Fans of hunky accused CEO-killer Luigi Mangione are clearly dying to see Luigi: The Musical, opening in June at the Taylor Street Theater, as opening night pretty much instantly sold out for this audacious original comedy-musical.

It’s no secret that Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of the United Healthcare CEO, has become a cult-hit heartthrob among those who loved seeing some vigilante justice (allegedly) metered out toward the unscrupulously profitable US healthcare system. And Mangione has his fans here in San Francisco. Some people are such fans that KRON4 reports there will be a Luigi Mangione musical opening in San Francisco in June at the Taylor Street Theater, aka the former EXIT Theater.  

While the show will open on Friday, June 13 — yes, Friday the 13th — we already have some Instagram embeds to give you a taste of the McDonald’s-inspired events that make up this musical.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Caleb Zeringue (@caleb.meringue)

“Luigi: The Musical is a wildly irreverent, razor-sharp comedy that imagines the true story of Luigi Mangione, the alleged corporate assassin turned accidental folk hero,” the show declares on its website. “With real-life cellmates Sam Bankman-Fried and Diddy by his side, Luigi navigates friendship, justice, and the absurdity of viral fame.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @luigithemusical

Yes, it is true that crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and accused sex trafficker Sean “Puffy/Diddy/Daddy” Combs are also locked up at the same Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York where Mangione is awaiting trial. And that was the apparent inspiration for this musical.

The show’s producer and co-writer Caleb Zeringue tells the Chronicle that the idea was hatched at the SF Eagle, when director Nova Bradford told him, “Did you hear that Luigi’s in the same prison with Diddy and Sam Bankman-Fried? I wanna write a musical about that.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @luigithemusical

The show is clearly shaping up to be a huge hit. As of press time for this post, the June 13 opening night is already sold out, the next night has only two tickets remaining. There will be five performances between June 13 and June 28.

This show will inevitably stir outrage for supposedly “celebrating a murderer.” Though much of this criticism will come from people who celebrated Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny for killing someone.

“We’re not valorizing any of these characters, and we’re also not trivializing any of their actions or alleged actions,” the director Bradford told the Chronicle. “When people interact with these systems that they’ve lost trust in, it creates such a sense of isolation, and comedy inherently is connective.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @luigithemusical

Maybe it makes sense for this musical to open in San Francisco, as Mangione has San Francisco connections, and Bankman-Fried had his house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto. But given how much national attention this show is getting, you can’t deny, delay, or depose that the Luigi Mangine musical may be playing in other cities someday, too.

Luigi: The Musical runs Friday, June 13 through Saturday, June 28 at the Taylor Street Theater. $30, Tickets here

Related: Latest Proposed California Ballot Measure Named After Luigi Mangione [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

The acclaimed LBGTQ musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie finally gets its San Francisco run at the Victoria Theatre, with Katya Smirnoff-Skyy in a hilarious and crowd-pleasing Pride Month production.

When you see that Ray of Light Theatre’s just-opened production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie (playing through June 23 at the Victoria Theatre) has longtime SF drag icon Katya Smirnoff-Skyy in the cast, you simply assume that Katya is going to steal the show. After all, surely these lesser-known cast members will not be able to match the onstage magnitude of Ms. Smirnoff-Skyy, who’s been doing smash-hit residencies at Martuni’s and Feinstein's at the Nikko for decades. One assumes Katya will stand head, shoulders, and giant wig above the rest of this cast.

But that’s not what happens. Notably, actor Romelo Urbi is a surprising and highly charismatic powerhouse in the titular role of Jamie, a British teenager who aspires to be a drag queen. Urbi makes this production his own vehicle, and there will be no stealing of this show by any of the supporting cast, thank you very much.

And the real sparkle of this show is not the cheeky drag humor, but the emotional family drama that plays out. Jamie’s mother Margaret (Anne Elizabeth Clark) and somewhat co-parenting friend Ray (Jill Slyter) deliver many of this production’s most compelling moments, including Clark’s second-act rendition of “He’s My Boy” that stands out as this show’s high-water mark.

