The Who and The WhatAyad AkhtarMarin Theatre CompanyDenmo Ibrahim & Alfredo HuerecaAfzal has about all a man could want in life, save his precious wife whom he lost to cancer a few years ago. As a Pakistani immigrant and now U.S. citizen, he owns a commanding thirty per cent of the Atlanta, taxi industry. He has two beautiful, grown daughters who adore … [Read more...] about “The Who and The What”
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“Violet”
VioletBrian Crawley (Book & Lyrics): Jeanine Tesori (Music)Based on the The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris BettsBay Area MusicalsJuliana LustenaderIt’s September 4, 1964 in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, as a wide-smiling, young woman with a small suitcase packed full of anticipation and hope boards a Greyhound bus. Bound for the church of Hope and Glory in Tulsa, Oklahoma, … [Read more...] about “Violet”
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofTennessee WilliamsThe StageRob August & Allison F. RichWhat is it about sixty-plus-year-old this play about one family’s secrets, doubts, deceptions, lies, greed, unmet sexual desires, and mores still reflecting the Deep South’s century-old defeat that makes it one of the American stage’s favorites? The Stage presents a stellar … [Read more...] about “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
“Border People”
Border PeopleDan HoyleThe MarshDan HoyleHow many average-sized, white guys can start a one-man show in San Francisco taking on the South Bronx, slang-filled dialect and the smooth-moving body motions of a six-foot-five black man and not get booed off the stage? What if that same white actor employs numerous other ways of positioning his eyebrows, eyes, mouth, posture, … [Read more...] about “Border People”
“Metamorphoses”
MetamorphosesMary Zimmerman (From the translations of Ovid by David R. Slavitt)Berkeley Repertory Theatre (in co-production with GuthrieTheater)Steven Epp & Sango TajimaThe element that flows, freezes, and flies into the sky as steam is the medium in which multiple, life-altering transformations occur in each of dozen-plus vignettes of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, now in … [Read more...] about “Metamorphoses”
“A Little Night Music”
A Little Night MusicStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)Lamplighters Music Theatre Amy Bouchard, Jonathan Smucker, Elana Cowen & Chris UzelacSwaying and circling, circling and swaying, a quintet sings in a lush blend of harmonies snippets of fuller songs soon to come while also providing us metaphors in movement and in words of the on-again, off-again … [Read more...] about “A Little Night Music”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)Hillbarn TheatreHeather Orth & Keith PintoOne lone, frozen figure stares blankly forward, singing with almost no emotion those words so well-known to Sondheim lovers everywhere:“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.His skin was pale and his eye was odd.He shaved the faces of … [Read more...] about “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“King of the Yees”
King of the YeesLauren YeeSan Francisco PlayhouseKrystle Piamonte & Francis Jue“I am Lauren Yee, and this is a story, a true story, about my dad, about dying Chinatowns, about how things fall apart and how to say goodbye.”But the “two-hander” play that Lauren Yee thinks she has written and is now in its opening minutes at San Francisco Playhouse (with one actor playing her … [Read more...] about “King of the Yees”
“When We Were Young and Unafraid
When We Were Young and UnafraidSarah TreemCustom Made Theatre CompanyZoë Foulks & Stacy RossIt’s 1972; and the U.S. Senate has finally followed the House’s lead and passed the Equal Rights Amendment, sending it to state legislatures with the hopes of millions of women that the constitutional amendment first introduced in 1921 will soon finally become law. But not all … [Read more...] about “When We Were Young and Unafraid
“How I Learned What I Learned”
How I Learned What I LearnedAugust Wilson (Co-Conceived with Todd Kreidler)Marin Theatre (in co-production with Lorraine HansberryTheatre and Ubuntu Theatre Project)Steven Anthony JonesAs the elderly man walks across the stage carrying his aged limp with dignity and purpose, we are immediately struck by eyes that twinkle with humor and a face beautifully burrowed with a … [Read more...] about “How I Learned What I Learned”
“Paradise Square: A New Musical”
Paradise Square: A New MusicalMarcus Gardley, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan (Book); Conceived by Larry Kirwan; Jason Howland & Larry Kirwan (Music); Nathan Tysen (Lyrics)Based on the Songs of Stephen FosterBerkeley Repertory TheatreThe Cast of Paradise Square: A New MusicalIn what is now regarded as the first inner-city slum in America -- one teeming by the early 1860s … [Read more...] about “Paradise Square: A New Musical”
“Come from Away”
Come from AwayIrene Sankoff & David Hein (Book, Music & Lyrics)SHNThe Cast of Come from Away“I’m sitting in my car.”“I’m in the library.”“I’m in the staff room.”“And I turned on the radio.”Like almost everyone worldwide and everyone in the opening night audience of SHN’s Golden Gate Theatre, citizens of Gander, Newfoundland remember where they were at 8:46 a.m. on … [Read more...] about “Come from Away”
“Tuck Everlasting”
Tuck Everlasting Chris Miller (Music); Nathan Tysen (Lyrics); Claudia Shear & Tim Federle (Book)Based on the Novel by Natalie BabbittTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyNatalie Schroeder and Eddie GreyFor anyone who has seen even a few of the over 165 productions that Artistic Director Robert Kelley has directed in his near fifty years at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, then it soon … [Read more...] about “Tuck Everlasting”
“The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley”
The Wickhams: Christmas at PemberleyLauren Gunderson & Margot MelconMarin Theatre CompanyNeiry Rojo & August BrowningIn late December 1815, two years have passed since four of the five sisters of the Longbourn estate traversed many complicated webs and winding routes to land husbands in Jane Austin’s much beloved Pride and Prejudice. Now as December arrives in … [Read more...] about “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley”
“Mary Poppins”
Mary PoppinsRichard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (Music & Lyrics); Julian Fellowes (Book) with Additional Songs/Lyrics by George Stiles & Anthony DreweBased on the Stories of P.L. Travers and the Film by Walt DisneySan Francisco Playhouse El BehMary and Bert have danced with animated animals in a cinematic Mary Poppins for almost fifty-five years with Julie Andrews … [Read more...] about “Mary Poppins”
