We Will Rock You Queen (Music & Lyrics); Ben Elon (Book) San Jose Stage Company Three hundred years in the future in a land once known as Earth and now known as iPlanet, life is lived online; all music is computer-generated; pop stars are avatars; and owning a musical instrument is illegal. Yet in such a dystopian landscape, a few rebels have a cause and are … [Read more...] about We Will Rock You
Musical
The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger Joe DiPietro (Book & Lyrics); David Bryan (Music & Lyrics) Los Altos Stage Company Slapstick, camp, and parody abound as an audience's constant laughter peppers the air in the Bus Barn Theater of Los Altos Stage Company. Topics like global warming, corporate greed, corrupt political leaders, and toxic pollution are generally not that … [Read more...] about The Toxic Avenger
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum (Book); Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg (Music & Lyrics); Herbert Stothart (Background Music) Mountain Play From the opening notes of the Overture, bits of familiar tunes brighten more than three thousand faces as toes tap and heart beats quicken. Young and old alike have made once again their way up Mount Tamalpais in yellow … [Read more...] about The Wizard of Oz
The Lunchbox
The Lunchbox Ritesh Batra (Book & Co-Lyrics); The Lazours (Music & Co-Lyrics) Berkeley Repertory Theatre Repeatedly in publicity materials, program, and even the pre-show announcement, "heart, humor, and hope" are the three words used to describe The Lunchbox, a musical now in world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. And admittedly, there may be no … [Read more...] about The Lunchbox
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist Adapted by Neil Bartlett from Charles Dickens Foothill Music Theatre Upfront, a chorus of the entire cast sings a warning of what is to follow: "To be sure, it is a work of fiction, An impossibility, an anomaly, an apparent contradiction; For it finds hope where all hope was past." After all, it is 1837 in an England where the usual fate of young … [Read more...] about Oliver Twist
La Cage Aux Folles
La Cage Aux Folles Harvey Fierstein (Book); Jerry Herman (Music & Lyrics) Theatre Rhinoceros Anyone preparing for Pride and searching shops around the Castro for a yard or two of chiffon, silk organza, netting, voile, or gauze much less any spangles, sequins, boas, or feathers might as well give up. Bonita Rose has probably emptied most shelves as she acquired … [Read more...] about La Cage Aux Folles
In the Heights
In the Heights Lin-Manuel Miranda (Music & Lyrics) Quiara Alegría Hudes (Book) South Bay Musical Theatre As our country born of immigrants seeking a better life is only weeks away from celebrating its 250th anniversary, recent immigrant citizens and non-citizens alike feel their lives and livelihood here threatened by a current administration and its cohorts … [Read more...] about In the Heights
Frozen
Frozen Kirsten Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez (Music & Lyrics) Jennifer Lee (Book) Palo Alto Players Whether one is five, ninety five or any where in between, Palo Alto Players has a hit that is sure to be deemed "hygge" by everyone who is lucky enough to attain a ticket to its current blockbuster, Disney's Frozen. Even that Nordic term for anything that … [Read more...] about Frozen
Mean Girls
Mean Girls Tina Fey (Book); Jeff Richmond (Music); Nell Benjamin (Lyrics) Ray of Light Theatre With a twenty-five-year history of picking musicals "with our gut" that "pack a punch" -- musicals that other companies often shun like Carrie, Jerry Springer: The Opera, an all-female Jesus Christ Superstar, or Lizzie the Musical -- Ray of Light Theatre triumphantly … [Read more...] about Mean Girls
Come from Away
Come from Away Irene Sankoff & David Hein (Book, Music & Lyrics) TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Whenever TheatreWorks Silicon Valley combines the masterful artistry, deep-felt values, and insightful creativity of long-time collaborators Robert Kelley as Stage Director and William Liberatore as Music Director, the heart is bound to reign forth in a magical, … [Read more...] about Come from Away
The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady
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
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
