2007 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards

Here they are: the 2007 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards. I have so many things to say about this list, but I shall bite my tongue. Read it and rejoice, or weep, whatever you wish.

**Please go to the TBA web site for the most accurate list of nominees; the list below was the first published and may contain errors.***

Theatres Over 99 Seats

DRAMA
ENTIRE PRODUCTION:
After the Quake, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
The Birthday Party, Aurora Theatre Company
Enchanted April, Porchlight Theatre Company
Frozen, Marin Theatre Company
Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Theatre for a New Audience

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Delia MacDougall, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Jennifer Reimer, Our Town, Ross Valley Players
Kimberly King, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, San Jose Repertory Theatre
Michelle Morain, Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Michelle Pava Mills, The Underpants, Ross Valley Players
Phoebe Moyer, The Birthday Party, Aurora Theatre Company
Rene Augesen, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
Susannah Livingston, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Aldo Billingslea, The Elephant Man, TheatreWorks
Anthony Fusco, Hedda Gabler, American Conservatory Theater
Darren Bridgett, Love Song, Marin Theatre Company
Elijah Alexander, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
James Carpenter, The Birthday Party, Aurora Theatre Company
Ken Ruta, Trying, TheatreWorks
Kurt Gundersen, The Underpants, Ross Valley Players
Tony Amendola, The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Warren David Keith, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Allison Jean White, Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Anne Darragh, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company
Delia MacDougall, After the War, American Conservatory Theater
Joan Mankin, Bosoms and Neglect, Aurora Theatre Company
Julia Brothers, Love Song, Marin Theatre Company
Maureen McVerry, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Sharon Lockwood, Hedda Gabler, American Conservatory Theater

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Alex Morf, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
Benjamin Cohen, The Underpants, Ross Valley Players
Darren Bridgett, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company
Jack Willis, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
James Carpenter, King Lear, California Shakespeare Theater
Jarion Monroe, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Marin Shakespeare Company
Julian Lopez-Morillas, The Birthday Party, Aurora Theatre Company
Ken Ruta, The Circle, American Conservatory Theater

DIRECTOR:
Jonathan Moscone, Long Day’s Journey into Night, San Jose Repertory Theatre
Jonathan Moscone, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
Kent Nicholson, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company
Les Waters, Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Mark Rucker, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
Robert Wilson, Our Town, Ross Valley Players
Tom Ross, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Tom Ross, The Birthday Party, Aurora Theatre Company

SET DESIGN:
Annie Smart, Long Day’s Journey into Night, San Jose Repertory Theatre
Annie Smart, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
Daniel Ostling, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Eric Flatmo, The Imaginary Invalid, American Conservatory Theater
John Arnone, The Circle, American Conservatory Theater
Kent Dorsey, Hedda Gabler, American Conservatory Theater
Robert Broadfoot, ’BOT, Magic Theatre
Robert Mark Morgan, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater

SOUND DESIGN:
Andre Pleuss & Ben Sussman, After the Quake, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Andre Pleuss, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Fabian Obispo, The Imaginary Invalid, American Conservatory Theater
Jake Rodriquez, After the War, American Conservatory Theater
Jeff Mockus, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
Jeff Mockus, Triumph of Love, California Shakespeare Theater
Odabiah Eaves, Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

LIGHTING DESIGN:
Alexander V. Nichols, Heartbreak House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Don Darnutzer, The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
John Culbert, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Lap-Chi Chu, Long Day’s Journey into Night, San Jose Repertory Theatre
Les Lizama, The Underpants, Ross Valley Players
Matt Frey, To the Lighthouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Russell H. Champa, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
Russell H. Champa, The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

COSTUME DESIGN:
Abra Berman, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Marin Shakespeare Company
Ana Kuzmanic, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Anna R. Oliver, Man and Superman, California Shakespeare Theater
Anna R. Oliver, The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Beaver Bauer, The Imaginary Invalid, American Conservatory Theater
Candice Donnelly, The Circle, American Conservatory Theater
Cassandra Carpenter, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Taisia Nikonishchenko, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company

ORIGINAL SCORE:
Andre Pleuss & Ben Sussman, After the Quake, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Andre Pleuss & Ben Sussman, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Billy Philadelphia, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company
Chris Houston, The Good German, Marin Theatre Company
Fabian Obispo, The Imaginary Invalid, American Conservatory Theater

CHOREOGRAPHY OR FIGHT DIRECTION:
Carla Pantoja, The Taming of the Shrew, The Cutting Ball Theater
Dave Maier, King Lear, California Shakespeare Theater
Dave Maier, The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Jane Zaban, Sex, Aurora Theatre Company

ORIGINAL SCRIPT:
Chantal Bilodeau, Pleasure + Pain, Magic Theatre
Josh Kornbluth, Citizen Josh, Jonathan Reinis Productions, Z Space Studio
Mary Zimmerman, Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Rebecca Gilman, The Crowd You’re In With, Magic Theatre

SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Josh Kornbluth, Citizen Josh, Jonathan Reinis Productions, Z Space Studio, and Magic Theatre
Mike Daisey, Men of Genius, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Steven Soloman, My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish, and I’m in Therapy, Richmark Entertainment

ENSEMBLE:
Angel Face, Word for Word
Argonautika, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
The Circle, American Conservatory Theater
Enchanted April, Porchlight Theatre Company
The Good German, Marin Theatre Company
The Kentucky Cycle, Willows Theatre Company
King Lear, California Shakespeare Theater
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, San Jose Repertory Theatre
Our Town, Ross Valley Players
The Pillowman, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
The Rainmaker, American Conservatory Theater
Sex, Aurora Theatre Company

MUSICALS
ENTIRE PRODUCTION:
Bingo, a Winning New Musical, Center Repertory Company
Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Emma, TheatreWorks
Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
The Music Man, Diablo Light Opera Company
One Touch of Venus, 42nd Street Moon
Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Brandy Collazo, Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Carol Woods, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Lianne Marie Dobbs, Emma, TheatreWorks
Nina Josephs, One Touch of Venus, 42nd Street Moon
Peggy Ann Blow, Bricktop, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre
Susan Himes-Powers, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay

PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Ben Jones, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Bill Olson, Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Damon Kirsche, Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
Maurice Hines, Blues in the Night, Eugene P Stichman Productions
Timothy Gulan, Emma, TheatreWorks

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Amy Louise Cole, One Touch of Venus, 42nd Street Moon
Chris Macomber, Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Dani Marcus, Emma, TheatreWorks
Freda Payne, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Sharon Maxwell, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Suzanne Grodner, Emma, TheatreWorks

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Lawrence Beaman, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Mark Farrell, The Secret Garden, Willows Theatre Company
Robert Brewer, Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
Rudy Guerrero, Gay Divorce, 42nd Street Moon
Travis Poelle, Emma, TheatreWorks

DIRECTOR:
Andrew Holtz, The Secret Garden, Willows Theatre Company
Barbara Heroux, The Merry Widow, Lamplighters Music Theatre
Bobby Weinapple, Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Glenn Casale, Bingo, a Winning New Musical, Center Repertory Company
Mark Jacobs, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Robert Kelley, Emma, TheatreWorks
Robert Kelley, Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
Sheldon Epps, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions

MUSIC DIRECTOR:
David Dobrusky, Plain and Fancy, 42nd Street Moon
Mark Hanson, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Rahn Coleman, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
William Liberatore, Emma, TheatreWorks
William Liberatore, Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks

CHOREOGRAPHY:
Alex Perez, Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
Dottie Lester-White, Show Boat, Broadway by the Bay
Kenneth Lee Roberson, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Mary Beth Cavanaugh, Emma, TheatreWorks

COSTUME DESIGN:
Beaver Bauer & Melissa Wortman, The Merry Widow, Lamplighters Music Theatre
Christine Crook, The Secret Garden, Willows Theatre Company
Dana Rebecca Woods, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Fumiko Bielefeldt, Emma, TheatreWorks

SET DESIGN:
Douglas D. Smith, Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Jean-Francois Revon, The Merry Widow, Lamplighters Music Theatre
Joe Ragey, Emma, TheatreWorks

LIGHTING DESIGN:
Rob Anderson, The Secret Garden, Willows Theatre Company
Steven B. Mannshart, Emma, TheatreWorks

SOUND DESIGN:
Andrew F. Holtz, The Secret Garden, Willows Theatre Company
Ian Hunter, Bricktop, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

ORIGINAL SCRIPT:
Paul Gordon, Emma, TheatreWorks

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:
Blues in the Night, Eugene P. Stichman Productions
Emma, TheatreWorks
Merrily We Roll Along, TheatreWorks
Music Man, The, Diablo Civic Light Opera Company

TOURING
Avenue Q, Best of Broadway
Jersey Boys (second cast), Dodgers Theatricals
Kooza, Cirque du Soleil
Legally Blonde, Best of Broadway
Sweeney Todd, American Conservatory Theater
The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) and Completely Hollywood (abridged), Reduced Shakespeare Company and Marines Memorial Theatre

Theatres Under 99 Seats

DRAMA
ENTIRE PRODUCTION:
A Streetcar Named Desire, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
Based on a Totally True Story, New Conservatory Theatre Center
Defiance, Playhouse West
Fiction, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
First Person Shooter, SF Playhouse
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, SF Playhouse
Nathan the Wise, TheatreFIRST
Shadowbox, Masquers Playhouse
Six Degrees of Separation, SF Playhouse

PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Barbara Michelson Harder, A Streetcar Named Desire, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
Carla Spindt, Catherine’s Care, AlterTheater
Emily Jordan, Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance, TheatreFIRST
Frances Lee McCain, The Shaker Chair, Shotgun Players and Encore Theatre Company
Jeri Lynn Cohen, Death of a Salesman, Traveling Jewish Theatre
Joan Mankin, Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge!, SF Playhouse
Joyce Henderson, Fiction, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
Susi Damilano, Six Degrees of Separation, SF Playhouse

PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Carl Lumbly, Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, SF Playhouse
Craig Marker, First Person Shooter, SF Playhouse
Daveed Diggs, Six Degrees of Separation, SF Playhouse
Kamran Alexander, A Streetcar Named Desire, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
Louis Parnell, Defiance, Playhouse West
Michael Medici, Fiction, Off Broadway West Theatre Company

DIRECTOR:
Aaron Davidman, Death of a Salesman, Traveling Jewish Theatre
Adam Fitzgerald, Defiance, Playhouse West
Bill English, Six Degrees of Separation, SF Playhouse
John Dixon, Based on a Totally True Story, New Conservatory Theatre Center
Joy Carlin, Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge!, SF Playhouse
Mark Jackson, American $uicide, Encore Theatre Company and Z Space Studio
Phoebe Moyer, Shadowbox, Masquers Playhouse
Richard Harder, Fiction, Off Broadway West Theatre Company
Rob Melrose, Woyzeck, The Cutting Ball Theater

ORIGINAL SCRIPT:
Aaron Loeb, First Person Shooter, SF Playhouse
Adam Bock, The Shaker Chair, Shotgun Players and Encore Theatre Company
Peter Levy, Friends, Masquers Playhouse and Phoenix Theatre
Robert Ernst, Catherine’s Care, AlterTheater

SOLO PERFORMANCE:
John O’Keefe, Song of Myself, The Marsh

ENSEMBLE:
American $uicide, Encore Theatre Company and Z Space Studio
Anna Bella Eema, Crowded Fire
First Person Shooter, SF Playhouse
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, SF Playhouse
Nathan the Wise, TheatreFIRST
Six Degrees of Separation, SF Playhouse

MUSICALS
ENTIRE PRODUCTION:
Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads
Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre
Wilde Boys, New Conservatory Theatre Center

PERFORMANCE, FEMALE:
Cathleen Riddley, Man of La Mancha, SF Playhouse
Connie Champagne, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, New Conservatory Theatre Center
Tami Dahbura, Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads

PERFORMANCE, MALE:
Louis Parnell, Man of La Mancha, SF Playhouse
Martin Rojas-Dietrich, Man of La Mancha, SF Playhouse
Rudy Guerrero, Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre
Steve Rhyne, Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads

DIRECTOR:
Dyan McBride, Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads
Jay Manley, Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre
Jon Tracy, Man of La Mancha, SF Playhouse

CHOREOGRAPHY:
Joe Duffy, Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre
Staci Arriaga, Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads

MUSICAL DIRECTOR:
Catherine Snider, Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre
David Dobrusky, Man of La Mancha, SF Playhouse
Joe Collins, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, New Conservatory Theatre Center
Matt Smart, Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads
Richard “Scrumbly” Koldewyn, Wilde Boys, New Conservatory Theatre Center

ENSEMBLE:
Into the Woods, CTA Crossroads
Pippin, Foothill Music Theatre

Theatreworks Announces Its 2008/09 Season

Theatreworks is once again teaming up with the Schwartz's and they are doing Doubt. I love Doubt. I think it's a great play.

Here it is...

SNAPSHOTS
(West Coast Premiere)
Conceived by Michael Scheman and David Stern
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by David Stern
June 18-July 13, 2008 (press opening: June 21)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

TheatreWorks opens its 39th season with the dazzling West Coast Premiere of Snapshots, the latest musical from legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin; film Enchanted). Snapshots reinvents the musical with the help of a photo album filled with memories. A bittersweet chronicle of a marriage that's lost its way, Snapshots combines some of Schwartz's most cherished hits, including "Popular" from Wicked, "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin, and "All Good Gifts" from Godspell, with new songs, including the title song "Snapshots" and "Making Good" (a song cut from Wicked during the rehearsal process), transforming the remnants of love into the musical of a lifetime. Book author David Stern and composer Stephen Schwartz will be in residence at TheatreWorks to work on Snapshots with TheatreWorks founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, who will helm the newly-revised production.

DOUBT, A PARABLE
By John Patrick Shanley
July 16-August 10, 2008 (press opening: July 19)
Lucie Stern Theatre

TheatreWorks is excited to bring Silicon Valley its first look at John Patrick Shanley's gripping Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play Doubt. When she suspects a popular and dedicated priest of misconduct with a student, Sister Aloysius takes matters into her own hands. But the truth is clouded in complexity as doubt thwarts all assumptions in this engrossing mystery. A headline-hot story of suspicion and moral certainty, this riveting clash of conscience and conviction is one of the great plays of the decade. Doubt calls into question what to do when you're not sure.

GREY GARDENS
(First Post-Broadway Production)
Book by Doug Wright
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Based on the film Grey Gardens by David Maysles,
Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, and Susan Froemke
August 20-September 14, 2008 (press opening: August 23)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

TheatreWorks continues its 39th season with the first post-Broadway production of the scandalously delicious Grey Gardens. Adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright, this beguiling musical, winner of three Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award, brings to life a delightfully eccentric tale of fallen American royalty. Once among the brightest names in the pre-Camelot social register, Edith and Edie Bouvier Beale, aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, became East Hampton's most notorious recluses. Chronicling their journey from giddy fortune in the 1940s to seclusion in the 1970s, this is an alternately hilarious and heartbreaking saga.

