The SF Bay Area Theatre Blog

This coming week may I suggest a little entertainment for your calendar?

42nd Street Moon is the theatre on whose board I serve, and they are doing one of their composer salons this Thursday night. Jerry Herman is the man behind Mame, Hello Dolly, and Mack and Mabel among others.

Faith Prince is a Tony-winning actress who burst on the Broadway scene with her Adelaide in Guys & Dolls, opposite Nathan Lane.

These salons are both full of lovely singing from talented performers, but also come with a bit of history and story-telling around the featured composer. Herman is still alive and both Faith and her co-star Jason Graae have worked with Herman, so we should expect some good insider info on the great composer who was a staple on the Broadway stage in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Check it out!

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, faith prince, jason grade, jerry herman

What are you doing next Thursday night?

Because Karen Ziemba, one of my favorite musical theatre performers, is coming to town to do a tribute to John Kander for 42d Street Moon, and I'm going to be in NYC that week.

So, I really think all of you should attend in my absence, and then come leave comments on how it was.

And your answer will be "stellar", I am sure.

I first remember seeing Ziemba in a Sondheim Celebration televised on PBS. She sang "Sonner or Later" from Dick Tracy, to a flummoxed Bill Irwin. She was hot hot hot.

She may not be singing Sondheim at "And All that Jazz" next week, but hey, it's Kander, as in Kander & Ebb. I think it's safe to expect other hot, hot, hot numbers :)

WHAT: And All That Jazz, a tribute to John Kander
WHO: 42nd Street Moon, featuring Karen Ziemba and Noah Racey
WHEN: Thursday, January 27th, 7PM
WHERE: The Alcazar Theatre, San Francisco
HOW MUCH: $70

Check it out.

And make me green with envy.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, karen ziemba

If you haven't seen Babes in Arms by Rodgers & Hart, you may wonder how that possibly could be once I list all the hit songs. Try this list on for size:

My Funny Valentine
The Lady is a Tramp
Johnny One-Note
Where or When?
I Wish I Were in Love Again
All at Once

Yes. All in one very hit-packed 1937 show. And one that is rarely produced anymore. You may have seen the movie...it's a classic Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney "Let's put on a show" affair, but I'm betting you haven't seen it on stage.

That's where 42nd Street Moon comes in. This is what they were created to do: Let you hear songs like those in their original context. And it's always fascinating.

The show opened this weekend at the Moon and plays for three weekends.

I wouldn't miss it, how about you?

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Babes in Arms, San Francisco Theatre

It's a first for 42nd Street Moon (on whose board I sit). They're actually producing a West Coast premiere of a new musical, Murder for Two.

Here's the official scuttlebutt:

Join us for the West Coast Premiere of this hilarious new musical! Take two parts Agatha Christie, mix with one part old-fashioned musical comedy, add a dash of 21st century flair, and you've got Murder For Two, A Killer Musical.

An inspector arrives at an old, dark house to solve a murder and encounters a host of eccentric and cunning suspects. The twist? One actor plays the inspector, the other plays all 13 suspects, and they both play the piano!

It sounds like a great combo of a murder mystery, musical, and novelty play featuring multi-tasking actors...like Greater Tuna.

If you want to learn more, from the horses' mouths so to speak, here are some interviews with the creators on the 42nd Street Moon blog.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Murder for Two

Tomorrow I'm off to see the season opener for 42nd Street Moon (on whose Board I sit).

The show is Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and it's getting some bang-up reviews!!

Like this rave for the non-traditional casting choice for the role of Pseudolus, Megan Cavanaugh.

And this one from the SF Examiner.

I'm looking forward to it, and expect to be thoroughly entertained by a silly show with tremendously fun music and clever lyrics.

Learn more and get your own tickets here.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Megan Cavanaugh, Stephen Sondheim

[Disclosure: I am on the board of 42nd Street Moon.]

One night only, just like every year, 42nd Street Moon brings its brightest talent together to perform in a fundraising gala for the theatre.

This year that one night is this Monday, June 21, and the theme is "The songs of Broadway and Hollywood in the 1940s". Which means lots of poignant WWII songs, I would imagine.

It's called Kiss the Boys Goodbye (see, there's that WWII connection) and I'll be there, along with the eight other folks I'm bringing.

I mean check out the composer list: Cole Porter, Harry Warren, Jerome Kern, Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin

I'll be honest: I don't know who those Rainger and Robin guys are, but everyone else on that list? The creme de la creme.

There's a cocktail reception and silent auction at 5:30, and the show starts at 7PM.

