What to Do This Weekend: Theater

Hey, just because it's Thanksgiving weekend doesn't mean there ain't nothin' goin' on in the theater houses around town. You know your feet will need a rest after The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year, so hell, who are we kidding, here's the Union Square edition, with a few picks for you:

Don't Make Me Look Too Psychotic at the Shelton Theater
Want to know how easy it is to get a plug for your show? Write us a nice email about some thing or another, and let us discover who you are. We got such a note from Bruce Pachtman today, and look, already a plug. Bruce, a disciple of one of the performers we featured last week, Charlie Varon, has received some very nice reviews for his one-man show about a particularly weird dating experience. The website says it closed already, but other theater listings show it as closing this weekend. So call ahead, of course. We're going to have to miss it either way, since we'll be out of town for the holiday. Once again, another show we hope will come back in the coming months so we get a chance to check it out.

Addicted at the Marines Memorial
What is it with solo shows these days? With so many out-of-work actors, there really should be new productions with tons of characters. In fact, you know what this area needs? Another Shakespeare festival. OK, just kidding. We decided to stick to Union Square, and, well, we gotta plug what looks worthwhile, and so here we are at the fifth solo show in two weeks. From the show's website: "Written and performed by Bay Area native Mark Lundholm, this show is his incredibly honest, moving, and unexpectedly funny autobiographical theater piece that takes the audience on a tumultuous journey through his childhood, adolescence, addiction, fatherhood, homelessness, rehab and a successful stand-up comedy career." It's at the Marines Memorial, so it's pricier than we think it should be, but if you're already shopping in Union Square, you can probably afford it. And it's probably worth it. We'll let you know if they send us a free ticket.

Black Nativity at the Lorraine Hansberry
It's that time again -- The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year is also the start of Holiday Show Season. That means Christmas shows, folks, 'cause you're probably not going to see the sensational Maccabees! anytime soon. Well, try to see one Christmas show you probably haven't seen before, and that would be Black Nativity by Langston Hughes, the legendary Harlem Renaissance writer. The website says, "The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre's perennial holiday production features the extraordinary talent of Robin Hodge-Williams and the Bay Area's inspiring gospel artists. A soulful rendition of the Christmas with extraordinary voices, exciting dance, and glorious music." Amen to that.

A note: we found out about all of these shows via the calendar on Theatre Bay Area's website, after being properly chastised by Theatre Bay Area Magazine's editor in chief, Karen McKevitt, for leaving TBA's calendar off last week's list of links. Maybe Karen will do a little blurb about us in the magazine and spread the word that we're the place to go to find out what to do around town. (Confidential to Karen: don't make us look too psychotic.)

For more stage options, check out the listings at the Guardian, the Express, and the Weekly.

You didn't think we'd forget to plug Impact Theatre's Meanwhile, Back at the Super Lair, did you? Aw, hells naw!