RADIO GOLF
(Regional Premiere)
By August Wilson
October 8-November 2, 2008 (press opening: October 11)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

TheatreWorks honors Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson by producing the Regional Premiere of Radio Golf. The final play in Wilson's cycle of 10 plays (this will be the fourth presented by TheatreWorks) examining the African-American experience in 20th Century America, Radio Golf, winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, is at once a hustling comedy-drama and an inspired elegy for a lost time. In Pittsburgh in the late 1990s, a successful entrepreneur aspires to become the city's first black mayor, but when the past begins to catch up with him, secrets are revealed that could undo everything. Radio Golf opened on Broadway in 2007 at the Cort Theatre. Contains mature language.

LONG STORY SHORT
(Co-World Premiere with City Theatre)
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda
Based on the play An Infinite Ache by David Schulner
December 3-28, 2008 (press opening: December 6)
Lucie Stern Theatre

Love is in the air this holiday season as TheatreWorks continues its commitment to new works with the World Premiere of the roller-coaster romance Long Short Story (originally commissioned by City Theatre in Pittsburgh). Creators Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda of the rock band GrooveLily return to TheatreWorks, where they developed and premiered their hip holiday hit Striking 12: The GrooveLily Holiday Show as part of the company's New Works Initiative in 2004 (the show went on to a successful Off-Broadway engagement). This charming new musical take on amore is as funny and fragile as love itself. Based on the play An Infinite Ache by David Schulner, Long Short Story examines the life-cycle of a relationship from first date through old age. It retraces a brief encounter between two 20-somethings which develops into a love affair that lasts a lifetime. This World Premiere was developed at TheatreWorks as part of the New Works Initiative in 2008 and is a co-production with City Theatre. Contains mature language.

TWENTIETH CENTURY
(Regional Premiere)
By Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
Based on a play by Charles Bruce Milholland
Adapted by Ken Ludwig
January 14-February 8, 2009 (press opening: January 17)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

All aboard for havoc and hilarity as TheatreWorks presents the Regional Premiere of Twentieth Century. Adapted by Tony Award-winning farceur Ken Ludwig, author of Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, Broadway ballyhoo meets Hollywood hustle on the Twentieth Century Limited, the legendary locomotive that plays host to this classic comedy from the 1930s. This jaunty journey on the disorient express matches an on-the-outs impresario with a mercurial silver-screen starlet in a fast-paced, madcap battle of the sexes that's a send up of screwball comedy at its screwiest best.

IT AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT THE BLUES
(Regional Premiere)
By Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman
March 11-April 5, 2009 (press opening: March 14)
Lucie Stern Theatre

TheatreWorks proudly presents the Regional Premiere of the quadruple Tony-nominated musical It Ain't Nothin' But The Bludes. This sizzling, red-hot hit, which opened on Broadway in 1999, is a foot-stomping, hip-swaying, high-voltage journey in song. From African chants and Delta spirituals to the urban electricity of a Chicago nightclub and the twang of a country juke joint, this stirring retrospective of blues classics summons the soul of American music. It Ain't Nothin' But The Bludes is guaranteed to jar the floor and raise the roof.

DISTRACTED
(Regional Premiere)
By Lisa Loomer
April 1-26, 2009 (press opening: April 4)
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

TheatreWorks closes its 39th season with the Regional Premiere of Distracted. From the playwright of Living Out and The Waiting Room, and the screenplay for the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted comes a provocative new work that explores the world of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and the unconventional path one mother takes to help her anxious son. Jesse's got problems and Mom needs to solve them. Is his diagnosis of ADD correct, or is he simply reacting to an over-stimulation of TV, computers, cell phones, and video games? At school, at home, this plugged-in kid is easily distracted and readily riled, but is he really any different than his parents, the neurotic neighbors, his clueless doctors, or everyone else living in the revved-up, wacked-out, webcast of modern life? Honest, insightful, and hilariously offbeat, Distracted is an up-to-the-minute dramedy texting for answers in a world too frazzled to text back. Contains mature language.

TheatreWorks preview performances are at 8PM. Regular performances: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30PM, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 2PM and 7PM.

TheatreWorks at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto; TheatreWorks at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View

For information, tickets ($21-$64), or subscriptions ($115-$410), the public can call 650-463-1960, 1-888-273-3752, or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Review of The Pear's "True West"

There's a nice review of True West on the KQED web site. Check it out.
True West is currently showing at The Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View.
Check out www.thepear.org for details.



Theater Review : True West

Somewhere in the thick of True West, Sam Shepard's classic tale of brothers, alcohol, Hollywood -- and toasters, ne'er-do-well Lee tells his younger, Ivy League-educated, screenwriter brother, Austin, about an idea he has for a movie. Lee's story is a preposterous riff on Steven Spielberg's first full-length film, Duel, in which Dennis Weaver is stalked by the mysterious driver of a menacing 18-wheeler. Like Weaver and the truck in Duel, Lee's pair tear up a lot of asphalt. Unlike the characters in Duel, Lee's cartoon daydreams dodge twisters in the Texas panhandle, run out of gas on cue, and then continue their four-wheel struggle on four legs. (Did I mention that both drivers are conveniently pulling horse trailers?)

Austin, the artiste, is appalled by the stupidity of his oafish older brother's story, embarrassed that he could even be related to someone whose mind could harbor such implausibly idiotic plot twists. But Lee has a metaphysical side. "The one who's chasin' doesn't know where the other one is takin' him," Lee explains. "The one who's being chased doesn't know where he's going." more...

Oscar Nominees Announced

Here's the list of this year's nominees. Surprisingly, Sweeney Todd wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Johnny Depp was nominated for Best Actor, though in his role as Sweeney.

Best Picture
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Director
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Best Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Barden, "No Country for Old Men"
Phililp Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saiorse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Best Foreign Film
"Beaufort" (Israel)"
"Counterfeiters" (Austria)
"Katyn" (Poland)
"Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
"12" (Russia)

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Best Animated Feature Film
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"

Best Art Direction
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
"There Will Be Blood"

Achievement in Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Roger Deakins
"Atonement" Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" Robert Elswit

Achievement in Costume Design
"Across the Universe" Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" Colleen Atwood

Best Documentary Feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures)
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group)
"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company)
"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm)
"War/Dance" (THINKFilm)

Best Documentary Short Subject
"Freeheld"
"La Corona (The Crown)"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild)

Achievement in Film Editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men" Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood" Dylan Tichenor

Achievement in Makeup
"La Vie en Rose" Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
"Norbit" Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner" Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

"Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
Nominees to be determined

"So Close" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best animated short film
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
"Peter & the Wolf"

Best live action short film
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)"
"Tanghi Argentini"
“The Tonto Woman"

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
"No Country for Old Men" Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille" Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood" Matthew Wood
"Transformers" Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
"No Country for Old Men" Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
"Ratatouille" Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
"3:10 to Yuma" Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
"Transformers" Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Jon Stewart will host the 80th Academy Awards telecast, which will be broadcast live Feb. 24 from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center on ABC-TV. Who will attend the annual ceremony remains unclear due to the ongoing writers strike.

For more information visit www.oscars.org.

