The idea of outdoor theater is so appealing in the summertime – picnics, friends, perhaps a little wine and, if you’re lucky, an engaging show. But this is the Bay Area, where July and August can mean midsummer winter, with fog, chilly breezes and a hint of snow. OK, so no snow, but sometimes it [...]
Home > July, 2007
Theater al fresco
Posted by Chad Jones on 27 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
Sleepwalking into theater
Archived in the category: backstage
Posted by Chad Jones on 26 Jul 07 - 1 Comment
So, you and two of your buddies are forming a theater company. Of course there are significant artistic considerations — a company needs a mission, right? — but there’s one hugely important thing: the name. Do you go the stately route like Sophisticated Repertory Theatre? The silly route like Jake the Bunny Players? Or the [...]
Eddie Izzard’s on his way!
Posted by Chad Jones on 25 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
One of the funniest evenings I’ve ever spent in a theater was at the Cable Car Theatre in San Francisco for Eddie Izzard’s Dress to Kill (which was later filed at the bigger theater next door, which is now Ruby Skye nightclub). Since then, Izzard has claimed his place as the world’s funniest men both [...]
Review: `Theophilus North’
Archived in the category: Matthew Burnett, TheatreWorks, Thornton Wilder, backstage, local theater, plays, theater review
Posted by Chad Jones on 23 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
Opened July 21, 2007 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto TheatreWorks’ `Theophilus North is Wilder and wonderful three stars Northern delights In turning Thornton Wilder’s final novel, Theophilus North, into a play, adaptor Matthew Burnett took a cue from Wilder’s best-known work, the play Our Town. Because Wilder is constantly searching for the universal [...]
Burnett helps find Wilder’s true `North’
Archived in the category: Matthew Burnett, TheatreWorks, Thornton Wilder, backstage, local theater, plays, theater news
Posted by Chad Jones on 20 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
In his unfinished, unpublished preface to Theophilus North, his final novel, Thornton Wilder wondered what we humans do with our “despair, rage and frustration.” He considered North, which was published in 1973, to be precisely about our battle against the worst things that life throws at us. That battle courses through Wilder’s work, whether it’s [...]
Review: `Kiki & Herb Alive From Broadway’
Archived in the category: American Conservatory Theater, Kiki & Herb, backstage, local theater, plays, theater review
Posted by Chad Jones on 19 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
Opened July 18, 2007 at American Conservatory Theater Kiki & Herb warble, whine and imbibe through `Alive From Broaway’ three stars Dark humor The warning is right there on the poster and the program: “Dare to suck and let the magic happen,” Kiki. It’s easy to imagine American Conservatory Theater subscribers being a little startled [...]
FREE theater at SF Theater Fest
Posted by Chad Jones on 18 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
Take a big, tasty bite of Bay Area theater _ and do it for free _ at the San Francisco Theater Festival on Sunday, July 22. The festival’s 10 stages will host more than 70 shows and nearly 300 actors. Among the participating theater companies and performers are Asian America Theater Company; Ruth Lynn Miller; [...]
`Hairspray,’ a movie musical to love
Posted by Chad Jones on 18 Jul 07 - 5 Comments
Summer has finally arrived, at least it has for me. Living in the cool-to-cold, foggy Bay Area, I seek my summer thrills in movie theates (sorry, but the thought of outdoor summer theater in the Bay Area fills me with dread — except for California Shakespeare Theater, whose skills transcend the cold). I found summer [...]
First a tea cup, then stardom
Archived in the category: AMTSJ, Broadway by the Bay, Disney, James Zongus, backstage, local theater, musicals, theater news
Posted by Chad Jones on 12 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
Remember the name James Zongus. You just might be able to say you knew him when. Though only 12 years old, James, a Foster City resident, has been performing for nearly a decade, and his story is strikingly familiar if you know the song “I Can Do That” from A Chorus Line. Like the kid [...]
Xanadu or don’t
Archived in the category: Broadway, Cheyenne Jackson, Xanadu, backstage, musicals, theater news, theater review
Posted by Chad Jones on 11 Jul 07 - 0 Comments
The Broadway production of Xanadu actually received some lovely reviews. Critics seemed astonished that they were compelled to write nice things about what is apparently a funny, enjoyable show. Charles Isherwood in the New York Times started off his review: “Can a musical be simultaneously indefensible and irresistible? Why, yes it can.” He goes on [...]