42nd Street Moon is doing something unique and preserving a truly American legacy: The musical theatre. If you're a fan of anything from Rodgers & Hammerstein to Ahrens & Flaherty, their work is part of keeping American musical theatre vibrant and appreciated. I hope you'll join me in helping them do just that. I'm sure you know the recession has hit arts organizations hard, so your $100 ticket makes a HUGE difference.

That's my pitch, so will I see you there?

Labels: 42nd Street Moon

Yesterday I told you about a show closing its run, today I'm going to urge you to see a show where you actually have some time to get to it!

42nd Street Moon theatre (on whose board I sit) is opening the Jerome Kern "uncommon" musical "Very Warm For May" this weekend.

The Chronicle has a great article today that talks about the history of the show, how it was lost after its Broadway close, and how it came to be revived.

The show only plays for three weeks, so I urge you to get your tickets now!

WHAT: Very Warm for May by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
WHERE: 42nd Street Moon Theatre
at the Eureka
215 Jackson Street
San Francisco, CA
WHEN: Now through May 23rd
HOW TO GET TICKETS: Online Here

Special events you should know about:

Special Family Matinee
:
Saturday, May 15
at 1 pm

Post-Show Discussions
with Director & Cast:
Sunday, May 9 & 16
at 3 pm

MOONShine - Young Professionals Night:
Wednesday, May 12
5 pm pre-show party
at the Old Ship
followed by a 7 pm show

Glitter & Be Gay - LGBT Community Night:
Friday, May 14
6 pm pre-show party
at the L'Oliviers
followed by an 8 pm show

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, Very Warm for May

Greg MacKellan does the honors in this post on the 42nd Street Moon blog.

It's a very interesting season, and somewhat of a departure for the Moon.

First, because they're actually tackling a new musical that will be having its West Coast premiere at the Moon.

Second, because they're doing Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, not exactly the kind of "uncommon" musical they typically do.

Then there's the usual complement of Rodgers & Hart and Cole Porter :)

Greg explains more about the season in his post, so check it out.

And there is earlybird pricing on season subscriptions, so check that out too!

Standard Disclosure: I'm on the board of directors for the Moon.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon

I sit on the board of local theatre company, 42nd Street Moon. They focus on doing musicals that are off the beaten path...lost, need restoration, rarely produced, unusual, vintage, you get the idea.

Their season opener is Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam, and it stars well-known Ethel Merman devotee Klea Blackhurst. I've seen Klea in other shows there, and I have to say I think her voice is clearer and cleaner than Merman's! I've never seen Call Me Madam, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway, you can save $10/ticket if you order online, PLUS they are not charging service fees for online orders, whereas phone and walk-up orders have a per ticket service fee. I think that last part is pretty damn cool

Here's the marketing speak:

10 Dollar Off Internet Special + No Box Office Fee: Tickets as low as $14

Come to the Eureka Theatre and celebrate the triumphant return of Klea Blackhurst to the San Francisco stage in 42nd Street Moon's production of Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam.  When you make your purchase online you can save $10 per ticket!. Additionally, we are no longer charging box office fees for tickets purchased online.

This offer is valid for shows between September 26 and October 17 and does not apply to matinees, phone or walk-in orders.  Quantities are limited, so please purchase your tickets soon.   
 
Just use the code MADAM10 at the checkout page for our $10 discount on your Call Me Madam tickets!  To purchase tickets click here.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Call Me Madam, Ethel Merman, Klea Blackhurst

So last Sunday's Board Dinner for the cast/staff of Wildcat was a lot of fun, and my vegan dinner from Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant went over like gangbusters!!

Along the way I got to see a bit of the show (which opens tomorrow, FYI) and it was not at all what I was expecting.

The one song I know from it is the quite perky "Hey, Look Me Over", but the scenes I saw being rehearsed on Sunday were a little darker than that song would lead you to expect.

I'm looking forward to seeing it all, and that perky song in context!

For a little more info, check out an interview with Wildcat's director, Kalon Thibodeaux, over at the 42nd Street Moon blog. And check out this article from the San Francisco Examiner.

Disclosure: I'm on the board of 42nd Street Moon

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, kalon thibodeaux, wildcat

Later this afternoon I'm heading up to see a run-through of 42nd Street Moon's newest show, Wildcat. The Moon has this nice tradition where the Sunday before Opening, two board members provide dinner for the cast and crew, who will be in the middle of a very long day.

It's a way to let the cast and crew know that the theatre supports them and is invested in their success. This will be my first time providing dinner, and I'm hoping everyone will be cool with the fact that I'm providing a vegan dinner from Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant. (Of course I told management that I was bringing the vegan.)

I've never worked at another theatre where they did this, and in fact I don't think they did this back in the 90s when I did shows there. It's a nice touch.