American Idol - The Path to Broadway Fame

American Idol has really become quite a vehicle for launching Broadway careers for a number of graduates of the ubiquitous reality TV series. Who'd a' thunk that ClayAiken, the quintessential nerd, from Season 2 would be starring in Spamalot! Apparently, he is very funny and is doing a great job with the role. I have such mixed feelings about this phenomenon. I have friends that have worked their butts off to get to New York and a couple who have been able to make it on Broadway. But it's taken raw talent and unstoppable work ethic coupled with desire and drive. It's fun to see these "idols" make it but it also seems a little unfair. But hey, what's fair anyway, not much. So, rock on you idols, and may The Lady of the Lake bless you on your quests. What a weird world we live in...more

San Jose Mercury Top 10 Theatre List of 2007

The San Jose Mercury has picked it's top 10 list for 2007s Bay Area theatre scene.

Here's the list with my comments...

“Pillowman” (Berkeley Rep)... I missed this but I heard it was just amazing.
“Sweeney Todd” (ACT)... I saw this and it was wonderful except for the character of the Judge having been watered down.
“Anna Bella Eema” (Crowded Fire)
“Argonautika” (Berkeley Rep)
“Tings Dey Happen” (The Marsh)
“Man and Superman” (Cal Shakes)
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (Best of Broadway)... I saw this. I sat in the front row and was blown away. Stunning performances.
“Avenue Q” (Best of Broadway)
“Kiki and Herb’’ (ACT)
“Blackbird” (ACT).. I loved it. Some of the critics thought it was awful.
“Angels 2” (City Lights)... congratulations to City Lights! It's great to see a small theatre on the list. This was a wonderful show.

Best of 2007: Bay Area Theater - From the Contra Costa Times

The Contra Cost Times chose it's best and worst shows of the year. The writer of this Blog (me) was one of the actors in their choice for No. 9! It's very exciting for our cast and crew because CTA Crossroads Theatre is a small theatre in the East Bay that most people don't even know exists. Our show is listed with shows from Berkeley Rep, A.C.T., Cal Shakes and others. Thank you Mr. Craig for recognizing our little play!

You can read the article here.
Or just take a look below..

Best of 2007: Bay Area theater

'Man and Superman' soared

By Pat Craig

STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 12/23/2007 02:59:04 AM PST

To get an idea of just how good Bay Area theater was in 2007, consider that the first three picks here will likely end up on my lifetime Top 10 list; or that 2007's best-of list could easily have included at least 10 more entries.

This was also a good year for new works -- Bay Area audiences, particularly those consisting of middle-school-aged girls, were the first to fall in love with the musical version of "Legally Blonde," which launched here, then became a hit on Broadway. San Francisco's Magic Theatre launched a number of shows, including "Rust," "Pleasure and Pain" and "The Crowd You're In With."

It was also a season of new and exciting looks at older works, with American Conservatory Theater's presentation of "Sweeney Todd," Berkeley Rep's production of "Oliver Twist," and the Willows Theatre's innovative take on "Cats."

The Top 10

1. "Man and Superman," California Shakespeare Theater -- A three-hour production of a century-old work is risky, even if the playwright is George Bernard Shaw. That's particularly so when it is performed outdoors on often-chilly summer nights in the Orinda hills. But the gamble paid off big for Jonathan Moscone and his Shakespeare Theater. The production, which included the often-omitted "Don Juan in Hell" portion, was a flawless masterpiece of theater.

2. "Argonautika," Berkeley Repertory Theatre -- This piece of very contemporary theater gives an exciting new look at the old myth of Jason and the Argonauts. The

wildly innovative play offered a breathtaking blend of technical theater with sharp writing and memorable acting to be one of the season's best.

3. "Sweeney Todd," American Conservatory Theater -- The minimal retelling of Stephen Sondheim's astonishing musical about a revenge-seeking barber who slashes the throats of his customers so they can be made into meat pies offered a fresh and exciting look at the musical. It played in San Francisco at the start of its national tour.

4. "Defiance," Playhouse West -- The words from that old Buffalo Springfield song, "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong," echo through your mind during this short, troubling play about social and political ills bubbling just below the surface at a military training camp. The disturbing show unfolded in Playhouse West's tiny Walnut Creek theater and was an excellent reminder why this intimate theater company must stay alive.

5. "Oliver Twist," Berkeley Repertory Theatre -- The classic Dickens story of the plight of an orphan boy in 19th century London became a horrifying vaudeville show from the 1800s in this memorable retelling of the Oliver Twist story.

6. "Death of a Salesman," A Traveling Jewish Theatre -- Arthur Miller's signature play about the American Dream got a clear-eyed new look from the San Francisco theater group, which sought to explore the story's Jewish roots and hit the stage with a sparkling revival.

7. "Mousetrap" Center Repertory Company -- This Agatha Christie mystery, which has been playing London since Queen Elizabeth was young, is the play everyone knows, but nobody's seen. It got a rousing, attractive and wonderfully wrought production from Center Rep, who signed on an all-star cast to join in the whodunit fun.

8. "Cats," Willows Theatre Company -- This is not a play that normally makes Top 10 lists, but the Willows Theatre version is the exception. The production moves the cat tale from a junkyard to a schoolhouse to become a tribute to a teacher cat, and a show that makes much more sense and is considerably more entertaining then the overstuffed Broadway tabby. It plays through Dec. 30.

9. "Driving Miss Daisy," CTA Crossroads Theatre -- This is a touching tale of an older Southern Jewish woman and her relationship with her black driver. It was a wildly entertaining story, simply presented by the small Walnut Creek theater company by a hugely talented cast.

10. "Sex," Aurora Theatre Company -- Mae West wasn't just another come-hither face. The '20s prototype sex-bomb was also a playwright and an expert at highlighting and exploiting her particular charms. She wrote this show in 1923, the vice squad closed it on Broadway, and Berkeley's Aurora Theatre revived it hilariously.

The disappointments

These are the shows that were, for one reason or another, disappointments -- they weren't necessarily bad or poorly done, just presentations that didn't quite work.

1. "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, & I'm in Therapy" -- This was a nice, gently funny show that played as if it had been written in the late '50s or early '60s. It was well done, but just didn't deliver the anticipated laughs.

2. "Moscow Cat Circus" -- Cats, onstage, doing tricks. There, that's everything you need to know about this. Now, find something better to do with the rest of the 90 minutes of your life.

3. "Romeo and Julian," Butterfield 8 Theatre Company -- This bold, gender-bending retelling of the Shakespeare play was a gutsy experiment, particularly for a suburban company, but it just needed a bit more work on adapting the script.

4. "Blackbird" -- This ACT show came with a hard-edged reputation, as it candidly explored the aftermath of a man's relationship with an under-age girl. It did, but the intimate story got lost in the enormous American Conservatory Theater.

5. "Expedition 6" -- This production at the Magic Theatre, about astronauts in danger of losing their lives in outer space as the Iraq war unfolds on Earth, had some promise, including actors dangling like puppets above the stage to simulate weightlessness. But the show opened too soon, and might have worked with some tinkering and editing.

Sweeney Todd on the Big Screen, Tim Burton's Masterpiece

Tim Burton has finally created his masterpiece. The new film, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is one of the most provocative and artistic musicals ever made. You’ll barely realize that you’re watching a musical even though the actors are singing for practically the entire film. The entire cast is superb due precisely to the fact that none of them are primarily singers. They are all accomplished actors who have been able to deftly perform the musical numbers with subtlety and poignancy.

The film has the best opening credits I have ever seen. As the stars names cross the screen you follow a trail of blood through the sewers of London while a haunting orchestration of The Ballad of Sweeney Todd plays in the background. It’s mesmerizing.

