Caesar MaximusWilliam ShakespeareWe PlayersThe Cast of Circus MaximusFor anyone wondering how an electorate can switch in such a short time from electing an Obama to choosing a Trump, a re-visit of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar may send chills up the spine, especially as now being brilliantly directed by Ava Roy in a We Players adaptation entitled Caesar Maximus. In … [Read more...] about “Caesar Maximus”
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“Hold These Truths”
Hold These TruthsJeanne SakataTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyJoel de la FuenteA child of Japanese internees herself, playwright Jeanne Sakata ran across a story so incredible for its audacious and persistent gumption of one man’s stand against the wartime edict – Order 9066 signed by President Franklin Roosevelt – that her resulting play, Hold These Truths, could be at first glance … [Read more...] about “Hold These Truths”
“The Book of Will”
The Book of WillLauren GundersonOregon Shakespeare Festival The Cast of The Book of WillImagine a world without Orlando, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, Rosylind, Caliban, Puck, or dozens of other Shakespearean characters who are our friends, even family. But for the inspired insight, stubborn determination, and colossal efforts of a 1619, London bar owner and his … [Read more...] about “The Book of Will”
“Oklahoma!”: Day 7, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oklahoma!Richard Rodgers (Music), Oscar Hammerstein II (Book & Lyrics)Oregon Shakespeare FestivalRoyer Bockus & Tatiana WechslerAfter relishing an overture that is packed with numbers now encased in the Great American Songbook (during which audience humming and outright singing of words can readily be heard), anticipation is high for those first few notes of “There’s a … [Read more...] about “Oklahoma!”: Day 7, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“Manahatta”: Day 5, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
ManahattaMary Kathryn NagleOregon Shakespeare FestivalSteven Flores & Tanis ParenteauTwo American stories, four centuries apart, interlock in their telling, with characters, events, motives, triumphs, and tragedies strikingly similar in Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Manahatta. Now in an engrossing, enlightening, and emotional world premiere at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare … [Read more...] about “Manahatta”: Day 5, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“Othello”: Day 4, Play 4, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
OthelloWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Cast of OthelloWhen Director Bill Rauch decided to set the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Othelloin our time with military personnel sent to Cyprus wearing camouflage that bear “US Navy” on their uniforms, he ensured the relevance of this tragic tale to headlines we are reading even today. That the … [Read more...] about “Othello”: Day 4, Play 4, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“Destiny of Desire”: Day 1, Play 1, Theatre Eddys at 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Destiny of DesireKaren ZacaríasOregon Shakespeare FestivalEsperanza America, Ella Saldana North, Al Espinosa & Fidel GomezBabies switched at birth; mistaken identities; and a rumored murder of a wife in order to marry a beauty queen. Rich and poor relatives whose lives intersect without knowing; love at first sight more than once; and a nun who knows more than she … [Read more...] about “Destiny of Desire”: Day 1, Play 1, Theatre Eddys at 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“Soft Power”
Soft PowerDavid Henry Hwang (Play & Lyrics); Jeanine Tesori (Music & Additional Lyrics)Curran Theatre (in partnership with Center Theatre Group)Conrad Ricamora & Ensemble MembersIn the past twenty years, a number of twists and turns have challenged the notion of what defines the Great American Musical. Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, and certainly … [Read more...] about “Soft Power”
“A Walk on the Moon”
A Walk on the MoonPamela Gray (Book); Paul Scott Goodman (Music & Lyrics with Additional Lyrics by Pamela Gray)American Conservative TheatreThe Cast of A Walk on the MoonSummer, 1969: Daily, numbers of casualties from Vietnam scroll across living room television screens while streets fill with angry, mostly young anti-war protestors. Their peace-loving folk and … [Read more...] about “A Walk on the Moon”
“Finks”
FINKSJoe GilfordTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyJim Stanek, Donna Vivino, Leo Ash Evens & Gabriel Marin For the first eleven years of his life, Joe Gilford grew up in a household where the 1950s blacklist against Hollywood writers, directors, and actors was very much part of his every day life, given his parents were both on it along with many of their closest friends. … [Read more...] about “Finks”
“A Lesson from Aloes”
A Lesson from AloesAthol FugardWeathervane Productions and Z Below Wendy vanden Heuvel & Victor TalmadgeThe early 1960s in South Africa was a time of increasing police raids, township riots and brutal police reactions as well as unfair trials and undeserved executions. At the same time, the world began to awaken enough to the horrors of apartheid to declare more and … [Read more...] about “A Lesson from Aloes”
“The Humans”
The HumansStephen KaramSHNRichard Thomas, Therese Plaehn, Pamela Reed, Daisy Eagan & Luis VegaA play where sound, light, and set play starring roles along with a stellar cast and a hilarious and haunting script, Stephen Karam’s The Humans arrives in San Francisco as a most welcome and anticipated part of SHN’s current Broadway season. Winner of the 2016 Tony Award for … [Read more...] about “The Humans”
“Jersey Boys”
Jersey BoysMarshall Brickman & Rick Elice (Book)Bob Gaudio (Music); Bob Crewe (Lyrics)BroadwaySan JoseThe Cast of Jersey BoysThe 2005, multi-Tony-award-winning Jersey Boys just keeps packing in audiences everywhere it goes, with crowds jumping to their feet for standing ovations the second the last crooning has been crooned. Many are like I, seeing Jersey Boys last … [Read more...] about “Jersey Boys”
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Hedwig and the Angry InchJohn Cameron Mitchell (Book); Stephen Trask (Music & Lyrics)The Stage Keith Pinto as HedwigIn full fury on the compact floor arena of San Jose’s The Stage, Hedwig and the Angry Inchexplodes. Bay Area favorites Keith Pinto and Ashley Garlick play gender-fluid Hedwig and her back-up singing husband, Yitzhak, a former drag … [Read more...] about “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
“Jesus Christ Superstar”
Jesus Christ SuperstarAndrew Lloyd Webber (Music); Tim Rice (Lyrics)Ray of Light TheatreJanelle Lasalle as Jesus, with ApostlesFor a week, our smart phone and TV screens have been filled with the scenes of burning tires, hurling rocks, and flying bullets as bodies fall on the border of Gaza and Israel. All day, those same small and mega screens have shocked us once more … [Read more...] about “Jesus Christ Superstar”