Yes, there is obviously drag humor in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, and plenty of it. Katya, billed in the program by real name J. Conrad Frank, plays the sort-of dual role of drag apparel shop proprietor Hugo and the drag alter-ego Loco Channelle. (Bianca del Rio played the role in previous UK and Los Angeles productions). And there is more wigged-out zaniness from a trio of other drag queens that occasionally turn up: Sandra Bollock (Rahni NeverMore), Laika Virgin (Steven Ennis), and Tray Sophisticay (Samuel Prince).

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie had not yet had a San Francisco run, though it premiered in Sheffield, England (where the play takes place) back in 2017 and moved on to the West End. It’s based on the real-life 2011 BBC documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, and a film version from 2021 pretty much went straight to Amazon Prime, likely because 2021 was a terrible time for business at movie theaters.

But if Saturday’s Opening Night audience was any indication, this thing has developed a strong cult following. The crowd very much knew the numbers and lyrics, and their whooping and hollering gave this show an infectious Pride Month exuberance.

It sure helps that Tom McRae’s incisive and brilliant lyrics to the musical numbers are a nonstop parade of clever and uproarious one-liners. Say what you want about the 116-year-old Victoria Theatre, and its hardly state-of-the-art aesthetic, every lyric in this musical can be heard crystal-clear. And for that, Ray of Light Theatre’s sound engineers Kira Sedayao and Gaby Gerson deserve to be commended.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has an incredibly simple plot. A high school boy wants to wear a dress to prom, that’s pretty much the story here. There are classmate subplots, and family subplots, and “chosen family” subplots as Jamie finds his drag mother. But it’s a coming-of-age and coming-out story, exploring the bigotry and bullying that comes with that, and supporting cast members are forced to decide whether they’re going to be supportive in the face of community blowback.

This is territory that has already been well-covered by Dear Evan Hansen, and Book of Mormon, two far more awarded and decorated plays. So Everybody’s Talking About Jamie does not feel particularly revolutionary. But this production at the Victoria Theatre is a delightfully fun and quite affordable Pride Month night out at the theater, and finally, a chance to see an awfully good musical that theater fans in New York, the West End, and London have certainly been talking about for awhile.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie plays through June 23 at the Victoria Theatre (2961 16th Street, at Mission Street) Tickets here

Related: 'Funny Girl' at the Orpheum Is Carried By the Star Power of Its Very Talented Lead [SFist]

Images: Ray of Light Theater

“Dangerous Liaisons but it’s teenagers” gets a 1990s jukebox musical reboot with Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical, whose spectacular sets and occasional nudity serve a memorable feast for your eyes as well as your ears.

The 1782 French sex novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses begat a 1987 Tony-winning play of the same name, which begat the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons that won three Oscars. That story was rebooted yet again in the 1999 Sarah Michelle Gellar-Ryan Phillippe movie Cruel Intentions, a low-budget smash hit that launched the film careers of Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair.

And this sex-drenched franchise has banged out yet another incarnation with Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical, an off-Broadway hit now playing at the Victoria Theatre through October 1. It’s a Ray of Light Theatre production, the musical theater troupe that’s previously transformed the, erm, well-aged 115-year-old Victoria Theatre stage with electrifying sets in productions like Kinky Boots and their all-female Jesus Christ Superstar.

And they’ve done it again with Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical, a satirical sex comedy about insanely privileged private high school sexpots and virgins, with the former scheming to seduce the latter into their camp. Set designer Matt Owens’s impressive LED-lit Roman arches with window columns will surely draw comparisons to the opening credits of The Muppet Show. Yet the actors are positioned intermittently through different arches in a way that keeps this set fresh and fascinating through the whole nearly two-hour show, and there are other dazzling visual effect goodies sprinkled into the performance.

In the Ryan Phillippe (Sebastian) role, Jake Gale shows he can play a loathsome narcissist every bit as charmingly as he played the aw-shucks hero in Kinky Boots. Chelsea Holifield makes the Sarah Michelle Gellar (Kathryn) role viciously and deliciously her own. But the most comically gifted cast member is Anne Norland in the clumsy ingénue Selma Blair part (Cecille), though her role is regrettably reduced in the second act.

And it’s PG-13, people, because we do see a little ass in this show.

