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Theater
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Off-Broadway Review: ANNA CHRISTIE (St. Ann’s Warehouse)
ANNA CHRISTIE RIDES THE TIDE AGAIN An early O’Neill, boldly staged, will sweep you into a fog-shrouded world of fate, forgiveness, and hard-won grace. “A rich and salty play,” wrote one critic of Anna Christie when it premiered in New York in 1921. “Written with abundant imagination,” claimed another. Yet a third critic called the…
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Theater Review: BLACK NATIVITY (National Center of Afro-American Artists at Emerson Paramount)
GO TELL IT! There are many ways to celebrate the holiday season on Boston-area stages, ranging from dance interpretations of The Nutcracker to performances and revisions of Dickens, to the ever-new traditional Revels and shows that use the Christmas season as a backdrop for stories of joy and even hilarity. None get so deeply to…
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Theater Preview: URBAN DEATH XMAS: SHOW SPOOKTACULAR & MAZE! (Zombie Joe’s in NoHo)
A DELICIOUSLY VERY WRONG WAY TO CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS Santa’s dead, the carols are cursed, and Zombie Joe wants your soul for Christmas If you survived Urban Death: Tour of Terror in October—and lived to tell the tale—Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group is inviting you back for a holiday encore that swaps pumpkin guts for…
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Off-Broadway Review: TARTUFFE (New York Theatre Workshop)
MORAL ROT MASQUERADING AS VIRTUE Broderick underplays the zealot Tartuffe in Lucas Hnath’s contemporary take, but the cast keeps the comedy crackling The art of looking virtuous while being utterly fake is a talent as old as theater itself, and Molière’s Tartuffe remains the most iconic theatrical example. Having seen André De Shields’s sly, invigorating version…
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Theater Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS (City Lit Theater)
A HOLIDAY MYSTERY WITH VICTORIAN MISCHIEF ON ITS MIND Chesterton by way of Conan Doyle, wrapped in Wodehouse-style tomfoolery Arthur Conan Doyle wrote only one Christmas-themed Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle — coincidentally, the first Holmes story I ever read — which was adapted into a charming play by Michael Menendian…
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Theater Review: GUYS AND DOLLS (Shakespeare Theatre Company)
A MUSICAL FABLE FOR THEN — AND NOW A cornerstone of the American musical theater canon. Corny and sexist? Undeniably. But it’s still thrilling, still brassy, still Broadway. Guys and Dolls bills itself as “a musical fable of Broadway,” and that framing matters. Based on the stories of Damon Runyon, the 1950 show doesn’t aim…
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Theater Review: IS THIS A ROOM (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
AN OMINOUS AND DISORIENTING THRILLER A meticulously staged interrogation that tightens its grip minute by minute In theater and in life, some risks are worth taking. Others may not be worth the cost. Reality Winner, a U.S. Air Force veteran and a contractor for the National Security Agency, took a risk in May of 2017…
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Theater Review: CYGNET’S A MAGICAL HOLIDAY (Cygnet Theatre)
A VINTAGE-STYLE HOLIDAY CONCERT A warmly nostalgic night of classic music, crooning, and dance Imagine that it’s 1962. You and your spouse decide to get a sitter and go down to the “club” because they’re featuring an upbeat Christmas music show with dancers and a small live band. If the club did the show really…
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Theater Review: MIDWINTER REVELS: A SCANDANAVIAN STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (Sanders Theater at Harvard University)
WELCOME YULE! In keeping with its Scandinavian theme, this year’s Midwinter Revels presents a smorgasbord of stories, songs, and dances in Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. The very foundation of the Revels experience is something of a smorgasbord, in fact. Revels has evolved from the Christmas Revels to the Midwinter Revels since its founding in 1971….
