1,373 stories by "Chad Jones"
When does a movie become theater? The easy answer is when it's adapted a la Hairspray, The Lion King, The Producers and the like. But there have been rare instances when movies become theate…
SF Playhouse serves up a Cratchit-y Christmas three stars Holiday hilarity Gladys Cratchit is not having a merry Christmas. Her husband, Bob, is a sap, a boob and a goody-goody. She has 21 s…
So many fine gift ideas, so little space. Let's get started with some great theater books. In the realm of books about theater, this year's standout comes from San Mateo native Thomas Schuma…
San Francisco's AT&T Park has seen its share of Barrys: Bonds, Zito and now…Manilow. Yes, Barry Manilow was on hand Wednesday night for what has to be a Bay Area first: an ice "spectac…
With the future of the Empire Plush Room, the Bay Area's most distinctive cabaret, in some doubt " Will it shut down? Will it relocate to another hotel? " there's a certain pleasure in sitti…
Let the squealing begin. Disney's tween entertainment behemoth High School Musical has just been announced as a "special spring engagement" in SHN's Best of Broadway season in San Francisco.…
During the recent Broadway strike, the AIDS fundraising charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS lost an estimated $40,000 a day without its holiday fund appeal, which usually happens durin…
Wait a minute " didn't Legally Blonde already come to San Francisco? Cybill Shepherd, another famous blonde (legal or otherwise), is heading to the Bay Area with a one-woman show called Curv…
It seems Debbie Reynolds has been around since show biz was invented " not show business, but, you know, SHOW BIZ! The razzley-dazzley, tap-dancing kind of show biz. From her first big break…
The new cast of Jersey Boys at San Francisco's Curran Theatre includes, from left, Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi, Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli, Andrew Rannells as Bob Gaudio and Bryan McElroy as…
That Shakespeare is one groovy guy, man. For centuries, enterprising directors have taken the Bard of Avon's work and twisted and pulled it like so much theatrical taffy. But the thing about…
OK, I know this isn't local, but I'm still excited about it. And it's in our state and time zone, so technically it's local. Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles recently announced that it wi…
This weekend just past in San Francisco was a good one for those of us who savor larger-than-life lady singers. On Saturday, Jennifer Holliday, the Tony Award-winning original Effie Melody W…
It's not often that a performer goes from gigs at the Willows Theatre Company in Concord, TheatreWorks in Mountain View and Pleasanton Playhouse in Pleasanton to one of the hottest Broadway …
Opened Nov. 17, 2007 at the Magic Theatre Gilman's Crowd stands out Four stars Pleasingly provocative There aren't many plays, especially new plays, that stick with you days after seeing the…
For Jennifer Holliday, the original Effie White in Broadway's Dreamgirls, life has had its share of nightmare moments. Only 19 when the tumultuous Dreamgirls development process began, and 2…
Cathy Schutz, my dear friend, co-worker and fellow theater lover died on Saturday. We met 10 years ago when I started as the theater critic for what was then called the Alameda Newspaper Gro…
Opened Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 in San Francisco Cirque du Soleil's Kooza thrills more than chills Three stars Killer `Wheel of Death' I can be a jerk about Cirque " I fell out of love with Cir…
There's nothing more fun than an underdog musical. [title of show] is just such a musical. It's essentially a small (five-people, counting the keyboardist) musical about two guys writing a m…
It could be that I have been burned by the Circus of the Sun. Now, I fully realize there are worse things to suffer in life than weariness of Cirque du Soleil, the phenomenally successful ne…
Some interesting show and show-related CDs are popping up just in time for the holidays. In the next few weeks, I'll be highlighting some of winners and losers. Judy Kuhn, "Serious Playgroun…
Broadway may have been pretty quiet last Saturday night (what with the stagehands strike and all), but the Broadway show tunes were ringing sweetly through the Bay Area. More specifically th…
I can't really review the Aurora Theatre Company's production of Sex, a 1926 play by the delectable Mae West. One of my best friends is in the cast (he's brilliant, by the way), so I have wh…
The old saying goes something like this: Do enough charity benefits and soon you'll have enough material for your very own show. OK, so it's not an old saying, but it's true. When they were …
Opened Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Roda Theatre Zimmerman dazzles in adventurous Argonautika Four stars Argonaut-to-be-missed With director Mary Zimmerman at the …
