The SF Bay Area Theatre Blog

The summer season in the Bay Area is heating up, so I wanted to share two openings coming up this week form theatre companies that reached out to me. (Did you know that? If you send me your info, I am happy to post about various Bay Area shows going on.)

1. Playfest 2011, produced by Woman's Will at the Phoenix Theatre

WHO: Woman's Will, the area's all-female Shakespeare Company
WHAT: Playfest 2011
WHERE: Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason Street in San Francisco
WHEN: June 3rd and 4th only, 8PM
HOW MUCH: $30 VIP/$20 regular ***This is a Fundraiser event for the theatre***
WHERE TO PURCHASE: Online here
MORE INFO: Woman's Will website

DESCRIPTION: Woman's Will selected the best plays submitted from across the country. From serious plays contemplating the sacrifices and choices that a young woman must make when considering an abortion to playful plays summarizing what women truly want, Playfest 2011 celebrates subject matter that explores the range and depth of women’s experiences, throws light on the muscular talent of our overlooked female playwrights.

THE LINE-UP:
740 is Blue Ribbon by Nancy Gall Clayton
Blood Sisters by Robin Rice Lustig
1960 by Marilyn Hughes
After the Prologue by Carol S. Lashof
It's Good to Know by Megan Cohen
Counting the Minutes by Evelyn Jean Pine
The Suffrage Play by Woman’s Will

2. Assassins, produced by Ray of Light theatre at the Eureka Theatre

WHO: Ray of Light Theatre
WHAT: Assassins, by Stephen Sondheim
WHERE: Eureka Theatre, 215 jackson Street in San Francisco
WHEN: June 2nd-25th (8PM Thursdays, Fridays, 2PM/8PM Saturdays, 2PM Sundays)
HOW MUCH: $20-$36
WHERE TO PURCHASE: Online here
MORE INFO: Ray of Light website

DESCRIPTION: Well, if you've seen Assassins then you know it's sharp, dark, unexpectedly funny and full of Sondheim's usual haunting music and exquisite lyrics. If you haven't seen it, you may know of it as one of Sondheim's more controversial pieces. In this day and age of heightened political rhetoric and increasing gulf between the haves and have-nots, it's only more relevant and resonant than it was in its debut 20 years ago.

Labels: Ray of Light, San Francisco Theatre, Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim, woman's will

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

Mahesh Dattani is a prominent Indian playwright and screen writer, and next month one of his works will be debuting in San Francisco. While a few Indian movies have broken into the mainstream here in the States, I can't think of another play that has done the same, at least a modern-day family drama type of play.

This area has a large East indian population, but hopefully the play reaches out to a multi-cultural audience. here are the deets:

WHAT: West Coast premiere of 30 Days in September by Mahesh Dattani
PRODUCED BY: The IndiStage
WHERE: Off-Market Theatre, 965 Missions St. in San Francisco
WHEN: July 23rd through August 1, 2010 (that's just two weekends)
HOW MUCH: $20
HOW TO PURCHASE: http://brownpapertickets.com/
MORE INFO (although not much): https://sites.google.com/site/theindistage/

DESCRIPTION (from the show's press release):

Mala’s childhood horrors are hardly behind her; well alive in the dark shadows of her family secrets, they continue to live in her hateful attachment to her mother. Unexpectedly comes along Deepak, with a hopeful promise to change everything with love, but he doesn’t know that he has only scratched the surface. This family’s secrets go far deeper than anyone imagined…

30 Days IN September takes an intricate and in-depth look into a typical atypical Indian family. It follows the painful journey of Mala, who after years of abuse and dysfunctional relationships meets Deepak, a man who refuses to stop loving her. But with his love comes a shattering reckoning and unearthing of darker, deeper secrets no one is ready for. With characterizations and an ending only Dattani can create, 30 Days in September promises an experience that will stay with you long after the performance.

If you see it, come back and share!

Labels: Indian Theatre, Mahesh Dattani, San Francisco Theatre

Magic Theatre announced its 2010-2011 Season:

The west coast premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size, an unforgettable tale of brotherhood directed by Octavio Solis

The world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s What We’re Up Against, a subversive comedy about men, women, and survival in the workplace directed by Loretta Greco

The west coast premiere of Liz Duffy Adams’ Or, a cross-dressing contemporary restoration comedy directed by Loretta Greco

The rolling world premiere of The Lily’s Revenge, a fantastical 5-hour cornucopia of theatre, party, and circus, written by and starring playwright and burlesque performer Taylor Mac.

