San Francisco Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 10

BWW Review: A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING at 42nd Street Moon
by Steve Murray - March 14, 2022

42nd Street Moon opens their 21-22 season with a tribute to one of the greatest songwriting teams in American musical theatre - Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Musical revues live and die on two factors: the choice of material and the talent of the presenters. This Tony-nominated revue, fi...

BWW Review: DOT at New Conservatory Theatre Center
by Steve Murray - March 13, 2022

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BWW Review: Brian Stokes Mitchell in Concert at Lesher Center Leaves the Audience Floating on Air
by Jim Munson - March 01, 2022

BroadwayWorld reviews Brian Stokes Mitchell's glorious concert at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek on February 25th. When Mitchell announces at the top of his show that his hope is for you to leave the theater feeling better than you did when you came in, you had better believe he means it. By the ...

BWW Review: DON QUIXOTE at San Francisco Ballet Celebrates the Joy of Dancing
by Jim Munson - February 28, 2022

BroadwayWorld reviews San Francisco Ballet's fizzy production of the classic 'Don Quixote' running live onstage at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House through March 6th. The whole thing feels like a big ol' party....

BWW Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD at the Curran Theater
by Steve Murray - February 26, 2022

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is written by Jack Thorne and based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. The production at the Curran Theatre is directed by John Tiffany.  ...

BWW Review: THE KIND ONES at Magic Theatre Explores the Legacy of Domestic Violence in This Darkly Comic Thriller
by Jim Munson - February 11, 2022

Magic Theatre makes a welcome return to live performance with the world premiere of Miranda Rose Hall's 'The Kind Ones' playing thru February 20th. Hall combines gothic thrills & dark humor in her searing new play....

BWW Review: PASS OVER at Marin Theatre Company
by Steve Murray - February 09, 2022

Two bros hanging on their street corner shooting the shit opens Antoinette Nwandu's Pass Over, their streetwise banter peppered with hundreds of n-words is a fascinating insight into their relationship, its pecking order, and their determination to move on from the fear and scarcity of their lives....

BWW Review: PROGRAM 2 at San Francisco Ballet Surprises and Delights
by Jim Munson - February 07, 2022

San Francisco Ballet's remarkable new Program 2 features 3 terrifically enjoyable works, including a new dance by William Forsythe set to the music of James Blake, and Jerome Robbins' rapturously romantic classic 'In the Night.' It runs through February 13th at the War Memorial Opera House in San Fr...

BWW Review: HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING at SF Playhouse
by Steve Murray - February 03, 2022

You won't se the likes of Will Arbery's Heroes of the Fourth Turning come around that often - a rigorous, haunting didactic on the religious right seen through the eyes of four young conservatives each struggling through a dark night of spiritual turmoil. Coming on the heels of Charlottesville and T...

BWW Review: San Francisco Ballet's PROGRAM 1 at War Memorial Opera House Literally Leaps for Joy
by Jim Munson - February 03, 2022

San Francisco Ballet fairly leaps for joy in the opening program of its 2022 season live onstage at the War Memorial Opera House. Program 1 includes George Balanchine's eternally effervescent 'Symphony in C' and the world premiere of 'Mrs. Robinson' by Cathy Marston, based on the seminal novel 'The ...

BWW Review: SWEPT AWAY at Berkeley Rep
by Steve Murray - January 28, 2022

Dead man tell no tales, so three apparitions appear to their surviving shipwreck mate beseeching him to tell their stories in John Logan's brilliant World Premiere musical based on the stirring music of award winning Avett Brothers. That story, involving a tragic shipwreck, is a mesmerizing tale of ...

BWW Review: FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME at A.C.T. Geary Theatre
by Steve Murray - January 27, 2022

Not a fan of rap, improv or audience participation, three key ingredients of FLS, I have to say I was drawn in by the incredibly talented cast and the lightning speed at which they riff on random thoughts and observations. Combining sketch theater and 'freestyle rap, the 90-minute exercise in creati...

