Nora: A Doll’s House Stef Smith, after Henrik Ibsen City Lights Theater Company When Henrik Ibsen premiered A Doll’s House in 1879, controversy immediately erupted when Nora, banker’s wife and mother of three, challenges the society’s definition of marriage and walks defiantly away from hers, seeking to discover who she really is beyond those two, domestic titles. … [Read more...] about Nora: A Doll’s House
4 E
Tosca
Tosca Giacomo Puccini Original Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa English Version by Donald Pippin Pocket Opera, in a Co-Production with Cinnabar Theatre When Giacomo Puccini’s universally popular, 1900-premiering Tosca is transformed from its usual position on grand opera stages with scores of cast members to an intimate setting where a few … [Read more...] about Tosca
The Kinsey Sicks: Drag Queen Storytime Gone Wild
Drag Queen Storytime Gone Wild! Benjamin Schatz (Book), with Spencer Brown, Jeff Manabat & Nathan Marken Benjamin Schatz (Lyrics); Jeff Manabat (Vocal Arrangements) New Conservatory Theatre Center The masters of brilliantly delivering both corn and porn in glorious, a cappella harmonies brimming with biting political and social satire are back in what they call … [Read more...] about The Kinsey Sicks: Drag Queen Storytime Gone Wild
Hurricane Diane
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
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 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
Where Did We Sit on the Bus?
Where Did We Sit on the Bus? Brian Quijada (Book and Music); Satya Chávez (Additional Compositions) Marin Theatre Company When he was in the third grade, Brian Quijada sat in a classroom during a lesson about Rosa Parks contemplating the bus where she took her seat. In the front, he heard, was where the whites normally sat; in the back were the Blacks. Brown-skinned, … [Read more...] about Where Did We Sit on the Bus?
By Georges! A Day in the Life of the Legendary Chevalier de Saint-Georges
By Georges! A Day in the Life of the Legendary Chevalier de Saint-Georges James D Sasser (Book & Lyrics); Charles Vincent Burwell (Music & Lyrics) Lamplighters Music Theatre As with so many accomplished people of color, the incredible life, achievements, and legacy of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, has largely been forgotten since his 1799 death … [Read more...] about By Georges! A Day in the Life of the Legendary Chevalier de Saint-Georges
The Producers
The Producers Mel Brooks (Book, Music & Lyrics) Hillbarn Theatre and Conservatory Perspective #1: Raunchy, crass, insulting, insensitive. Horrible stereotypes that in 2023 seem particularly out of place in light of Me-Too, Don’t Say Gay, dramatic increase in antisemitism, and attacks in state after state aimed at transgender people. Perspective #2: Riotous, … [Read more...] about The Producers
Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2
Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 Qui Nguyen American Conservatory Theater Qui Nguyen refuses to write a play that can be easily described by any conventional terms. His highly inventive, irreverent, wild ride of a love story, Vietgone, that pulled up in 2018 on a motorcycle onto the intimate Strand stage of A.C.T. was a topsy-turvy combination of romantic comedy; … [Read more...] about Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2
English
English Sanaz Toossi Berkeley Repertory Theatre As an adult who is attempting to learn another language later in life, I know firsthand how the experience can be both exciting and tormenting, with my altering within minutes between feeling proud of all I know and stupid for all that I still do not. But like most Americans born here, I am not learning another language … [Read more...] about English
Die Fledermaus, or The Revenge of the Bat
Die Fledermaus Johann Strauss II Original German Libretto by Karl Kaffner & Richard Ginée; English Version by Donald Pippin Pocket Opera Everybody who is anybody of societal standing in Vienna is heading to the ball of the season at the palatial home of Prince Orlofsky. The gowned and tuxedoed guests include a man-about-town disguised as a French marquis who is … [Read more...] about Die Fledermaus, or The Revenge of the Bat
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman, The Musical Gerry Marshall & J.F. Lawton (Book); Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance (Music & Lyrics) Based on Touchstone Pictures motion picture by J.F. Lawton Broadway San Jose A billionaire New Yorker who buys at bargain prices troubled companies only to dismantle them and sell the pieces for millions in profits picks up a prostitute in a shady … [Read more...] about Pretty Woman
A Statue for Ballybunion
A Statue for Ballybunion Tom McEnery San Jose Playhouse It is January 1998; and after deadly decades of “The Troubles,” the prospects for peace in Ireland are looking better than ever, with much help coming from the Leader of the Free World, President Bill Clinton. But on the craggy, western shores of Kerry County, things are not looking so rosy for the small town of … [Read more...] about A Statue for Ballybunion
