Robin Williams

Interview: 'It's Just A Really Special Show': Actor Joel Montague on Working With His Wife and Feeling Christmassy in ELF THE MUSICAL
by Kat Mokrynski - Nov 25, 2025

Elf the Musical, an adaptation of the hit film starring Will Ferrell, has returned to the West End for the Christmas season, with Joel Montague taking on the role of Buddy the Elf. The show follows Buddy as he leaves the North Pole to find his human father after discovering that he is actually not an elf like everyone else.

BWW Q&A: MRS. DOUBTFIRE Tour Makes Exclusive Utah Stop In Provo December 4-6
by Team BWW - Nov 14, 2025

From her first “Hellooooo!” to her fiery dinner fiasco, Mrs. Doubtfire is an icon for the generations. As a big screen hit in 1993, Mrs. Doubtfire was full of huge personalities and a heartwarming storyline that resonated with viewers—so much so that a Broadway production based on the film was created in 2022.

Review: MRS. DOUBTFIRE: THE NEW MUSICAL COMEDY at Robinson Center in Little Rock
by Theresa Bertram - Nov 1, 2025

What did our critic think of MRS. DOUBTFIRE: THE NEW MUSICAL COMEDY at Robinson Center?  I’m thrilled to report that Mrs. Doubtfire: The New Musical Comedy delivered everything I hoped for and more. 

Meet the Cast of OEDIPUS, Now Playing on Broadway
by Stephi Wild - Oct 30, 2025

The Olivier Award-winning Oedipus, an adaptation created and directed by Robert Icke, will begin performances on Broadway on Thursday, October 30, 2025. Meet the cast of Oedipus here!

5 Incredible Discoveries from the Stephen Sondheim Collection at the Library of Congress
by Jennifer Ashley Tepper - Oct 26, 2025

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Library of Congress had acquired the Stephen Sondheim collection. The legendary composer and lyricist passed away in 2021 at the age of 91 after a long and extraordinary career. His collection at the Library of Congress is in the midst of being catalogued, and this piece shares several highlights from the boxes of Sondheim’s lyric drafts, music manuscripts, rewrite notes, brainstorm pages, song list outlines, and more.

Review: MRS. DOUBTFIRE at Capital One Hall
by Roger Catlin - Oct 21, 2025

When a husband is as hyper, irresponsible and over-the-top as the one in the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire,” a lot of flaws can be forgiven if he’s played by Robin Williams.

The History of WAITING FOR GODOT and Its Lasting Impact on Modern Theatre
by Sidney Paterra - Oct 12, 2025

Broadway audiences return to Beckett’s barren lane as Waiting for Godot arrives at the Hudson Theatre, starring Keanu Reeves (in his Broadway debut) as Estragon and longtime collaborator Alex Winter as Vladimir. Let's unpack the play’s history, its evolving meanings, and its stubbornly persistent legacy...

SF Symphony Youth Orchestra and Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu Perform Five Concerts in the 2025�"26 Season
by Stephi Wild - Oct 9, 2025

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) and Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu will perform five concerts during the 2025–26 season, beginning with their season-opening performance in November.

Steven Spielberg's HOOK in Concert Premieres at Eventim Apollo
by Stephi Wild - Oct 7, 2025

Experience Steven Spielberg's beloved HOOK in Concert at London's Eventim Apollo on December 20, 2025, featuring John Williams' iconic score.

Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL Is A Fabulously Fun Adaptation of the 1985 Film
by Jade Kops - Oct 5, 2025

Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s time travelling movie is given a musical theatre makeover with BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL.

Twice The Laughs: Comedy Star Don Barnhart Rotates Residency in Las Vegas
by Emmy Rice - Sep 13, 2025

Hailed as one of today's top comedians, Don Barnhart will now rotate his residency between the two Delirious Comedy Club locations in Las Vegas, bringing audiences twice the laughs at two of the city's hottest comedy spots.

Feature: THE WAITING PERIOD at The Marsh Berkeley Reaches Its 500th Performance
by Jim Munson - Sep 12, 2025

