Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs

Hello, loyal Theater Dogs readers.
First, I’d like to thank you for bothering to show up here in the first place. I’m so grateful (and have been since the blog started in August, 2006) for your support. I love writing this blog, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.
That said, Theater Dogs is going on a [...]

Theatergoing in the San Francisco Bay Area is one of life’s treats. No question about it. If you love theater, this is a wonderland. In this devastating economic climate, may that only hold true for the next couple of years.

There is so much good theater here, so many incredible actors, writers, directors and crafts people [...]

Broadway’s first couple, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, had a pretty good 2008.

He had a long run in the final Kander and Ebb musical, Curtains, and she was the Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot. They also criss-crossed the country doing concerts together, and he recently released his album Jason Danieley and the [...]

At this bleak moment in history, when it seems the roof is crashing down on arts organizations all around us, it’s refreshing to hear about on theater company literally knocking down a wall and expanding.

Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre Company, a 17-year-old troupe known for its intimate, highly literate productions, has announced plans to expand its downtown [...]

Some members of the Los Angeles company of Wicked (seen above) will be hopping the broomstick north when the production lands at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre in January. Photo by Joan Marcus
The Wicked Witch is coming, so keep an eye on your little dog, too.
SHN/Best of Broadway is bringing the hit Broadway musical Wicked back [...]

Shakespeare Santa Cruz is the latest victim of the apocalyptic economy.

SSC board co-presidents Bill Richter and Scott Hawkins posted an “urgent message” on the SSC Web site that stated due to “precipitous” budget cuts by the University of California, Santa Cruz, the company is facing a “permanent shutdown.” The university’s Arts Division has cut $1.1 [...]

Football star Steve (Stephen Foreman, left) meets the fabulously gay student body of Heartsville High in the musical Zanna, Don’t at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. Photos by Lois Tema

Magic, show tunes, teenagers whip up mighty spell in `Zanna’««« ½

Clever, colorful, tuneful and sweet – that’s Zanna, Don’t! in a nutshell.

You’ve heard of Xanadu, well [...]

The cast of Aaron Loeb’s Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party performs an elaborate opening number in the SF Playhouse world-premiere production. Photos by Zabrina Tipton.

 
History, politics, utter zaniness collide in Honest Abe’s `Dance Party’««« ½

Aaron Loeb’s world-premiere play Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party at the SF Playhouse embraces adventurous theatricality. There’s drama, comedy, [...]

James Carpenter (center) is Scrooge in American Conservatory Theater’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. Photo by Kevin Berne
American Conservatory Theater’s annual production of A Christmas Carol is in full swing in downtown San Francisco. Rather than reviewing this holiday perennial, let’s just hit some of the major points. Herewith, in descending order, some reasons [...]

Reconnecting to what the holiday season actually means is a difficult thing to do amid the noise of our busy world. It’s especially hard this year in a country drowning in bad news, bankruptcy and a staggering unemployment rate.

But there’s a light in the darkness. Literally.

Oakland-based California Revels’ annual production, The Christmas Revels, has spent [...]