There is nothing more magical than a night at live theatre when a brilliant script, inspired direction, and a perfectly cast set of actors combine with setting, lighting, sound, and costumes such that each makes its own unique contribution to produce as near a perfect evening as possible. Such is how I felt as I exited Lucy Stern Theater after thoroughly enjoying every minute … [Read more...] about A Doll’s House: Part 2
MUST SEE
The Pianist of Willesden Lane
“The most important hour of my week is my piano lesson … I always dress up for my piano lesson … I have to look divine.” And with that, a fourteen-year-old girl who dreams someday of her concert debut at Vienna’s famed Musikverein Concert Hall sits down at the Steinway to play her favorite piece, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16, fingers flying effortlessly across … [Read more...] about The Pianist of Willesden Lane
Becky Nurse of Salem
“Before there was this Dunkin’ Donuts, they killed women here they called witches. Before that, they killed Indians. Before that, they had Thanksgiving.” Standing in front of her shopping cart with a mannequin of her great, great, great, great grandmother that she has stolen from the Salem Witches Museum, Becky Nurse gives her first tour at $20 an hour, telling her version … [Read more...] about Becky Nurse of Salem
Groundhog Day The Musical
Phil is pissed, big time. That Pittsburg’s best-known, TV weatherman has to drag himself on February 2 to the podunk town of Punxsutawney, PA to provide live coverage for the stupid tradition of having someone declare if a so-called groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not is totally insulting. To make it worse, on his way to the annual ceremony on Gobbler’s … [Read more...] about Groundhog Day The Musical
Pride and Prejudice
The month of December, Broadway composer Paul Gordon, and Director Robert Kelley have a special, intertwined relationship that time and again has resulted in heartwarming, big-smile-producing gifts for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley audiences. Multiple musicals of the Tony-honored Paul Gordon have appeared and often premiered on that stage, with two of them reprising in Decembers … [Read more...] about Pride and Prejudice
Elevada
He is a self-proclaimed “online agitator” with four-to-five million followers who rarely leaves his apartment or takes a shower and has never been on a blind date. She is on her eighth, online-generated, first-date in the past three weeks (alas, no second dates yet). He has signed a contract with a megacorporation to sell his identity and cease to exist as a person for the … [Read more...] about Elevada
Mark Twain’s River of Song
Part a nineteenth-century cabaret show, part a travelogue of the past, and part a famed writer’s recollections of his life on and around the river, Mark Twain’s River of Song is a journey so worth taking in this TheatreWorks Silicon Valley celebration of the human spirit and its quest for freedom, individuality, and harmony with one of nature’s most beautiful of gifts – the … [Read more...] about Mark Twain’s River of Song
“Sovereignty”
Sovereignty Mary Kathryn Nagle Marin Theatre Company Elizabeth Frances, Adam Magill, Kholan Studi, Scott Coopwood, Andrew Roa, Robert I. Mesa Beginning in the 1830s, Native Peoples were forced to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States and walk thousands of miles to resettle on barren lands in the West, with many thousands dying along the way. … [Read more...] about “Sovereignty”
“Caroline, Or Change”
Caroline, Or ChangeJeanine Tesori (Music); Tony Kushner (Book & Lyrics)Ray of Light TheatreElizabeth Jones, Cadarious Mayberry, Majesty Scott, Jasmyne Brice, Antone Jackson & Leslie IvyIt is November 1963; and after a relatively stable 1950s, change is in the air everywhere – some good, some scary, some revolutionary, and in one case, an event tragic for a nation and … [Read more...] about “Caroline, Or Change”
“Anastasia”
AnastasiaTerrence McNally (Book); Stephen Flaherty (Music); Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics)SHNLila Coogan & Stephen BrowerSoon after a group of Bolsheviks brutally murdered Tsar Nicolas II and his entire family on July 17, 1918, rumors spread faster than the Revolutionary Guard could extinguish them that Grand Duchess Anastasia had somehow escaped and was living in hiding. … [Read more...] about “Anastasia”
“Cabaret”
CabaretJoe Masteroff (Book); John Kander (Music); Fred Ebb (Lyrics)San Francisco PlayhouseJohn Paul Gonzalez & the Kit Kat DancersSince its 1966 Broadway debut and its initial eight Tonys, Cabaret has continued to evolve through several major, award-winning revivals in both New York and London, becoming ever darker, starker, and rawer with each new production during its … [Read more...] about “Cabaret”
“Once”
OnceEnda Walsh (Book); Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglov (Music & Lyrics)(Based on the Movie by John Carney)42nd Street Moon The Ensemble of OnceEven if the pre-show were the show, how could one not rush to pocket a ticket for 42nd Street Moon’s regional premiere of Once? Thirteen hand-clapping, body-swaying, and foot-stomping singers – all also musicians – fill the … [Read more...] about “Once”
“Oedipus El Rey”
Oedipus El ReyLuis AlfaroMagic TheatreGendell Hing-Hernandez, Armando Rodriguez, Esteban Carmona & Juan Amador“Do we lay down and take what the world has given us?Or do we break down the cycle, the system, and tell new stories?Can we live the story not yet told and the possibility not yet imagined?Or are we fated?”Ten years ago, Magic Theatre staged the world premiere of … [Read more...] about “Oedipus El Rey”
“Kiss My Aztec!”
Kiss My Aztec!John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone (Book)Benjamin Velez (Music and Arrangements)David Kemp, Benjamin Velez & John Leguizamo (Lyrics)Berkeley Repertory Theater KC de la Cruz, Chad Carastarphen & Angelica BeliardElectricity sparks through the air as the arriving audience is already in full abuzz. After all, big red balloons are bouncing off their … [Read more...] about “Kiss My Aztec!”
“Kings”
KingsSarah BurgessShotgun PlayersSam JacksonIn the recent midterm elections, over one hundred women were elected to Congress, many being first-timers who defeated long-time, often white-male incumbents. Most ran with a promise to shake up the ol’ boys’ systems and to do some major housecleaning. Common among their pledges were ones like Sydney Millsap’s, “I can do … [Read more...] about “Kings”
