by Cari Lynn Pace With a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods involves crossing the paths of multiple characters from several Brothers Grimm fairy tales. It’s an ambitious undertaking for any theater. Challenges include strong solo voices, complex lyrics, live orchestral music, clever choreography, creative costumes, and…
by Cari Lynn Pace Noises Off is a door-slamming winner from the curtain to backstage. Director Bill English must be an expert at herding cats, as this chaotic comedy written by Michael Frayn is a three-ring circus. Frayn was inspired to write the farce while observing a frantic rehearsal in Britain and observing “What went…
by Beulah F. Vega San Francisco’s Magic Theatre is just a quick hop over the Golden Gate and should be on the radar of every North Bay theatre lover. Their current production of Luis Alfaro’s Aztlán, which they commissioned, has had its run extended through July 20. Kinan Valdez directs the story which flits between…
Salonen’s Symphony of Disgust Last Sunday, I attended a very interesting program at Davies Symphony Hall. It was a groundbreaking collaboration with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, as well as the performance of a rarely done operatic monologue by Arnold Schoenberg. Here’s a spoiler: they were successful in that they did happen, not because they should…
The plight of British laborers dealing with the changing economic world in the 1980’s has been a major plot element in a number of successful musicals. From the redundant steel workers of The Full Monty to the striking coal miners of Billy Elliot, the issue of (mostly) men dealing with job elimination often took a…
North Bay theatre patrons seeking refuge from a rainy and cold December might find it worth their while to head over the bridge and spend a Summer afternoon or evening in the city. Donna Summer, that is, as BroadwaySF hosts the touring company of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. It runs through December 29 at…
My guest on the Thursday, August 22 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon was Keiko Carreiro from the San Francisco Mime Troupe production of Treasure Island. Click below to listen: **********
It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in a theatre and heard an audience laugh as loud and as long as I did at a recent performance of The Play That Goes Wrong, which has a ridiculously short run at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco through August 18. The premise is…
“Jukebox” musicals tend to use really flimsy connecting material to string together the musical hits of an artist or genre in the creation of a show. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, running now through June 9 at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, has the advantage of having the really interesting true-to-life tale…
Most folk’s exposure to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came through reading the book or watching the somewhat renamed 1971 Gene Wilder film. “Charlie” purists rejected Tim Burton’s 2005 cinematic take on the tale as too dark and weird. Well folks, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. San Francisco’s SHN Golden Gate Theatre is…
North Bay Stage and Screen 