Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs

Opened May 30, 2009 at the Bruns Amphitheater

Alex Morf and Sarah Nealis are the star-crossed young lovers in the California Shakespeare Theater’s season-opening production of Romeo and Juliet. Photos by Kevin Berne

Youthful passion, ancient hate heat up Cal Shakes’ `R&J’««« ½

An explosion of color, violence and surprising beauty, the giant splash of graffiti that dominates [...]

Forget about High School Musical. The real teen movie musical to see is Were the World Mine, a favorite of the gay film festival circuit that is now seeing wider release.
While Disney’s HSM franchise exploits the shiny pop pleasures of high school, Were the World Mine offers a darker fantasy guided by the magic of [...]

Always a lot going on in the big, wide world of Bay Area theater, so let’s get right to it.

SHAKESPEARE RAPS: The African-American Shakespeare Company is in the midst of MacB: The MacBeth Project, a hip-hop reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic tale of vaulting ambition. In this re-telling, MacBeth is reincarnated as a record industry mogul [...]

Alex Morf (left) is Viola disguised as Cesario and Stephen Barker Turner is Count Orsino in the California Shakespeare Theater’s season-ending production of Twelfth Night. Photos by Kevin Berne

 
Director’s vision weighs heavily on Cal Shakes’ `Twelfth Night’««

 
It’s not often you leave a Shakespeare play and feel like you need to take a shower.

That’s sort of [...]

As the California Shakespeare Theater heads into its final show of the season (Twelfth Night), artistic director Jonathan Moscone has announced next summer’s line-up.
The season will mark Moscone’s 10th anniversary heading Cal Shakes, and he will direct Romeo and Juliet and Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days starring Marsha Mason(right) in her Cal Shakes debut.
Mark Rucker, currently [...]

And suddenly, Alex Morf was everywhere.

Not exactly, but it sure seemed that there was the Bay Area theater scene without Alex Morf, and then with him – in a big way.

The wrestler from rural Iowa came to the end of his master’s program at American Conservatory Theater, and his career quite literally took off.

While he [...]

“We’re calling it our Bar Mitzvah season not just because the company is run by two Jews,” says Impact Theatre artistic director Melissa Hillman referring to herself and managing director Cheshire Isaacs. “This season we’re taking some large leaps forward. It really is a rite of passage for us.”

Yes, Impact Theatre, one of the [...]

Opened July 21 at American Conservatory Theater

Roger Rees performs a soliloquy from Richard II, one of many incredible moments in What You Will, a solo show about all things Shakespeare at American Conservatory Theater. Photos by David Allen

 
Laughs, brains, heart infuse Rees’ evening of Shakespeare««««

Sometimes one actor is plenty.

Roger Rees may be alone for the [...]

“I’m so old people will say, `Is he still alive?’”

That’s Roger Rees exaggerating people’s response to his arrival in San Francisco with his one-man show What You Will, an evening of Shakespeare, stories about Shakespeare and about performing Shakespeare, that begins performances today (July 18) at the American Conservatory Theater.

The Welsh-born Rees, 64, is one [...]

You probably know Roger Rees from his TV work — Robin Colcord on “Cheers,” the British ambassador on “The West Wing” and the doctor with a thing for Christina Yang on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
But if that’s all you know of Rees, prepare to see the real thing. The TV work is great (and even one [...]