In the Next Room, or, the Vibrator PlaySarah RuhlPear TheatreApril CulverSarah Ruhl’s Pulitzer Prize finalist In the Next Room, or, the Vibrator Play received its much acclaimed world premiere in 2009 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Now on the much smaller, more intimate stage of Pear Theatre, the play opens once again in the Bay Area featuring a doctor’s wife, … [Read more...] about “In the Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play”
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“How I Learned to Drive”
How I Learned to DrivePaula VogelCustom Made TheatreAmanda Farbstein & Eric Reid“That day was the last day I lived in my body.I retreated into my head and lived there ever since.”A night at the theatre is not always an easy, enjoyable experience, even when the production is first-rate. When the play’s subjects include pedophilia, incest, and misogyny, one cannot … [Read more...] about “How I Learned to Drive”
“Something Rotten”
Something RottenKarey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell (Book); Wayne & Karey Kirkpatrick (Music & Lyrics)SHNNick Rashad Burroughs & Cast of Something's RottenWith a face that literally glows in excitement and a voice that pops and zings with full exuberance, the Minstrel sings, “Welcome to the Renaissance, where we ooh and ahh you with ambiance ... where everything … [Read more...] about “Something Rotten”
“Constellations”
ConstellationsNick PayneTheatreWorks Silicon Valley Carie Kawa & Robert Gilbert The multiple possibilities of the milestone interactions occurring over the lifetime of one couple’s relationship is the focus of Nick Payne’s Constellations, now in a regional premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. There is not a minute of the … [Read more...] about “Constellations”
“Day 3: Shows 6-9: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Fringe Festival”
“Day 3 Shows 5-8: TheatreEddys at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”Not about HeroesStephen MacDonaldFlying BridgePleasance What force drives a man who is an avid anti-war advocate in his poetry and personal stance to go back into a war he absolutely no longer believes is legitimate? Further, how could this possibly happen to two poets, two men who have developed a … [Read more...] about “Day 3: Shows 6-9: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Fringe Festival”
“Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”: Day 9, Play 11, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Hannah and the Dread GazeboJiehae ParkOregon Shakespeare Festival“This is a story about a wish.” But does this story really have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Should it? Must it? Or is this a story where we simply accept and enjoy that there is something about a stone in a bottle, about a tiger and a bear, about magpies and garlic, and about a … [Read more...] about “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”: Day 9, Play 11, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“UniSon”: Day 4, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
UniSonUNIVERSES (Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, William Ruiz — aka Ninja)Oregon Shakespeare Festival“If there is such a thing as public art and private art,Then the poems are private. They mark the landscape.…They are a record of private moments.…I count them as gifts.”After creating the ten, decade-by-decade plays chronicling African-American history of the twentieth … [Read more...] about “UniSon”: Day 4, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“What You Will”
What You WillMax GutmannPear TheatreAmelia Adams & Jim JohnsonRarely, if ever, can anyone in the Western World go through a day without either quoting or hearing quoted at least a few, choice lines from the 118,406 William Shakespeare left us. What if several thousand were selected from his thirty-seven plays– purposely and cleverly of course – and rearranged into a … [Read more...] about “What You Will”
“The Toxic Avenger”
The Toxic AvengerJoe DiPietro (Book & Lyrics); David Bryan (Music & Lyrics)The Stage Courtney Hatcher, Brandon Noel Thomas, Joshua Marx, Allison F. Rich & Will Springhorn Jr. The Toxic Avengeris a solid choice by The Stage for summertime fun in much the same way local movie houses decide to give us silly comedies and super-hero … [Read more...] about “The Toxic Avenger”
“The Legend of Georgia McBride”
The Legend of Georgia McBrideMatthew LopezMarin Theatre CompanyJason Kapoor, Adam McGill & Kraig SwartzElvis shaking his legs in a white jumpsuit, studded with red sparkles and flared in both sleeves and legs. Drag queens in golden-yellow, butt-showing rain gear, popping their umbrellas and singing of “men” raining from above. Appearances by Judy, Barbra, Tammy, … [Read more...] about “The Legend of Georgia McBride”
“The Graduate”
The GraduateTerry JohnsonBased on Novel by Charles Webb & Movie by Calder Willingham & Buck HenryPalo Alto PlayersMax Tachis & Shawn Bender ‘Cute’ is a word that keeps coming to my mind as I relive The Graduate as produced by Palo Alto Players and director Jeanie Smith – a ‘cute’ that is meant as a total compliment of how chuckling funny, genuinely heart-felt, … [Read more...] about “The Graduate”
“Hershey Felder, Beethoven”
Hershey Felder, BeethovenHershey Felder (Book); Ludwig van Beethoven (Music)TheatreWorks, Silicon ValleyHershey Felder Hershey Felder, Beethoven bursts onto the Mountain View Performing Arts Center as a full, classical concert, played magnificently by the sole performer as pianist and punctuated by a narrated story that is populated by both Beethoven and the major players of … [Read more...] about “Hershey Felder, Beethoven”
“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
Priscilla, Queen of the DesertStephen Elliott & Allan ScottTheatre RhinocerosDiogo Zavadzki, Charles Peoples III & Derek MillerIt’s Pride 2017 in San Francisco; and what better way to celebrate than with fabulously attired drag queens, shirtless twinks, singing divas in sparkly wigs, and a garishly decorated school bus named Priscilla? Oh, and there are kangaroos, … [Read more...] about “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
“Pear Slices 2017”
Pear Slices 2017Various PlaywrightsPear TheatreBriana Mitchell, Ariel Aronica, and Bryan Moriarty From its writers’ forum often come full-length plays that premiere on the intimate Pear Theatre stage, and also emerging is an annual offering not unlike this year’s version of Pear Slices 2017: Eight fifteen-minute plays performed in repertory by seven talented … [Read more...] about “Pear Slices 2017”
“Sister Act”
Sister ActAlan Menken (Music); Glenn Slater (Lyrics); Cheri & Bill Steinkellner (Book)Hillbarn TheatreDawn L. Troupe, Melissa Costa and CastGlory Hallelujah and Amen! Hillbarn Theatre may not have Whoopi Goldberg from the 1992 movie or Patina Miller from the 2009 London and 2011 New York openings; but thank the Almighty, the Foster City company has found its miracle … [Read more...] about “Sister Act”
