Chuck Louden

RAY OF LIGHT ROCKS! The Bay Area’s Ray of Light Theater is known for putting fresh interpretations on classic shows, most notably musicals that push boundaries, such as Kinky Boots and The Full Monty. Their latest production is Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, and it’s a winner. Based on Roger Kumble’s campy 1999 movie starring…

A LOTTA SOUL IN THIS EXPRESS TRAIN TO JOY Officially starting A.C.T.’s 23/24 Season is the Broadway-bound world premiere musical based on the iconic TV Show Soul Train, which opened last Wednesday at the Toni Rembe Theater. Several years in the making, the jukebox musical Hippest Trip — The Soul Train Musical traces the story…

HEATED PUMPS Now playing at The Marsh Theater, San Francisco’s independent theater for new performances, writer and director Dirk Alphin’s original production, Reciprocating Pumps, is a riveting, emotionally intense drama. On an intimate set of a living room and bedroom, this family (both chosen and genetic) drama takes place over the course of a single…

SHINING A RAY OF LIGHT ON PUBERTY This past weekend, San Franciscans were treated to a special treat with Ray Of Light Theater’s version of Spring Awakening — yet while it was subtitled “In Concert,” performers had parts memorized and the lighting by Weili Shi was Broadway caliber. My only disappointment with this production is…

OOHS AND OZ Just in time for summer and for Pride Month, a new, colorful and fun version of everyone’s childhood favorite movie based on L. Frank Baum’s books is here in San Francisco. American Conservatory Theater’s production, which opened June 8 at the Toni Rembe Theater, isn’t just for kids. We all have our…

LET THE RIGHT PLAY FILL YOU WITH HORROR Now playing at Berkeley Rep, Let the Right One In — a supernatural thriller and coming of age vampire romance — is creepy from the start. An ominous dark forest lightly covered with snow greets us. Actors dressed in winter layers are seen, walking, strolling and running….

YOU MUST SEE J. CONRAD FRANK — IF YOU LILY DARE New Conservatory Theater is finishing their exciting 2022-23 season with actor, playwright and drag performer Charles Busch’s The Confession Of Lily Dare. The show is set during the era of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, when the city had a Red Light District filled with…

A GAY PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS From the Book of Proverbs: Locusts have no king. But they all move forward in formation. Rough translation: Locusts have no king so they lead a life of smallness and conformity — a crowd mentality. It’s also a metaphor for The West Coast premiere of Queer, Puerto Rican and Dominican…

BAND ON THE RUN Berkeley Rep is debuting The Bay Area premiere of Chinese-American Playwright Lauren Yee’s acclaimed Cambodian Rock Band. The story follows a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime who returns to his country decades later. Marxist Dictator Pol Pol ruled Cambodia from 1975-79; a radical communist, he forced an evacuation of the…

CAROLING THROUGH THE AGES For two generations, a yearly outing to see A Christmas Carol has been a feel-good tradition for San Francisco families. American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has staged adaptations of this famous Dickens story continuously since 1976, with few gaps until COVID, changing up the production on a regular basis to keep it…

A VAULTING MATILDA The holidays are here.   It’s the perfect time of year to get into the spirit by seeing a big production musical. Instead of the usual Nutcracker or Christmas Carol holiday fare, consider heading over to The Berkeley Playhouse to check out Matilda: The Musical, the Broadway hit by Dennis Kelly (book) and…

San Francisco’s New Conservatory Theater is known for encouraging and developing new artists, actors and directors. This month the new Director in Residence Richard A. Mosqueda is debuting the World Premiere of A Picture of Two Boys by Nick Malakhow. Set in a small town in rural Pennsylvania it’s about the unlikely friendship between two…

AUNTIE JACK MAME PANSEXUAL: relating to having, or open to sexual activity of many kinds. POLYAMOROUS: the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships with more than one partner with the consent of all partners involved. FLUIDITY: the quality of not being solid and able to flow. Joseph Alvarado, Nick Trengove, and Jennifer McGeorge Joseph…

A CLOSER WALK WITH PATSY Patsy Cline couldn’t be more fondly or accurately recalled than by Cayman Ilika in Karen Lund’s sweet production of Always:Patsy Cline, the oft-produced 1990 paean to the once and future crossover country icon who made audiences “fall to pieces.” Written and originally directed by Ted Swindley, this tribute — equal…

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR FUN Kinky Boots: The Musical is back in San Francisco, again at the Victoria Theater for a month-long run. Based on the same-titled 2005 film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, the hit Broadway musical with songs by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein tells the story of…