SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA INTERVIEWS

Tony-nominee Carmen Cusack is returning to San Francisco to perform May 19 at the annual 'A Twist of Limelight' gala for Bay Area Musicals followed by rehearsals for this fall's VICTOR/VICTORIA in Los Angeles, part of the Reprise 2.0 relaunch season....

SOFT POWER, the first collective creation of Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, will world premiere at the Ahmanson under the auspices of Center Theatre Group, in association with East West Players and the Curran, opening May 16, 2018. We had the wonderful opportunity to chat w...

The musical, The People in the Picture, is getting a makeover as a new production is being mounted at 3Below in San Jose, California with performances beginning April 26th. Making its west coast premiere, it's the first time the show has been back on stage since its 2011 debut on Broadway at Roundab...

Most people know Del Shores as the creator/writer/director of the play and film SORDID LIVES, which morphed into the TV series Sordid Lives: The Series. Del also has utilized his producing and writing talents on Showtime's Queer As Folk and ABC's Dharma & Greg, among others. Del has been touring his...

Peaches dishes on future projects, her time in drag, and the importance of loving yourself first. 'It's just suspending reality and letting yourself go. In a way, I feel like, more than art, these days, what we do could be considered therapy.'...

Caissie Levy shares some thoughts on fitting in some cabaret gigs between Frozen runs and how motherhood has changed her approach to her career....

The first stage production of THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, based on the Dreamworks animated feature, will premiere next month at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley....

Actor Riley Costello makes the directing leap with a regional production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and reveals his favorite character. It's not who you might guess!...

The very unique, very outrageous, very out-spoken, and always very funny Margaret Cho has begun her new tour FRESH OFF THE BLOAT, with European dates following the U.S. stops. Named this year by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the '50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Times,' Margaret will be tackling cu...

With the challenges of putting a brand new musical on its feet, finding a moment where actress Alysha Umphress could steal away from rehearsal for this interview was a challenge of its own. And when we did connect, it was not without technical difficulties on my end, and a coffee spilling fiasco on ...

'Monsoon Wedding,' the new musical based on Mira Nair's acclaimed 2001 movie, has been showered with praise at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, Calif. Karen D'Souza of the San Jose Mercury News writes: 'You are swept up' by its 'swirling typhoon of sound and color.' This Indian musical has cu...

South Bay Musical Theatre, a renowned Bay Area company for over 50 years, will present CHESS IN CONCERT May 28 and June 3. We speak with the creatives about the show's appeal and have a little fun with the material....

Nikita Burshteyn, 22, is an award-winning actor who's making a name for himself in the San Francisco Bay Area, and not just because he's got a tricky name to pronounce. When he played Judas in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at STAGE 1 Theater in Newark, Linda and Nick Hodges of BroadwayWorld.com raved: 'T...

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with Evan Rees about the national tour of Sondheim's Into the Woods. Rees not only music directs the tour, but also plays the piano on stage with the actors. The new production takes an eclectic, minimal approach and recently played off-Broadway at Roundabout Theatr...

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with Christian Thompson, who plays Benny in the 20th anniversary tour of RENT, coming to San Francisco February 7 - 19. Thompson tells us about the universal themes found in the musical, his own favorite Bohemian activity for each tour stop and, of course, love....

BroadwayWorld San Francisco talks with Crystal Kellogg, Mary Barrie and the understudy for Sylvia in Finding Neverland. Kellogg joins the tour after performing in the Broadway production and tells us about changes to the musical, the history behind the story and her own personal connection to the Ba...

When Jose Llana was 19, 'Something Wonderful' happened: The Filipino-American actor made his Broadway bow as Lun Tha, the mellow young lover, in Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's 'The King and I.' Lou Diamond Phillips played the titanic and titular ruler of Siam in that 1996 Tony-winning reviv...

She's a legendary comedienne. She has been given some of the most prestigious honors in the industry, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Kennedy Center Honors, Television Hall of Fame, and many more. And she's touring to theatres across the US for an intimate night of conversation with local audi...

BroadwayWorld spoke with Marc Ciemiewicz about color, character and special effects in the national tour of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' Marc plays both Jacob and Potiphar in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which uses everything from Elvis-style to calypso and western in its t...

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with Michael Berresse, who directs of American Conservatory Theatre's upcoming production of 'The Last Five Years.' Read the full interview to learn about Michael's work with the show's composer, his methods for rehearsals, and what audiences can expect from his fu...

BroadwayWorld interviews Ron S. McCan, director of The Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts' spring musical, CABARET. Ron is the Assistant Director of the Theatre Program at Asawa SOTA and an alum of SOTA?s Technical Theatre Department (Class of 1995)....

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with Matthew Dailey about his time on the road with 'Jersey Boys,' which opens Wednesday evening and plays through February 14 at SHN's Orpheum Theatre. Matthew plays Tommy DeVito, one of the original 'Four Seasons.'...

Brian Stokes Mitchell talks Broadway's 'Shuffle Along' and his upcoming Christmas concert at San Francisco Symphony. Read the full interview to learn about his creative process, Mitchell's take on arts education, and his upcoming album projects. Then visit sfsymphony.org for tickets to his Decemb...

'Surf Spaghetti Western B-movie Soundtrack Music'...

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with principal 'Riverdance' dancer Emma Warren about life on the road and her time 'over the rainbow' with BBC's reality show. Read the full interview below, then visit www.shnsf.com for tickets and information. 'Riverdance' plays November 4-8 at the Golden Gate The...