La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast) Philip Glass, Based on the Film by Jean Cocteau Opera Parallèle Fantastically blurring live stage performance with cinematic screening where reality and surrealism blend into an evening of spectacular entertainment, Opera Parallèle presents Philip Glass' 1994 opera, La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast) while … [Read more...] about La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast)
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee William Finn (Music & Lyrics); Rachel Sheinkin (Book) Conceived by Rebecca Feldman; Additional Material by Jay Reiss Foothill Music Theatre Maybe few people still have a dictionary anywhere near their desk or on their home's bookshelf. Maybe nearly everyone now relies on Gmail, MSWord, Google search, or AI to … [Read more...] about The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
After Happy
After Happy Patricia Milton Central Works A last-minute, desperate search for a Pirate Queen for the annual Pirate Festival in a community where most residents live under blue-tarp tents after a destructive hurricane named Happy. A bribery deal in process in Liberia for a Louisiana, family oil company to buy a forest where indigenous people live in order to give … [Read more...] about After Happy
Salome
Salome Richard Strauss (composer); Hedwig Lachmann (libretto) Based on French language play by Oscar Wilde West Bay Opera Among a number of Biblical women such as Jezebel and Delilah whose names to this day connote evil, betrayal, and manipulation, Salome has always engendered much distain, but also much fascination. After all, as recorded twice in … [Read more...] about Salome
Running After Shadows
Running After Shadows Vincent Terrell Durham City Lights Theater Company In the middle of his latest Instagram, live-stream "unboxing" as he practically is making love to his just-arrived garlic press and doing a one-man, conga line wearing his new, authentic, red, "America's Test Kitchen" apron, recent culinary convert Morgan Collins opens one more, unexpected … [Read more...] about Running After Shadows
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer W.S. Gilbert (Libretto) & Arthur Sullivan (Music) Lamplighters Musical Theatre "Ring forth ye bells with clarion sound, Forget your knells, for joy abounds. Forget your notes of mournful lay, Sound forth your throats pure joy today." With full voices resounding in happy harmonies, a chorus of both the wealthy and the working class rejoice that … [Read more...] about The Sorcerer
Simple Mexican Pleasures
Simple Mexican Pleasures Eric Reyes Loo New Conservatory Theatre Center No one would possibly dare accuse Eric of even having one toe still in the closet -- not his friends, family, colleagues, or even a casual passer by on the streets of L.A. But when his boyfriend in Seattle sends him a text that "I think it's over" just as Eric is packing his hoards of … [Read more...] about Simple Mexican Pleasures
Cyrano
Cyrano Edmond Rostand, Adapted by Jeffrey Lo & Max Tachis Los Altos Stage Company From its premiere night in 1897 Paris when the audience was still applauding an hour after the final curtain fell, through multiple stagings on the Great White Way starring some of Broadway’s finest, and after hundreds of productions worldwide in multiple languages, Edmond … [Read more...] about Cyrano
The Underpants
The Underpants Steve Martin, Adapted from Carl Sternheim San Jose Stage Company Even though they were "clean cotton, neat, and perfectly ironed," when the young and beautiful Louise drops her bloomers while standing on a bench in Dusseldorf to see the passing king, heads quickly turn, male hearts skip a beat, and news of the scandal spreads fast -- especially when … [Read more...] about The Underpants
ShaXspeare Reimagined
Shaxspeare Reimagined From the Works of William Shakespeare Rebecca Clark, Victoria Evans-Erville, AeJay Antonis Marquis, James Mercer II, Dawn Monique Williams & William Thomas Hodgson, Directors African-American Shakespeare Company The thirty-nine plays of William Shakespeare have been revisited, revised, and reconceptualized in thousands of ways since … [Read more...] about ShaXspeare Reimagined
The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap Agatha Christie City Lights Theater Company For as much as any one of us decries the awful acts of gun violence we hear about on a near-daily basis, who among us does not like a juicy, suspenseful murder mystery? And who is better to tell such a tale than the master herself, Agatha Christie, the most-published novelist in history and the playwright … [Read more...] about The Mousetrap
Push/Pull
Push/Pull Harry Davis Central Works Dedication/Obsession. Self-esteem/Self-disgust. Fulfilling a dream/Living a delusion. Acceptable friendship/Forbidden Intimacy. Wanting to feel male/Wanting the feel of a male. Life seeking/Death wishing. Where is the boundary between these extremes? When and how does the balance shift from one side to the other? Is … [Read more...] about Push/Pull
Fly by Night
Fly by Night Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick & Kim Rosenstock, Writers; Conceived by Kim Rosenstock Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory A love triangle between two sisters and a sandwich maker. A gypsy whose crystal ball reveals one sister's future-certain "mountain life" of rise and fall. A grieving husband who finds solace hugging a record player and … [Read more...] about Fly by Night
The Prom
The Prom Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin (Book); Matthew Sklar (Music); Chad Beguelin (Lyrics) Foothill Music Theatre At the small-town high school of Fulton, Mississippi in 2010, a high school senior girl was refused the right to bring her girlfriend to the prom, leading to an ACLU suit in court; an eventual prom where only seven students joined her and her date; … [Read more...] about The Prom
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress Alan Ball Coastal Rep Theatre Five young women each wearing identical, bridesmaid dresses that one describes as "makes me look like a linebacker" along with little hats that "makes us look like the flying nun" find escape from the outdoor reception in the former bedroom of the bride whom all -- including her younger sister -- more … [Read more...] about Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
