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Theater Review: THE RESERVOIR (Berkeley Repertory Theatre)
AN AUTHENTIC, FUNNY ACCOUNT OF SOBRIETY, STUMBLES, AND SURVIVAL Recovery from substance abuse isn’t just about putting down the drug of choice and living happily ever after. The “recovery” part then starts. It involves dealing with who you are in the world without being drunk, stoned or high. It becomes a lifelong process of self-examination….
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Theater Review: RAGTIME (Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Simi Valley at the El Portal)
Ragtime is the epic musical by Terrence McNally (book), with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow). It weaves together stories of a Jewish immigrant, a Harlem pianist, an upper-class white woman, and historical figures — all pursuing the American Dream amidst societal change, prejudice, and…
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Theater Review: MISERY (Citadel in Lake Forest)
A CLAUSTROPHOBIC MISERY AT CITADEL Citadel Theatre’s production of Misery by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King, is a respectable staging that scratches the itch for a spooky night out this fall, even if it doesn’t fully deliver the chest-tingling suspense of King’s original. As a frequent reader of King’s thrillers, I considers Misery…
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Theater Review: INDECENT (CenterREP at the Lesher Center)
A STUNNING INDECENT REMINDS US THAT FREE SPEECH IS ALWAYS ON TRIAL The triumphs and travails of an itinerant Yiddish theater troupe get a full examination in Paula Vogel’s acclaimed hit play Indecent. A stunning and nearly all-Equity production of the award-winner is now playing at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek….
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Theater Review: RABBITS IN THEIR POCKETS (Lifeline)
TAKE A TRIP DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE Coping with familial grief has long been fertile ground for theatre, from Rabbit Hole to Hamlet to Antigone, performed almost 2500 years ago at the birth of the art form. The 43rd season opener for Lifeline Theatre, Rabbits in Their Pockets—directed with an eye for character detail and…
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Theater Review: ASHLAND AVENUE (Goodman Theatre)
A STAR VEHICLE ON THE ROAD TO FRANCIS GUINAN I confess to some amount of trepidation as I settled into my seat at the Goodman Theatre, launching its centennial season with the world premiere of Lee Kirk’s Ashland Avenue, directed by Susan V. Booth. For weeks I’d been inundated with promotional images of television star…
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Theater Review: THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (World Premiere, SFBATCO and Z Space)
HOPE IN THE GLOW OF DISASTER Five years ago this month, Sept. 9, 2020, was the infamous day when the Bay Area sky literally did turn orange. Smoke from multiple wildfires blocked the sun, casting an eerie glow across the region. In the middle of the COVID pandemic with no end in sight, the visual…
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Theater Review: BRILLIANT TRACES (Hudson Theatre)
TRACES OF POSSIBILITY Premiering Off-Broadway in 1989, Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces is one of those plays that can be either mesmerizing or exasperating and tiresome. Lacking a firm idea of what it wants to be, Soul Gym Productions’ new mounting at the Hudson for a brief three-day run, fell firmly in the latter. In the middle of…
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Theater Review: FOLLIES (Cygnet Theatre in San Diego)
GLITTER, GHOSTS AND GOLDEN-AGE GLAMOUR: DESPITE THE SCRIPT, CYGNET’S FOLLIES MAKES A BIG SPLASH AT THE JOAN Cygnet Theatre staked the debut of their new theater complex “The Joan” on a fairly solid bet: Stephen Sondheim. Given he is one of the great darlings of the theatre world, a musical with a score by Sondheim is a smart…
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Theater Review: TL;DR: THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre)
A CLIFFHANGER For the Midwest premiere of TL;DR: Thelma Louise: Dyke Remix, a rock musical by Ellarose Chary (book & lyrics) and Brandon James Gwinn (music and lyrics), the entirety of the Theo Ubique space is transformed by set designer Rose Johnson into the world’s coolest garage; an entirely appropriate location for the world’s coolest punk rock garage band; they don’t have a…
