prediction that the world would end last night; and in fact, half the world’s population suddenly evaporated. He now says that tonight at midnight, everyone else on earth will complete “The … [Read more...] about “Spending the End of the World on OK Cupid”
“Hedda Gabler”
Hedda GablerHenrik IbsenPear TheatreTroy Johnson and Elizabeth Kruse Craig Continuing its tradition of periodically staging important classics on its small stage, Pear Theatre presents Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 Hedda Gabler in a modern-set adaptation by former Artistic Director and Founder, Diane Tasca. Starring current Artistic Director Elizabeth Kruse Craig as … [Read more...] about “Hedda Gabler”
