Stage Fog: S-T-A-G-E-F-O-G, Stage Fog
What can we say? This week's offerings are b-r-i-l-l-i-a-n-t.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Post Street Theatre
For those of us who have ever been terrorized and traumatized by school spelling bees, or who couldn't get a grip on "i before e except after c," this 2005 Tony Award-nominated musical may be able to cure what five years of therapy couldn't. After all, didn't the documentary Spellbound, with its lovable misfits and freaky parents, just scream to be satirized? Well, who knows if Spelling Bee's authors had that film in mind, but they did manage to assemble colorful characters, like the aptly named William Barfee, who spells with his foot, an overachieving Asian student, a pubescent boy with overactive hormones, a gay event organizer and parents who are quite possibly less mature than their kids. Making its West Coast premiere, the sardonic Spelling Bee gets our vote for one of the must-see shows of the spring season, and word is that past shows have snagged audience members for the spelling contest. No cheating.
Playing February 14 through March 26
An Evening with Daniel Handler and 4 Adverbs at Project Artaud Theater
Yep, that's Lemony Snicket to you. Local company Word for Word, an awesome troupe that performs literature with all the "he saids" and "she saids" and with incredibly inventive staging, snags the world premiere of Handler's 4 Adverbs, taken from his forthcoming novel for adults simply called Adverbs. That's right, San Francisco audiences can get a sneak peek at this book, which won't hit stores until May. What's more, Daniel Handler himself makes an appearance after the February 21 performance to converse with the audience, moderated by Andrew Sean Greer (The Confessions of Max Tivoli). Like the "play's" title suggests, each story is based on a particular part of speech. "Arguably" and "Particularly" feature a husband and wife who move to San Francisco from New York and London. Other stories feature college dropouts, stabbing victims and other characters who are all interconnected by love and loss. Besides the treat of seeing Lemony Snicket himself and a preview of his new book, this new offering by Word for Word features a stellar local cast and choreography by the brilliant Erika Chong Shuch, who has been doing some pretty amazing stuff at Intersection for the Arts. Buy tickets, quickly.
Playing February 21 through March 12
Gem of the Ocean at American Conservatory Theater
Theater aficionados everywhere mourned the death of arguably the nation's most important playwright, August Wilson, last October. However, posterity is blessed in his having completed his 10-play cycle that traces the African American experience in the 20th century. Gem of the Ocean, which makes its Bay Area premiere at American Conservatory Theater, is the ninth play written but the first one chronologically, and follows a man who seeks a new life in the home of 287-year-old Aunt Ester. This fiery matriarch was mentioned--but never appeared--in Two Trains Running and King Hedley II, and was described as "the Book of Life incarnate." Tony Award-winning Phylicia Rashad, rather unfortunately better-known to mainstream America as Mrs. Huxtable on The Cosby Show, was slated to perform at ACT but pulled out to star in a world premiere musical back in New York, Bernarda Alba. No matter: Gem still stars ACT core company greats Steven Anthony Jones and Gregory Wallace, and is helmed by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who's Lackawanna Blues (seen at the Geary two seasons ago) was adapted by HBO films and picked up some Emmys and Golden Globes.
Playing through March 12
For more stage options, check out the listings at the Guardian, the Express, the SF Weekly, and the calendar on Theatre Bay Area's website.