Magic will also continue the development of new plays in the Martha Heasley Cox Virgin Play Series. These works-in-progress are presented as staged readings throughout theatres and cafes in San Francisco.

Details about the season will be shared in a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, April 13th at 6:30pm at Magic Theatre. Artistic Director Loretta Greco and special guest artists will share behind-the-scenes information about Magic’s exciting plans for next year. This event is free and open to the public.

You can find out a lot more detail about every play, its schedule and the playwrights/directors by visiting the Magic Theatre web site: www.magictheatre.org

Labels: Magic Theatre, San Francisco Theatre

The Marsh Theatre at 1062 Valencia in San Francisco just announced their new season, and as usual it's full of unique, fresh fare, featuring young, local talent:

Here's the season, which actually kicks off with an extension of something playing right now, and then digs into six more shows:

EXTENDED!
January 3 – January 25, 2009
Carlo D’Amore’s
NO PAROLE
Directed by Margarett Perry
Thursday, Saturday at 8 pm & Sunday at 7 pm
Tickets: $15-50
In this wry, energetic adventure play, No Parole takes you on a wild journey through the life a flamboyant, live-for-the-moment con artist mother, who has no trouble posing as an attorney, professor, daycare worker, or nun—as seen through the eyes of her young son who acts as her look-out, bail and partner-in-crime. From Peru to the streets of New York, No Parole provides a hilarious look into the life of an extraordinary woman and the son who must save her from herself.

January 8 – January 17, 2009
Marga Gomez’s
LONG ISLAND ICED LATINA
Two weeks of Workshop Performances
Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Tickets $15-$50

Gomez continues to workshop this intoxicating comedic memoir of her awkward adolescence in Massapequa, Long Island, mixing equal parts cultural confusion, chronic virginity, mother-daughter instability and a splash of polyester fashion to paint a sardonic picture of her uprooted life as the new brown girl in a white high school.

January 16 – February 14, 2009
Brian Copeland’s
NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN
Friday, 8 pm; Saturday, 5 pm
Tickets: $20-50
Not A Genuine Black Man returns to celebrate its fifth anniversary at The Marsh, the proud theatrical producer of what became the longest running solo show in San Francisco history. In 1971, San Leandro was named one of the most racist suburbs in America. Congressional hearings were held. The next year, the then eight-year-old Brian Copeland and his African-American family moved to San Leandro. In a monologue that's both funny and poignant, Brian explores how surroundings make us who we are. Join us for an evening of laughter tears and ociology.

January 30 – February 8, 2009
Marsh Youth Theater’s Teen Program
FEARS OF YOUR LIFE
Directed by Kim Epifano
Times to be confirmed
Tickets: $12 General Admission; $6 Student Rate
Marsh Youth Theater's new Teen Troupe is partnering with Epiphany Productions to produce Fears of Your Life. Based on the book of the same name by Michael Bernard Loggins, an artist with developmental disabilities at Creativity Explored, Fears of Your Life uses dance, music, poetry, video and huge paper mache puppets to explore our relationship with the sometimes serious and often humorous things that scare us—from our tear ducts to our funny bone. Monsters, speeding bus drivers and hugs from someone you don’t like are only some of the fears that stalk the stage in this exciting production.

February 19 – April 5, 2009
Press Opening Saturday, March 7
Charlie Varon’s
RABBI SAM
Thursday and Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday, February 22, March 1, 15 and 29 at 7 pm
Sunday matinee at 2 pm on March 8 and 22
Tickets: $18-50
Rabbi Sam tells the story of a rabbi who wants to reinvent American Judaism, and the congregation that hires him. Some people love the new rabbi. Some can’t stand him. And, of course, some can’t stand each other. Varon plays all 12 characters, including the rabbi and eight contentious board members. Funny, moving, bursting with energy and ideas, RABBI SAM is a play for Jews, Gentiles and anyone who has ever attended a meeting.

April 2 – 25, 2009
Press Opening, Friday, April 10
Carolyn Doyle’s
LIFE AS A REFRIGERATOR MOTHER
Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm
Tickets: $15-50
Carolyn Doyle’s Confessions Of A Refrigerator Mother, a serio-comic look at raising a child with special needs. The piece is a multi-media exploration of a day-in-the-life of a nine-year-old boy and his family as they navigate the mysterious world of autism.