But about this “90’s Musical” business… it’s more of a “90’s Bubblegum Pop Musical.” The 1990s were a musically glorious period where the underground stormed the mainstream — with greats like Nirvana, Alanis Morissette, and the Pixies/Breeders, and hip-hop breakthroughs like the Fugees, Notorious B.I.G., and the Wu-Tang Clan. You will hear no such greatness in this jukebox musical score.

You will instead hear the disposable ditties of Christina Aguilera, No Doubt, and Jewel. A couple numbers are delivered here with a healthy sense of irony and mockery (NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and TLC’s “No Scrubs” are especially funny). The score elicits a number of spontaneous audience sing-alongs, but just as many groans.

Maybe that’s the point, as Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical is just tongue-in-cheek silliness throughout. But it’s a three-star show that could have been a four-star show, because it chooses to serve up cotton candy when it could serve filet mignon.

At critical points in the plot, particularly the climax when the anti-heroes have their changes of heart and comeuppance, there is never any emotional exploration of why the characters had second thoughts. The script just shoehorns the actors into another somewhat-thematically connected 90s pop number, opting for sing-alongs rather than character development.  

It’s great fun, but not memorable, as the book by Roger Kumble (who directed the 1999 film) avoids any attempt at character depth. Emotionally, this stage musical reboot of Dangerous Liaisons chooses to play it safe.

Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical runs Wednesdays-Saturdays through October 1, 8 p.m., at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., $20-$70, tickets here

Related: 'Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical' Begins Its Exuberantly Nostalgic Pre-Broadway Run at A.C.T. [SFist]

Image: Cruel Intentions cast by Job Bauer, via Ray of Light Productions

A dazzling and kinetic Tina Turner musical biography goes for nearly three hours at the Golden Gate Theatre, but the musical stylings of a ten-year-old playing a young Tina are simply the best moments of the show.  

The jukebox musical Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, playing through August 27 at the Golden Gate Theatre, is not some rush job that was hastily put together after the singer’s death this past May. The show premiered in London in 2018, and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith won the Olivier Award for his portrayal of Ike Turner in that production. It hit Broadway in 2019, where Adrienne Warren won the Tony Award for Leading Actress for her performance of Tina Turner.

So this is proven award-winning material, but if anyone’s winning any national awards in this production, it will be ten-year-old Ayvah Johnson for her remarkable singing, dancing, and presence as the little girl version of Tina Turner (technically, Anna-Mae Bullock, prior to the singer’s name change).

We meet Johnson early as Young Anna-Mae, in a version of Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits” that shows this musical is going to use several of these hit numbers to express plot points, not just as big production numbers. The visual backdrops for these plot-point numbers achieve stunning effects, like the cotton fields seen above. And the first half of the show is a memorable musical treatise on race relations and sexism in 20th Century America.

And of course, domestic violence. The adult Tina Turner will alternate by night between Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva. We got Villanueva Wednesday night, and she’s definitely up to the task of the challenging choreography, a demanding vocal role, and a character working through a deep amount of personal pain. (Though some of the wigs are, well, unconvincing). The pompadoured savior-turned-abuser Ike Turner (Roderick Lawrence) gives a convincing and very human study of emotional manipulation and drug addiction. Interestingly, the stagecraft of domestic violence scenes is structured so the actors’ bodies are always blocking your view of the actual strike, so the audience never directly sees someone being hit.

There are a number of great comical notes for the background dancers, though it does feel a lost opportunity that the Phil Spector character (Geoffrey Kidwell) isn’t played more villainously, and comes across as just a garden-variety show business sleazebag. And despite an absolutely soaring first act, the second act portraying Turner’s 80s comeback lacks anywhere near the drama or interesting characters we see in the first half of the show.

But Tina - The Tina Turner Musical has many spectacular moments over its two hours and 45 minutes, including a sort of gay disco scene in the rousing finale numbers. It doesn't cover a ton of ground that wasn’t already covered in the 1993 Angela Bassett vehicle What's Love Got to Do With It. But it does cover that ground with top-notch stage effects and choreography, plus one of the most memorable performances by a ten-year-old that you’ll ever see onstage.

Tina - The Tina Turner Musical plays through August  27 at the Golden Gate Theatre. Tickets here.

