Steve Murray - Page 2

Who doesn’t like a good coming of age story, better yet a LGBTQ coming out story to boot? Mix a catchy pop/rock score, a delightfully innocent 16-year-old schoolboy, and some fabulous drag, and you have the makings of a hit show tailor-made for San Francisco’s audiences. Based on a true story and the 2011 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, this fictional musical follows Jaime New as he battles homophobia and prejudice to self-actualize into a fierce drag queen.

A fresh off the boat Jewish immigrant from Bavaria stands in awe of the musical box that in New York City in 1884. All he can repeat is Baruch Hashem (Blessed be God) and is amused when an immigration officer changes his name so easily from Chaim to Henry. This man is Henry Lehman who, along with his two brothers will create a financial firm that figured prominently in American history prior to its spectacular collapse triggering the largest financial crisis in history.

Center Repertory Company closes its 2023-24 season with a stunning production of the Tony Award-winning Kander and Ebb masterpiece Cabaret. Artistic Producer Markus Potter helms the finely tuned production with a stellar ensemble, marvelous musical direction and a supporting technical crew that confirms Center Rep as a powerhouse Bay Area theatre troupe.

What did our critic think of TICK, TICK...BOOM! at New Conservatory Theatre Center? Read here!

What did our critic think of GALILEO at Berkeley Repertory Theatre?

Marin Theatre closes out their 2023/24 season with a newly revised production of Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award-winning Torch Song. A smash hit in 1982, the original trilogy opened the floodgate of LGBT representations in theatre, film, and television with its universal themes of self-acceptance, family, and equality.

Tom Wingfield opens Tennessee William’s haunting memory play with this admonition: “Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you the illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.” What follows in this stunning production is a sometimes surreal, always emotionally devastating remembrance of a broken family teetering on the edges of disillusion and the hope of salvation.

What did our critic think of FUNNY GIRL at Orpheum Theatre?

What did our critic think of BITCH SLAP! at SF Oasis?

Stuart Ross’ 1989 jukebox homage to boy bands of the 1950’s is a pleasant whiff of nostalgia sure to remove you from the stress of today’s less naïve and chaotic present. Forever Plaid follows The Plaids, a youthful quartet with stardom in their eyes killed in a car accident in 1964. Like the baseball players in Field of Dreams, they return to perform one final concert and we’re here to bear witness.

There was a considerable buzz of excitement at the West Coast premiere of Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop. Could the musical live up to the hype generated by its eleven Tony nominations and wins for Best Musical and Best Book? That would be a hell yes! Right from the opening number “Intermission Song,” A Strange Loop bursts with a kinetic energy and excitement not felt since Hamilton blew my mind.

It’s March 2020 and the country is shutdown by a new, mysterious virus called COVID-19. Broke, newly unemployed performance artist Kristina Wong is in full crisis mode. She’s got no audience, no kids, and no prospects, but she’s got a plan.

What did our critic think of THE PRIDE OF LIONS at Theatre Rhino? The trans community is saying “enough is enough.” They will not be the sacrificial lambs to hatred, bigotry, and discrimination. Roger Q. Mason’s The Pride of Lions is a story of taking action against oppression and standing up to ignorance. That it’s set in 1928 makes it even more prescient to today’s movement. It opens with a man-on-man sex scene, beautifully staged behind a sheer curtain with careful lighting – a revolutionary and highly illegal act in 1928.

What did our critic think of SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall?

What did our critic think of VENETIAN EVENINGS - A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO THE FAIRMONT'S VENETIAN ROOM at Venetian Room?

What did our critic think of THE GREAT LEAP at Center Repertory Company? Center Rep tackles Playwright Lauren Yee’s basketball/cultural drama and with a well-crafted staging of her 2017 powerhouse The Great Leap. Renowned for deftly combining her San Francisco roots, Chinese culture and global politics, Yee puts it all together is this often humorous, yet emotionally stirring piece of theatre.

Broadway Bares SF is coming back to the city with the highly anticipated return to stage on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 1015 Folsom. The theme for this year’s Broadway Bares/SF Strips show is FilmStrips. Featuring 60 San Francisco dancers, this year's production, promises an unforgettable evening of entertainment and philanthropy.

What did our critic think of THE 39 STEPS at SF Playhouse? Director Susi Damilano and a superb cast spin comic gold out of Patrick Barlow’s parody of Hitchcock’s spy caper filled with chase scenes, female bombshells, and Nazi villains

What did our critic think of QUEEN at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley?

For two Dominican millennials in Washington Heights, the love of their cultural Bachata music draws them together and into a whirlwind romance and marriage. Inspired by the Juan Luis Guerra song “Como Abeja Al Panal,' (“Like a Bee to the Honeycomb”), Bees & Honey is a slice of ethnic life following their romance and its disillusion as they struggle with marital pressures both internal and external.