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Theater Review: PRIMARY TRUST (SpeakEasy Stage Company at Calderwood Pavilion in Boston)
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR Not every life-altering relationship is romantic. Sometimes it’s a friend who helps us endure, who shapes us in ways that can last long after the friendship has ended. Boston audiences can experience that truth in two very different plays in the weeks ahead: Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust (SpeakEasy Stage at Boston Center for…
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Theater Review: EUREKA DAY (Pasadena Playhouse)
OUTBREAK OF MANNERS: WHEN POLITENESS TURNS CONTAGIOUS The play begins with a picture of composure. Five parents sit at a polished library table in a progressive private school in Berkeley. They lean forward, nodding with exquisite concern, and speak in the gentle cadences of inclusivity. Words like “shared narrative” and “holding space” float through the…
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Theater Review: BESIDE MYSELF (North Coast Rep in Solana Beach/San Diego)
BESIDE MYSELF WITH PRAISE When the lights came up at the end of Act I of Beside Myself, my immediate reaction was, “No!” I was so invested in the proceedings of this stupendous world premiere that waiting fifteen minutes to see what happens next seemed criminal. Such is the payoff of Paul Slade Smith’s writing…
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Theater Review: FEATHERBABY (Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, MA)
COMEDY IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS So much could have gone wrong in this production of playwright David Templeton’s delightfully original and utterly unique Featherbaby, but in the able hands of director Weylin Symes, this co-world premiere (simultaneously produced in California) takes flight. Let’s start with the casting. To say that Paul Melendy is the…
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Theater Review: SUNDAY ON THE ROCKS (Falco Productions at The Actor’s Company)
A GEM OF A PRODUCTION FOR THERESA REBECK’S DAZZLING SUNDAY ON THE ROCKS Solid. Diamond Solid. Strength and luster. That is what’s most striking about Sunday on the Rocks by playwright Theresa Rebeck, now at The Actor’s Company Theatre. The finest razzle-dazzle that money can buy? Not in this production; there is just good old-fashioned…
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Theater Review: MY FIRST EX-HUSBAND (The Huntington at Calderwood Pavilion, Boston)
TAKE MY HUSBAND, PLEASE Marriage has long been fodder for male stand-up comics, but it has generally been women who have been the butt of the jokes. Actress, comic, and TV personality Joy Behar offers a refreshing alternative to that tired trope with My First Ex-Husband, which has made its journey from Off-Broadway to The…
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Theater Review: AM I ROXIE? (Geffen Playhouse)
Am I Roxie? Am I a Play? Am I at the Wrong Theater? Geffen’s Latest Solo Act Feels More Fringe Than Mainstage Within five minutes of “this fiercely funny one-woman tour-de-force” (so says the publicity), actress Roxana Ortega is already fighting back tears about losing her mother due to Alzheimer’s. Thus begins her sappy and…
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Theater Review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY (Berkeley Playhouse)
A DROP-DEAD DELIGHT Fall is officially here. Kids are back in school and Halloween is just around the corner. Thus it feels like the perfect time for Berkeley Playhouse to open their new season with the hilarious hit musical The Addams Family, appropriate for all the ghouls in your family. Post-pandemic, Berkeley Playhouse has become…
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Theater Review: FLY ME TO THE SUN (Fountain Theatre)
FLY ME TO THE SUN… AND LEAVE ME THERE I confess, playwright Brian Quijada was an unknown quantity to me, and after attending Fly Me to the Sun at the Fountain Theatre, I was of the mind that he could remain so. But, I’ve a good deal of experience with the Fountain, which is one…
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Theater Review: 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL (Ray of Light Theatre)
MORE LIKE 9 TO 9, THIS MUSICAL IS AN OVERSTUFFED BUT FUN DOLLYFEST Ray of Light Theater is known for putting a spin on musicals that are big in popular culture. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Rocky Horror Show and Legally Blonde are some of their memorable hits. Now they’ve taken on 9 to…
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