Related: 'A Chorus Line' Delivers Some Classic Broadway Dance Delights at SF Playhouse [SFist]

Top photo: Naomi Rodgers as Tina Turner in the North American touring production of TINA THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

Ray of Light Theatre’s new production of the Tony-winning Kinky Boots is one of the best shows the Victoria Theatre has had in years, with boot-strapped but ambitious sets that take that stage to new heights.

The 2013 Tony Award-winning Best New Musical Kinky Boots is actually a shockingly G-rated show for a musical that has the word “Kinky” right there in the title. But in the nearly ten years since it was released, one completely innocent aspect of the show is now the center of a right-wing culture war jihad — that children are comfortable with and intrigued by drag queens. Kids enjoying the antics of drag queens is regularly spurring death threats and hate crimes these days, and it is against this backdrop that Ray of Light Theatre’s new production of Kinky Boots (running through October 8 at the Victoria Theatre) arrives with two kiddos front and center in the cast of a drag queen-centered show.

This version of Kinky Boots is a completely faithful interpretation that does not shy away from  putting those two youngsters (Austin Engwerda and Tenzin Forder) in the critical opening and closing moments of the show. But what you’ll remember about this exhilarating and very, very good production is that the stage of the Victoria has rarely ever looked this good. The wildly ambitious sets do not contain any rotating scenery or the big-budget stuff you see at the Orphuem, but it achieves amazing effects on an, if you will, “shoestring” budget. It switches seamlessly between a glum British factory and a nightclub, and does a remarkable job with a certain conveyor-belt musical number (we saw the same effect attempted in 2016 at the Golden Gate Theatre).

Your standout performer is of course the “Lola” character played by Marshall Forte, a talented soloist with the SF Gay Men’s Chorus. Both Jake Gale (“Charlie”) and Chanel Tilghman (“Lauren”) absolutely bring down the house with their own confessional solo numbers in the emotionally contentious second act, which contrasts from a mostly feel-good first act.

We should note that at last weekend’s Opening Night, plenty of audience members complained it was too warm inside, fanning themselves with their programs throughout. And folks, the Victoria Theatre is 113 years old, it’s all they can do to keep the lights working, let alone air-condition the place. And there is, well, a drag on the show that the old place’s acoustics do not provide an ideal sound for the live band’s rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s Tony-winning score.  

But none of this will stop you from absolutely adoring this version of Kinky Boots, one of Ray of Light theatre's best productions ever, and one of the greatest triumphs on the Victoria Theatre stage in quite some years. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll actually cry like five or six times. It’s an inspiring revue about facing reality, and how to make filet mignon when life serves you a shit sandwich (and a separate subplot about a condominium conversion hits very close to home at this Mission District theater). At a time when an agenda-driven stigma is being pushed on kids’ curiosity toward drag shows, this Kinky Boots production proudly owns the idea. Plus the show is a real kick, to boot.

Kinky Boots plays Wednesdays - Mondays, though October 8, at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street (at Capp Street) $30, Tickets here.

Related: Joyful 'Goddess' at Berkeley Rep Looks and Sounds Very Likely Broadway-Bound [SFist]

Images: Ray of Light Theater

The SF-set musical TV show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is doing a Bay to Breakers episode Sunday night, likely without much nudity or drunkenness. But Bernadette Peters is involved!

The NBC television show premiered last year (January 2020) and is set in San Francisco, and the premise is that the main character is having some kind of mental health aberration in which she experiences other peoples' innermost thoughts as musical numbers. We kind of lost track of this series after the pandemic hit, but we are pretty intrigued with the news today from the Chronicle’s Datebook section that Sunday’s episode of this “musical dramedy” will be a Bay to Breakers episode. SFist scoured through the publicity stills and information available online about the episode, and it does not appear it will feature any of the nudity, drunkenness, peeing in public, or Stanley Roberts catching people in the act of such shenanigans for which the race is known.

First, we’ll note that it appears that this episode was not shot in San Francisco, though the show is supposed to take place here. The Chronicle's report says that the series “is largely filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia,” and as Hoodline earlier noted, they only do occasional exterior shoots here. The IMDB entry for this episode does not list locations, but some website called Celebzz.com has shots of the Bay to Breakers scene that verify that this scene was shot in Vancouver. The IMDB still photos of the episode show no evidence of San Francisco, but they do show that Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters makes a cameo, and her vocal skills are certainly worth tuning in for.

