The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady Stephen Garvey 3Below Theatres & Cafe, Guggenheim Entertainment, Producer In the yesteryear era of 1974's big-flowered skirts, psychedelic-striped bellbottoms, and paisley patterns gone wild, Arden Amusement Park is set to open amidst a major foul-up: Two rival, family-member bands have both been … [Read more...] about The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady
Musical
Songs for a New World
Songs for a New World James Robert Brown (Music & Lyrics) Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory With a cast of four whose stellar voices individually and collectively soar and a three-piece, on-stage band that stirs one's emotions to the core, the ground-breaking, 1995 song cycle by Jason Robert Brown, Songs for a New World, becomes incredibly current due both to … [Read more...] about Songs for a New World
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
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner (Book & Lyrics); Frederick Loewe (Music) The Pear Theatre One by one, staff and patrons of a local English pub, The Pear and Rose (established 1821) arrive -- some carrying an instrument like a violin or a flute, others handed as they enter a pipe or a hat, and all greeting each other with a nod or smile, clearly as friends. As the … [Read more...] about My Fair Lady
Little Women
Little Women Jason Howland (Music), Mindi Dickstein (Lyrics), Allan Knee (Book) Based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott South Bay Musical Theatre A beloved novel written over 150 years ago about a family of four sisters during the last two years of the Civil War has since been adapted seven times to film; multiple times to television; four, to the stage; twice, … [Read more...] about Little Women
Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me
Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me Hershey Felder, Book Music by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Bartók, Gershwin & More TheatreWorks Silicon Valley After creating and performing the past thirty years in some six thousand live performances and eighteen films the musical biographies of sixteen famed composers (Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Beethoven, … [Read more...] about Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book) Shotgun Players Birds happily chirping, tall trees climbing on all sides with hints of limbs hanging from above, a glimpsing view of a lake and its graceful boats, and everywhere from the ground up, rich and varied greens filling in the scene. As we enter what we expect to be … [Read more...] about Sunday in the Park with George
Into the Woods
Into the Woods Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book) San Francisco Playhouse In many respects and for many reasons, the following is a meaningless review. At least a score -- and probably many more -- reviewers have already raved about the continued proven genius of Susi Damilano's directorial abilities, about a stage-filling cast that to a … [Read more...] about Into the Woods
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner (Book & Lyrics); Frederick Lowe (Music) San Francisco Playhouse With a long history of season-ending, summer-long, sizzling musicals that consistently sell-out -- classics like Cabaret, Evita, Follies, A Chorus Line -- San Francisco Playhouse once again takes a much-loved, much-produced audience favorite and opens an exuberant, … [Read more...] about My Fair Lady
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical Ashley Robinson (Book); Dan Gillespie Sells (Music); Shakina (Lyrics) Based on the Play by Ed Graczyk It's hot and dusty in McCarthy, Texas where it has not rained in three years. But in the summer of 1975, the loyal "Disciples of James Dean" are mopping the sweat from their brows as they gather … [Read more...] about Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical
Co-Founders
Co-Founders Ryan Nicole Austin, Beau Lewis, Adesha Adefela Music Team Led by Victoria Theodore American Conservatory Theater For seven years, Esata has been coding in her mother's West Oakland basement, creating an interacting avatar of her deceased father, Cyril -- an incredible accomplishment for someone non-degreed who learned to code with her dad on an Atari … [Read more...] about Co-Founders
Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity Neil Simon (Book); Cy Coleman (Music); Dorothy Fields (Music) San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) Sometimes there are so many aspects of a spectacular production that it is almost impossible to know where to begin. That is especially true for San Jose Stage Company's current summer hit-in-the-making, Sweet Charity. First, the 1967-premiering musical … [Read more...] about Sweet Charity
Next to Normal
Next to Normal Brian Yorkey (Book & Lyrics); Tom Kitt (Music) Ray of Light Theatre Lifelong mental disease, paralyzing grief, severe depression, feelings by a child of a parent's abandonment, drug abuse, the questionable practices of modern psychiatry, suicide. While not the subjects normally associated with the Great American Musical, Brian Yorkey (book and … [Read more...] about Next to Normal
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night William Shakespeare Adaptation Conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Shaina Taub Music & Lyrics by Shaina Taub Los Altos Stage Company One early line in William Shakespeare's romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, has inspired a host of musical adaptations through the years: "If music be the food of love, play on." In 2018, New York's Public Theatre … [Read more...] about Twelfth Night
Brigadoon
Brigadoon Alan Jay Lerner (Book & Lyrics); Frederick Lowe (Music) South Bay Musical Theatre "When you love someone deeply, anything is possible ... even miracles." In times such as we are now experiencing where more and more people are either deeply losing hope, becoming daily more cynical, or just checking out, the idea of miracles probably for most seems a … [Read more...] about Brigadoon