May 1 – June 6, 2009
Press Opening: To be announced
Dan Hoyle’s
RIGHT?
Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm
Tickets: $15-50
Dan Hoyle, who won the 2007 Will Glickman award for best new play, brings us Right? —a 100 day, thirty state journey through small-town and rural America. Meetings with cowboys, frontiers men, soldiers in training, drug dealers, aryan brotherhood executives and many others….

Labels: San Francisco Theatre, The Marsh

Received info on the following limited run production in San Francisco...happening this coming week only, so if it intrigues you hop on it. Sounds like they're taking it off a normal stage and into an environmental setting to give it a new spin. This was a hit production in the UK, and I'm told half that cast has made the trip over to stage it in SF with the rest being local actors.

WHAT: Transatlantic production of Sarah Kane's Blasted by 19;29
WHEN: Premieres Thursday 19th-25th June 2008. Entry: 3pm, 5pm, 7pm & 9pm
WHO: 19;29 theatre company.
WHERE: A room at The Mosser Hotel, 54 4th Street, San Francisco Ca 94103, near Union Square.
HOW MUCH: $19
BOX OFFICE: Tickets available from www.nineteentwentynine.co.uk

MORE INFO: www.nineteentwentynine.co.uk or call: 5108095852
Press Contact: Maria Garbutt-Lucero, email: maria@nineteentwentynine.co.uk, tel: 415-601-3150

A little more about it from the theatre company:

19;29 invites you to a night at The Mosser Hotel with tabloid hack Ian and epileptic Cate for a radical reassessment of Sarah Kane's seminal 1995 work Blasted.

Highly controversial in its time, Blasted has become a modern classic for its unflinching depiction of the depths of humanity and the personal impact of war.

In the cloying intimacy of a hotel suite, 19;29's transatlantic cast seek to sear Kane's dystopic vision onto the audience's consciousness. The physical immediacy of the action has a stomach churning intensity, which cannot fail to provoke thought and debate as civilization and barbarity collide before your very eyes.

Kane's social critique explores private and public despotism through domestic human conflict and the psychology of war. Blasted remains relevant and visceral thirteen years after its debut at the Royal Court, London.

Labels: blasted, San Francisco Theatre

Got a few emails announcing local productions that are off my typical beaten path. Check them out...and report back if you do!

Production #1:

WHAT: Brenda Wong Aoki & Mark Izu present: Ghosts and Girls The Legend of the Morning Glory
WHEN: Friday April 25 at 8pm & Saturday 26 at 2pm matinee
WHERE: Jewish Community Center, Kanbar Hall (3200 California St. @ Presidio), San Francisco
HOW MUCH: $25.00 Public, $22.00 Member, $15 Student (***Student groups of 14 or more, receive the group rate of $13/ticket plus receive one free ticket for a chaperone.)

WHAT'S IT ABOUT: Ghosts and Girls is a haunting love tale that tells a story about a power samurai’s daughter who meets and falls in love with a boy from a poor family. Despite her father’s attempts to have her marry one of his rich suitors, the girl is forever determined to marry the poor boy when his love poem about the morning glory blows into her boat. Wanting to marry the poor boy, she runs away to a world outside her father’s castle and becomes the Morning Glory, an itinerant storyteller gamer for her tale of lost love.

FOR MORE INFO:
Jordan Shapiro (415) 292-1299 Ext. 1106
JCC SF Box Office (415) 292-1233
www.jccsf.org/arts
For past First Voice videos, please visit out YouTube page at www.youtube.com/BrendaAokiMarkIzu

Production #2:

WHAT: Triple Shot Productions presents Riches by award-winning playwright Lee Blessing
WHEN: Throughout April
Fridays at 8 p.m.: April 11, 18, 25
Saturdays at 8 p.m.: April 12, 19, 26 (closing night)
Sundays at 2 p.m.: April 13, 20
Thursdays at 8 p.m.: April 17, 24
WHERE: The Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason Street cross Geary, San Francisco, California, 94103
HOW MUCH: $20.00

WHAT'S IT ABOUT: Riches portrays an "everything is right" marriage in which the “everything” goes horribly wrong. "Riches" reunites "Dollhouse" collaborators Andi Trindle (Nora), Dan Wilson (Dr. Rank) and Bahati Bonner, the director of "Dollhouse." "Riches" stars Ms. Trindle and Mr. Wilson, each critically acclaimed in their most recent projects, as the troubled couple Mr. and Mrs. Rich. Bahati Bonner once again lends her masterful directorial hand to the project.

FOR MORE INFO: Tickets are now available online: http://www.tripleshotproductions.org/Current_production.html

Labels: San Francisco Theatre