The trailer for the episode is a mere 15 seconds, and it indicates that there is definitely a Bay to Breakers scene, though the episode is not necessarily Bay to Breakers-centric. The Bay to Breakers scene is clearly a musical number. The story arc appears to be more about a double date gone awkwardly, with the clip ending with one of the women on the double date saying to the two men, “You two have a little bit of weird history, don’t you?” (Please let them be former gay lovers! Please let them be former gay lovers!)

Digging though more clues, the show’s Facebook post above indicates that there will be a Queen song done as a musical number. An Entertainment Weekly interview with the show’s choreographer Mandy Moore asks Moore about “a scene in which Zoey (Jane Levy) sees the Bay to Breakers crowd of runners perform a Heart song,” and Moore says “It was 40 to 50 dancers, but then we had 150 extras or background, and then our cast on top of that.” The scene was shot during COVID-19, but the show does not appear to acknowledge the pandemic.

And hey, what about Bay to Breakers this year? Last we’d heard, they pushed it out to August but were still planning an in-person 2021 race. That statement is no longer operable, and they’ve backtracked to a virtual race again (which registrants can run anytime May 16 to June 2). As such, SFist sees no need to do our annual Bay to Breakers Liquor Store Map this year.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist airs Sunday night, May 2, at 9 p.m. PT on KNTV 11, and will be available on Hulu and Peacock the following day.

Related: Photos: Bay to Breakers Battles Rain With ‘Game of Thrones,’ Elizabeth Holmes Costumes [SFist]

Images: NBC / Lionsgate

The groundbreaking, 24-hour-long, 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist musical A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is returning to San Francisco this September, and to that end the production is shooting a promo video all day Saturday for the play’s Bay Area run. The video shoot is looking for extras, and has put out a casting call allowing you — yes, you! — to show up Saturday, May 27 and perform alongside legendary actor, playwright, and performance artist Taylor Mac. The self-described “unique mash-up of music, history, performance, and art” is asking that extras come dressed in the American history period costume of their choice. You won’t be paid, but you will get to appear in promotional materials for the show that New York Times theater critic Wesley Morris called “one of the great experiences of my life,” and SFist theater critic Jay Barmann gave 240 stars when sections of it ran at The Curran in 2016.

The Curran theater tells SFist in a statement that “The premise is Taylor Mac (Bay Area native and award-winning artist) marching through SF with a small brass band and extras parading behind, all in celebration of the city that inspired his show which is coming to the Curran in September.”

You can be a part of it by signing up on the Taylor Mac Video Extras Google Doc. You are advised to sign up as soon as possible, considering that the shoot starts at 6 a.m. Saturday and goes until 7 p.m. There are four different slots for which you can apply, whose times and locations are listed below:

• 7:30am - 10:00am: Pac Heights (Broadway & Divisadero)


• 10:30am - 1:00pm: Civic Center (Golden Gate & Polk)


• 1:30pm - 4:00pm: Balmy Alley (24th & Treat)


• 4:30pm - 7:00pm: Castro (Noe & Market)

'A 24-Decade History Of Popular Music', image courtesy Kevin Yatarola

“Once completed, you'll receive a final confirmation email with details regarding your participation on Saturday including call time, locations, and transportation information,” the production also notes.

SFist did sign up, and received the confirmation info and a call sheet within about 12 hours, but that response may vary for you. They were insistent that extras arrive on time, and they really encouraged performers to pack light as on-site storage will be exceedingly limited.

'A 24-Decade History Of Popular Music', image courtesy Vess Pitts

Yes, Taylor Mac will be there in person for the shoot! Should you actually get to encounter Taylor Mac in person, do be aware that the actor and playwright prefers “judy” a gender pronoun.

‘Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music’ plays at the The Curran on September 15, 17, 22 and 24, with each performance a separate, six-hour chapter. The show will also stage an abbreviated three-hour version at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall on September 27.

