King Charles IIIMike BartlettAmerican Conservatory TheatreRobert Joy as CharlesWhat is it about us Americans that we have such a fascination with the very Crown and its royals that almost 250 years ago we fought a revolution to escape? And when we hear the accented speech of that faraway Isle, why do we tend to go gaga and give immediate credence to whoever is … [Read more...] about “King Charles III”
American Conservatory Theatre
“Chester Bailey”
Chester BaileyJoseph DoughertyAmerican Conservatory TheaterDavid Strathairn as Dr. Philip Cotton & Dan Clegg as Chester BaileySometimes there are not the words to capture fully the magic that is happening at a live theater performance. No matter how much a reviewer might try, the combination of the setting itself, the skilled nuances of the actors, and the spontaneous … [Read more...] about “Chester Bailey”
“The Last Five Years”
The Last Five YearsJason Robert Brown (music & lyrics)AmericanConservatory TheatreZak Resnick (Jamie) & Margo Seibert (Cathy)Fourteen months ago, social media in the San Francisco Bay Area lit up like a Times Square explosion with messages like “Drop everything ... You must not miss this” and “Hurry up ... It’s only here a few days!” The reference was to a brief … [Read more...] about “The Last Five Years”
“The Realistic Joneses”
The Realistic JonesesWill EnoAmerican Conservatory TheatreAllison Jean White, James Wagner, Rebecca Watson & Rod GnappUnder a massive, darkened sky full of twinkling stars “where you can almost hear the clouds go by” and “in one of those little towns near the mountains,” two neighboring couples sit out in their backyards talking a lot and often not saying very much. … [Read more...] about “The Realistic Joneses”
“The Unfortunates”
The UnfortunatesJon Beavers, Kristoffer Diaz, Casey Lee Hurt, Ian Merrigan & Ramiz MonsefAmerican Conservatory TheatreChristopher Livingston, Ian Merrigan & Jon BeaversWhat starts as one lone piano player in a barren saloon setting explodes into a kaleidoscope of colors and characters that boggle the senses and imagination. The story is as timeless as The Odyssey … [Read more...] about “The Unfortunates”
“Satchmo at the Waldorf”
Satchmo at the WaldorfTerry TeachoutAmerican Conservatory TheatreJohn Douglas Thompson as Louis ArmstrongOur first glimpse of him is not what we remember from those bigger-than-life pictures of his sparkling eyes shining through squinted slots, huge smile of ivories that became his trademark, and rounded face always aimed upwards ready to rasp out a familiar tune we so … [Read more...] about “Satchmo at the Waldorf”
“Ah Wilderness”
Ah, Wilderness!Eugene O’NeillAmerican Conservatory TheatreCan a coming-of-age story of a sixteen-year-old boy in 1906 Waterbury, Connecticut still speak to a 21st Century audience? When it is Ah, Wilderness, the only comedy and still most-widely produced and loved of all Eugene O’Neill’s plays, as being currently excellently and imaginatively revived by American … [Read more...] about “Ah Wilderness”
“Monstress”
MonstressTwo One Acts Based on Stories by Lysley Tenorio:- Remember the I-Hotel by Philip Kan Gotanda - Presenting … The Monstress! By Sean San JoseAmerican Conservatory TheatreOgie Zulueta (Vicente) & Jomar Tagatac (Fortunado)Commissioned by the American Conservatory Theatre, two one act plays probing stories of 20thCentury, Filipino immigrants to the San Francisco Bay … [Read more...] about “Monstress”
“Between Riverside and Crazy”
Between Riverside and CrazyStephen Adly GuirgisAmerican Conservatory TheatreCarl Lumbly, Lakin Valdez & Samuel Ray GatesThe fact the entire suburban flat rolls back and forth a few feet between the ten scenes gives us a good clue that there is plenty of shifting about to occur in the characters and stories on this American Conservatory Theatre stage. Those who … [Read more...] about “Between Riverside and Crazy”
“Call Me Miss Bird’s Eye”
Call Me Miss Birds EyeJack TinkerAcoustic VoicesTouted in upfront advertising as “a pre-Broadway run” for “the only acoustic theatre company in the world” (Acoustic Voices), Call Me Miss Birds Eye has opened its North American premiere, playing in the otherwise dark-for--summer American Conservatory Theatre. Based on audience response (including those many who chose not … [Read more...] about “Call Me Miss Bird’s Eye”
“Love and Information”
Love and InformationCaryl ChurchillAmerican Conservatory TheatreFifty-seven disparate scenes, lasting a few seconds to a few minutes, pass before us with little pause in American Conservatory Theatre’s Love and Information by much-celebrated Caryl Churhill. They are divided with no apparent logic into six groupings that are introduced on a large, background screen by … [Read more...] about “Love and Information”
“A Little Night Music”
A Little Night MusicStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)American Conservatory Theatre“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” not only applies to Dickens’ Paris but unfortunately also describes the American Conservatory Theatre production of the Sondheim and Wheeler modern classic of A Little Night Music. So much of the evening at A.C.T. … [Read more...] about “A Little Night Music”
“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”
“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”
“Present Tense”
Present TenseAlan OlejniczakAt Last Productions and Playwrights Center of San FranciscoOver a 24-hour period, the world premiere Present Tense gives us slice-of-life glimpses into five family situations – all unrelated, but all highly similar thematically. Each takes place real-time for fifteen or so minutes, with the ‘present tense’ of each highly shadowed by histories … [Read more...] about “Present Tense”