BroadwayWorld talks to Brian Copeland about 'The Waiting Period,' his searingly honest and surprisingly humorous life-saving solo show which will have its 500th performance September 20th at The Marsh Berkeley, coincidingBrian Copeland could easily point to any number of impressive achievements from his multi-faceted career. As a standup comic, he’s opened for icons like Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson. His seminal theater piece Not a Genuine Black Man still reigns as the longest-running solo show in San Francisco theater history. For 5 years, he co-hosted KTVUs Mornings on 2, and for 27 years hosted his own radio program on KGO. Related to the latter, he will be inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame next month, something of which he is particularly proud. But – if you ask him “What is the most worthwhile thing you’ve ever done?” he answers without hesitation, “The Waiting Period,” because it has actually saved people’s lives. I spoke with him recently to learn more about this uniquely impactful solo theater piece, which will mark its 500th performance on September 20th at The Marsh Berkeley. As has become standard practice for The Waiting Period, tickets are free of charge. Based on his personal experience, the piece is an exploration of depression and suicidal ideation, its title referring to the state-mandated 10 ten days that must elapse between purchasing a gun and taking possession of it. For Copeland, those ten days were literally a lifesaver, and so he felt compelled to share his story. Although he’d long struggled with depression, back in 2008 he was faced with an unimaginable chain of events that was more than he could handle. Within a short time, the grandmother who’d raised him died of a stroke, his wife announced out of the blue that she wanted a divorce, and he got into a horrific accident that totaled his car and necessitated spinal cord surgery, putting on his couch in a neck brace for three months, popping Vicodin. Thoughts of suicide became inescapable so he purchased a TomCat, planning to use it to end his life. Against all odds, he managed to “white-knuckle it” through the waiting period while the most acute aspects of his depression lifted just enough to stop him from killing himself. But, as Copeland says, “The thing about depression is it’s never cured – it’s better, it’s worse, it’s manageable, there are times when it’s absent - but it’s always a hair trigger away from something, from some catastrophe or some chemical imbalance.” Once the fog had lifted at least temporarily, he seriously started rethinking his experience as someone who believes in finding reasons for things. During that period, a young man within Copeland’s circle committed suicide at the age of fifteen and Robin Williams killed himself as well, although the complicating factor of Lewy Body Dementia had not been made public at that time. Copeland took those incidents like a blow to the solar plexus and began to explore what he could personally do to help prevent such tragedies. He was encouraged to bring his own struggles to light by his publicist, who happened to have represented film icon Rock Hudson in 1985 when the actor announced to the world that he had AIDS, thereby removing some of the stigma from that disease. The publicist suggested to Copeland that by going public with his story maybe he could do the same thing for depression and suicidal ideation. Copeland had received his mission. Collaborating with the Bay Area’s guru of solo performance, David Ford, Copeland set out to “create a show about depression that wasn’t depressing,” making sure to include enough reality-based humor to draw audiences in and counterbalance the heaviness of the topic. As he puts it, “the comedy makes the drama much more impactful, and the drama makes the comedy funnier because it’s a release.” The Waiting Period opened at The Marsh in 2012 and became an instant sensation, winning awards and getting extended multiple times. After a year or so, Copeland realized he couldn’t keep performing the show on a regular basis because it required him relive some very dark and harrowing episodes. But he felt he could continue to do the show on an occasional basis, maybe twice a month or so, without seriously endangering his own mental health. He also talked to Stephanie Weisman, artistic director of The Marsh, about making the show free of charge to audiences so that cost wouldn’t be a barrier to attending. Weisman readily agreed to having a GoFundMe campaign was set up to cover basic production costs like theater staffing. Copeland and his publicist then placed calls to various industry contacts and were stunned by the outpouring of support from celebrities like Glenn Close, Ed Asner and Lucie Arnaz, whose lives had been personally touched by depression and suicide. Fast forward to 2025, and Copeland is now embarking on the 500th performance of The Waiting Period on September 20th, timed to coincide with Suicide Prevention Month. Copeland remains committed to continuing to do the show because he knows the profound impact it’s had on the lives of so many people, from the letters he’s received and follow-up conversations he’s had. Just one example: a woman planned to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge one Sunday morning and stopped off at her favorite café enroute to savor one last coffee and pastry before ending her life. She noticed the San Francisco Chronicle “pink” section lying on her table and thumbed through it while finishing her coffee. It happened to contain a brief article about The Waiting Period that noted a performance would be happening that very afternoon. She was intrigued enough to alter her plan - slightly. She decided to flip a coin and if it came up heads, she would proceed straight to the bridge; if it came up tails, she would go see Copeland’s show first. It came up tails, and so she went to see The Waiting Period, the core message of which is “If you’re thinking of doing some kind of harm to yourself, tell someone first.” When the play was over, she remained in her seat crying for another twenty minutes, then called her sister to tell her what she was thinking of doing, and her sister got her help. Or there’s the story of a woman who struggled with depression and her husband always wondered why she couldn’t just lighten up and smell the roses. She basically dragged him to The Waiting Period, and afterwards he said to her, “That’s what you’ve been going through? I had no idea.” And that’s the thing with depression: it is so misunderstood. It’s not something that can be cured by thinking happy thoughts. As Copeland says, “You know, we’re dealing with a disease, and yet people are ashamed of it. There’s such shame and stigma attached to it, and I want people to know they have nothing to be ashamed of, any more than if you had Lou Gehrig’s Disease or muscular dystrophy or cancer. You wouldn’t be ashamed of those afflictions. And the world, society, would be a lot more sympathetic.” As a comedian and talk show host, i.e. someone who earns his living projecting amiability and cheerfulness, Copeland makes a perfect communicator for that message. If someone as seemingly light-hearted as him can suffer from depression, then it can truly happen to anyone. When he started debuted The Waiting Period in 2012, some people were quite surprised to learn that he’d ever wanted to kill himself. And yet, what sticks with him most over the years is the number of people who’ve approached him after a performance and whispered in his ear that they, too, are “one of us,” as Copeland refers to those who experience acute depression. Some of them are people Copeland knows well and are in the public eye, people he says you would never guess struggled with the disease. Toward the conclusion of our conversation, Copeland tells me, “If there’s nothing else at all worthwhile I’ve done while I was here, at least there are a couple of people walking around who might not be here.” I tell him that’s a statement most of us can’t make, myself included, and he responds, “You don’t know that. That’s the thing. I’m fortunate enough that I’m in a position where people are able to reach out and tell me. But you don’t know who you told to have a nice day to, who were planning on doing something and ended up not because of your kindness, you know, in tipping the barista and saying they did a good job one day when they thought they were worthless and were going to do something right after they got off work. There are stories like that, and those stories are real.” (Header photo of Brian Copeland by Joan Marcus) --- The Waiting Period will play its 500th performance 5:00pm, Saturday, September 20 at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. Additional dates are soon to be announced. Thanks to the support of generous donors, general admission tickets are FREE. Supporters may donate $50/$100 for reserved seats, funds which make it possible for others to see the show at no cost. To order free tickets or reserve seats, please visit themarsh.org. with National Suicide Prevention Month.

