Linda Hodges - Page 3

Tootsie made its Northern California premiere at San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts and will be there now through April 24. With a Tony-winning book by Robert Horn, and with music and lyrics by the clever David Yazbek (The Band's Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Tootsie garnered eleven Tony nominations, two wins and much acclaim, as well as pointed critique centered on transmisogyny. There are other problems as well.

Broadway San Jose's limited run of Jonathan Larson's RENT is a glorious time of raw-energy rock, as well as a heartrending reminder to measure your life in love. Billed as the 'Farewell Tour,' supposedly being the final time the original Michael Greif staging will travel North America, the show packs up its bags after Sunday, April 10 - and you do not want to miss it.

For twenty-five years, Jonathan Larson’s RENT has inspired audiences to choose love over fear and to live without regret. But perhaps just as importantly, this Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning phenomenon celebrates artists and the raw courage and commitment they evince in daring to pursue their craft – almost always in a community of like-minded misfits, non-conformists and crazies. -- Linda Hodges

It’s 1962 and perky, pretty and plump teen Tracy Turnblad has dance moves that will never be seen unless she can find a way to get on the local teen dance show, “The Corny Collins Show.” Niki Metcalf shines as the effervescent, strong and kind Tracy Turnblad who dares to cross boundaries (she’s often in detention for her big hair-don’t) to stay true to herself. Playing now thru November 28th at Broadway San Jose, there’s still time to get your tickets and be carried away on dance wave of laughter and music from a phenomenal show with a stellar cast. Review by Linda Hodges

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s HAMILTON triumphantly took the stage at Broadway San Jose, returning to a changed world - as the masked patrons showing proof of vaccination at the door attested to. But more than that, in the intervening years since Miranda and his intrepid band of brothers (Alex Lacamoire, Andy Blankenbuehler and Thomas Kail) created the sound, look and feel of the nation’s origin story, the country today has undergone seismic shifts of great magnitudes.

BWW Review: WAITRESS SERVES UP PIE AND PASSION at Broadway San Jose, now thru Dec. 22

The larger-than-life fantasy wizarding world of Harry Potter comes to life on the stage in J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Curran Theatre, SF, now thru July 2020

The heyday of Vaudeville may have come to an abrupt end in the 1930s, but it is alive and well in Gypsy, Bay Area Musical's fifth season opening act. And what a doozy of a show. Based on the 1957 memoirs of famed striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, the musical came to Broadway in 1959 and was promptly hailed as a runaway hit. With a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim it garnered 8 Tony nominations, though strangely enough, it didn't win any, losing Best Musical to a tie between Fiorello! and The Sound of Music. Ouch!

Holding court on a corner in downtown San Jose is 3Below Theaters and Lounge. It would be easier to say what they don't do but to use their own words they're 'downtown San Jose's social spot for stage, screen, music, comedy, family fun and events.' I'll just add that the complex is indeed a veritable mix of entertainment-for-all with delectable eats and great vibe. Yes, I digressed right out of the gate!

The persistent legend, mystique and fascination of what may have happened to Anastasia during Russia's revolution finds a new home in the musical ANASTASIA

Marin Shakespeare's SPAMALOT is an altogether delightful and uproariously zany production that has their audiences laughing almost non-stop throughout the show. Playing its final week now through August 25, SPAMALOT is a not-to-be-missed, hugely enjoyable show.

Bay Area Musical's production of HAIRSPRAY rocks the house early 1960s style, with lacquered bouffants and non-stop music, dancing and comedy – all wrapped up in a story about spunky, plus-sized teen Tracy Turnblad of Baltimore and her dream to be a dancer on the local TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show.”

BWW Review: Disney's NEWSIES Shines Now Through July 13 at Woodminster Summer Musicals

SHNSF's Golden Gate Theatre was electric with excitement as the house filled to capacity for the touring company of RENT. Now thru June 23!

BWW's Linda Hodges talks with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's founding artistic director Robert Kelley about winning the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award!

Pack up the kids and head to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theater, now thru May 12, to see Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." It's like winning your own golden ticket.

Marin Musical Theatre Company's stunning and provocative production of Spring Awakening is a no-holds-barred, deep dive into repression, control and the painful process of growing up.