Search Results for: mitchell

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Berkeley Rep’s Wonderful “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” — and a Fond Farewell!

By Barry Willis A hot day in Harlem is the setting for Jocelyn Bioh’s Tony-nominated Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre. The incisive ensemble comedy runs through December 15. Delightfully written and beautifully performed, this Whitney White-directed one-act is both a lovingly hilarious depiction of a small slice of life in an …

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ASR Theater ~~ “Best Available”: Naval Gazing About How Theaters Are Run

By Susan Dunn The set is a simple rotating turntable under an arched, red-curtained proscenium. A ghost light illuminates the bare stage, a stand-in for the story’s ghost, Gary, a disgraced Artistic Director and theater founder whom no one is allowed to speak about but does anyway. This well-known non-profit theater has fired him under …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ The Ni¿¿er Lovers Reclaims Black History. And What Blackness Is.

By Woody Weingarten Lots of Black folks are trying to reclaim the N-word. Musician Marc Anthony Thompson intends to do much more in his first play — reclaim Black history. He and co-director Sean San José, the Magic Theatre in San Francisco’s artistic director, use that stage to jumpstart the revolutionary notion by inverting some …

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ASR Theater ~~ “Pretty Woman: The Musical”– LOL Funny

By Woody Weingarten Tons of us have seen the 1990 movie: Julia Roberts, a hooker, charms plutocrat Richard Gere. Its feel-good offspring, Pretty Woman — The Musical, provides a fun experience, too, though not quite as charming. The two leads (Jessie Davidson as Vivian Ward and Tony Award nominee Adam Pascal as Edward Lewis) have such …

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ASR Theater ~~ “A Raisin in the Sun” Still Potent Decades Later

By Mitchell Field Lorraine Vivian Hansberry’s play A Raisin n the Sun opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on March 11, 1959, the first play by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway. At the age of 29, she became the youngest American playwright to win the The New York Drama Critics Award for …

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ASR THEATER ~~ “The Children” a Compelling Production at Left Edge

By Mitchell Field Lucy Kirkwood’s 2016 play The Children, was Tony-nominated for Best Play of 2018. Writers for The Guardian placed it third on a list of the greatest theatrical works since 2000. In the Left Edge Theatre production, a married couple, Hazel (Priscilla Locke) and Robin (John Craven) both retired nuclear scientists, are living …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Musical “As You Like It” at SF Playhouse

By Mitchell Field As You Like It, the Musical at SF Playhouse is delightful. Originally presented by The Public Theater, The New York Times named it among “The Best Theater of 2017.” The performances are terrific, all the actors clearly having a great time onstage, totally invested in giving their absolute best to drive the …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ “Gypsy” an Oldie but Still a Goodie!

By Mitchell Field Marin County’s venerated 110 year-old Mountain Play, which bills itself as a “Great Outdoor Theatre Adventure” is currently producing the 63-year-old Broadway smash musical Gypsy indoors. Neither is showing its age. Nor is the venue, The Barn Theater at the Marin Art and Garden Center. Normally the home of the 92-year-old Ross …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Classic Comedy: “The One Act Play That Goes Wrong”

By Mitchell Field In an era when so many live entertainment venues have closed down, how encouraging it is that a new one has opened: The California Theatre of Santa Rosa, California. Before the end of 2022, the cabaret-style venue will host blues music, comedy nights, cabaret, a solo show, soul music and a “Mardi-Gras …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ “The Moors”: a Brontean Treat at Main Stage West

By Mitchell Field When attractive young Emilie (Katherine Rupers), arrives to take a governess position and perhaps find love at a manor house on the foggy Brontean English moors, instead of encountering any children (nor indeed her possible suitor, a Mr. Branwell, who has apparently been writing her increasingly romantic recruitment letters), she finds instead …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ “Fun Home” Hits the Mark at Left Edge Theatre’s New Location

by Mitchell Field / Sue Morgan Intro by Mr. Field… Reversing the Covid-related nationwide loss of theater venues, a brand new one has opened its doors in the North Bay: the “California” in Santa Rosa, CA. Last week the 200-seat venue hosted a partisan opening-night crowd for Left Edge Theatre’s “Fun Home,” one of Broadway’s …

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PICK! ASR Theater ~~ Maximum Nostalgia: “Follies” at SF Playhouse

By Mitchell Field Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical “Follies” first opened April 4, 1971. It was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, won seven, and has enjoyed many revivals. During her 1987 West End performance, Eartha Kitt sparked a comeback and went on to perform her own one-woman show to sold-out houses after “Follies” …

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An ASR Theater PICK! Cinnabar’s “Cry It Out” — Hilarious, Lovely, Elegant — by Barry Willis

Two young mothers with newborns form a friendship that soon encompasses distinctions in class, education, income, and aspirations in “Cry It Out” at Cinnabar Theatre through September 26. Elegantly conceived by playwright Molly Smith Metzger, the production centers around two Long Island neighbors, Jessie (Ilana Niernberger) and Lina (Amanda Vitiello), both on maternity leave with …

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ASR Not-So-Random Questions Time: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Founder and Artistic Director Robert Kelley

Aisle Seat Review and our readers are enjoying a new series of question-and-answer interviews with prominent Bay Area theater people. Our goal is not to subject you the reader to extended portentous sermons of the guest’s views on Russian translations of lesser-known Mamet flash drama (is there such a thing?) Too often the people who guide and …

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An AISLE SEAT REVIEW! “Gypsy” a mixed bag at 6th Street Playhouse – by Barry Willis

In “Gypsy,” the ultimate stage mother from hell comes roaring to life four times per week through October 20 at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. Broadway veteran Kathy Fitzgerald stars as Mama Rose, a thrice-divorced mother with two daughters, struggling to make a go of it on the waning Vaudeville circuit. With a gaggle of …

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An Aisle Seat Theater Review! ASR Theatre Review: Marvelous “Hedwig” by Ray of Light – by Barry WIllis

John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” may be the greatest rock musical ever conceived. No matter how you rank them, it’s certainly among the top five. Ray of Light has launched a really engaging production of this fantastic comedic redemption story about an East German rocker whose botched gender-reassignment surgery prompts personal and …

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