On Your Feet!Alexander Dinelaris (Book); Emilio & Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine (Music & Lyrics)Broadway San Jose Christie Prades & Adriel FleteAs jukebox, biographical musicals have continued to find their way to the Great White Way and beyond -- often packing in adoring audiences for years even when critics might be at best lukewarm in initial reception … [Read more...] about “On Your Feet!”
Musical
“Fun Home”
Fun HomeJeanine Tesori (Music); Lisa Kron (Book & Lyrics)Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison BechdelTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyThe Cast of Fun HomeTheatreWorks Silicon Valley, under the empathic direction of Artistic Director Robert Kelley, presents a Fun Home whose rooms are full of a family’s sweet memories, troubling secrets, and – in its hidden corners -- liberating … [Read more...] about “Fun Home”
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Hedwig and the Angry InchJohn Cameron Mitchell (Book); Stephen Trask (Music & Lyrics)Ray of Light TheatreColeton SchmittoIn the past few years, Ray of Light Theatre has garnered a wildly enthusiastic and loyal audience that will pack night after night the cavernous Victoria Theatre for excellent, high-quality, and often quite bizarre musicals that the company … [Read more...] about “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
“Tarzan’
TarzanPhil Collins (Music & Lyrics); David Henry Hwang (Book)Palo Alto PlayersJimmy Mason, Jessica LaFever & the Cast of TarzanEven before the first note of the Phil Collins (music and lyrics) and David Henry Hwang (book) musical Tarzan is sounded, Director Patrick Klein and his cast – one that includes a dozen or so gorillas of all sizes, shapes, and ages -- have … [Read more...] about “Tarzan’
“West Side Story”
West Side StoryArthur Laurents (Book); Leonard Bernstein (Music); Stephen Sondheim (Lyrics)Hillbarn TheatreJeffrey Brian Adams & Ana Paula Malagón With a cast of thirty and an orchestra of fourteen, Hillbarn Theatre kicks off its seventy-eighth consecutive season with a West Side Story that proves that the sixty-plus-year-old musical is as current, relevant, … [Read more...] about “West Side Story”
“Sunday in the Park with George”
Sunday in the Park with GeorgeStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book)San Francisco PlayhouseJohn Bambery as George“Order.”“Design.”“Tension.”“Composition.”“Balance.”“Light.”As each word is announced by the artist whose science of painting is guided by these exacting principles, the members of his most famous composition move into place, aided by his … [Read more...] about “Sunday in the Park with George”
“Oklahoma!”: Day 7, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oklahoma!Richard Rodgers (Music), Oscar Hammerstein II (Book & Lyrics)Oregon Shakespeare FestivalRoyer Bockus & Tatiana WechslerAfter relishing an overture that is packed with numbers now encased in the Great American Songbook (during which audience humming and outright singing of words can readily be heard), anticipation is high for those first few notes of “There’s a … [Read more...] about “Oklahoma!”: Day 7, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at the 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival
“School of Rock”
School of RockJulian Fellowes (Book); Glenn Slater (Lyrics); Andrew Lloyd Webber (Music)SHNThe Cast of School of RockThe man who began his celebrated, much-awarded career writing a rock musical when he was twenty-two (Jesus Christ Superstar) returned to that genre to premiere in 2015 School of Rock, an electrically pounding good time featuring this time not twenty-somethings, … [Read more...] about “School of Rock”
“Soft Power”
Soft PowerDavid Henry Hwang (Play & Lyrics); Jeanine Tesori (Music & Additional Lyrics)Curran Theatre (in partnership with Center Theatre Group)Conrad Ricamora & Ensemble MembersIn the past twenty years, a number of twists and turns have challenged the notion of what defines the Great American Musical. Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, and certainly … [Read more...] about “Soft Power”
“A Walk on the Moon”
A Walk on the MoonPamela Gray (Book); Paul Scott Goodman (Music & Lyrics with Additional Lyrics by Pamela Gray)American Conservative TheatreThe Cast of A Walk on the MoonSummer, 1969: Daily, numbers of casualties from Vietnam scroll across living room television screens while streets fill with angry, mostly young anti-war protestors. Their peace-loving folk and … [Read more...] about “A Walk on the Moon”
“Jersey Boys”
Jersey BoysMarshall Brickman & Rick Elice (Book)Bob Gaudio (Music); Bob Crewe (Lyrics)BroadwaySan JoseThe Cast of Jersey BoysThe 2005, multi-Tony-award-winning Jersey Boys just keeps packing in audiences everywhere it goes, with crowds jumping to their feet for standing ovations the second the last crooning has been crooned. Many are like I, seeing Jersey Boys last … [Read more...] about “Jersey Boys”
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Hedwig and the Angry InchJohn Cameron Mitchell (Book); Stephen Trask (Music & Lyrics)The Stage Keith Pinto as HedwigIn full fury on the compact floor arena of San Jose’s The Stage, Hedwig and the Angry Inchexplodes. Bay Area favorites Keith Pinto and Ashley Garlick play gender-fluid Hedwig and her back-up singing husband, Yitzhak, a former drag … [Read more...] about “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
“Pippin”
PippinStephen Schwartz (Music & Lyrics); Roger O. Hirson (Book)Los Altos Stage Company Dominic Dagdagan Los Altos Stage Company's Pippin is a triumphant success built on deliciously inspired direction, wildly impressive choreography, and vocal performances that never disappoint of songs well-loved by many. This is a Pippin that speaks to our troubled times just … [Read more...] about “Pippin”
“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
Priscilla, Queen of the DesertStephen Elliott & Allan ScottTheatre RhinocerosCharles Peoples III, Rudy Guerrero & Kim LarsenOnce again as Pride Month begins, the wonderfully garish Priscilla bus has pulled into Gateway Theatre full of its fabulously attired drag queens, shirtless twinks, and proudly prancing divas in sparkly wigs. Yes, Theatre Rhinoceros has … [Read more...] about “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
“When Pigs Fly”
Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs FlyConceived by Howard Crabtree & Mark WaldropMark Waldrop (Sketches & Lyrics); Dick Gallagher (Music)New Conservatory Theatre CenterDavid BichaIf we are to believe the opening scene, it all began when his Springbrook High vocational counselor, Miss Roundhole, suggested to a starry eyed Dream Curly (aka Howard Crabtree) that he could look … [Read more...] about “When Pigs Fly”
