Thomas and SallyThomas BradshawMarin Theatre CompanyMark Anderson Phillips & Tara PachecoIf Thomas Bradshaw were a writer of history books, then that subject might very well be THE favorite of school kids across America. Instead, he is a playwright who has created a detailed, engaging, sometimes a bit shocking, and often quite funny timeline of our third president and … [Read more...] about “Thomas and Sally”
world premiere
“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the TemptationsDominique Morisseau (Book); The Legendary Motown Catalogue (Music & Lyrics)Berkeley Repertory TheatreEpraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, James Harkness, Jared Joseph & Derrick BaskinIn silver-grey suits with a slight sheen of sparkle, the five appear, fingers smartly snapping at their sides in perfectly synchronized … [Read more...] about “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
“Day 7, Shows 17-19: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“Day 7, Shows 17-19: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Fringe Festival”From Ibiza to the Norfolk BroadsAdrian BerryPleasanceA father he has not seen nor heard from since he was two and a famed, gender-fluid rock star he has never met nor seen in live performance have shaped who Martin is as he now turns eighteen. A loner who has a severe eating disorder and sometimes does not … [Read more...] about “Day 7, Shows 17-19: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“Day 6, Shows 14-16: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“Day 6: Shows 14-15, TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”Mies JulieYael FarberBaxter TheatreAssemblyThe love of another versus the love of land. Honoring roots of one’s past versus living the promise for one’s future. The leftover familiarities of colonialism versus the still unknowns of freedom. And of course, white versus black.These are … [Read more...] about “Day 6, Shows 14-16: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“Day 5, Shows 13 & 14: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“Day 5, Shows 13 & 14: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”The Divide, Part 1Alan AyckbournOld Vic, Edinburgh International Festival & Karl Sydow ProductionKing TheatreThe year is 2201, and we are all gathered in a large lecture hall for “The Divide Lectures,” delivered by two professors — a man decked out in all white and a woman in all black — who … [Read more...] about “Day 5, Shows 13 & 14: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival”
“The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga”
The Four Immigrants: An American Musical MangaMin Kahng (Book, Music & Lyrics)Based on Manga Yonin Shosei by Henry Yoshitaka KiyamaTheatreWorks Silicon Valley The Cast of The Four ImmigrantsThe story of immigrants arriving on the shores of the Golden State is told with songs that often sound as all-American as “Yankee Doodle” – songs with notes of jazz, … [Read more...] about “The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga”
“Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”: Day 9, Play 11, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Hannah and the Dread GazeboJiehae ParkOregon Shakespeare Festival“This is a story about a wish.” But does this story really have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Should it? Must it? Or is this a story where we simply accept and enjoy that there is something about a stone in a bottle, about a tiger and a bear, about magpies and garlic, and about a … [Read more...] about “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”: Day 9, Play 11, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“What You Will”
What You WillMax GutmannPear TheatreAmelia Adams & Jim JohnsonRarely, if ever, can anyone in the Western World go through a day without either quoting or hearing quoted at least a few, choice lines from the 118,406 William Shakespeare left us. What if several thousand were selected from his thirty-seven plays– purposely and cleverly of course – and rearranged into a … [Read more...] about “What You Will”
“Warplay”
WarplayJC LeeNew Conservatory Theatre Center JC Sclazo & Ed BerkeleyHow inevitable is it that most boys will play war when they are kids, that plastic helmets and swords will be badges of honor to wear, and that lifelong bonds will often form with other guys as they tumble on the fields of backyard battle? And how likely is it that those same boys will grow to be men … [Read more...] about “Warplay”
“Grandeur”
GrandeurHan OngMagic TheatreCarl Lumbly“Time is the greatest writer of us all.Time has written over what I’ve written. Time has made me more moving than I set out to be and less potent than I was before.”Time’s march toward some inevitable but as-yet-undefined end for one man is an underlying tension point in Han Ong’s new play, Grandeur, now in its world premiere at Magic … [Read more...] about “Grandeur”
“Roman Holiday”
Roman HolidayCole Porter (Music & Lyrics)Kathy Speer, Terry Grossman & Paul Blake (Book)SHNStephanie Styles & Drew GehlingFor one evening of eye-popping scenery changes, jaw-dropping choreography, and swirling skirts among Italian shopkeepers and Roman tourists, we are as close to being a part of a 1950s, movie-theatre audience as we could imagine ever being. … [Read more...] about “Roman Holiday”
“Monsoon Wedding”
Monsoon WeddingSabrina Dhawan (Book); Vishal Bhadrwaj (Music); Susan Birkenhead (Lyrics)Berkeley Repertory CompanyMembers of the Cast of Monsoon WeddingWith one grand splash of kaleidoscopic colors surrounded by pulsating beats of uplifting music and bodies moving and dancing in all directions, one opening number (“Song of My Heart”) tells us all we need to know that the world … [Read more...] about “Monsoon Wedding”
“Twins”
TwinsStuart BouselPianoFightRob Talbott, Kyle McReddle, Andrew Chung & Kyle Goldman (Apollo)Revenge killings, murders of your children, repeated rapes, fiery tortures, being transformed into animals or rocks – All are just part of the casual sharing and one-upping conversation taking place among the gods in bars and hangouts of the afterworld. As it turns out, many of … [Read more...] about “Twins”
“The Memory Stick”
The Memory StickDonal O’KellyThe Stage John R. Lewis, Joseph D. Valdez, & Lyndsy KailIn a co-commission with the Dublin City Arts Office and the Irish Theatre Institute, The Stage opens a world premiere The Memory Stick by Donal O’Kelly – a play about what it means and what it costs to stand up against all odds. Lyrically directed, often as in a dreamscape, by … [Read more...] about “The Memory Stick”
“Frankenstein”
FrankensteinAdapted by Kit WilderFrom Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary ShelleyCity Lights Theatre Company Nick Mandracchia Any time a theatre company undertakes a world premiere, much less one commissioned, kudos is warranted for the risks undertaken. While this new offering of Frankenstein has some issues mainly of … [Read more...] about “Frankenstein”