San Francisco
(Bay Area)

STROP THE PRESSES! A NEW RAZOR-SHARP BARBER COMES TO TOWN Gioachino Rossini’s frolicsome 1816 comic opera  The Barber of Seville  is superbly realized with ebullience and verve in San Francisco Opera’s new production. The first night cast (one of two) was a sparkling SF Opera debut for both Mexican tenor Javier Camarena as Count Almaviva and zesty…

A BEAUTIFUL ADAPTATION The British indie My Beautiful Laundrette was praised when it came out for its multi-layered portrait of the immigrant experience, and is now best remembered for Daniel Day Lewis’s screen debut, not to mention putting Channel Four Films and director Stephen Frears on the map. Adapted for the stage by Andy Graham…

ON A WING AND A PRAYER The original 1938 Broadway production of Rodgers and Hart’s I Married an Angel (choreographed by George Balanchine and directed by newcomer Joshua Logan no less) ran a respectable 338 performances, the national tour of which concluded right here at the Curran Theater in San Francisco (the 1942 film version…

IF ONLY OUR CURRENT CONGRESS WAS THIS MUCH FUN Who would think that a musical featuring a bunch of middle-aged white men talking politics could be fun? But that’s the miracle of Frank Galati’s production of 1776. the rousing revival of the 1969 musical classic currently at A.C.T.   Peter Stone’s witty dialogue and Sherman Edwards’…

I SAY YOU WANT THIS REVOLUTION After the Revolution is a chewy new play about family dynamics and the difficulty of making moral judgments, especially after the fact. For audiences thirsting for a literate, intelligent, stimulating, and accessible new play, it will fill the bill nicely. The Amy Herzog 2010 drama premiered Off Broadway and…

HEAVEN OR HELL? I surmise that  opinions will be all over the map for San Francisco Opera’s production of Mefistofele, Arrigo Boito’s 1868 take on the Faust legend. To begin with, this is a clunky, fragmented  and uneven  opera. There are a few memorable tunes, especially for the chorus, and there are some juicy parts. And while the…

SOUND AND FURY INDEED The idea of site-specific theater’”theatre which is performed in unconventional spaces compatible to the script’”is nothing new, but it seems to be gaining ground. From New York (Then She Fell) to Los Angeles (The Manor) to Chicago (The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe) to Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Willful), theater practitioners are…

A PRAIRIE THEATER COMPANION As many newer plays fail to grasp the art of storytelling, Word for Word Performing Arts Company offers compelling narratives via short stories which are performed literally, well, word for word. Their 20th anniversary production is a seamless compendium of Zona Gale stories which take place in the town of Friendship…

GOOD PEOPLE GETS BAY AREA PREMIERE Having seen productions of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People at both the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and Steppenwolf in Chicago, I can attest that this is the playwright’s best work (it is currently the most produced play in America). Knowing the quality and professionalism of Marin Theatre Company, whose…

AUDRA MCDONALD MAKES A RARE VISIT TO SAN FRANCISCO As if San Francisco Symphony’s (SFS) annual opening night galas were not the most anticipated events of any year, SFS and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas have announced that singer and actress Audra McDonald will join the orchestra to perform selections from the American Songbook for…

YEAH, I CAN DIG IT The third installment of monologuist Don Reed’s autobiographical coming-of-age trilogy has been extended yet again at the Marsh, and following on the heels of this San Francisco run, Can You Dig It? The ‘60s – Back Down East 14th will move to the Marsh Berkeley. The first installment, East 14th,…

CAL SHAKES’ BIGGEST FAN The titular character in Oscar Wilde’s play Lady Windermere’s Fan is a vivacious young woman, married only two years, who never coughs or displays any other signs of illness. At one point in the play, she refuses to shake hands with a visitor. “My hands are all wet with the roses,”…

EXTRA INCHES East Berlin expat Hedwig was forced to leave a rather important bit of himself’”later herself’”behind the Wall in order to pass physical exams and immigrate to America with the G.I. of her dreams. Move ahead one year: impoverished, divorced and the casualty of a distortedly bungled gender removal procedure, creator John Cameron Mitchell’s…

NORMAN’S CONQUESTS For those who haven’t heard, Soprano Jessye Norman’s July 31 concert with pianist Mark Markham at Davies Symphony Hall was postponed so that Ms. Norman could perform in Washington, D.C. at a ceremony of the U.S. Congress to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The San Francisco concert has been…

IT’S TIME FOR A LITTLE HAPPY EVER-AFTERING As San Francisco Playhouse opens a promising and highly anticipated rendition of Camelot this week, I am reminded of T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, the source material of the musical, and its effect on me when first I read it. But I am also reminded…

EASE ON DOWN A fascinating phenomenon has occurred recently in the theater world for this critic. Far and away, my favorite theatergoing experiences have been at revivals of musicals, most of which have been rarely produced. Some were staged concert performances, such as  I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Harold Rome’s 1962 take on a…