All stories by Lily Janiak on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 16, 2025

If you’ve ever silently raged an an art snob friend, feel catharsis at Shotgun’s ‘Art’ by Lily Janiak

In Yasmina Reza’s 1994 play, an exorbitant purchase of an all-white painting turns men into beasts. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:34PM
Saturday, March 15, 2025

‘Doomers’ review: Play based on Sam Altman’s ouster from OpenAI is still in beta by Lily Janiak

The boardroom drama seizes an opportunity many established local theaters have been slow to act on: the chance to delve into the current events dividing the tech world in its own backyard.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:27PM
Thursday, March 13, 2025

‘Nobody Loves You’ review: Love ‘The Bachelor’? Hate it? You need to see this musical by Lily Janiak

In American Conservatory Theater’s “Nobody Loves You,” a skepticism about the show’s own mechanisms lends it an agreeable edge.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:04PM
Sunday, March 9, 2025

Review: ‘Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical’ needs less exposition, more sex by Lily Janiak

If TheatreWorks and Center Rep’s world premiere more galumphs than fizzes, failing to root for it anyway would be like cheering against true love. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:47PM
Saturday, March 8, 2025

Review: ‘Push-Pull’ examines toxic pursuit of male physical perfection by Lily Janiak

The Berkeley City Club is always an up-close-and-personal venue, but it’s a special thrill when actors’ necks are bulging and steaming to lift giant weights. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:41PM
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

There’s no resisting reality dating shows in ‘Nobody Loves You’ by Lily Janiak

American Conservatory Theater’s musical, written by Berkeley natives Itamar Moses and Gaby Alter, explores whether authentic, old-fashioned love is possible in the age of “The Bachelor�…

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, February 17, 2025

Review: S.F. play about ‘dumbasses’ saving the world is flawed, but playwright shows promise by Lily Janiak

“Cuckoo Edible Magic,” inspired by gaming and anime, suffers from typical early-career shortcomings, but playwright Reed Flores proves himself a rising star.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:06PM
Sunday, February 16, 2025

Review: Video games and theater play on the same side in ‘Froggy’ by Lily Janiak

Center Repertory Company’s world premiere is a one-of-a-kind construction, complete with GoPros and foley sound effects.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:41PM
Friday, February 14, 2025

‘Back to the Future: The Musical’: Worth the ride, or better left in the past? by Lily Janiak

The remake at BroadwaySF’s Orpheum Theatre recalls a theme park in both joyous and infelicitous ways.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:09PM
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

CHamorro culture gets overdue representation in SFBATCO’s ‘Cuckoo Edible Magic’ by Lily Janiak

Reed Flores’ world premiere seeks to represent CHamorro cuisine, language and culture onstage as part of a tapestry of AAPI identities.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, February 10, 2025

In the second Trump term, we need Ibsen’s plays more than ever by Lily Janiak

“An Enemy of the People” has rarely felt as true-to-life as it does in San Jose Stage Company’s trenchant production.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:22PM
Saturday, February 8, 2025

Review: ‘Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play’ is perfectly seasoned but undercooked by Lily Janiak

San Francisco Playhouse’s production is “inject this into my veins” funny but shambolic, as if a ouija board is in charge. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:39PM
Thursday, February 6, 2025

Review: In this brilliant, disgusting play, a man appears to inhale thousands of calories by Lily Janiak

In Geoff Sobelle’s “Food,” in a four-day Stanford Live run, our appetites write history itself.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:40PM

This sleepy suburb is home to the Bay Area’s edgiest new play by Lily Janiak

Center Repertory Company’s world premiere of “Froggy” is a departure on multiple fronts.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Tuesday, February 4, 2025

You know Hugh Bonneville from ‘Downton’ and ‘Paddington.’ Now he’s onstage in a Chekhov masterpiece by Lily Janiak

Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s “Uncle Vanya” marks its first play from the theatrical canon since Johanna Pfaelzer became artistic director in 2019.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, February 3, 2025

Cirque du Soleil returns to S.F. with a stage set condensed into a single shape by Lily Janiak