Related: Curran Theatre Breaks Off From SHN, Will Produce Its Own Edgier Shows

In two decades of performances, John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch has seen many performers, male and female, embody Hedwig, the bawdy, self-assured, third-tier German-American rock goddess who is sort-of-but-not-exactly transgender. As Hedwig tours the country following a successful Broadway revival that initially starred Neil Patrick Harris, audiences will potentially get to see a few more men and women take on the role, including Tony Award winning featured actress Lena Hall, who reprises the role of Yitzhak in the current SHN production, and who will play Hedwig herself on Wednesday nights during the San Francisco run and for other select performances. But for now, TV star Darren Criss, who has proven his acting and singing chops on Glee, is tackling the extremely demanding role six nights a week. Criss gets to prove his ability to command a stage, virtually by himself, for the better part of 90 minutes while rocking, dancing, wailing, holding court, and changing wigs about eight times.

With regard to the Hedwig character I say “sort of but not exactly” transgender because Mitchell himself has said as much in interviews. That's to say his gender-non-conforming heroine, born Hansel to an East German mother who arranges a botched sex change by a dubious surgeon so that her child can escape Berlin as the wife of an American GI, may not identify as transgender in the sense with which we're now familiar, leading me to ask if the 1998 play has already become a relic of an era when transgender people remained less visible and understood than they are today.

Criss is strong in the role, and at some moments even transcendent in his immersion into the character. That's particularly true once he hits his stride in the second half — or at least by the time he launches into the show’s single catchy, rollicking number, “Wig in a Box.” But given that he must carry the show, its ultimate success or failure falls entirely on him and how quickly he finds that stride in any given performance. I once saw Mitchell perform the role off-Broadway way back when, and though I never caught Harris in the role, there's little doubt that he's more the caliber of seasoned, stage-stomping, eminently confident performer to take on the role than Criss — but I can see Criss growing into those glittery, high-heeled platform boots in time. Hedwig must, above all else, own that stage and the audience’s attention the moment she explodes onto it, and Criss feels a bit like he’s borrowing it for now, with an option to buy. Yet his legions of loyal fans from Glee will no doubt forgive the subtlety of this difference (as the standing ovation proved at the performance I viewed).

Hall, meanwhile, who’s had many hundreds more performances under her belt as Hedwig’s beleaguered husband turned stage-hand and co-star Yitzhak, is amazing at virtually every turn — especially, near the show’s climax, where Yitzhak stands in the spotlight, finally allowed to shine, taking in the audience’s adoration with the crookedest, most reluctant of smiles. One brief moment in which she’s called upon to do her best Whitney Houston, on a distant radio, singing “I Will Always Love You,” is particularly impressive. Hall, like Criss, is a Bay Area native, making this all the more a meaningful homecoming for both of them.

Returning to the theme of gender and its confusion, one pivotal moment in the production leaves Hedwig, as played by Criss (as with Harris before him) nearly naked, his muscled, masculine body on stage by the show’s end, which further confounds what the audience is led to believe with regard to Hedwig’s chosen gender presentation throughout the show. The moment leaves me, as a San Francisco journalist who tries always to be on the correct side of these things, a little bit troubled in 2016 about how to read the play, or this production. Mitchell would probably say that I’m being too literal, or gender normative — Hedwig, and her useless one-inch “mound of flesh” in place of genitalia, represents an in between, and a sexual being who manages to lead a life, albeit a frustrated one, in that liminal space, as many queer and gender non-conforming people do. It’s a specific story more than a general parable, and perhaps we should embrace it as such, enjoying the rock opera rather than trying to impose a lesson about trans acceptance here.

Yet it certainly felt like Mitchell was trying to craft just such a message in the mid-90’s out of this brash, singular character, at least if you ask me. The confusion of Hedwig with your average drag queen — the type who can throw off her wig and dress — feels anachronistic, despite the fact that the dramatic choice is new for the production. In a flashback, Hedwig confronts her would-be teenage lover and protege Tommy Gnosis afters he’s made acutely aware he's only ever embraced her from behind, having avoided awkward questions about gender. “Why can’t you love the front of me?” Hedwig demands, a question that never quite gets an answer, though an off-stage voice of Tommy’s at least confirms, by the show’s end, that he did love Hedwig, and still thanks her for his career. And, in their unconventional way, Hedwig and Yitzhak have found love, too, and by the show’s La Cage Aux Folles-influenced finale, we are meant to understand they’ve found happiness with each other, too.