BWW Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at Golden Gate Theatre
by Steve Murray - January 17, 2022

Travelling productions do not come more lauded than The Band's Visit, winner of ten Tony Awards including best musical and a 2019 Grammy for best musical theater album. This is not your typical musical with hummable showtunes and slick choreography, rather an intimate, tranquil story that unfolds be...

BWW Review: WOMAN IN BLACK at ACT Strand
by Steve Murray - December 25, 2021

If you haven't had enough of ghosts, spooks and specters this season, run to A.C.T. Strand's captivating production of Dame Susan Hill's 1983 gothic horror story Woman in Black. Adapted to the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, the haunting of a small English town is the second longest-running play in the...

BWW Review: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Offers a Gorgeous New Take on the Holiday Classic
by Jim Munson - December 23, 2021

BroadwayWorld reviews TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's gorgeous new production of 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play' running thru December 26th at the Lucie Stern Theatre, with streaming available thru Jan 2nd....

BWW Review: GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM at New Conservatory Theatre Center
by Steve Murray - December 18, 2021

What could have been a cute, bittersweet May-December romcom is transformed into a transcendent homage to the lost art of oral history by the thoughtful script of Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony nominee Martin Sherman and an exceptionally moving performance by Donald Currie. Gently Down the Stream ...

BWW Review: NUTCRACKER at San Francisco Ballet Returns with an Extra Dollop of Enchantment & Delight
by Jim Munson - December 16, 2021

BroadwayWorld reviews San Francisco Ballet's enchanting production of the classic 'Nutcracker' ballet, now running at the SF Opera House through December 30th....

BWW Review: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at Lucie Stern Theatre
by Steve Murray - December 06, 2021

It might be hard to find someone unfamiliar with Frank Capra's 1946 versions of A Christmas Carol, Christmas family fantasy that populates every best film poll. It appealed to post WWII audiences with its themes of family, loss and second chances and has remained a popular holiday favorite ever sinc...

BWW Review: RENT at Golden Gate Theatre
by Steve Murray - December 06, 2021

Jonathan Larson's small off-Broadway show about love and fear during the AIDS pandemic and has had a phenomenal life- Tony and Pulitzer Awards, running on Broadway for twelve years and seen worldwide in successive tours. Loosely based on Pucinni's La Bohème, the play touches a strong cord among youn...

BWW Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at SF Playhouse
by Steve Murray - December 02, 2021

This Bay Area premiere of Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub's musical adaptation of Twelfth Night is both the first Shakespeare play in nineteen seasons at SF Playhouse and director Susi Damilano's first attempt at the bard. Given those possibly daunting circumstances, this production is an exhilarat...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Golden Gate Theatre
by Steve Murray - December 01, 2021

Charles Dicken's beloved holiday chestnut is the ultimate feel-good vehicle beautifully staged in this 5-time Tony Award winning production sure to pack em in at the Golden Gate Theatre. The feel-good theme of second chances in life that lead to happy endings resonates strongly in the timeless story...

BWW Review: WINTERTIME at Berkeley Rep
by Steve Murray - November 19, 2021

Who doesn't enjoy a good farce? The genre's been around since recorded history, and playwright Charles L. Mee is a whiz at incorporating his influences throughout Wintertime, his comedy of the heart that sparkles with wit, charm and superb ensemble acting opening Berkeley Rep's first in-person perfo...

BWW Review: AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON WITH RAEHANN BRYCE-DAVIS at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - November 09, 2021

Bryce Davis and Cilliers opened their recital program with Richard Strauss' and John Henry Mackay's uplifting 'Heimliche Aufforderung' ('The Secret Invitation'). This joyous, celebratory composition was the composer's gift to his bride on their wedding day. Bryce-Davis sang it with exquisite vocal c...

BWW Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at 42nd Street Moon
by Steve Murray - November 08, 2021

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