FROM HAVANA TO BROADWAY: A SOCIAL CLUB WORTH JOINING Buena Vista Social Club is a sun-drenched, rhythm-soaked explosion of life, proving that sometimes a show just needs space to breathe"and…
BACALING'S BOHÈME CAPTURED MY HEART The operas of Giacomo Puccini are ever-present on the Lyric Opera stage. Only a month ago, Sondra Radvanovsky sang a whole program of Puccini arias, in…
FELL-GOOD SHOW SPICES UP MARIN THEATRE Marin Theatre takes a flying leap into immersive culture with Mrs. Krishnan's Party"which opened tonight in the intimate Boyer Main Stage. The interact…
WE, THE THEATRE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION Heidi Schreck wrote this mostly-autobiographical play and starred in it when it played on Broadway, where it was Tony-nominated for Bes…
HOW TO SUCCEED SUCCEEDS AND HOW! Reams can and have been written about the glories of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Ab…
Coronado Playhouse is reviving the 2007 musical comedy/murder mystery Curtains through March 30. The show is the final collaboration of the great music theater team of composer John Kander a…
VA-VA-VOOM TO VICTOR/VICTORIA The story of Victoria who becomes Victor impersonating Victoria has been around for a while. It started as a 1933 German film. Then writer/director Blak…
SWINGS BIG, SHINES BRIGHT All Roads Theatre Company just set the bar sky-high with One for My Baby, a slick, jazz-soaked tribute to the music of Harold Arlen. This is old-school showbiz at i…
EMBRACIN' JASON For many, Jason Tam first made a lasting impression with his unforgettable audition for Paul in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, as seen in the documentary Every Little…
THE ART OF MAKING ART An extravagant art purchase causes a major upheaval among three old friends in Yasmina Reza's Art, at Berkeley's Ashby Stage through April 9. David Sinaiko and Benoî…
LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL In what may be the slowest lights-up in New York theater, the first cue of Grangeville takes several minutes to complete"perhaps a 400 count. But lighting designer Stace…
NOW HEAR THIS! Film may be first and foremost a visual medium, but where would it be without music to bring out the emotions, heighten the drama, quicken the heart, create tension, and tie t…
THARP LOOKING SHARP AT NY CITY CENTER Ten polished, pseudo-suited dancers graced New York City Center with playful panache in Twyla Tharp's Diabelli (1998)" one of two pieces in the Diamond …
A GRANDLY GREASE-Y SPOOF! Poking fun, flinging a pun, prizing satirizing " that's the paradise that is parody and Vape!, blatantly billing itself as "The Grease Parody," aims its playfully p…
JOYOUSLY, GUYS & DOLLS HAS IT ALL Still touted as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time, Guys and Dolls turns 75 in November. You'd never know it based on Music Theater Works…
AUDACIOUS AND FUN MUSICAL TAKES ON REALITY TV Last Wednesday, A.C.T. opened an extremely likeable, engaging and entertaining musical telling one of the tried-and-true stories of the 21st cen…
NAPA'S LUCK PENNY GOES TO POT" IN A GOOD WAY A hokey 1930s propaganda film runs headlong into Beach Blanket Babylon in Reefer Madness at Napa's Lucky Penny Productions through March 23. A mu…
Songs and gab at this swell cabaret Starting the party is Mame's "It's Today." Hear the cheer in the singer's voice With this merry Jerry Herman choice. The room has no gloom. There's joy. W…
LONDON THEATRES' BOUNTIFUL OFFERINGS Spring may not have come yet, but it's already high season for the London theatre. And it's an exceptional one. Of the eight productions I attended last …
THE TRIUMPH OF ALLISON ALTMAN There are many reasons to see The Triumph of Love, director Loretta Greco's gender-bending comedy that channels equal parts Shakespeare, Billy Wilder, and a das…
AN AMAZING NIGHT OF STARS GALORE "AND IT'S COMING TO PBS Filmed to be shown on PBS stations later this year, the concert cavalcade called Broadway's Leading Ladies at The Town Hall on West 4…
LONDON THEATRES' BOUNTIFUL OFFERINGS Spring may not have come yet, but it's already high season for the London theatre. And it's an exceptional one. Of the eight productions I attended last …
WILD ROMP IN SENIOR LIVING TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has launched an uproarious spoof of senior living with Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical. It's an all-…
WIT, WONDER AND WILD CHIMPS Embarking on a theatrical safari at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST), I stumbled upon a wildly witty gem tonight that rivals the most exhilarating of jungle adve…
STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE At its heart, Parade is a gripping exploration of prejudice, justice, and the power of perception. This Tony Award-winning revival, directed by Michael Arden, is ba…