The 42nd Street Moon blog has an interview with Wildcat star Maureen McVerry up right now, and she points out something else that has become rare amongst theatre companies:

"The Moon is such a positive company. It has a very refreshing attitude about putting on shows and retains a sense of joy and community that other theater companies don’t have. Come to think of it, I don’t know of other companies that even practice communal vocal warm-ups."

I think some community theatres must still do group warm-ups, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Moon is a rarity amongst professional theatre companies.

Anyway, I've never seen Wildcatand know very little about it except that it features the famous song "Hey, Look Me Over!". Looking forward to a fun afternoon/evening getting an early look at it!

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, maureen mcverry, wildcat

Playbill.com has a nice run-down of next season at 42nd Street Moon here. Although, you gotta love the typo in the headline! ouch.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, playbill.com

Of course I'm biased because:

Labels: 42nd Street Moon

Some weeks ago, a friend and I made a trip to the Moon Space to see an early concert reading of a new musical form the composer of Romance, Romance. It needed work, to be sure, but it had but a short time frame in which to do that work, considering it's opening tomorrow at 42nd Street Moon!

I'm going back this Sunday to see it in this new, staged incarnation, and I'm anxious to see what they've done.

According to the book author, RC Staab, "The main love relationship has been strengthened, clarified and intensified, lyrics have been rewritten, songs have been re-ordered, a new opening has been written and, importantly, the volcano Vesuvius appears as a major character in its own right."

Staab also sat down with Chad Jones to describe his perspective on that fateful reading:

“That audience was brutal,” Staab says over coffee in his downtown San Francisco neighborhood. “One guy wanted us to change the location of the show from Pompeii to Herculaneum. Another wanted the volcano to erupt at the beginning of the show. I was fairly depressed the next day.”

I can see that. We were, indeed, brutal.

But we're going back for seconds, so that's gotta mean something, right?

Disclosure: I'm on the board of 42nd Street Moon

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Keith Herrmann, RC Staab, Shadows of Pompeii

Chad Jones delivered some high praise indeed for 42nd St. Moon's production of High Spirits in this post:

If you happen to be in New York these days, you can pop in on the revival of Blithe Spirit and see Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson, Christine Ebersole and the redoubtable Angela Lansbury in the roles, and lucky you. But it’s hard to imagine that starry foursome being funnier or more charming than the 42nd Street Moon crew.

Wow, pretty nice!

I saw it last Saturday, the day before they closed, myself, and enjoyed it very much. Chad brings up the point that there's not much commercial point to reviewing it so late, but I suppose I will eventually get around to it anyway!

Disclosure: I am now on the board of 42nd Street Moon

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Chad Jones, High Spirits

...and they are quite gushy!

The San Francisco Examiner exclaims:

Those in charge of opera houses and Broadway productions should flock to 42nd Street Moon’s tiny Eureka Theatre on Jackson Street to learn about doing a better job.

It’s where the 1964 Hugh Martin-Timothy Gray musical “High Spirits” (based on the 1941 Noel Coward play and 1945 film “Blithe Spirit”) opened Saturday, in a production that stands as a shining example of good judgment, judicious use of available resources and artistic excellence.

Wow.

The Examiner also seems to be saying that there will be a Broadway revival of High Spirits soon, starring Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole and Rupert Evertt...that's quite a cast!

The Contra Cost Times raves:

Cavanagh is just stunning in the Arcati role — extremely funny and worth the price of admission on her own. Gaffney, McBride and McVerry are a hilariously confused love triangle. The highlight of the show is the role of the maid, played by Rena Wilson who stumbles zanily through the house in her ill-fated attempts to please.

Nice.

I'm not going myself until the second-to-last performance on April 11th, but if you're interested in beating me to it you can visit the 42nd Street Moon Facebook page for more info, and go here for the online box office.

Let me know what you think.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, High Spirits

OK, after months of being in a live theatre desert, I'm hitting a busy two week period, filled with theatre-going opportunities.

Last night we went and saw Bat Boy at Foothill Music Theatre. It closes today, so unless you movie quickly, you've missed your chance, but we really enjoyed. it. I saw it at TheatreWorks a few years ago, and really wasn't that into it...I felt it lacked the inherent heart that a show of similar style and tone (LIttle Shop of Horrors) had. BUt last night's production convinced me that this was a problem of direction and acting approach, not the piece itself. When you take your characters absolutely seriously in the face of completely absurd comedy, it's the only way to make the audience care from curtain to curtain. Foothill and Jay Manley excel at that approach, which is why I've typically enjoyed Foothill productions of such shows more than TheatreWorks.

