The Scottsboro Boys John Kander & Fred Ebb (Music & Lyrics); David Thompson (Book) 42nd Street Moon Eleven Black men walk onto the stage with spirited steps carrying wooden boxes that become their seats. In the middle of their quarter-moon arc enters a tall, white man in white suit and with white hair and beard. After first announcing, “Gentleman, be seated,” … [Read more...] about The Scottsboro Boys
Musical
The SpongeBob Musical
The SpongeBob Musical Kyle Jarrow (Book) Based on the Series by Stephen Hillenburg Original Songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Shape & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain Whites T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., David … [Read more...] about The SpongeBob Musical
The Producers
The Producers Mel Brooks (Book, Music & Lyrics) Hillbarn Theatre and Conservatory Perspective #1: Raunchy, crass, insulting, insensitive. Horrible stereotypes that in 2023 seem particularly out of place in light of Me-Too, Don’t Say Gay, dramatic increase in antisemitism, and attacks in state after state aimed at transgender people. Perspective #2: Riotous, … [Read more...] about The Producers
Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); George Furth (Book) Based on the Original Play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart 42nd Street Moon 6 a.m., October 1957, on a rooftop of a New York apartment building, two friends look to the sky, searching for the world’s first orbiting satellite. Frank has just been released from the Army and is about … [Read more...] about Merrily We Roll Along
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof Joseph Stein (Book); Jerry Bock (Music); Sheldon Harnick (Lyrics) BroadwaySF After its record-setting, award-winning initial run on Broadway in 1964; its five Broadway revivals since; countless openings on local and touring stages globally and in towns and cities from coast to coast in America – not to mention the 1971 film whose scenes are now … [Read more...] about Fiddler on the Roof
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman, The Musical Gerry Marshall & J.F. Lawton (Book); Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance (Music & Lyrics) Based on Touchstone Pictures motion picture by J.F. Lawton Broadway San Jose A billionaire New Yorker who buys at bargain prices troubled companies only to dismantle them and sell the pieces for millions in profits picks up a prostitute in a shady … [Read more...] about Pretty Woman
Anything Goes
Anything Goes Cole Porter (Music & Lyrics) P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse (Original Book) Timothy Crouse & John Weidman (New Book) 42nd Street Moon It only takes those first, several, familiar notes of the “Overture” to send a spreading wave of swaying shoulders, nodding heads, and tapping toes throughout the 42nd Street Moon … [Read more...] about Anything Goes
Justice: A New Musical
Justice: A New Musical Lauren M. Gunderson (Book); Bree Lowdermilk (Music); Kait Kerrigan (Lyrics) Marin Theatre Company “Equal Justice for All.” For 191 years, half of the U.S. population could justifiably question if that welcoming sign above the U.S. Supreme Court entrance really applied to them because from its founding in 1789 until September 21, 1981, no woman … [Read more...] about Justice: A New Musical
SIX
SIX Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss (Music, Lyrics & Book) BroadwaySF “Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.” These six words quickly conjure up for millions of people around the globe – folks who read even a bit of history, watched a few Netflix series, and/or played a few games of trivia at a local bar – the six wives of a king well known five … [Read more...] about SIX
Miss You Like Hell
Miss You Like Hell Quiara Alegría Hudes (Book & Lyrics); Erin McKeown (Music & Lyrics) City Lights Theater Company in Co-Production with Teatro Visión Many a book and movie through the years have chronicled “the great American road trip” across the continent as individuals, friends, and families have ventured into the plains, mountains, and lonely towns in … [Read more...] about Miss You Like Hell
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Dave Malloy Shotgun Players Having opened November 15, 2022, Shotgun Players’ audience-immersive, modern-sounding opera set in a Russian cabaret setting of 1812 – Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy – has already received the highest of accolades from both my fellow critics and especially from … [Read more...] about Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
The Prom
The Prom Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin (Book); Matthew Sklar (Music); Chad Beguelin (Lyrics) BroadwaySF Oops! Eleanor (the musical) is an opening night flop for long-time Broadway stars, Dee Dee and Barry. Uh-oh! The only show available for Julliard-trained Trent is a non-equity tour of Godspell. Damn! Twenty years in the chorus of Chicago, and Angie has had … [Read more...] about The Prom
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game Richard Adler & Jerry Ross (Music & Lyrics); George Abbott & Richard Bissell (Book) Based on the Novel, 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell Script Updated for 42nd Street Moon by Annie Potter 42nd Street Moon Just try leaving 42nd Street Moon’s current toe-tapping, smile-producing, chuckle-a-minute production of The Pajama Game without humming … [Read more...] about The Pajama Game
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha Mitch Leigh (Music); Joe Darion (Lyrics); Dale Wasserman (Book) San Jose Playhouse Before even a word is spoken, Scott Evan Guggenheim directs one of the most gripping, disturbing, and memorable scenes of the evening’s production of Man of La Mancha by San Jose Playhouse. Before us is Julie Engelbrecht’s jarring set design that is too similar to … [Read more...] about Man of La Mancha
Dear Evan Hansen
Dear Evan Hansen Steven Levenson (Book); Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (Music & Lyrics) Broadway San Jose After yet another frustrating breakfast with sons who refuse to engage, two mothers of high school seniors each sing in desperation, “Does anybody have a map? Anybody maybe happened to know how the hell to do this?” Heidi’s son, Evan, is reclusive and stumbles … [Read more...] about Dear Evan Hansen