The entire movie has a dark feel with some sort of blue filter on the lens that adds a kind of coldness. Johnny Depp is just magnificent. His Sweeney is troubled, loving, evil, hurt and compassionate all at the same time. Depp, one of the best screen actors of our time, deserves an Oscar for this performance.

Five Top Sweeney Todd Moments

5. Sweeney’s doing in of Judge Turpin. Damn that was nasty! But the Judge had it coming. All of Sweeney’s other murders were relatively painless – a simple slicing of the juggler. But he decided to give the Judge (played superbly by Alan Rickman) the daily special.

4. Sacha Baron Cohen’s sock. Here’s what I guess must have happened. During the shooting, Mr. Cohen’s irrepressible comic side took over and he stuffed the aforementioned sock in his pants giving his character, Signor Adolfo Pirelli, a quite tumescent package. Burton saw this, decided it was hilarious and used it to film the most hilarious two shot ever recorded in the history of film.

3. The musical score. It was simply wonderful. Listen to it. I’m not talking about the vocals, only the score.

2. The final scene. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s awful and touching all at once.

1. Johnny Depp. His acting is flawless, he can sing despite the doubts of many, and he embodies the character completely. Let’s be happy that Russell Crowe didn’t get the part.

Go see this movie on the Big Screen. Don’t wait for the DVD.

My Prediction: Oscar for Best Picture, Oscar to Johnny Depp for Best Actor.

True West is Coming

Get ready for TRUE WEST at The Pear opening Jan. 11. As you can see the set is coming along and the actors are hard at work. You might want to wear a raincoat to this show as things may get a little messy near the end.

"Three Tall Women" at The Pear

Edward Albee, one of our greatest playwrights, wrote perhaps his most biographical play in "Three Tall Women" showing at The Pear Avenue Theatre through November 18th. The play features three strong actors - Monica Cappuccini, Rebecca J. Ennals, and Diane Tasca. The play is written in two acts. The first act features Diane Tasca as the semi-senile character of "A" who reminisces about her life, her loves, her losses, and her sexual ups and downs. Apparently she is a reincarnation of Albee's real mother. The other two actresses play her caretaker (Monica Cappuccini) and her lawyer (Rebecca J. Ennals).

In Act II the two, helpers become younger versions of "A" and we see them struggle with what they are to become as it is reflected back to them by "A". There is much sardonic whit and humor written into this script. Albee's insights into the mind of his mother is remarkable and disturbing.

This play could have been done more comically, however, because of the sensibilities of the actors it seemed to lean more toward the dark and sardonic. The performances from all three were excellent and Tasca's ability to play a 90 something woman were a joy to watch.

Plays through November 18th.
For tickets call
The Pear Avenue Theatre
650-254-1148
www.thepear.org

Driving Miss Daisy at CTA Crossroads Theatre

I'm playing Boolie in a production of Driving Miss Daisy. Here's our first review. It's been a great experience to be in this production. My fellow actors and our director are wonderful people and dedicated artists.

Here's the review..

Subtlety drives powerful 'Daisy'
By Pat Craig

STAFF WRITER
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched:10/23/2007 03:04:25 AM PDT
The movie version of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Driving Miss Daisy" is so fondly remembered and loved, the original theatrical version is rarely produced.

Seeing a beautifully rendered production of the play, however, particularly the production that opened over the weekend at Walnut Creek's Crossroads Theatre, quickly reminds you just how powerful and immediate the work is.

The story is about the quarter century after World War II, seen through the eyes of Daisy Werthan (Scarlett Hepworth), an aging Jewish woman and lifelong Atlanta resident; her chauffeur, Hoke Coleburn (Darold Francis Holloway), a decade-younger black man who has spent much of his career as driver for wealthy Atlantans; and Boolie Werthan (Ray Renati), Daisy's son, whose feet are planted firmly in the moral certainty and obligations of faith and the changing dynamics of Atlanta's contemporary business and social scene.

These changes, which swept through the Jim Crow South following WWII, are chronicled along with relationship between Hoke and Miss Daisy from 1948 to 1973, with little effort on Uhry's part to hammer home any message.

It is simply the fact that all of this change is going on (and that many things are remaining painfully the same) that makes the play so compelling. That there are no wildly emotional outbursts or eloquent proclamations of injustice is what makes the piece so challenging for actors.

In fact, the most anger seen is when Hoke growls a bit at Miss Daisy when they are running late and he must use the bathroom. It's hardly a triumphant pronouncement of newfound freedom and equality, but the simple, charming scene speaks volumes on how things have changed.

Hepworth, Holloway and Renati all deliver masterful performances, giving Uhry's words an understated strength as they capture the nuance and subtlety of their characters. The intimacy of the Crossroads Theatre certainly helps create the warmth of the play, but most of the credit for the success of the production must go to the actors and the direction of Marilyn Langbehn, who moves her characters gracefully across a set where three elements -- Daisy's house; Boolie's office; and the car, represented by two stools -- are onstage nearly throughout the play.

One of the keys to making the story work so well is a subtlety in all things. The characters age quite subtly over the years; long-held attitudes change subtly over the years; and the relationships among the characters, particularly Daisy and Hoke, change subtly over the years.

The Hoke/Daisy relationship becomes a love story of sorts; not in the romantic sense, but in the growing fondness and respect the two strong souls gain for each other over time.

Reach Pat Craig at 925-945-4736 or pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com.

THEATER REVIEW

WHAT: CTA Crossroads Theatre Company presents "Driving Miss Daisy," by Alfred Uhry

WHEN: Thursdays through Saturdays, through Nov. 17

WHERE: 1277 Boulevard Way, Walnut Creek

RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

HOW MUCH: $29

CONTACT: 925-944-0597, http://www.ctacrossroads.org

Idiot Actor Syndrome (IAS)

Got 5 minutes? Watch this. You will laugh - a lot!

Free Tickets To Angels for TBA Members

Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika at City Lights
Don't miss the production hailed by the San Jose Mercury News as "brave," "visionary," and "extremely gratifying"! A limited number of complimentary tickets to City Lights Theater Company's acclaimed production of Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika are now available to members of Theatre Bay Area only for the October 20 (8 p.m.) and October 21 (2 p.m.) performances. City Lights Theater Company, 529 S. Second St., San Jose, 95112. Call (408) 295-4200 or visit www.cltc.org!

ANGELS IN AMERICA - Part II: Perestroika at City Lights

There's one more weekend left for you to see ANGELS IN AMERICA - Part II: Perestroika at City Lights Theatre Company in San Jose. The show which runs through this Sunday (Oct. 21), is directed by Kit Wilder and performed by a multi-talented cast of actors. City Lights has really done something spectacular here. They have tackled one of the most challenging plays of the 1980s. The play, written by Tony Kushner is the second of half of a story that City Lights performed last season. In ANGELS IN AMERICA - PART I Kushner pushed the envelope and City Lights took his text and created a wonderful production. But in PART II, City Lights pushed the envelope in a way that Wilder is apt to do and has succeeded beyond all expectations. First of all the set, a mish-mash of boards and boxes and cardboard is immediately recognizable to the Bay Area native as one of the many homeless camps in San Francisco or San Jose. The play constantly makes reference to the beauty of San Francisco and that heaven will resemble San Francisco. The contrast the words produce against the actual stage setting is a constant reminder of how we humans, faced with death and fear can idealize reality in order to keep going, to keep moving toward the positive. Gemma Beddo Barozzi as the angel is absolutely beautiful. Normally the angel in this play is portrayed as a balding kemo beaten anemic. But in Wilder's staging Gemma (one of the most perfect looking people on Earth) is portrayed as a beautiful Marilyn Monroe-esque sex kitten and the image works. Her sexiness reminds us constantly of how AIDS has taken away the life force - the sexuality - of Prior in a profound and saddening way. She becomes for him his destroyed libido and his mother-figure all at once.

