SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA THEATER REVIEWS

What did our critic think of GODDESS at Berkeley Repertory? The first thing the audience sees is Arnulfo Maldonado's incredible two- story Moorish influenced set representing Moto Moto, the hip Mombasa night spot for music and dance. A jazzy overture gets the audience hyped, then BAM - the World Pre...

It's March 4, 1848, and the TheatreWorks audience are all students who paid 20 francs for a piano lesson from none other than the doyenne of Paris society, piano virtuoso Frédéric Chopin....

What did our critic think of OKLAHOMA! at Golden Gate Theatre?...

What did our critic think of DEAL WITH THE DRAGON at Magic Theatre? BroadwayWorld reviews Kevin Rolston's spellbinding 'Deal with the Dragon' playing live at Magic Theatre through August 13th....

What did our critic think of DREAM HOU$E at Shotgun Players?...

What did our critic think of FOLLIES at SF Playhouse? Director Bill English and his troupe of collaborators have waited three long years to present San Francisco's first fully staged, professional production of James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim's seven-time Tony Award winning musical. ...

What did our critic think of NAN AND THE LOWER BODY at Lucie Stern Theatre? A crowd favorite at the 2019 New Works Festival, Jessica Dickey's very personal homage to her grandmother, an early pioneer in female reproductive rights, couldn't have its World Premiere at a more opportune time with SCOTUS...

What did our critic think of SANCTUARY CITY at Berkeley Repertory? 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) paints a bleak, gritty and totally authentic portrayal of the effects of immigration inequalities on two young Dreamers fighting to establish a life for themselves in Berkeley...

What did our critic think of COME FROM AWAY at San Jose Center For The Perfoming Arts? Without a single showtune you'll be humming long after, this national touring production of Come From Away is moving, triumphant, engaging and endearing. Too bad this stunningly staged run is so surprisingly short...

What did our critic think of Laura Benanti in Concert at Lesher Center For The Arts? BroadwayWorld reviews Benanti's wildly entertaining show full of heart, humor and high notes....

California Wine Country's award-winning Transcendence Theatre Company returned once again to the incomparable Jack London State Historic Park to celebrate its 11th season. And what better way to celebrate than through dance. Directed by acclaimed international director and choreographer Luis Salgado...

What did our critic think of DANA H. at Berkeley Rep? BroadwayWorld reviews Lucas Hnath's fascinating and deeply unsettling play, now running in a pitch-perfect production through July 10th.   ...

What did our critic think of DANA H. at Berkeley Repertory?...

What did our critic think of HADESTOWN at Orpheum Theatre?...

Three years in the making due to the COVID pandemic, Stephanie Block got her opportunity to showcase her considerable talent and share her congenial and personal anecdotes through a repertoire that bridged her meteoric career and personal mentors. ...

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Two loners meet, bond, and become integrally entangled in Adam Rapp's beautiful tribute to authors and the spoken word in Marin Theatre Company's season closer The Sound Inside. This introspective two-hander, a West Coast premiere of Rapp's six-time 2020 Tony nominated drama, excels through director...

Adam Bock's fifth production at Shotgun Players involves a poignant story of a powerful woman losing control and the effects on her immediate family. Its tough stuff and will appeal to almost every audience member. Notwithstanding a stellar performance by Desiree Rogers, the play as presented here i...

How can the historic Club Fugazi follow up on Beach Blanket Babylon, the world's longest-running musical revue, which played for more than 17,200 performances and to over 6.5 million? With yet another crowd-pleasing San Francisco specific immersive experience currently packing em in and likely to ru...

Award-winning entertainer Mark Nadler (2015 Broadway World Editor's Choice Award for Entertainer of the Year) blew into town for a brief 4-performance run of his new show Hart's Desire, a very gay imagined collaboration between Moss Hart and Lorenz Hart had they not been closeted in the 1930's and 4...

Award-winning playwright Jessica Huang's powerful story of the repercussions of the Chinese Exclusion Act is superbly realized by Director Jeffrey Lo (The Language Archive, The Santaland Diaries, Vietgone) and a stellar cast including my local fave Jomar Tagatac in another outstanding performance. M...

BroadwayWorld reviews 42nd Street Moon's gloriously heart-rending and humorous new production of the Tony-winning musical 'Fun Home' running live in San Francisco through May 8th only....

BroadwayWorld reviews San Francisco Ballet's glorious production of Helgi Tomasson's 'Swan Lake' running through May 8th. It also marks the end of Tomasson's wildly successful 37-year run as SFB Artistic Director....

Built in 1925, the revived 500-seat Great Star Theater is the only remaining theater in San Francisco's Chinatown and now has the hottest show in town with AirOtic Soiree, a sensationally seductive evening of aerial circus artistry and burlesque cabaret at its finest....

BroadwayWorld reviews Berkeley Rep's pitch-perfect production of Dave Malloy's beguiling acapella musical 'Octet' running live through May 29th...