By Joanne Engelhardt
Luckily for Peninsula theatergoers, six theatre companies have announced upcoming seasons full of exciting productions – some musicals, some dramas, a little Shakespeare, and some new plays. In other words, lots of choices.
This month, Foothill College’s TheatreArts Department presents a four-show-only production of “The World Goes Round” July 25 – 28.
Directed by Milissa Carey, the musical revenue includes 30 songs from a variety of Kander and Ebb musicals ranging from Cabaret to Chicago to Kiss of the Spider Woman.
More information: Tickets are $15 for students/youth and $20 for adults. Call (650) 949-7360 or go to: [email protected]
” … In other words, lots of choices. …”
Coastal Repertory Theatre in Half Moon Bay also gets a jump on the upcoming theatrical season by offering 9 to 5, The Musical, based on the 1980 film. 9 to 5 opens July 26 and runs through Aug. 18. Tickets are $29 – $42 and can be purchased at www.coastalrep.com or by calling (650) 204-5046.
Two more productions are planned by CRT for the fall, Dial M for Murder, which runs Sept. 13 – 29, and Annie, Dec. 6 – 22.
Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City opens its 84th season on Aug. 23 with the musical Always, Patsy Cline, about the life of the legendary country singer. It runs through Sept. 15. Hillbarn’s five other 2024-25 productions are: Wait Until Dark, Oct. 17 – Nov. 3; Anastasia, Dec. 5 – 29; Daisy, Jan. 23 – Feb. 9; Fly by Night, March 6 – 23; and the world premiere of Writing Fragments Home, written by Jeffrey Lo, April 17 – May 4.
Palo Alto Players’ upcoming season includes three musicals, a beloved farce and a serious play about Pennsylvania factory workers. This will be PAP’s 94th season with all performances expected to be in Lucie Stern Theater in Palo Alto. The family favorite Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 7, and runs through Sept. 22.
PAP’s four remaining shows are; Fiddler on the Roof, Nov. 8 – 24; Noises Off, Jan. 17 – Feb. 2; Jersey Boys, April 18 – May 4; and Sweat, June 13 – 29. Season tickets run $150 for youth between three and 18 years old; $215 for seniors 65 and up, and $225 for adults. They’re available now by calling (650) 329-0891 or online at www.paplayers.org The cost of individual tickets will be announced later this year.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has a rather complex schedule, with its 21st New Works Festival coming to Lucie Stern Theater from Aug. 9 – 18. The festival is made up of new plays and musicals. Passes for the entire festival are $65, while single-event tickets (available soon) will cost $25. For its 54th season, TheatreWorks will present two world premiere musicals, the premiere of three regional plays as well as Lauren Gunderson’s adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, as its holiday production.
The 2024-25 TheatreWorks productions are: King James by Rajiv Joseph, running Oct. 9 – Nov. 3, Miss Bennet, Dec. 4 – 29; Hershey Felder: Rachmaninoff and the Tsar Jan. 10 – Feb. 9; Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical by Min Kahng, March 5 – 30; The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh, April 2 – 27 and 5 & Dime by Ashley Robinson, June 18 – 13.
Four of these will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and two will be at Lucie Stern Theater.
The Pear Theater in Mountain View is rolling out an impressive lineup of theatre productions for the 2024-25 season. Two will be performed in repertory with another play, while others will be mounted alone. But before anything else, The Pear is planning a standalone three-week program called the Black Experience Festival co-sponsored by the Breath Project and The Pear. It runs from Aug. 9 – 25 and includes two plays: Crawfish by Gamal Abdel Chasten and Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu.
The Pear’s theme for its 23rd season is “Be Transported.” The season’s offerings include Once on This Island by Lynn Ahrens running Sept. 13 – Oct. 13; The Agitators by Mat Smart, Nov. 28 – Dec. 22; two plays in repertory, Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy and Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Every Body, Feb. 21 – March 16; Henry V by William Shakespeare and She Who Dared in repertory from April 18 – May 18; and Constellations (An Immersive Experience) by Nick Payne, June 27 – July 20.
Among many other events planned by The Pear for the coming season are The Pear Playwrights Guild’s production of Fresh Produce, Nov. 8 – 10, 2024, and Pear Slices Festival, May 23 – June 8, 2025. Ticket information about all of these events and more is available at www.thepear.org or by calling (650) 254-1148.
Los Altos Stage Company has also announced its upcoming season of five widely divergent productions. Offering up a variety of adult and children’s productions year-round, LASC (formerly the Bus Barn Stage Company) was founded in June 1995. For the 2024-25 season, LASC will present Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Sept. 5 – 29, A Christmas Story (The Musical) by Joseph Robinette, Nov. 29 – Dec. 22, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Jan. 23 – Feb. 16; a new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano by Jeffrey Lo and Max Tachis; and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub.
Season and single play information and tickets are available at www.losaltosstage.org or by calling (650) 941-0551. Subscriptions run $142 – $180 while single tickets are $13 – $41 for previews and $28 – $51 for other performances.
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Aisle Seat Executive Reviewer Joanne Engelhardt is a Peninsula theatre writer and critic. She is a voting member of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC). Contact: [email protected]