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”
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“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”
“Pike Street”
Pike StreetNilaja SunBerkeley Repertory Theatre Nilaja SunIn August 2017, I saw and reviewed Nilaja Sun's solo performance of "Pike Street" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. At that time, I contacted several Bay Area companies and suggested they consider bringing her and her compelling story to our local audiences. While I unfortunately am unable to attend … [Read more...] about “Pike Street”
“Making God Laugh”
Jeremy Ryan, Mary Lou Torre, and Keenan FlaggMaking God LaughSean GrennanCity Lights Theater CompanyAs the decades come and go over a thirty-year period in the life of one family, many changes occur in the world around them while in the house where the three grown children were raised, many more things stay the same. What better holiday gift could … [Read more...] about “Making God Laugh”
“Everything Is Illuminated”
Everything Is IlluminatedAdapted by Simon Block, Based on the Novel by Jonathan Safran FoerAurora Theatre CompanyJulian López Morillas, Adam Burch & Jeremy Kahn“No one arrives in this world from nowhere.” The driving desire to know his own origins sends a young, aspiring writer in the late 1990s to the Ukraine in search of a woman in a picture identified as Augustine … [Read more...] about “Everything Is Illuminated”
“All the Way”
All the WayRobert SchenkkanPalo Alto Players The Cast of All the WayIn the Palo Alto Players’ magnificently produced, regional premiere of Robert Schenkkan’s 2014 Tony winning Best Play, All the Way, we as an audience are challenged to ask ourselves if questionable tactics of a nation’s leader are ever acceptable if the desired outcomes match our own sense of … [Read more...] about “All the Way”
“Elton John + Tim Rice’s AIDA”
Elton John + Tim Rice’s AIDAElton John (Music); Tim Rice (Lyrics); Linda Wolverton, Robert Falls & David Henry Hwang (Book)Broadway by the Bay Raquel Nicole Jeté and Shaun Leslie ThomasIn 2000, a star-studded team of Elton John (music), Tim Rice (lyrics) along with Linda Wolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang (book) took the Verdi opera AIDA and … [Read more...] about “Elton John + Tim Rice’s AIDA”
