Fallen AngelsNoel CowardTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyImagine in 1925 a twenty-four-old aspiring playwright writing a riotous comedy about two married women plotting together to have a weekend fling with a visiting Frenchman while their husbands are off on a golf holiday! Ninety years later, such a set-up seems a bit ho-hum; but at a time when women had just won the right to … [Read more...] about “Fallen Angels”
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“The Book of Mormon”
The Book of MormonTrey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone (Book, Music & Lyrics)SHNOrpheum TheatreThe perfect musical: What constitutes such a thing? Soaring music that people are humming as they leave with some lyrics they are actually remembering and mouthing? Choreography that is letter-perfect and both traditional and up-to-the-moment current? … [Read more...] about “The Book of Mormon”
“Heathers: The Musical”
Heathers: The MusicalLaurence O’Keefe Y Kevin Murphy (Book, Music & Lyrics)Ray of Light Theatre Presenting at the Victoria Theatre, San FranciscoTime and again in the past few years, Ray of Light Theatre has produced quirky, exciting, new musicals that most other local theatres probably would not consider offering (Carrie the Musical, Triassic Parq, Yeast Nation, Jerry … [Read more...] about “Heathers: The Musical”
“Hookman”
HookmanLauren YeeEncore Theatre Company,In Association with Z SpaceThe scene opens innocently enough. Two seventeen-year-old girls, home in California for a holiday break from their respective colleges, banter back and forth driving toward the audience in a skeleton frame of a car as they head to a late-night movie. Their fast-paced, Twitter-like discourse where … [Read more...] about “Hookman”
“Fifth of July”
Fifth of JulyLanford WilsonAurora TheatreAn octet of family and long-time friends collect in the small living room literally at the audience’s feet in the intimate setting of the Aurora. Night has set in on July 4, 1977. Before twenty-four hours pass, a number of major transitions are going to occur, some more easily and happily than others. Hopes and … [Read more...] about “Fifth of July”
“One Man, Two Guvnors”
One Man, Two GuvnorsRichard Bean(Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo GoldoniWith songs by Grant Olding)Berkeley Repertory Theatre Roda Theatre, BerkeleyEven from the lobby of Berkeley’s Roda Theatre, delightful, fun-sounding music from some unseen band fills the air as we enter to see Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors. Once inside the auditorium, we see … [Read more...] about “One Man, Two Guvnors”
“Oh No There’s Men On The Land”
Oh No There’s Men On The LandKaren S. RipleyThe MarshCabaret, BerkeleyAs my husband and I settled into our seats and table in the intimate, cozy Cabaret of the Berkeley Marsh for the 5 p.m. show, we soon started to feel a bit uneasy as we realized that we were the only two men in a room of women, many of whom clearly knew each other and most of whom appeared to be possible … [Read more...] about “Oh No There’s Men On The Land”
“The River Bride”
The River BrideMarisela Trevino OrtaFess Parker Theatre, Santa Clara UniversityA 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 Aldo Billingslea and presented by students of Santa Clara University’s Department of Theatre & Dance, meets these … [Read more...] about “The River Bride”
“Colossal”
“Colossal”Andrew HinderakerDallas Theatre Center, Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre: Dallas, TXIt is 2 p.m., and the lobby-waiting audience finally begins its descent into the lower-floor theatre for the afternoon’s matinee. Reverberating ever more loudly are the beats and crashes of drums and cymbals. As we turn the corner at stair’s end, we make our way around the end … [Read more...] about “Colossal”
“Death of a Salesman”
Death of a SalesmanArthur MillerThe StageWillie Loman. Just the name conjures up many notions and images of past, great performances of what many believe is one of the greatest American dramas of the twentieth century. How can yet one more production by a local company hope to compete with the giants of Broadway, TV, and film who have played this beaten-down … [Read more...] about “Death of a Salesman”
“Let There Be Love”
Let There Be LoveKwane Kwei-ArmahAmerican Conservatory TheatreSeemingly unbridgeable gulfs exist aplenty in Kwane Kwei-Armah’s Let There Be Love. Divisions due to race, age, sex, sex orientation, immigrant status, and class along with serious parent-child conflicts threaten at times to keep each of our three principles islands unto themselves and at other times to pit two … [Read more...] about “Let There Be Love”
“Head of Passes”
Head of PassesTarell Alvin McCraneyBerkeley Repertory TheatreHead of Passes is both the title of rising playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s newest play and the part of lower Louisiana where three passages of the Mississippi join in shifting swamps and sands into turbulent currents of the Gulf of Mexico. It is in this sparsely populated, often stormy and flooded setting … [Read more...] about “Head of Passes”
“Fire on the Mountain”
Fire on the MountainRandal Myler & Dan WheetmanTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyWith relatively few spoken words but instead with three dozen songs and several score of projected, vintage photographs, Fire on the Mountain tells a moving, powerful story of the Appalachian coal miner. The might of the media used in this timeline history that covers much of the twentieth … [Read more...] about “Fire on the Mountain”
“The Last Five Years”
The Last Five YearsJason Robert Brown (music & lyrics)American Conservatory TheatreThe widely popular, much-produced, two-person musical The Last Five Years (music and lyrics by Broadway veteran Jason Robert Brown) came recently to San Francisco in a concert version for three performances only. Even after just one performance, social media sites lit up with “You have … [Read more...] about “The Last Five Years”
“Tartuffe”
TartuffeMoliere, Adapted by David BallBerkeley Repertory Theatre A 350-year-old farce about blind, religious fanaticism and the corruption of religious leaders, Moliere’s Tartuffe is one of the those beloved, funny, and biting classics that most avid theatre-goers have seen at least once in their careers as audience members. However, it is doubtful any of us has seen … [Read more...] about “Tartuffe”
