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Theater Review: THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND (Lark Theater)
CELEBRATING KANDER & EBB: WHAT A LARK! In the heart of southern Marin County, Larkspur’s Lark Theater is a 1936 art deco movie house with a single screen. It required hard work, dedicated volunteers and plenty of donations from 2004 to 2007 to transform it into a state-of-the-art film and cultural center. Today, this historic…
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Theater Review: SUBURBIA (Mojo Ensemble at Odyssey Theatre)
Suburbia is too close to the country to have anything real to do and too close to the city to admit you have nothing real to do. — American essayist Sloane Crosley First, I want to acknowledge the passing of Ron Sossi, Founding Artistic Director of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, who made theatre in LA…
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Theater Review: SISTER ACT (Ford’s Theater in D.C.)
BENEATH THE SCHMALTZ IS A JOYFUL NOISE Fun, uplifting, and yes, frivolous, Sister Act is a musical remake of the famously successful 1992 hit movie starring Whoopi Goldberg. The historic Ford’s Theater, which also houses a museum based on Abraham Lincoln’s legacy, is a tourist destination and is known for producing non-controversial shows for the…
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Theater Review: TRUE WEST (Roustabouts Theatre Company at Diversionary Theatre in San Diego)
TRUE ZEST IN TRUE WEST As my sixtieth year on earth winds down, I’d like to believe those years have seasoned me with a strong degree of wisdom, patience, and finesse. As I said, I’d like to believe that, but there are two people who can reduce me to a furious, outrageous adolescent in a…
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Theater Review: INTO THE WOODS (Musical Theatre West)
THE FAIRY TALES BREAK– AND THAT’S THE POINT The stories are still here. Cinderella. Jack. Little Red. Rapunzel. A Baker and his Wife, tangled in a curse and each other. Into the Woods has always worn its source material like a costume—but it keeps a blade tucked underneath. Musical Theatre West’s new production doesn’t sharpen…
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Theater Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood)
BEE MINUS Now playing at Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood is one of the few wonderful musicals from this century so far, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, by William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin (book). Now 20 years old, this delightful musical follows a group of middle schoolers as they struggle…
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Broadway Review: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (Music Box)
THE PICTURE OF ASTOUNDING THEATRE I’ve been fortunate to witness some extraordinary one-person plays on Broadway. To name a few: Zoe Caldwell in Lillian, Ben Kingsley in Edmund Kean, Robert Morse in TRU, as well as Elaine Stritch at Liberty, I Am My Own Wife, and outstanding performances by John Leguizamo, Eric Bogosian, and Anna…
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Theater Review: CABARET (NTC Playhouse in Novato)
WHEN THE GRIM PAST WAS A PARTY Willkommen to the intimate 99-seat NTC Playhouse in Novato, transformed into the seedy Kit Kat Klub in pre-war Berlin. While poverty, unemployment, and a sense of doom fill the streets, free-wheeling sex, drugs, and jazz entertain inside the club. Unpleasant political developments are willingly pushed aside by these…
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Theater Review: THE UNRAVELING (Ghost Road Theatre)
LOOM WITH A VIEW Ghost Road Theatre’s The Unraveling pulls you into its strange, hypnotic orbit and doesn’t let go. This is a truly original work with some breathtaking theatrical coups. Ann Noble is mesmerizing as Susan, a reclusive former professor who loved teaching Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, but modern-day students and their ever-present…
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Theater Review: HAMILTON (National Tour in Houston)
Now playing at The Hobby Center in Houston is the national tour of the absolute crown jewel of the theater known simply as Hamilton. This artistic cultural phenomenon is non-stop high-energy from beginning to end, showing no signs of slowing down. At almost a decade old, the story of the elusive and blindly ambitious Founding…
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Theater Review: WILD WITH HAPPY (NCTC in San Francisco)
ASHES TO ASHES, PIXIE DUST TO PIXIE DUST Academy Award-nominated actor, playwright, and former Bay Area resident Colman Domingo‘s semi-autobiographical dramedy, Wild With Happy, is having its San Francisco debut this month at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. The title itself is a contradiction, perfectly capturing the show’s blend of humor and heartfelt emotion. The…
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Theater Review: MRS. KRISHNAN’S PARTY (Marin Theatre)
FEEL-GOOD SHOW SPICES UP MARIN THEATRE Marin Theatre takes a flying leap into immersive culture with Mrs. Krishnan’s Party—which opened tonight in the intimate Boyer Main Stage. The interactive comedy is a short, frenetic and very funny helping of what goes on in back-of-the-store India, transported to Mill Valley. The audience slowly enters a backstage…
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Theater Review: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (Revolution Stage Company in Palm Springs)
HOW TO SUCCEED SUCCEEDS AND HOW! Reams can and have been written about the glories of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert, the 1961 musical satire that landed virtually unanimous raves would go on to run…
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Theater Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (North Coast Rep)
WE, THE THEATRE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION Heidi Schreck wrote this mostly-autobiographical play and starred in it when it played on Broadway, where it was Tony-nominated for Best Play in 2017. So when Heidi broke the fourth wall at the beginning by saying, “Hi everyone! I’m Heidi!” she meant it. So when…
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Theater Review: CURTAINS (Coronado Playhouse, San Diego)
Coronado Playhouse is reviving the 2007 musical comedy/murder mystery Curtains through March 30. The show is the final collaboration of the great music theater team of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb (the team was working on The Visit when Ebb died in 2004). After original book author Peter Stone died in 2003, Rupert…
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Theater Review: VICTOR/VICTORIA (Palm Canyon Theatre)
VA-VA-VOOM TO VICTOR/VICTORIA The story of Victoria who becomes Victor impersonating Victoria has been around for a while. It started as a 1933 German film. Then writer/director Blake Edwards (Pink Panther) made a hit movie of it in 1982 starring his wife, Julie Andrews. It featured several songs by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse. It…
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Theater Review: ONE FOR MY BABY (Broadway-Bound World-Premiere Musical at El Portal in North Hollywood)
SWINGS BIG, SHINES BRIGHT All Roads Theatre Company just set the bar sky-high with One for My Baby, a slick, jazz-soaked tribute to the music of Harold Arlen. This is old-school showbiz at its best—big voices, big orchestrations, and enough high-voltage talent to power a city block. With a Broadway-caliber cast and an 11-piece band…
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Theater Review: ART (Shotgun Players, Ashby Stage in Berkeley)
THE ART OF MAKING ART An extravagant art purchase causes a major upheaval among three old friends in Yasmina Reza’s Art, at Berkeley’s Ashby Stage through April 9. David Sinaiko and Benoît Monin The setup: former college buddies Serge, Marc, and Yvan meet regularly for dinner, drinks, and discussion. One day Serge (Benoît Monin) announces…
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Theater Review: GUYS AND DOLLS (Music Theater Works)
JOYOUSLY, GUYS & DOLLS HAS IT ALL Still touted as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time, Guys and Dolls turns 75 in November. You’d never know it based on Music Theater Works feisty little production of this all-American classic playing now in Skokie’s North Shore Center. Frisky as a rambunctious puppy, this…
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Theater Review: NOBODY LOVES YOU (A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater)
AUDACIOUS AND FUN MUSICAL TAKES ON REALITY TV Last Wednesday, A.C.T. opened an extremely likeable, engaging and entertaining musical telling one of the tried-and-true stories of the 21st century. It’s boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy goes on girl’s favorite reality dating show to win girl back! In an era where technology dominates communication…
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