Fans of the Hedwig movie (starring Mitchell) and the soundtrack are going to be more than impressed and delighted with the production quality here, the fantastic, dystopian set design by Julian Crouch, and the direction by Michael Mayer. And, like I said, fans of Darren Criss will undoubtedly revel in the opportunity not only to hear and see their idol sweat through, and expertly belt out, the show’s anthemic numbers in the flesh — not to mention the opportunity to see a lot of that flesh, and just how good his legs look in a mini-skirt.

But the show itself still has a sort of unformed, awkward middle to it with some desultory moments, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t question whether this is really the right show to add to the canon when it comes to this moment in LGBT history. But, just like La Cage Aux Folles and the movie remake The Birdcage feel a bit like charming relics now in this era of legal gay marriage, so too will Hedwig in a very short time, if it doesn’t already.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch runs through October 30 at SHN Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor Street. Find tickets here.

Related: SFist Interviews: Darren Criss Brings It Home As 'Hedwig'

As Darren Criss prepared to take the mantle — or Farah Fawcett wig, as it were — of Hedwig in a three-month engagement of Hedwig & the Angry Inch on Broadway last year, John Cameron Mitchell, the show's co-creator and the role's originator, expressed his excitement to Out magazine. “[Darren] grew up in the gayest city in the world, and it’s rubbed off,” he said of Criss, a native of San Francisco and an alumnus of ACT's Young Conservatory. Fame first came to Criss for his role as a gay prep schooler on Glee (he himself attended St. Ignatius) and continued as he took over the lead in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying from Daniel Radcliffe. But Criss, who can clearly strut the strut as Hedwig, is in fact straight-identified. “He’s the sweetest, hippest straight queer boy on the block.” Cameron Mitchell added. Now he's a "slip of a girly boy from communist East Berlin," as the genderqueer Hedwig refers to herself, and SFist caught up with Criss to discuss the role and his return to San Francisco following opening night this past Wednesday.

SFist: Hedwig's character is obsessed with music, absorbing all these influences. Was there any musical homework you felt you had to do for the role?

Criss: I'm pretty hip to the rock and roll stuff the show references just by way of whatever I was into as a kid. My brother and I grew up with this ravenous appetite for music, and we just listened to everything. The one pocket that I would have missed wouldn't have been the rock but the '70s female pop, like Debby Boone. I knew names but I couldn't rattle off the hits as easily as [director] Michael Mayer, so that was the education I had to do to become "miss Midwest midnight checkout queen."

SFist: There are some SF jokes and flourishes you made as Hedwig — references to places and neighborhoods, a jab at Marin County. This is your doing, I suspect?

Criss: Those jokes just kind of come out! It helps that I know what might hit with people here. John [Cameron Mitchell] and Michael [Mayer] and I huddled and talked about some local jokes and local flavor. Everyone who plays Hedwig becomes a part of the narrative — When I was on broadway, Neil [Patrick Harris] added his thing before me, and there's a whole hodgepodge of things to collect from. The idea is that this show Hedwig is doing is only happening this one time in front of you, and this is all before your very eyes. So, whether you're doing that here or in South Korea, the idea is to maintain a sense of local urgency.

SFist: What's been your experience coming back to San Francisco so far?

Darren: It's been lovely for obvious reasons. I don't often get to spend an extended period of time here, so to know that I'm going to be here for longer than a weekend is nice enough. And, of course, San Francisco Indian summer is great. And hearing the Blue Angels flying around, too — it's very much attached to my childhood, but all my New York friends who are here, they're terrified!

SFist: Not your co-star, Lena Hall, another San Francisco native. What's it been like to work with her?

Criss: So she ended her run as Yitzhak right when I began my run as Hedwig in New York. She'd done it for a while, and we were ships passing in the night. We were very friendly, and we had a lot of fun nights out together, and it blew my mind when I learned she was also from San Francisco. There's a lot of ties that we share. Like, I was like, "wait, you're part Filipino? I'm part Filipino!" She's really the best singer ever — it's such a joy, and a real privilege to be singing with her. Doing "Origin of Love" with her, I have her singing in my monitor, and it's so great.

