Now here’s a no-brainer: there’s finally going to be a stage musical version of the classic 1977 Muppet made-for-TV musical “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” Variety’s Gordon Cox reports that the Jim Henson Co. and iTheatrics are teaming up to create a stage version that will utilize actors and puppets. Paul Williams (Oscar winner for co-writing [...]
Home > May, 2008
`Emmett Otter’ on stage
Posted by Chad Jones on 30 May 08 - 1 Comment
Thank you, Harvey Korman
Posted by Chad Jones on 29 May 08 - 0 Comments
Growing up, watching “The Carol Burnett Show” on Saturday nights was a highlight of the week. As far back as I can remember, I was a Saturday night TV junkie, with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Carol Burnett” as my earliest and still most cherished entertainment experiences. Those actors became, as silly as it [...]
Review: `Octopus’
Archived in the category: Brad Erickson, Encore Theatre, Eric Kerr, Kate Warner, Liam Vincent, Magic Theatre, Patrick Alparone, Rowan Brooks, Steve Yockey, plays, theater review
Posted by Chad Jones on 29 May 08 - 1 Comment
Extended through June 21 at the Magic Theatre, San Francisco Kevin (Eric Kerr, left) and Max (Liam Vincent) wade through murky relationship waters in Steve Yockey’s provocative Octopus, a co-production of the Magic Theatre and Encore Theatre Company. Photos by www.DavidAllenStudio.com. Yockey’s Octopus explores inky waters of commitment«««1/2 Dripping with intrigue Steve Yockey’s Octopus [...]
Box-office boom
Archived in the category: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Broadway, Carrie Fisher, Mary Zimmerman, Nilaja Sun, Shrek the Musical
Posted by Chad Jones on 28 May 08 - 0 Comments
Some good news from box offices both national and local today. First the local. According to Berkeley Repertory Theatre, coming to the end of its 40th anniversary season, Nilaja Sun’s No Child… broke the box office record for single-day sales last Saturday (May 24). The previous record was set a couple of months ago by [...]
Bay Area’s best theater bets
Archived in the category: Brookside Rep, Cal Shakes, Marga Gomez, Mountain Play, The Marsh, local theater, theater news
Posted by Chad Jones on 28 May 08 - 1 Comment
The summer season is starting to, pardon the expression, heat up, though anyone who has been through a Bay Area summer knows that summer does not necessarily mean heat around here. – Lions and tigers and bears. Oh, my! The first outdoor show of the year opened last week on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais [...]
‘Mama,’ Meryl, musings
Posted by Chad Jones on 27 May 08 - 2 Comments
Got a little excited when I saw the Mamma Mia! trailer in a movie theater recently. With the success of Hairspray last year, it looks like summer is becoming the season for frothy stage musicals turned silver screen tuners. Here’s one of the trailers. I like this one because it actually shows Meryl Streep singing. [...]
Cinematic theatrics: A LaGravenese musical?
Posted by Chad Jones on 26 May 08 - 2 Comments
This holiday weekend I saw some movies on the big screen (Indiana Jones and the blah blah Crystal Skull – exactly what you think it would be, enjoyable but nothing more; Iron Man, which made me love Robert Downey Jr. all over again – oddly more human than Indiana Jones) and at home. One of [...]
Review: `Squeeze Box’
Archived in the category: Ann Randolph, Anne Bancroft, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Mel Brooks, Nilaja Sun, The Marsh, theater review
Posted by Chad Jones on 26 May 08 - 0 Comments
At The Marsh in San Francisco through June 29 Ann Randolph wrote and stars in Squeeze Box at The Marsh. The solo show is about her loss and rediscovery of faith. Superb solo show squeezes out laughs, drama«««1/2 Extraordinary characters There are certain people who, when they recommend a show, I snap to [...]
On the radio: Sondheim & Rich
Posted by Chad Jones on 25 May 08 - 0 Comments
Here’s some good news for those of us shut out of the City Arts & Lectures event at which former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich (aka “The Butcher of Broadway”) interviewed Stephen Sondheim at the Herbst Theatre. The show, edited down to an hour, will be on KQED radio (88.5 FM) at 1 [...]
Katie Holmes is actually a live actor!
Archived in the category: Arthur Miller, Ben Affleck, Broadway, Jennifer Garner, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah, theater news
Posted by Chad Jones on 24 May 08 - 2 Comments
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images / Jan. 9, 2008 It’s true! Katie Holmes isn’t just a pretty, skinny Victoria Beckham-wannabe clothes horse; nor is she simply a trophy wife capable of possibly giving birth to her movie star husband’s adorable progeny. No, it turns out that Katie Holmes is actually a three-dimensional acting person. How [...]
