SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA THEATER REVIEWS

Glinda and Elphaba have flown into San Jose to appear in Wicked and have broken box office records at San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts, grossing $1,516,245 during the first week of its three-week engagement. The two witches will be in town (along with a phenomenal cast) through September 14...

Great theatre is tradition in Merced, where Playhouse Merced just opened its 2014-2015 season with "Fiddler on the Roof," now in its 50th Anniversary. The classical musical has become a tradition of its own in theatres across the world....

A paradox! A paradox! A most ingenious paradox! Only the ridiculous humor and unpredictable circumstances of Gilbert and Sullivan could make so much sense. In the capable hands and clear diction of Lamplighters Musical Theatre, it is, indeed, a glorious thing to be a pirate king, or the audience of ...

The San Francisco Symphony plays Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, A Bug's Life, WALL-E, Cars, Up, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc. and Brave through Sunday July 20 at the building with perfect acoustics, Davies Symphony Hall. Film clips accompany their counterparts, and even the few Pixar films t...

When you hear the term The Four Seasons and you think of 'Sherry,' 'Big Girls Don't Cry,' 'Oh, What a Night,' and 'Walk Like a Man' instead of snow, leaves, rain or sunshine, then the hit musical Jersey Boys is a must see!...

Stockton Civic Theatre's Spamalot is an animated musical well-fitting the over-the-top humor of its Monty Python inspiration. With golden facial expressions from Bill Yee as King Arthur's manservant Patsy, a myriad of accents from Tom MacDonald's multiple characters, and even a conductor (of Stockto...

When it comes to contemporary classics in American musical theatre, just the sheer mention of Leonard Bernstein's WEST SIDE STORY is enough to get any fan of the medium listening. His clever orchestrations, drive and ambition, and unique construction made the show a hallmark of the genre that is sti...

Beginning with small truths and oral tradition, legend eventually turns to the written word. At the heart of this process is Ji Junxiang's ancient play, The Orphan of Zhao, rooted in real events and a resonating theme of loyalty and justice. Currently reworked for American Conservatory Theatre (co-p...

Reset to San Francisco with a technology-inspired flair, TheatreWorks' current production of 'Marry Me A Little' is at once charming and original....

Classical music and drawn animation might be considered things of the past, but they had glorious relevance at the Davies Symphony Hall this past weekend. The Disney cartoons of 1940's revolutionary Fantasia played in brilliant, restored, high-definition color alongside clips from Fantasia 2000 with...

Hodges and Hodges were on the scene at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts for the opening night of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 'Joseph' is part of Broadway San Jose's current season and if you haven't been to this venue to take in a show, then you're missing something spec...

It was a night to remember as the Oakland Youth Chorus (OYC) took to the risers and promptly raised the roof on the 1st Presbyterian Church on Broadway in Oakland, belting out some amazing Broadway tunes and putting on an all-around great show for the sold-out crowd. This was not just a concert for ...

42nd Street Moon's Greg MacKellan and Mark D. Kaufmann wrote 'Painting the Clouds with Sunshine' as a tribute to musical films of the depression era, but their end result may very well have been a successful film of that time....

If an Alexandre Dumas version of the San Francisco Charles Dickens Christmas Fair existed, I imagine its skits would look somewhat like Playhouse Merced's current production of "The Three Musketeers." That's no surprise, since writer, director Micah Chandler specializes in sword fights and teaches h...

'Wicked' arrives in Fresno this week with two new witches at the broom and wand. They share their experience with children and adults new to the musical's magic, and the special quality of the leads' first week of performances makes the production enjoyable for the more familiar, familial audience m...

Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, the often-called 'epic' musical 'Les Miserables' sets a high standard, especially for theatre companies with smaller budgets. While that budget does affect Contra Costa Musical Theatre's production in minor ways, the company follows through on its promise to onc...

Christopher Wheeldon's playful choreography perfectly matches Sergei Prokofiev's talent for combining characters, story and music. Both artists have a unique quality that makes their work instantly recognizable. So it's only fitting that Wheeldon should take on Prokofiev's 'Cinderella.' And he partn...

Playhouse Merced continues to prove itself with challenging material and increasingly talented casts. Having opened their season last fall with the epic Les Miserables, they now turn to the imaginative Shrek the Musical, and their new season is just around the corner with a special announcement even...

"Beautiful." "Overwhelming." "Beyond description." All simple words to explain music and its connection to our souls. But Jon Burlingame has a natural, pleasant way of describing music. The leading writer and expert on film and television scores began San Francisco Symphony's Night at the Oscars wit...

Riding the wave of enthusiasm for his newly released book 'Ham: Slices of a Life,' singer and entertainer extraordinaire Sam Harris played to a sold-out crowd at Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco. They came expecting a great show and he did not disappoint. Calling his performance a 'liter-us...

Tucked away in a corner of the Nikko Hotel is Feinstein's - a 140 seat, intimate nightclub with cozy banquettes and tables graced with crystal chandeliers and a stage on which the Steinway holds pride of place. As the 8 o'clock hour approached, smartly dressed San Franciscans along with tourists i...

Politics and humor go hand in hand throughout George Bernard Shaw's classic, but rarely performed "Major Barbara." Shaw's work includes, not the kind of politics and humor that lends itself to one side mocking another, but English wit that bookends passionate speeches and dialogue. Although Shaw's s...

The day Leonard Bernstein died, a sense of gut-wrenching loss pervaded the musical world. Anyone who had watched and listened to his extraordinary music making could not help but be affected by his passion and reverence for music. Those of us lucky enough to have known and worked with him and availe...

The enchanting musical Beauty and the Beast delighted audiences at San Francisco's Curran Theater on opening night and is the perfect dose of holiday entertainment for children of all ages. Disney's timeless tale of love and transformation is touring the country and will be in San Francisco through ...

My mother took me to the ballet when I was young. I came home with a souvenir bouquet and would not stop listening or dancing to the score, imagining a giant Christmas tree and those nasty rats scurrying across my living room floor. I like to imagine the magic of theatre and the arts creating that s...