Jeffrey Lo News

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Artistic Director Tim Bond and Executive Director Phil Santora announced today that the Tony Award-winning theatre will postpone the opening of its 51st mainstage season to March 2021, with eight plays presented through May 2022.

While all Bay Area theatres are currently dark as we near almost half a year in quarantine, the new ensemble of artists at Our Digital Stories have begun work on an updated form of theatre: brand new works written specifically for a virtual format, that act as a hybrid between a play and a short film.

Los Altos Stage Company's 2019-2020 season opened with a bang in September 2019, with the critically-acclaimed West Coast Premiere of Admissions (the highest attended straight play in the 25-year history of the Company!), followed by the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play and the again-critically-acclaimed South Bay Premiere of OSLO, the third highest attended straight play in the history of the Company. Quite the start to our 25th Anniversary season. Until the totally unforeseen impact of COVID-19. 

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has the perfect Mother's Day entertainment for you! On Sunday May 10th at 5pm PDT, they will band together with a number of theaters across the country to present a livestream of the hit show 'Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin,' a tribute to America's greatest songwriter. Tickets to the livestream are available on TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's website (www.theatreworks.org) with proceeds to benefit TheatreWorks while the Tony-winning regional theatre remains dark due to COVID-19. BroadwayWorld recently caught up with TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley to chat about the company's ongoing relationship with Felder, and also to check in on how they've been managing to juggle so many unknowns in planning their 2020-21 season. Kelley remains steadfastly upbeat and enthused about future possibilities even as he winds down his astounding 50-year tenure as Artistic Director under decidedly different circumstances than he had originally envisioned.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, Artistic Director Designate Tim Bond, and Executive Director Phil Santora announced changes to TheatreWorks's 2020-21 Season, which is now scheduled to begin in October 2020.

Good news for musical theater lovers! TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's recent, acclaimed production of Paul Gordon's Pride and Prejudice will now be available to stream. Presented by Streaming Musicals, Pride and Prejudice will receive a a?oevirtual opening nighta?? on Friday, April 10 at 3:30pm PT/ 6:30pm ET, with an encore presentation at 7:00pm PT/10:00pm ET. Tony Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom) and Julie James, Program Director/ Curator of SiriusXM's a?oeOn Broadwaya?? channel, will host the a?oevirtual opening night,a?? which will include an intermission discussion with the creative team members including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, who directed the new romantic musical comedy. Streaming during the April 10 a?oevirtual opening nighta?? will be free. Pride and Prejudice will then be available to stream on StreamingMusicals.com for a minimal fee. BroadwayWorld recently caught up with Robert Kelley to learn more about his production of Pride and Prejudice and also to touch base with him on how TheatreWorks was weathering the current health and economic crisis.

Capital Stage has canceled some upcoming productions due to Covid-19:

Theatre enthusiasts packed the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts tonight to hear Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, incoming Artistic Director Tim Bond, and Executive Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announce the lineup for the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award-winning company's 2020-21 season, which launches this summer.

Palo Alto Players continues its 2019-20 season with A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2, playwright  Lucas Hnath's 2017 Tony-nominated stand-alone sequel to the Ibsen classic. Picking up 15 years after the final scene of Ibsen's revolutionary play, in which Nora slammed the door on her marriage and children, A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2 imagines the aftermath of Nora's infamous exit.

BroadwayWorld recently caught up with Bay Area theater mainstay Dan Hiatt while he was in the midst of rehearsals for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's new musical a?oeMark Twain's River of Songa?? in which he plays the title role.  Mr. Hiatt discussed his process for finding the character of Twain, and also shared some insights from his remarkably rich career, having worked with most every high-profile theater company in the Bay Area over the past 25 years.

Director Leslie Martinson of THE 39 STEPS at TheatreWorks talks about finding the comedic rhythms in a 'nutball farce' and shares her experiences as a casting director. Martinson has been a TheatreWorks mainstay for decades, starting as an usher while she was still in school, then working as an actor before becoming a director and casting director. She left her staff position 18 months ago to go freelance, but has since directed two shows at TheatreWorks so still maintains a close working relationship with the Tony-winning company.

This season, TheatreFIRST gets intimate. While our home at the Live Oak Theater is being renovated, this season will be held at our new black box space, The Waterfront Playhouse at 2020 Fourth St. in Berkeley.

BWW Review: THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE at Lucie Stern Theatre is a stunning production of Julia Cho's award-winning, quirky tale of love and miscommunications.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces a stellar cast of acclaimed Broadway and TV stars for The Language Archive, launching the Tony Award-winning theatre company's celebratory 50th Anniversary season. Written by Julia Cho, whose Aubergine captured rapturous praise and multiple awards, The Language Archive is balanced delightfully between affection and adversity.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces a stellar cast of acclaimed Broadway and TV stars for The Language Archive, launching the Tony Award-winning theatre company's celebratory 50th Anniversary season.

Last night, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley received the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, hosted by James Corden and featuring a galaxy of stage and screen stars, including Tina Fey, Laura Linney, Bryan Cranston, Adam Driver, Audra McDonald and hundreds of other famed performers, directors, playwrights and designers. Broadway star Danny Burstein (also a TheatreWorks alumnus) welcomed to the stage TheatreWorks Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, Executive Director Phil Santora, and TheatreWorks's Trustee Chair Judy Heyboer, where they accepted the nation's highest recognition for a regional theatre.

Last night, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley received the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, hosted by James Corden and featuring a galaxy of stage and screen stars, including Tina Fey, Laura Linney, Bryan Cranston, Adam Driver, Audra McDonald and hundreds of other famed performers, directors, playwrights and designers. Broadway star Danny Burstein (also a TheatreWorks alumnus) welcomed to the stage TheatreWorks Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, Executive Director Phil Santora, and TheatreWorks's Trustee Chair Judy Heyboer, where they accepted the nation's highest recognition for a regional theatre.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces a stellar cast of acclaimed Broadway and TV stars for The Language Archive, launching the Tony Award-winning theatre company's celebratory 50th Anniversary season. Written by Julia Cho, whose Aubergine captured rapturous praise and multiple awards, The Language Archive is balanced delightfully between affection and adversity. The quirky comedy tells the whimsical, life-affirming chronicle of a linguist fighting to preserve the dying languages of far-flung cultures, only to neglect the promise and passion of his own.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley kicks off its 50th Anniversary Season with The Language Archive, a quirky comedy written by Julia Cho, whose Aubergine captured rapturous praise and multiple awards. Balanced delightfully between affection and adversity, The Language Archive is the whimsical, life-affirming chronicle of a linguist fighting to preserve the dying languages of far-flung cultures, only to neglect the promise and passion of his own. Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Women Playwrights, this romantic parable for our times will be directed by Jeffrey Lo, who helmed TheatreWorks's hit holiday comedy, The Santaland Diaries.

Capital Stage presents the Sacramento Premiere of Vietgone by Qui Nguyen . This award winning, critically acclaimed comedy makes huge strides in moving beyond political correctness through a love story for generations to come.