100 Lives, Portland's New Theater Company, Will Launch This Fall
by Stephi Wild - Sep 5, 2025

This fall marks the debut of 100 Lives Repertory, a new theater company creating raw, intimate, and emotionally honest work centered on the craft of acting and the work of women artists over 40.

Brad Williams - The Growth Spurt Tour Comes to Alaska
by Stephi Wild - Aug 25, 2025

Pound for pound, Brad Williams is the funniest comedian in the country right now, and has become one of the most in-demand comedians working today. Learn more here!

EVERY BRILLIANT THING to be Presented at Actors Theatre at the ARTFactory
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Aug 13, 2025

ARTfactory will present encore performances of the critically acclaimed one-man play, Every Brilliant Thing. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets here!

Review: The Muny's LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is The Best of Times
by James Lindhorst - Aug 10, 2025

The Muny’s La Cage Aux Folles is enormity in storytelling. Contrasted with the intimacy of last week’s Dear Evan Hansen, Marsha Milgrom Dodge’s La Cage captures the grandeur of what The Muny does best. It is a grand venue that supports epic productions.

The Palace Theater to Present 2025-2026 Spotlight Series Membership
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Jul 31, 2025

​The Palace Theater will present the 2025-2026 Spotlight Series Membership! Gathering several speaker series under one umbrella, the Spotlight Series is a thoughtfully curated collection of presentations designed to entertain, educate, and inspire.

Hend Ayoub’s HOME? to Have Off-Broadway Production at 59E59 Theaters
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Jul 28, 2025

San Francisco Playhouse's production of Hend Ayoub’s Home? A Palestinian Woman’s Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness will transfer to New York for a limited Off-Broadway engagement this fall. Learn more!

Interview: Hend Ayoub of HOME? A PALESTINIAN WOMAN'S PURSUIT OF LIFE, LIBERTY & HAPPINESS at San Francisco Playhouse
by Jim Munson - Jul 17, 2025

BroadwayWorld chats with actor-writer Hend Ayoub about her new solo show 'Home? A Palestinian Women's Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness' having its world premiere at San Francisco Playhouse July 26 to August 16

Review: DID MY GRANDFATHER KILL MY GRANDFATHER? Features Masterful Storytelling
by Andrew White - Jul 16, 2025

Peggy McKowen, Artistic Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival, knows there are some amazing stories to be told by West Virginians themselves, and for this year’s festival our attention is richly rewarded by an evening spent with native son Cody LeRoy Wilson and his one-man show, “Did My Grandfather Kill My Grandfather?”