SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA THEATER REVIEWS

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...

On Friday and Saturday of the past weekend composer Burt Bacharach appeared at Davies Symphony Hall with the San Francisco Symphony. Burt Bacharach is a household for many generations and audiences, and even those who don't know his name certainly know his music. He achieved fame scoring many Hollyw...

The most Scrooge among us would crack a smile at Center Rep's 'A Christmas Carol.' Although the old miser may balk at the cost of extravagant special affects and lovely costumes, or even at the time-honored message of hope and love, it's impossible to avoid laughing when the unseen Ghost of Christma...

Everyone needs a little Christmas. Agree or disagree with her life ethics, but Mame possesses a zest and optimism for life that most people desire and require....

Tradition continues with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at American Conservatory Theatre, surrounded by the magic of San Francisco tourist hot spots decked out in holiday decor....

Not a typical Broadway musical, San Jose Repertory Theatre's world premiere of "The Snow Queen" is a unique experience. The Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale does not lend itself naturally to stage. Without its country-twanged score, San Jose's production could pass as a mere children's play. But t...

Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" has made its way into American hearts as a classic holiday children's novel, film and musical. Although Christmas plays only a small role in the story's events, a common warmth and familial atmosphere finds its way onto every page, into every line, and, in Theatrew...

You're a good man, Charlie Brown, but Snoopy is pretty good, too. In fact, he's the head beagle, and he's played with excellence, honor, smarts and lots of puppy charm by Keith Pinto, who so wonderfully portrayed the same character last year in another Peanuts-based musical at the Bay Area's Retro D...

'The Book of Mormon' has been hailed as one of the top musicals of the decade and now through January 19, 2014, San Francisco audiences will have the opportunity to judge for themselves as to whether a musical about Mormons on a mission to win converts to the Church of Latter-day Saints deserves su...

For one of the best Ebenezer Scrooges you're ever likely to see on stage, make a stop in Merced, CA. For a most enjoyable version of Charles Dickens' classic, 'A Christmas Carol,' visit Playhouse Merced's intimate and friendly theatre. The company's current production of Keith Ferguson and Bruce Gre...

San Francisco audiences were delighted to welcome a powerful and wistfully evocative production of The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess to the bay area and to the stage of the Golden Gate Theatre where it plays now through December 8. Opening night was also the launch of the much anticipated national tour ...

Cirque du Soleil's newest creation, "Amaluna," has a lyrical feel, like the grand dance of the peacocks it so beautifully uses in much of its imagery. Similar to other traveling Cirque shows, it has a grand beginning and finale where the ensemble gathers all at once on the stage for a dance of sorts...

Swashbuckling adventure and hilarious hijinks await patrons of SHNSF's Curran Theatre with 5-time Tony Award winning Peter and the Star Catcher, which has sailed into San Francisco for a magical turn before returning to Neverland or other parts unknown. This clever prequel to J.M. Barrie's beloved P...

San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater's Production of 'Underneath the Lintel' has extended its run due to advance ticket sales. Catch this solo performance by Academy Award nominee David Strathairn now through Nov. 23....

Norm Lewis' amiable charm immediately makes him the best friend, next-door neighbor type. As he opened an evening of song at Sunday's Bay Area Cabaret concert, the Tony Award nominated performer endeared himself to his audience with appropriate selections of "The Best is Yet To Come" and "I Left My ...

With a cast that seems to come straight from Broadway, Contra Costa Musical Theatre's production of Disney's Tarzan is a visual spectacle. That's what Disney does best: creates magic on stage - at least in what it calls for visually and in its casting....

SHNSF's Curran Theatre in San Francisco hosts the world premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - a hit-filled bio-musical about the woman whose songs epitomized the late 60s and early 70's. Her album 'Tapestry' (with songs like 'It's Too Late,' 'I Feel the Earth Move,' and 'You've Got A Frie...

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's 42nd Street Moon's campy production of Superman the musical! In the same line as the original Batman television series, It's a Bird… It's a Plane… It's Superman makes fun of comic book heroes in a light way that most fans will appreciate: melodrama. Striped vi...

The creators of '1776' held political opinions that strongly disagreed with the ideals of many, like former president Richard Nixon, who ultimately came to enjoy and appreciate the musical. One can easily assume members of both major political parties made up the opening night audience of American C...

Virago Theatre Company's 'shameless passion for theatre' comes alive - twice in one night - with AROUSAL, a new play by George Pfirrmann, and The Lover by Harold Pinter. Together, the two sensuous one acts equal one impressive night of theatre that you won't want to miss. Playing now thru September ...

Feche la Monty Python quotes and let the familiar one-liners commence. Amongst a brilliant set layered with castles, clouds and peek-through windows, Hillbarn Theatre unleashes a giant can of "Spamalot," featuring daring (and not-so-daring) knights, cancan dancers, killer rabbits, French taunters, t...

In 1934, during the height of the Great Depression, Americans were looking for escapist entertainment and they found it in Cole Porter's frothy, screw-ball comedy, Anything Goes. Since then the show has seen many updates and revivals, the latest of which won the 2011 Tony for Best Revival. The plot ...

I grew up on 'The Mikado,' and in the past year or two I've begun to slowly educate myself on Gilbert and Sullivan via Lamplighters Music Theatre, which does one or two full staged Gilbert and Sullivan operettas each year. For the first time, Saturday night, the company treated me to what seemed a f...

Virago Theatre Company steps boldly and passionately into heart-wrenching territory with its production of 'Sonia Flew,'....one of the most finely crafted dramatic productions of recent note....

It's fitting that Stephen Sondheim wrote "A Little Night Music" as one grand waltz. When Hillbarn Theatre's production of the musical opens, a semi-narrating chorus dances in the waltz and foreshadow the characters and events about to unfold. A young girl observes their dance, following her grandmot...