Kevin Kirby is just fantastic as Roy Cohen, the malevolent lawyer, dieing an awful and painful death at the hands of AIDS. If you have ever seen the HBO version of the show. Al Pacino is fantastic in the role. Kirby takes some of his performance from Pacino's portrayal but makes it totally his own. The energy and hatefulness mixed with abject fear and helplessness that Kirby gives us is disturbing and amazing.

Tomas Theriot as Prior Walter gives a very authentic and painfully realistic performance. His understanding of the character and his sardonic wit are saddening and wonderful. Jeff Clarke as Joe Pitt plays his part with tremendous sensitivity and courage. The entire cast is wonderful and includes Jason Arias, Julianne Arnall, Gemma Beddo Barozzi, Jeff Clarke, Lance Gardner, Kevin Kirby, Shareen Merriam and Tomas Theriot.

____________________________________________

ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART 2: PERESTROIKA
By Tony Kushner
Directed by Kit Wilder
September 20-October 21, 2007
The conclusion of Kushner's saga of sex, love, religion, and politics in the mid 1980s, Perestroika is, like Part One, a testament to the human spirit. Challenging and uncompromising, the play has been widely heralded as a masterpiece for the ages, a celebration of the power of love and understanding to heal both body and soul.
For mature audiences: language, violence and sexuality.

Featuring: Jason Arias, Julianne Arnall, Gemma Beddo Barozzi, Jeff Clarke, Lance Gardner, Kevin Kirby, Shareen Merriam and Tomas Theriot

Read a synopsis of Part One.

Read the San Jose Mercury News review
Read the Metro review
Read the San Jose Mercury News feature
Take an audio slideshow tour

Performances:
September 20-October 21, 2007
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8pm
Sunday Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 at 7pm
Sunday Oct. 14 and 21 at 2pm

Tickets:
$30 GN/ $25 SR/ $15 ST & ED
$40 Saturday Opening Night Gala Sept. 22
$25 Fridy Preview Night Sept. 21
Group rates and subscriptions available!

Click here to buy tickets now
Or call the Box Office at 408-295-4200

The Diary of Anne Frank at San Jose Stage Company

The sad thing about attending a production of a play like The Diary of Anne Frank is that you know exactly how it's going to end. As you watch these people stuck in this little loft for years, trying their best to get along and stave off the terror that lurks in every corner of their minds, you know that in the end it's all an exercise of futility. The Nazis will come. The Nazis will throw them in trains like cattle and torture them and kill them.

So, for me, each time I have seen a production of this play, I get a tear in my eye from the opening curtain onward. What made this production particularly poignant for me was that the actors and director were able to find the humor in the script. As the family and their "guests" tried to survive this ordeal they often used laughter as a means of coping. I found this very touching. In particular, Mark Messersmith and Marie Shell really did a great job with this. Both characters ( Hermann van Daan and Mrs. van Daan) as portrayed my Messersmith and Shell were vibrant, funny, desperate, and so human in their struggle to manage the horror that had become their lives.

The entire cast was wonderful. Randall King did a wonderful job as Otto Frank, showing us his stoic patience and his sense of responsibility and duty that never wavered. Janis Bergmann as his wife Edith was wonderful as the long suffering mother who wanted so badly to take the pain away from her family but was helpless to do so. I don't have time to name everyone here, but the whole cast is wonderful, the direction sensitive yet energetic, and the sound and lights are often stunning. I highly recommend that you go see this show. It will remind you that there are real human beings whose lives are unalterably affected by any act of political or social aggression. Hopefully more of us can keep this in mind the next time we have to choose our own leaders.

Outstanding Weekend of Bay Area Theatre

Friday night I went to see Three Sisters by Anton Chekov at The Pear Avenue Theatre. What an absolutely wonderful job they did with this extremely difficult and tragically comic play. With a new translation by Craig Lucas, Chekov's genius was channeled by these actors at the forty seat gem of a theatre in Mountain View. The thing that's tough with Chekov is that his writing provokes deft humor and incredible sadness all at once. The actor and director must find ways to communicate Chekov's intentions without becoming over dramatic or on the other hand playing for laughs. It's a tough task, but the cast under the direction of Jeannie Forte made it happen. Three sisters is mainly a play about people who want what they cannot have. Their current life experience has brought them sadness and they all see possible happiness in other loves, but it's always just beyond their reach. This theme echoed brilliantly throughout every moment of this production. Bravo, to The Pear once again.

Sunday I took a short ride up to The Geary Theatre in San Francisco to see A.C.T.'s touring production of possibly the greatest musical ever written, Sweeney Todd. Usually I leave a play and feel sad, amused, touched or any number of emotions. But this, I believe, is the first time I have ever left speechless. I think the emotion that I felt, if it is an emotion, was stunned. Never before have I experience a theatrical event like this one. The remarkable and unique thing about this production was that the actors themselves were the musicians. Believe it or not, they acted and sang and played all the music themselves. I know this sounds impossible, but believe, me it isn't. David Hess as Sweeney was nothing short of magnificent. He was in fact the only one who didn't play an instrument. Even Judy Kaye, who played Mr.s Lovett, tooted a few notes on the tuba. From the opening moments of the show as Hess suddenly appears from a wooden coffin singing, "Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.." I was captivated. His power and pathos and sense of humor along with his wonderful baritone made this Sweeney something to behold. Too bad the run is over. I believe that next they go to Boston for a couple of weeks. You can get all the details from the tour's web site.

"Sisters" Has Only a Week Left

The Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View has developed quite a reputation for producing excellent classical theatre. The current production of Chekov's "Three Sisters" is no exception.
Keith Kreitman of the San Mateo County Times says,

"....As a result, director Jeanie Forte was able to gather together one of the best casts in memory."

And Kevin Kirby from the Palo Alto Weekly says,

"...Whether this is true or not -- whether the finished product is the result of canny casting choices or weeks of grueling work (or both) -- Forte deserves credit for putting together an accessible and quite moving production of this dramatic masterpiece."

I checked with the theatre and apparently there are seats left for the last weekend of performances but they are going fast. There are still seats available for Friday night, September 28th and the Sunday matinee on September 30th. Thursday and Saturday are sold out.

For tickets go to The Pear's web site or call: 650-254-1148

***Photo by Shannon Stowe***

A Little Rain Must Fall

A.C.T. has finished casting for their upcoming production of "The Rainmaker". I'm very surprised that A.C.T. is doing this play. I guess I associate it mostly with community theatre and acting classes. But it is a classic story and if done well, should be very entertaining. I am happy to see that the wonderful René Augesen will be playing the lead role of Lizzie. Ms. Augesen is always a delight to watch.

____________________________

Casting Complete for Revival of Nash's The Rainmaker at San Francisco's A.C.T.

By Ernio Hernandez
19 Sep 2007

Complete casting has been announced for the upcoming production of N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre.

Mark Rucker (The Beard of Avon) directs the work, which is scheduled to begin previews Oct. 25 and open Oct. 30 at the Geary stage. The play's run will end Nov. 25.

Billed as "a classic American romance," the 1936-set The Rainmaker centers on the "charismatic huckster Starbuck, who travels the heartland selling snake oil and other dubious miracle cures," as a release states. "At the drought-stricken Curry farm, Starbuck promises to make it rain - for a price, of course. But when he and Lizzie, the lone daughter of the family, discover a genuine chemistry, they begin to consider the possibility of a real miracle."

