Sunday, March 26, 2023

Crowd-pleasers dominate San Francisco Playhouse’s 2023-24 season by Lily Janiak

“Guys and Dolls,” “The 39 Steps” and “Evita” are among the recognizable titles in the Union Square company’s next season.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 10:00PM
Friday, March 24, 2023

Review: SFBATCO’s incision-sharp ‘Private’ is the surveillance drama for our moment by Lily Janiak

With Mona Pirnot’s West Coast premiere, you’ll never look at workplace monitoring the same way again.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:13PM
Tuesday, March 21, 2023

S.F. native Kristina Wong to be a part of ACT’s 2023-24 season by Lily Janiak

American Conservatory Theater’s next season contains six shows, in contrast to this year’s five and a pre-pandemic seven.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:30PM

A powerful voice in theater returns to Berkeley Rep by Lily Janiak

Bay Area theater director Mina Morita recently received a $25,000 “mid-career” grant. Now she helms “English,” about Iranian TOEFL students, at Berkeley Rep.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, March 20, 2023

Review: African-American Shakes’ uneven acting doesn’t dampen the prescience of ‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Lily Janiak

Monica White Ndounou’s production at Marines’ Memorial Theatre in S.F. highlights the difference between not listening as a character and as an actor.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:59PM

In Bay Area theater, spring 2023 is the time to start small by Lily Janiak

Cinnabar Theater, Crowded Fire Theater, Cutting Ball Theater and others offer testaments to the joys of small theater.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Sunday, March 19, 2023

Review: Despite flaws, ‘The Hummingbird’ at the Marsh S.F. is unafraid of skin-prickling, gut-burrowing horror by Lily Janiak

Kathryn Keats’ solo show about her real-life captivity is testament to the messy, always in-progress act of survival. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:15PM
Thursday, March 16, 2023

Review: At S.F. Playhouse’s ‘Clue,’ everyone’s guilty — of having a good time by Lily Janiak

Susi Damilano’s cast rounds up several of Bay Area comedy’s usual suspects and gives them a welcome platform to mug, vamp and slay. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:55PM
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Here’s what video games can learn from S.F. theater — and vice versa by Lily Janiak

How can video games improve story and character? With Bay Area playwrights and stage actors.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, March 13, 2023

Review: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s ‘Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer’ chimes uneasily with the present by Steven Winn

The one-woman tribute starring Greta Ogelsby delivers mostly uplifting message, though sheds light on how little progress U.S. has made.   

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:12PM
Thursday, March 9, 2023

Billy Porter to bring ‘Black Mona Lisa’ tour to San Francisco by Tony Bravo

The award-winning star of "Pose" plans to focus on his pop music with nods to his other career highlights.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:45PM
Tuesday, March 7, 2023

A Black theater director on dealing with cutbacks — and death threats by Lily Janiak

"We don't want to disturb our patron base by telling them that they'll have to share the space with other people. What I want to do is disturb the notion of disturbing," Oregon Shakespeare F…

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, March 6, 2023

‘Clue’ comes to S.F. Playhouse with an extra mystery attached by Joshua Kosman

A new production of the board game-inspired play will feature an immersive puzzle hunt for patrons to solve.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Thursday, March 2, 2023

Review: Berkeley Rep’s ‘Cambodian Rock Band’ is a paean to the power of art by Lily Janiak

Lauren Yee's play with music, which is directed by Chay Yew, features openhearted psychedelia, dreamy surf rock and ballads that sound like memories of summer days, most by Los Angeles band …

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:58PM
Wednesday, March 1, 2023

This Bay Area artist has ALS and can’t speak — but she’s still directing her dream project by Lily Janiak

The local theater community rallied around Erin Merritt to ensure she could direct "Tea Party" by Gordon Dahlquist.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, February 27, 2023

Bay Area theater supergroup unites playwright, composer and shadow puppeteer by Lily Janiak

The trio used the sci-fi trilogy by Chinese author Cixin Liu as a jumping-off point but soon departed from their source material in "Sojourner ZY."

