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Theatre Eddys

Theatre Eddys

San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

5 E

“Sovereignty”

October 2, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Sovereignty Mary Kathryn Nagle Marin Theatre Company Elizabeth Frances, Adam Magill, Kholan Studi, Scott Coopwood, Andrew Roa, Robert I. Mesa Beginning in the 1830s, Native Peoples were forced to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States and walk thousands of miles to resettle on barren lands in the West, with many thousands dying along the way.  … [Read more...] about “Sovereignty”

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

September 22, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge Word for Word Performing Arts Company & Z Space Charles Shaw Robinson The longest, probably best-known poem by the late-eighteenth, early-nineteenth-century founder of the English Romantic Movement, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is the latest theatrical undertaking by San Francisco’s Word for Word Performing Arts … [Read more...] about “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“Bright Star”

September 16, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Bright StarSteve Martin (Music, Book, Story) & Edie Brickell (Music, Lyrics, Story)Palo Alto PlayersElizabeth SantanaWhen Alice rotates from the rear to step away from a stage full of townspeople to face us, she opens the show singing, “If you knew my story, you’d have a hard time believing me. ” Immediately we know that Elizabeth Santana is going to make this an evening to … [Read more...] about “Bright Star”

“Caroline, Or Change”

September 14, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Caroline, Or ChangeJeanine Tesori (Music); Tony Kushner (Book & Lyrics)Ray of Light TheatreElizabeth Jones, Cadarious Mayberry, Majesty Scott, Jasmyne Brice, Antone Jackson & Leslie IvyIt is November 1963; and after a relatively stable 1950s, change is in the air everywhere – some good, some scary, some revolutionary, and in one case, an event tragic for a nation and … [Read more...] about “Caroline, Or Change”

“Exit Strategy”

September 6, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Exit StrategyIke HolterAurora Theatre CompanyAdam Niemann & Margo HallIt’s 6 p.m. in early August a couple of weeks before school is scheduled to open.  A thirty-year-old, boyish-looking, white Vice-Principal is trying his best to make friendly small talk about the chocolate cake he left today in the teacher’s lounge to a stone-faced, African American veteran teacher … [Read more...] about “Exit Strategy”

“Anastasia”

September 5, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

AnastasiaTerrence McNally (Book); Stephen Flaherty (Music); Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics)SHNLila Coogan & Stephen BrowerSoon after a group of Bolsheviks brutally murdered Tsar Nicolas II and his entire family on July 17, 1918, rumors spread faster than the Revolutionary  Guard could extinguish them that Grand Duchess Anastasia had somehow escaped and was living in hiding.  … [Read more...] about “Anastasia”

Anything Goes

September 2, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Anything GoesCole Porter (Music & Lyrics)P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse (Original Book)Timothy Crouse & John Weidman (New Book)Hillbarn TheatreNathaniel Rothrock & Caitlin McGinty Beginning with the ship’s captain and sailors raising full-voice and rousing harmonies in “There Is No Cure Like Travel” and the full cast blending … [Read more...] about Anything Goes

“The Language Archive”

July 15, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

The Language ArchiveJulia ChoTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyThe CastIn her play, The Language Archive, Julia Cho explores that interplay of language and love as we meet a couple in the course of a break-up because spoken words fail them, an elderly couple who have spent a lifetime differentiating the languages of love and of conflict, and a young woman who learns a new language … [Read more...] about “The Language Archive”

“Cabaret”

July 11, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

CabaretJoe Masteroff (Book); John Kander (Music); Fred Ebb (Lyrics)San Francisco PlayhouseJohn Paul Gonzalez & the Kit Kat DancersSince its 1966 Broadway debut and its initial eight Tonys, Cabaret has continued to evolve through several major, award-winning revivals in both New York and London, becoming ever darker, starker, and rawer with each new production during its … [Read more...] about “Cabaret”

“Indecent”: Day 8, Play 9, TheatreEddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

July 9, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

  Indecent Paula Vogel Oregon Shakespeare Theatre The Cast of Indecent As a violin hauntingly plays a song unknown but still quickly familiar in its sounds and rhythms as Eastern European Jewish, we see eight pairs of shoes at the stage’s edge – eerily reminiscent for any of us who have been to Budapest and have seen the moving memorial there to … [Read more...] about “Indecent”: Day 8, Play 9, TheatreEddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“Hairspray — The Broadway Musical”: Day 8, Play 8, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

July 7, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Hairspray – The Broadway MusicalMark O’Donnell & Thomas Meehan (Book); Marc Shaiman (Music); Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman (Lyrics)Oregon Shakespeare TheatreKaty Geraghty, Daniel T. Parker & CastIt is only fair to open this review of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Hairspray – The Broadway Musical with a warning:  From the opening “Good Morning Baltimore” to the … [Read more...] about “Hairspray — The Broadway Musical”: Day 8, Play 8, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“Cambodian Rock Band”: Day 5, Play 6, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

July 4, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Cambodian Rock BandLauren Yee, with Songs by Dengue FeverOregon Shakespeare FestivalJoe Ngo, Abraham Kim, Brooke Ishibashi, Jane Lui & Moses VillaramaA play about family displacement, trauma, and massive genocide is not a play one would normally expect often to laugh, to tap one’s foot to rock music, or to walk out feeling uplifted and inspired.  But when the play is … [Read more...] about “Cambodian Rock Band”: Day 5, Play 6, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“All’s Well That Ends Well”: Day 4, Play 4, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

July 3, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

All’s Well That Ends WellWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalRoyer BokusCan anything actually end well in a play where for every good, there is a bad; for every show of trust, there is a betrayal of deceit; for every wise counsel, there is an insult full of biting cynicism.  Opposites meet, blend, clash, fight, make love, make war, make peace.  The sexes pit … [Read more...] about “All’s Well That Ends Well”: Day 4, Play 4, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“Mother Road”: Day Two, Play Two, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

July 1, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Mother RoadOctavio SolisOregon Shakespeare FestivalMark Murphey & Tony SanchoSeventy-plus years have past since the Joad family of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath joined a parade of desperate migrant farmers, all leaving their starving lives in Dust-Bowl-ravaged and looking for the lush life they saw painted on fruit crates from California.  Two Joads – a mother and her … [Read more...] about “Mother Road”: Day Two, Play Two, Theatre Eddys Goes to the 2019 Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“Passion”

June 24, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

PassionStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book)Custom Made Theatre CompanyJuliana Lustenader & John MelisTwo voices intertwine as their beautifully sung notes erotically embrace in an opening song that mirrors the locked eyes, the probing hands, and the lip-to-lip brushes of two lovers singing “Happiness” in duet:“I’ve never known what love was ...But now, … [Read more...] about “Passion”

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Theatre Eddys Ratings Legend

5 E's - Loved It
A classic, would see it a second time.
4 E's - Really Liked It
Excellent, strong production.
3 E's - Liked It
Good production but something is lacking or not clicking.
2 E's - Just OK
Below average but had at least one interesting component.
1 E - Did Not Like It
Waste of time.

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Musical5 Eworld premiereMUST SEE4 ETheatreWorks Silicon ValleySan Francisco PlayhouseNew Conservatory Theatre CenterPear TheatreBerkeley Repertory Company4.5 EMarin Theatre CompanyPalo Alto PlayersAmerican Conservatory TheatreShotgun PlayersAurora Theatre CompanyThe MarshHillbarn Theatre3.5 ECity Lights Theater Company

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Theatre Eddys reviews performances throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

About Eddie

Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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