Cirque du Soleil returns to Oracle Park with “Echo,” featuring a unique cube set and running Nov. 20 to Dec. 21.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 12:00PM
Wednesday, January 22, 2025

‘I wanted to theatricalize the taste of MSG’: How an S.F. play explores racism in food by Lily Janiak

‘Exotic Deadly’ at San Francisco Playhouse was inspired partly by playwright Keiko Green’s experience as the granddaughter of a MSG food scientist.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Friday, January 10, 2025

Review: ‘Some Like It Hot’ doesn’t know what kind of show it wants to be by Lily Janiak

You start to wish Daphne’s story could take life as its own new musical instead of being shoehorned into preexisting intellectual property.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:25PM
Thursday, December 26, 2024

‘The selfies of an SS officer’ tops this promising 2025 theater lineup by Lily Janiak

Shotgun Players, SFBATCO, Berkeley Rep and others offer shows to organize your calendar around.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Friday, December 20, 2024

Review: The Black salon chair is baptismal font in ‘A Thousand Ships’ by Lily Janiak

Despite its indulgences, Marcus Gardley’s world premiere stands as an example of how Oakland Theater Project is the most ambitious little theater company in the region.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:21PM
Thursday, December 19, 2024

Best of 2024: In a tough year, Bay Area theater fights back by Lily Janiak

Oakland Theater Project, Theatre Lunatico and American Conservatory Theater made Bay Area theater sparkle this year.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 09:50AM
Monday, December 9, 2024

Review: ACT’s ‘Whynot’ almost makes its previous ‘Carol’ look good by Lily Janiak

Director Pam MacKinnon and playwright Craig Lucas don’t establish enough ground rules for their story to cohere into something more than a string of random events.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:56PM

Review: The holiday panto in the Presidio is getting better by Lily Janiak

‘Peter Pan’ aspires to, and often achieves, smooth-mind, sparkly escape from worldly cares.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:00PM
Sunday, December 8, 2024

Review: ‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’ surpasses any Netflix holiday rom-com by Lily Janiak

TheatreWorks’ production of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s “Pride and Prejudice” sequel combines holiday confection, spicy debate and sumptuous visuals.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:58PM
Sunday, December 1, 2024

Review: S.F. Playhouse’s ‘Waitress’ needs more time in the oven by Lily Janiak

For all of Susi Damilano’s compassionate, imaginative direction, this production of Jessie Nelson and Sara Bareilles’ 2015 musical suffers from a near-fatal flaw.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:01PM
Sunday, November 24, 2024

At Shotgun Players’ ’Thirty-Six,’ love doesn’t need physical touch by Lily Janiak

Leah Nanako Winkler’s world premiere, inspired by a New York Times article, capitalizes on how theater is, at its core, bodies in the same space as you.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:44PM

From barista to Broadway tour: S.F. theater kid Lucas Babcock joins ‘Hamilton’ cast by Lily Janiak

When Lucas Hinds Babcock performs at BroadwaySF’s Orpheum Theatre, he’ll be returning to the venue where he saw tours as a boy.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Sunday, November 17, 2024

Review: Haruki Murakami stage adaptation has visual whimsy, textual weirdness by Lily Janiak

In Word for Word’s “The Strange Library,” self-rearranging walls submerge you in a dreamlike state.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:41PM
Friday, November 15, 2024

Review: Annie Baker’s script is a feast, and this pandemic-born theater casts it with eye-popping talent by Lily Janiak

The cast members of Actors’ Reading Collective’s “The Antipodes” don’t just chow down on rich material; they’re connoisseurs.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:35PM
Thursday, November 14, 2024

Review: ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ yowls with pain, chortles with joy by Lily Janiak

In a country that just elected a xenophobe president, Jocelyn Bioh’s West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep is a necessary corrective.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:30PM

Holiday 2024: ‘A Whynot Christmas Carol’ is among the most stirring theater productions this season by Lily Janiak

American Conservatory Theater’s world premiere of “A Whynot Christmas Carol” demands introspection alongside its magic and laughs.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:00PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre