by Harry Duke * Musical theatre is an art form that rarely comes with a trigger warning. One wouldn’t think that a show as innocuous as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee would need an alert that the show’s subject matter may cause distressing psychological or physiological reactions, especially in people who have previously…
My guest on the 09/10/26 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 FM was director Michael Tabib from the Curtain Call Theatre production of Ronald Harwood’s Quartet. The comedy about a group of bickering retired opera singers reuniting for one last performance runs through September 26 at the Russian River Hall in Monte Rio.…
by Cari Lynn Pace * I was hesitant to invite my friend to join me for Marin Theatre’s Bay Area premiere of The White Chip, now running in Mill Valley through Sep. 20. This semi-autobiographical comedy, written by Sean Daniels, is billed as “a humorous and human play about addiction and recovery.” The title refers…
by Barry Willis * San Francisco Playhouse has launched another incisive play from the talented Aaron Loeb, whose dark comedy Ideation went from a much-praised local phenomenon to a weeks-long run off-Broadway. That production was a disturbing look into the world of business consultants tasked with creating a foolproof way to dispose of millions of…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Ray of Light Theatre’s Urinetown: The Musical opened on July 31 in San Francisco and has been filling The Barbary Stage with wildly enthusiastic audiences ever since. This show, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, has everything going for it: dazzling staging,…
by Harry Duke * Sandy Rustin’s The Cottage, now running at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center through August 16, has all the hallmarks of a classic Noël Coward comedy: an early 20th-century setting, an English countryside abode, philandering spouses, lots of drinking and smoking, and witty banter delivered in British accents. That it was written…
by Barry Willis * San Francisco’s Ray of Light Theatre is giving Urinetown, the Musical a lot of love. Both a spoof of its own musical genre and an exploration of persistent social and environmental problems, the Tony winner by Mark Holmann and Greg Kotis is a tremendously engaging sharp-edged but blunt-force production running through…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Sonoma Arts Live’s season-closing Once Upon a Mattress holds plenty of delights. This Tony-award nominated 1959 musical with a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller & Marshall Barer and lyrics by Barer and music by Mary Rogers runs through August 2. Based on the ageless fairy tale The Princess and…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Hairspray is the Tony Award-winning, Broadway-busting musical based on the same-titled 1988 movie by John Waters now running at San Francisco Playhouse. With a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray soars with music by Marc Shaiman and clever lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Whittman. Masterfully directed by Bill…
My guests on the 06/25/26 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 FM were cast members Tyler Anthony and Phoebe Pruitt from the Raven Players production of Little Shop of Horrors. The musical comedy runs at the Raven Performing Arts Center in Healdsburg through July 12. Click HERE for more info.