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:47PM
Friday, February 24, 2023

Review: Magic’s ‘The Travelers’ dares to say the untamed and impossible by Lily Janiak

Director Catherine Castellanos signals that here, in a crumbling monastery in the Central Valley village of Grangeville, the outside world is a distant land.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:59PM

How a concert inspired a S.F. playwright to tell the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor by David John Chávez

Lauren Yee's anticipated Bay Area premiere of "Cambodian Rock Band" ready to rock Berkeley Rep.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Thursday, February 23, 2023

Review: All hail BroadwaySF’s ‘Six,’ about wives of Henry VIII by Lily Janiak

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss' musical about the six wives of Henry VIII knows what it wants and knows how to get it. 

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:23PM
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Actors are heroes through two power outages at Marin Theatre Company’s ‘Justice’ by Lily Janiak

Gusting winds twice stalled opening night of a new musical, by Lauren M. Gunderson, Bree Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan, about female Supreme Court trailblazers.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 02:03PM
Thursday, February 16, 2023

Review: ACT’s ‘The Headlands’ is an S.F. valentine for locals by Lily Janiak

In American Conservatory Theater's West Coast premiere, S.F. native Christopher Chen sprinkles in clues and red herrings with the expert timing of a symphony conductor.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:06PM
Tuesday, February 14, 2023

‘Hadestown’ and ‘Frozen’ to bookend Broadway San Jose’s 2023-24 season by Lily Janiak

Other highlights coming to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts include "Ain't Too Proud" and "Mean Girls."

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:00PM

Can ChatGPT write a better theater review than a paid critic? Here’s what we found by Lily Janiak

Has A.I. made the future for full-time human theater critics - about a dozen of us in the U.S. - bleaker still?

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 12:10PM
Friday, February 10, 2023

‘Crushing Wheelchairs’ tells stories of trauma and triumph of S.F.’s homeless by David John Chávez

Theatre of the Poor presents play about the Bay Area's homeless crisis, created by and starring the local unhoused residents of San Francisco.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 04:56PM
Thursday, February 9, 2023

George Santos lied about ‘Spider-Man.’ Here are other Broadway failures he can claim by Tony Bravo

Why stop at 'Spiderman?' The congressman's song-and-dance resume could use some polishing

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 10:43AM
Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Review: Center Rep’s ‘Red Bike’ is liberated writing by Lily Janiak

Playwright Cardid Svich trusts that her audiences can function in the world of metaphor and allusion.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:02PM
Tuesday, February 7, 2023

This San Francisco native wrote a play that’s in one of the city’s grandest theaters by Lily Janiak

"I decided I want to make the most Chris Chen play I could possibly make," Christopher Chen said of ACT's "The Headlands."

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM

Bobby Conte brings Mafia-boss wisdom to deeply personal cabaret in return to S.F. by David John Chávez

ACT alum and Broadway standout is set to perform his “Along the Way” solo show Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Strand Theater.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 07:00AM
Monday, February 6, 2023

New leader takes over S.F. Shakes in midst of change at Bay Area Shakespeare theaters by Lily Janiak

Santa Clara native Carla Pantoja has worked with the 40-year-old company for two decades as teacher, director and actor.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 03:00PM
Sunday, February 5, 2023

What’s immersive opera? Opera Parallèle’s ‘Everest’ offers one worthy answer by Lily Janiak

"Everest: An Immersive Experience" might be best thought of as immersive animated opera film rather than immersive opera.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:38PM
Saturday, February 4, 2023

Review: S.F. Playhouse’s ‘Cashed Out’ probes dark heart of gambling addiction by Lily Janiak

Claude Jackson Jr.'s world premiere is life-affirming without being sentimental, somehow hopeful without being unrealistic.

SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle at 01:23PM

All that Chat

2022-2023 BROADWAY SEASON
Nov 27, 2022: KPOP - Circle In The Square