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Theater Review: PLAID TIDINGS (Revolution Stage Company in Palm Springs)
PLAIDS, CAROLS & COMIC CHAOS A tuneful Yule celebration filled with charm, harmony, and holiday silliness If you’re craving holiday nostalgia served with tight four-part harmonies and a side of goofy, good-hearted comedy, Plaid Tidings at Revolution Stage Company should be on your December shortlist. Stuart Ross’s follow-up to his wildly popular 1989 revue Forever…
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Theater Review: BIPOLAR & THE ENGLISH CHANNEL (Julie Ridge at Theatre Row)
ENDURANCE, MANIA, AND THE WILL TO SURVIVE A raw solo performance that turns lived experience into hard-earned clarity Bipolar disorder, marked by its vertiginous highs and devastating lows, is an incurable condition that exacts a profound toll on those who live with it. Yet within this relentless struggle, many who are afflicted demonstrate a remarkable…
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Theater Review: CABARET (Oakland Theater Project)
ESCAPISM AT THE EDGE OF COLLAPSE A Kit Kat Club that feels uncomfortably close to home Since its founding in 2012, Oakland Theater Project has set out to create theater experiences that inspire compassion, embracing radical inclusivity and diversity while reflecting the dynamic communities of Oakland. Sally Bowles (Sharon Shao) Since its Broadway debut in…
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Theater Review: GASLIGHT (Northlight Theatre)
A THRILLER THAT OUTLASTS ITS TWIST Even when we know what’s coming, the tension holds Let’s talk about the cojones required to mount a production of Gaslight nowadays. Even if we assume — a tall order, that assumption — that most of the audience has not seen, or does not know, the plot of George…
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Theater Review: THE GOLDEN GIRLS LIVE: THE CHRISTMAS EPISODES (Curran Theatre)
THANK YOU FOR BEING A QUEEN Four drag icons, two episodes, and twenty years of perfectly timed shade Now celebrating its 20th consecutive year, The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes has become one of San Francisco’s most reliable holiday traditions. This drag reinvention of classic sitcom episodes is now a full-scale theatrical event. The…
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Theater Review: CHILDREN OF THE WINTER KINGDOM — A BONKERS HOLIDAY FANTASY (Actors’ Gang in Culver City)
A HOLIDAY PANTO THAT KNOWS WHAT IT’S DOING The Actors’ Gang offers a family-friendly fairy tale with teeth Children of the Winter Kingdom – The Bonkers Adventures of Holly and Spruce, now frolicking at The Actors’ Gang in Culver City, is reminiscent of the beloved British Christmas pantomimes. The family-friendly show is festive and song-filled,…
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Theater Review: MOULIN ROUGE (2025 Touring Production)
TRUTH, BEAUTY, FREEDOM, LOVE — MOULIN ROUGE! LIGHTS UP THE DESERT A pop-fueled fever dream lands at McCallum Theatre Moulin Rouge! The Musical took the stage of McCallum Theatre in all its splendor on Tuesday night, where it runs through December 14. I first saw this tour when it launched in 2022, and it was…
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Theater Review: 89 CARSON JUNCTION ROAD (Compulsion Dance & Theater at Diversionary Theatre)
THE SOUP OF THE DAY IS A DARK BROTH INDEED There’s a game some couples play when they’re out and about: they make up lives about the strangers they see in places like diners. Part of what makes it work is that they’re never actually going to know a thing about those people. Until playwright/director…
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Opera Review: THE MONKEY KING (World Premiere by San Francisco Opera)
THE MONKEY KING LANDS WITH A ROAR A dazzling, design-driven premiere expands what opera can be Every now and then an opera house unveils something that doesn’t just premiere — it shifts the whole conversation about what new opera might be. San Francisco Opera’s The Monkey King is exactly that kind of event: vibrant, imaginative,…
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Theater Review: PETER PAN (Panto in the Presidio)
HOOK, LINE & SEQUINER Presidio’s Peter Pan Panto soars on camp, color, chaos, Christmas cheer, and unapologetic silliness ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ This holiday season, the Presidio Theatre brings back its beloved Panto in the Presidio for a fifth year — that joyful British pantomime tradition where audiences shout…
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Theater Review: INTO THE WOODS (SF Playhouse)
STILL CASTING ITS SPELL Sondheim and Lapine’s fractured fairytales find fresh magic at San Francisco Playhouse Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods may be one of the most beloved titles in the modern musical-theatre canon, but San Francisco Playhouse’s holiday-season staging makes a strong case for why it keeps earning its place. From…
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