Ragtime Terrence McNally (Book); Stephen Flaherty (Music); Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics) Based on the novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Let me begin with an upfront confession. In my humble opinion, if there is one musical that could be called “The Great American Musical,” it is Ragtime. Based on E. L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel by the same name, … [Read more...] about Ragtime the Musical
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Gem of the Ocean
Gem of the Ocean August Wilson TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Arriving amidst a COVID shut-down to assume his position as only the second Artistic Director of the Tony-Award-winning, fifty-two-year-old company TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, nationally known director Tim Bond has had to wait almost two years to bring his vast experience and unique insight as a director … [Read more...] about Gem of the Ocean
Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility Paul Gordon (Book, Music & Lyrics) Based on the Novel by Jane Austin TheatreWorks Silicon Valley For those who have experienced even a few of the 175 plays and musicals that Robert Kelley directed during the first fifty years of the Tony Award winning company he founded – Theatreworks Silicon Valley – there are much … [Read more...] about Sense and Sensibility
They Promised Her the Moon
One was among the most successful racing pilots of her day and the first woman to break the sound barrier on May 18, 1953. The other began flying at the age of twelve and by her twenties, was setting world records in flying speeds, distance, and altitude. The former (Jackie Cochran) helped form and finance Mercury 13, a group of accomplished women flyers who underwent the … [Read more...] about They Promised Her the Moon
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
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
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
“The 39 Steps”
The 39 StepsAdapted by Patrick BarlowBased on the Novel by John BuchanFrom the Movie by Alfred HitchcockTheatreWorksSilicon ValleyLance Gardner, Ron Campbell, Annie Abrams & Cassidy BrownFour actors playing upwards of one-hundred-plus parts. Eighty costume changes, with a total of fifty different costumes often switched in split-second timing on stage. Bridges, … [Read more...] about “The 39 Steps”
“The Language Archive”
The Language ArchiveJulia ChoTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyThe CastIn her play, The Language Archive, Julia Cho explores that interplay of language and love as we meet a couple in the course of a break-up because spoken words fail them, an elderly couple who have spent a lifetime differentiating the languages of love and of conflict, and a young woman who learns a new language … [Read more...] about “The Language Archive”
“Archduke”
ArchdukeRajiv JosephTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyJeremy Kahn, Stephen Stocking, Scott Coopwood & Adam Shonkwiler One gun shot and its hapless, men-still-boys perpetrators are the unlikely subjects of a laugh-out-loud retelling of one of history’s darkest moments – World War I’s initiating assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. Pulitzer Prize finalist … [Read more...] about “Archduke”
“Hershey Felder: A Paris Love Story”
Hershey Felder: A Paris Love StoryHershey FelderTheatreWorks Silicon Valley Hershey FelderThe mesmerizing music lures its listeners into a state of relaxed contemplation of the chalk-drawn scenes of the City of Lights that splash one by one on the projected, stage-filling blackboard behind him. At the piano, we imagine for a moment that the great French … [Read more...] about “Hershey Felder: A Paris Love Story”
“Marie and Rosetta”
Marie and RosettaGeorge BrantTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyMichelle E Jordan and Marissa RuddGeorge Brant’s Marie and Rosetta receives its foot-tapping, spirit-arousing, and raise-the-roof production at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, returning to its birthplace of sorts where in 2015 the musical was first featured in the company’s annual New Works Festival. The music and … [Read more...] about “Marie and Rosetta”
“Frost/Nixon”
Frost/NixonPeter MorganTheatreWorks Silicon Valley Jeremy Webb, Allen McCullough & CastA sweaty upper lip that many believe helped sink his first presidential bid. A resignation announced in his West Wing office in order to avoid sure impeachment. Raised, waving arms with fingers of both hands in a “V” – in the past given in both victory and … [Read more...] about “Frost/Nixon”
“Tuck Everlasting”
Tuck Everlasting Chris Miller (Music); Nathan Tysen (Lyrics); Claudia Shear & Tim Federle (Book)Based on the Novel by Natalie BabbittTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyNatalie Schroeder and Eddie GreyFor anyone who has seen even a few of the over 165 productions that Artistic Director Robert Kelley has directed in his near fifty years at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, then it soon … [Read more...] about “Tuck Everlasting”
“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”