René Augesen will lead the cast (as Lizzie Curry) with Geordie Johnson (Bill Starbuck), Jack Willis (H.C. Curry), Alex Morf (Jim Curry), Stephen Barker Turner (Noah Curry), Anthony Fusco (File) and Rod Gnapp (Sheriff Thomas).

The design team includes Robert Mark Morgan (scenic), Lydia Tanji (costume), Don Darnutzer (lighting) and Jeff Mockus (sound).

The season continues at A.C.T. with David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow (Jan. 3-Feb. 4, 2008), Athol Fugard's The Blood Knot (Feb. 8-March 9, 2008), Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (March 20-April 20, 2008), Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class (April 25-May 25, 2008) and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (June 5-July 6, 2008).

Tickets to The Rainmaker at A.C.T., 415 Geary Street in San Francisco, CA, are available by calling (415) 749-2228. For more information visit act-sf.org.

Sondheim's Bloodiest and Best Bonus

I've heard from a friend that the current production of Sweeney Todd at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco is "freaking AWESOME". This is a new take on Sweeney in which the actors actually play the instruments on stage in addition to performing the show. Today I just read that the two young lovers of the show, will also be singing at the Plush Room.

Lauren Molina and Benjamin Magnuson will offer a one-night-only performance at San Francisco's Plush Room Oct. 1.

The cabaret event, scheduled on one of Sweeney's dark nights, will also feature other cast members from that Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical.

Anyone out there see this Sweeney yet? I'm going on September 30th!

For more information and tickets:

American Conservatory Theatre

Tickets for the Plush Room Show

Luciano Pavarotti Sings

Rest in Peace, Signore. You were wonderful and will live in our hearts forever.Thank you for touching us all with your genius.

Tony Bennett - The Master

There are thousands and thousands of good performers in the world. There are hundreds of great performers and then there are those who transcend the abilities of all others. These rare artists are able to captivate an audience in ways that touch souls and transform lives in just an hour or two. Tony Bennett is one of these rare artists.


Last night at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, I was privileged to attend one of the most memorable musical performances I have yet to experience. The master vocalist Tony Bennett held an audience in the palm of his hand for ninety minutes of absolute bliss. This is the first time I have every been to a musical concert of this type where the audience with an average age of over 60 rose to their feet in five minute long standing ovations in the middle of the concert. After Tony sang the most amazing rendition of "For Once on My Life" the audience rose and clapped and cheered with complete adulation. It was one of the most beautiful renditions of any song I've ever heard. And, needless to say when he sang "I Left My Hear in San Francisco", at it's conclusion we all jumped to our feet with gratitude that Mr. Bennett, with that song, has made our wonderful city a place that the world adores.


The most touching and profound moment of the show occur ed near the end of the concert when Tony told the sound man to turn off all the microphones. He and his guitarist stood center stage and as the guitar played Tony sang an unamplified version of "Fly Me to the Moon" that left half the audience in tears.


What is it that he possesses that enables him to achieve such perfection in his art? Tony Bennett, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3rd, 1926 has had his share of sorrow and trouble in his life. A soldier on the front line in WWII he watched his friends die horrible deaths beside him. He suffered failed marriages, alcohol and drug addiction and a career that nearly ended many times.


Ironically, these are the very experiences that make him the soaring performer that he has become. When Tony Bennett sings to you, he sings completely and utterly from his heart. He is a man that has survived the worst that life can dish out. He survived and transcended his troubles, and he has become what we all can only hope to become as artists: people who are able to let down the walls of doubt and fear, and open our hearts with love to people we don't even know. Isn't this, coupled with talent and skill, what touches us deeply when we go to the theater? For this is when life is looked at through a mirror and given to us just as it is, unadorned, mysterious, awesome and wonderful.

Angel Face

Angel Face
San Francisco theater company, Word for Word perform a few scenes from Cornell Woolrich's Angel Face, a suspense-driven story from the pages of the famous pulp magazine, Black Mask. Angel Face is a wisecracking chorine with a beautiful face using all her charms to save her brother from a date with the electric chair. (Running Time: 7:48)

In Angel Face, Word for Word never lets up with this thriller by Cornell Woolrich, the godfather of noir. A forgotten noir gem, Angel Face is a suspense-driven pulp story from the pages of Black Mask. Angel Face is a wisecracking chorine with a beautiful face, a survivor who climbed up from the bottom rung through one speakeasy after another. Suddenly her life becomes unhinged by a murder. In a classic Woolrich plotline, she joins forces with a cop too tough to be crooked, and together they race the clock in an attempt to find a killer.

Angel Face runs August 10 - September 2, 2007 at Project Artaud Theater. For tickets and information visit zspace.org.

Cast:Angel Face: Laura LowryNick Burns: John FlanaganMilton: Paul Finocchiaro Rocco, Chick, The Manager: Danny WolohanDramaturg: Randall Homan

Directed by Stephanie Hunt and presented by Word for Word.

Music for this podcast was performed by the Kurt Ribak Trio.About the Author: Cornell Woolrich

Cornell Woolrich (a.k.a. William Irish and George Hopley) was born Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich in 1906. Known as the "Edgar Allen Poe of the 20th century," Woolrich, like Poe, led a fragmented and troubled life. He moved often as a child, suffered through parental divorce, and ultimately married the daughter of a Hollywood movie mogul (whom he adored), only to have her annul the marriage when she discovered that he was a closeted homosexual. For the next twenty-five years, Woolrich lived in a conflicted love-hate relationship with his mother. Even as he wrote his best work, Woolrich decayed emotionally and physically, eventually losing a leg to gangrene and becoming an alcoholic. His widely quoted aphorism, “First you dream, then you die,” sums up both his dark worldview and many of his plots, and also provides a clue to his undisputed mastery of suspense.

As the most prolific of the Noir writers, Woolrich is considered by many to be the godfather of the genre, and more films have been made from his work than from the work of any other Noir writer, including Hitchcock's Rear Window and Truffaut's La Mariée Etait en Noir (The Bride Wore Black). Following his mother's death in 1957, Woolrich's physical decline accelerated, and he died of a stroke in 1968, leaving behind two dozen novels and over 200 short stories.

The Full Monty at City Lights

Last week I went to see The Full Monty at City Lights Theatre in San Jose. There are some fantastic performances in this show and a very revelatory ending. I highly recommend it, you'll have a great time. You might want to leave the kiddies at home.

Book by Terrence McNally Music & Lyrics by David Yazbek Directed by Lisa Mallette Musical Direction by Gus Kambeitz Choreography by Shannon Stowe July 19 - August 26, 2007 Click here for a detailed schedule. Buy tickets now online! or call 408.295.4200 Weekend of July 26-29: Get Street Closure Info Join City Lights for the raucous, heartfelt story of six unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, New York who go to great lengths and "bare it all" to make some extra cash and help out a friend in trouble. THE FULL MONTY features an infectious pop score, outrageous lyrics, and a surprise ending that puts the “intimate” in “intimate theatre”! For mature audiences: language, sexuality and nudity. Click here for more info Call 408-295-4200 or click here to buy tickets now!

The Amazing Ed Alonzo - "The Misfit of Magic"

Today I took my kids and our French exchange student to Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara, CA. After riding about six different roller coasters and feeling thoroughly ill, my four year liked the idea of sitting in a cool theater to watch a magic show, so I jumped at the chance. My other son and our student continued riding the various head banging loop-dee-loops while me and the little guy headed over to the theater as quickly as his little legs would travel.