Next Saturday night we're seeing The Kite Runner at San Jose Rep. Great book, local connections, world premiere. Fascinated to see how they adapt this to the stage. I didn't see the movie, so only have the book in my head.

On April 11th, my birthday, I'll be seeing High Spirits at 42nd Street Moon. This is the musical adaptation of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, which I've never seen. This will be the first show I've seen there in a while, and since I joined their board. Last time I went they were still holding binders and doing staged concerts, so it should be quite fun to see them to more traditional stagings. I love the glamour of this photo of Dyan McBride as Elvira.

That leaves only one question mark. A good friend is playing Guenevere in the Lyric Theatre's production of Camelot. I don't understand these theatres that do runs of only two weekends. We lead busy lives, people, come on!! I don't know if I can make it. There is literally only one date that I can make, and I need to check with the S.O., but it's on a week night...which he usually totally shuns for social activities (this is a night owl software engineer, folks.) I'll have to play it by ear :(

So, seen any of those? What's on your March/April theatre agenda?

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Foothill Music Theatre, Lyric Theatre, San Jose Rep, TheatreWorks

Can't believe I forgot to blog this, but last month I joined the Board of Directors of 42nd Street Moon, a very fine purveyor of "uncommon musicals" in San Francisco.

Back in the 90s I did about five shows with Moon, and they have come a long way since then. They no longer do only "staged concerts". Back in my day we held binders containing the scripts, and we just wore some nice outfit of our own as a costume. The best we really went for was that it was somewhat evocative of what kind of costume the character might wear. These days 42nd Street Moon is doing more full-fledged productions.

Why did they want me on the board? Well, they did know me from not only my acting days, but from my Worker Bees days, as I did some marketing and social media consulting for them.

They wanted to grow and diversify the board. I think I'm the only Silicon Valley type, the only entrepreneur type, the only Internetty type. They also wanted help, at a high level, re-thinking how they market and brand themselves, and how they get their word out.

One new way they're getting their word out is their Facebook fan page.

You can also check out their impending productions on Facebook. Sure you could check out the season on their web site too, but isn't it fun to check it out somewhere interactive where you could leave a little comment if you wanted too?

The next show is High Spirits (a musical version of the Noel Cowad play, Blithe Spirit.)

Gotta figure out when I'm going, because it starts previews this coming week (Thursday to be exact)! And only runs through April 12th.

Hmmm. It closes on my birthday weekend. Maybe I'll talk to the S.O. about spending the weekend in Sn Francisco!

OK, enough real-time life planning on my blog. This was big news, and I can't believe I didn't share it until now. I hope I'll see y'all at a 42nd Street moon show soon (or every 42nd Street Moon show, I should say.) Like any arts organization right now, they are feeling the pinch of the bad economy. I hope I can help them get through this with flying colors!

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, High Spirits

Tonight a friend and I are going to see a staged reading of Shadows of Pompeii, a new "dramatic musical" from the Broadway composer Keith Hermann (Romance, Romance).

Tonight the show will be performed with actors holding scripts, and they'll be looking for feedback, but the show will be presented in a fully staged workshop production in April at the Eureka Theater, and there are plans to submit to a major new works festival in NYC. Tonight's reading is booked beyond capacity, but I've got an in because 42nd Street Moon is helping with backing.

Led by Director Dianna Shuster, former artistic director of American Musical Theatre of San Jose, "Shadows of Pompeii" features nine local actors (see cast list below). The show features a score by the afore-mentioned Tony-nominated composer Herrmann and libretto by Bay Area playwright R.C. Staab.

STORY: Shadows of Pompeii is a full-length, fully-staged workshop production of a dramatic new musical that that tells a story of a young female artist's desire to express herself and to live life to the fullest in the shadow of the male-dominated Roman Empire in Pompeii 79AD. Lila is a young woman fervent about painting, despite Roman society restrictions. She paints a mural of Pompeii's governor, Tiberius, who is furious at the artist's treatment and imprisons her. Yet, he is enticed by her fervor and passion. When Lila paints his portrait in prison to appease Tiberius' wife, they slowly discover their attraction for each other. Will Lila and Tiberius' love be fulfilled? The musical echoes our fast-paced world where tragedy can happen at any moment or the eruption of a volcano can alter lives forever in an idyllic seaside town.

CAST
Juliet Heller
Russ Lorenson*
Lane McKenna*
Sean Patrick Murtagh
Lillian Askew
Alex Rodriguez
Mike Figueira
Mauricio Villa-Lobos*
Stephen Vaught

*Actors indicated with an asterisk are members of ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, the union of professional actors in the United States.

I'll let you know what I think after I see tonight's production.

Labels: 42nd Street Moon, Keith Hermann