Maurice Kelly

A VERY MERRY MATCH Once upon a time in San Francisco there were two beloved icons of the city’s music scene.   They were practically the same age, enormously talented, and lionized by legions of fans who adored them both; but by some trick of fate their paths had never crossed. The slightly older but very…

STURM AND SLANG Every generation writes its own playbook for tackling the game of life.   These new rules are encoded in language that the previous generation (parents, Old School, The Establishment) usually finds baffling. Flummoxing grown-ups with newfangled lingo (think:   fresh, dope, rad and bitchin’) helps young people find a voice, establish an identity and…

ROLL OUT THE CAROL 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, changing up the production on a regular basis to keep it from getting…

SHOOTING HISTORY IN THE NECK With the exception of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and its fierce gender-bending genius, and Rocky Horror Picture Show (sublime sexy silliness that nudged a million budding transvestites into their corsets and fishnets just that much sooner), the genre of rock musicals, in general, is an overrated bore.   My verité-besotted…