I figured we would see some kind of high school student wanna-be magician, but boy was I wrong. We were treated to a fantastic 40 minute show by a guy named Ed Alonzo. What a great performer he is! He sort of looks like a cross between Kramer on Seinfeld and Mandy Patinkin. Yes, he is mostly a magician, but his routine is filled with fantastic stand-up and a lot of very subtle but blue jokes that went way over the heads of the 200 or so teens and kids in the audience. I laughed my ass off, to the stares of a couple gang-bangers and a teeny boppers to my left. I didn't care, the man is fantastic. This show was worth the hefty admission price alone. I guess Great America must pay pretty well when they see real talent, because he has committed his entire July and August to the place.

So, if you happen to be going the Great America this month, skip some of the rides and make sure you catch this show. You will be very happy you did.

Pete Wilson Dies

Pete Wilson, long time KGO anchorman and KGO radio host died last Friday during surgery for a hip replacement. I listened to Pete almost every day on KGO and he happened to be a neighbor of my parents. It's a very sad day for those who knew him in person or through the radio. Pete was the type of host who never hid himself from his audience. You always knew what mood he was in, if he was happy or bothered or angry or depressed. He made you feel like a friend and I think that's why so many people feel so saddened by his passing. I also know that he used to act in musical theatre when he was younger. Anyway, if you would like to express your thoughts and feelings about Pete, you can do that here.

We've all heard it a thousand times, but try to live each day as if it were your last. You just never know what will happen.

The San Francisco Theater Festival

Do you love theatre? Do you like to see cutting edge theatre for free performed by professional theatre companies? Then you need to head over to this years San Francisco Theater Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens at 3rd and Mission Streets.

Yours truly will be performing in Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365Plays: Seven plays covering Week 36, July 16-22. My performances will be at 12:00 PM and 4:10 PM. But check out the entire schedule here, there's is really something for everyone.

 

About the International Festival

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365 Days/ 365 Plays - The play cycle by Suzan-Lori Parks
On November 13, 2002, SUZAN-LORI PARKS got an idea to write a play a day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The resulting play cycle, called 365 Days/365Plays, is a daily meditation on an artistic life. Some plays are very short, less than a page. Others last forever.
SUZAN-LORI PARKS is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist whose plays include Topdog / Underdog, Fucking A, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, The America Play, Venus, The Death Of The Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, and In The Blood, among others. In 2002, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Topdog / Underdog.
Would you like to read part of the play cycle? Click on the link to read today's play!
THE 365 INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
The 365 International Festival invites any theater in the world to join a grassroots premiere of this play cycle. Over 700 theaters are producing the plays in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Colorado, Greater Texas, Los Angeles, Midwest, New York, Northeast, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Southeast, Washington DC Area, West, Universities (365U) and all over the planet through 365Global. Produced by Bonnie Metzgar and Suzan-Lori Parks, the 365 Festival is being performed from November 13, 2006 through November 12, 2007.
Plays can be produced in traditional theater spaces or site-specific locations, opera halls or ice rinks. They can be staged readings or fully produced. Participating theaters will each present seven plays, representing one week of this play cycle, before then passing the cycle on to the next theater in a cultural relay race that celebrates the community of theater artists and audiences wherever they are found - online and around the world.
All performances are free to the public and all artists can participate. As we like to say at 365, there's pie for everyone. So whether you are an audience member or an artist, we invite you to join 365.

 

Technorati tags: SFtheaterfestival

Nichole H

Nichole
Originally uploaded by Thespis of the Bay.

Bay Area actor and director. Nichole is a true artist and a very funny person with unusual depth and intelligence. Working with her has always been nothing short of wonderful

heidiblackwhite

heidiblackwhite
Originally uploaded by Thespis of the Bay.

Local Bay Area actor, Heidi K., on the beach on Half Moon Bay. She is a wonderful model and person with huge talent and passion. I am a photographer and this is one of the photos I took of her recenlty.

The Imaginary Invalid at A.C.T.

Here's something you should try just for yucks: park your car at the Sutter-Stockton Street Garage, jog/walk 4 blocks down the hill while you have awful back spasms which force you to take a posture similar to that of Pewee Herman, audition for a T.V. commercial for 10 minutes pretending that you are in perfect physical health, then jog/walk back up the hill four blocks quickly so that you and your 10 year old son can get something to eat before the 2 P.M. showing of Molière's, "The Imaginary Invalid" at A.C.T.

When you finally arrive at the Geary at 1:43 you realize that the two stomachs must be filled, and quickly. So, you dash across the street. In front of you is a Pizza by the Slice place that is pretty full of munching yuppies, and next door is a relatively calm looking Thai hole-in-the-wall. You ask your 10 year old son what he wants, and get the all to familiar "I don't know.. how am I supposed to know?" answer. So, being the health conscious father that you are you decide on the Thai place. After all, the pictures above the window show all kinds of healthy looking vegetable laden dishes. So you duck in, mentioning to the Thai-only speaking waitress that you need to eat quickly. She looks at you like you are from Mars. You dash about looking for a worker that understands English. You find one. "No problem," she says. So you sit, order and wait only a few minutes. In no time our healthy looking Thai food is before us. My son has a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup large enough to feed a family of five. And in front of me lies a nice plate of rice and crab. Quickly we start downing or grub. "Not bad," we think, even though the soup is too hot, forcing me to dump my glass of ice water into the giant bowl so that my son wouldn't scald his tongue. Within minutes we are done. The show starts in seven, I pay, we dash out, head to the potty for a quick pee and up to our seats we go. We're there with a couple of minutes to spare.

My back is aching, more like killing me, but I will survive and I will laugh if it kills me. The show begins, hilarity ensues. Suddenly, and without warning my stomach feels like it has a small Thai child in it scratching and clawing to get out like the monster from "Alien". My back is killing me still, and now my stomach is about to explode from what must have been some rotten crab and there is an "imaginary" invalid on stage - a hypochondriac with nothing really wrong with him. And then there is me, sitting there watching him, the real invalid. Stabbing pains are pulsing through my lower back and hips, a small Thai child is trying to force it's way through my upper intestines, and yet I'm laughing. Yes, I am absolutely miserable from head to toe and yet I'm laughing and laughing with gusto!

That's how wonderful this production of "Invalid" is at A.C.T. Everything about the show is exquisite:the flawless comic timing, the physical hilarity, the set the music, the sound and the HAIR! The hair is fantastic.

Go see it!

A.C.T.'s 40th Anniversary Exits Laughing: With the World Premiere of Constance Congdon's The Imaginary Invalid
Directed by Bay Area Native Ron Lagomarsino

Production Features the Return to A.C.T. of Nancy Dussault (The Threepenny Opera), and John Apicella (Glengarry Glen Ross)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, MAY 2, 2007––American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) lowers the curtain on its seminal 40th anniversary season with Constance Congdon’s world premiere adaptation of Molière's riotous send-up of wealth and wellness, The Imaginary Invalid. Directed by Bay Area native Ron Lagomarsino––who directed the original productions of Driving Miss Daisy (off-Broadway) and The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Broadway), as well as A.C.T.’s production of The Gamester two seasons ago––The Imaginary Invalid plays A.C.T. June 7 through July 8. Press night is Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets—starting at $13.50––can be purchased at A.C.T. Ticket Services, located at 405 Geary Street, 415.749.2228; or via the A.C.T. website, www.act-sf.org. Groups of 15 or more people are eligible for discounts; please call 415.439.2473.