Aisle Seat Review: Independent Arts Reviews and News
Theater, Event, Streaming, Art, Music, and Performance Reviews, News, and Commentary in Plain English
By Joanne Engelhardt Topher Payne’s 2014 production Perfect Arrangement seems horribly out of date even though written a scant nine years ago. That’s why it’s surprising that Foster City’s Hillbarn Theatre and director Tyler Christie decided to make it part of the 2022-23 season. Although it’s played mostly for laughs – as in I Love …
Continue reading “ASR Theater ~~ Stilted “Perfect Arrangement” at Hillbarn Theatre”
By Joanne Engelhardt You know you’re in for a story about the plight of Southern Black people when you take your seat in the Lucie Stern Theater in Palo Alto for Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer and see signs all over the theater walls with slogans like “Folks died so you …
Continue reading “PICK! ASR THEATER ~~ Heartfelt Story: Fannie Lou Hamer Celebrated at TheatreWorks”
By Joanne Engelhardt There’s nothing like a relatively small theater to enable audiences to appreciate the wonder, the magic and the magnificence of Stephen Sondheim’s way with words. That’s what’s in store for anyone lucky enough to get a ticket to the current Foothill Theatre Arts production of Into the Woods, running through March 19 …
By Joanne Engelhardt Horrible topic. Terrible timing. Yet when Hillbarn Theatre’s production of Assassins opened last weekend, it was, in a word, spellbinding. Imagine watching the incredibly talented Andre Amarotico kill President Abraham Lincoln a few days after the news of the seven farm workers shot in Half Moon Bay. Amarotico’s acting skills are so …
Continue reading “PICK! ASR THEATER ~~ Excellence! Hillbarn Theatre’s “Assassins””
By Joanne Engelhardt When you have as versatile an actor as Dave J. Abrams playing Buddy the Elf, it’s impossible to go wrong. Director Randy Ohara can justifiably be pleased with his new hit Elf, the Musical, running through Dec. 18 at the Foster City theater. This young man – locally educated at UC Berkeley …
By Joanne Engelhardt An enchanting Belle, a handsome, muscular Gaston and snappy choreography. What could go wrong? A few things, actually, although the large opening night audience at the Palo Alto Players’ production of Beauty and the Beast probably didn’t notice. In fact, after the big Act 1 production number “Belle” — featuring the entire …
By Joanne Engelhardt Who doesn’t love a “whodunit?” Audiences revel in the idea of trying to figure out which one of a number of suspects is the culprit. And who is the Queen of that genre? Agatha Christie, of course. Director Brad Friedman and Coastal Repertory Theatre in Half Moon Bay figured it was a safe …
Continue reading “PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Coastal Rep’s Engrossing “Murder on the Nile””
By Joanne Engelhardt Although the Pear Theatre in Mountain View is currently offering two 90-minute plays in repertoire through Oct. 2, one far outshines the other, most likely because one of them was written by a more experienced playwright. Jen Silverman’s “Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties” is practically a laugh-a-minute as the lives …
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By Joanne Engelhardt Rose– as in Mama Rose, the ball-busting lead character of the much-performed and universally loved musical “Gypsy,” is obviously a force to be reckoned with. But when that role is played by the phenomenally talented Stephanie Prentice, whose full-throated vocals can likely be heard at least several blocks away, it’s definitely worth …
Continue reading “PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Everything’s Rosy in Hillbarn Theatre’s “Gypsy””
By Joanne Engelhardt With a bushel of fresh-faced, multi-talented kids, Palo Alto Players has a hit on its hand with the broad comedy “School of Rock,” playing through Sept. 11 at Lucie Stern Theater. Sure, there are tons of hackneyed caricatures in “Rock,” the kind that Julian Fellows creates here. In fact, almost all the …
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Our Writers Kris Neely is ASR’s Founder, Owner, and Editor-in-Chief. Kris served as a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle (SFBATCC) and also served as a Theater Bay Area (TBA) Adjudicator. He is a stage director who earned an SFBATCC Best Director award (Lend Me a Tenor, Ross Valley Players) in …