SFist: And for weekly performances, Hall will take over the role as Hedwig, correct?

Criss: I can't wait to see her do it. The cool thing is the way Hedwig is constructed, especially the gender fluidity, makes a woman playing that role so complex. What I love about the show is it's so strong dramaturgically: It starts and you meet Hedwig, guns blazing. When I first started doing the show for the first night or two on Broadway, we had a joke about my age — at the time I was the youngest person to do Hedwig, at least on Broadway, and we had a line about it that we thought might get a laugh. But it quickly became apparent it didn't matter.

In fact, it didn't matter that you're short or tall or black or white or gay or straight, or even a man or a woman. The audience is invested in whoever is playing Hedwig, whoever is carrying the torch. Actors, no matter who they are, will gravitate toward this role. You know it's a damn good part — It's one of the greatest roles I may ever play.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch runs through October 30 at SHN Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor Street. Find tickets here.

Previously: Darren Criss To Play Hedwig For San Francisco Run In October

Have you been saying to yourself "there’s a million things I haven’t done?" Is one of those things "singing along to the broadway phenomenon Hamilton with a horde of rabid fans?" Then you're in luck.

Over drinks at El Rio at 7 p.m. on March 22, the Hamiltunes will pay tribute to their favorite show before it enters a scheduled run in San Francisco and Los Angeles next year.

The inspiration comes to us from Los Angeles and has now branched northward, ensnaring local fanatics who have launched their own Hamiltunes chapter. LA magazine wrote of one Hamiltunes event that the experience was reminiscent of churchgoing. Volunteers take to the stage to lead the congregation in their favorite numbers, and yes, raise a glass.

Here's a clip from one such spectacular:

Hamiltunes Hamilton Sing-Along, 7 p.m., El Rio, 3158 Mission Street, Free

Related: 'Hamilton' Comes To SF For Five Months Starting In March 2017, LA After

Forget the forefathers of American democracy and financial systems: The next hit Broadway musical could take its cues from the forefathers of the PC and the Mac. As the New York Times foreshadows in its opening night countdown coverage, Nerds, a new Broadway production that first saw the stage in North Carolina, bills itself as a "A Musical Dot-Comedy" and seeks to capitalize on much-belated Jobs nostalgia in addition to renewed interest in musical theater as Hamilton hysteria sweeps the nation. That hit show, by the way, graces San Francisco in March 2017.

Casey Hushion directs Nerds which has been delayed slightly — as it sounds from the Times coverage, casting Jobs was not so easy — so previews at the Longacre Theatre don't begin until April 1st. That's according to Broadway.com, who also note that opening night is set for April 21st.

Of course, the Steve Jobs story has been pretty fully canonized by now, told a great number of times and in a great variety of ways. Notably, in its latest iteration, the film Steve Jobs, even Michael Fassbender couldn't arouse much public interest and the production was pronounced a box office flop. But maybe by including Gates' story in tandem with Jobs', a story of nerdy rivalry will recapture our attention.

Last, of course you remember that Jobs could command a stage during Apple launch events. But how about Gates? Have a look at this dynamite find from the Windows 95 launch.

Let's hope that the musical has the rights to the Stones' "Start Me Up," a so-bad-it's-good computer pun.

Previously: 'Hamilton' Comes To SF For Five Months Starting In March 2017, LA After

The Thrillpeddlers’ Shocktoberfest 16: Curse of the Cobra (playing through Nov. 21 at The Hypnodrome) concludes with an exhilarating, terrifying three-minute musical sequence that messes with your depth perception, makes great use of darkness and serves up the wildest and spookiest special-effects theatrical set-piece of the Halloween season. But the two-plus hours of theater that lead up to this finale scene are not nearly as memorable.

Shocktoberfest 16: Curse of the Cobra, the 16th annual installment of the Thrillpeddlers’ Halloween stage show, presents five one-act horror performances in the graphic and shocking French Grand Guignol tradition. Any anthology or “collection of shorts” usually ends up being a little uneven, but Shocktoberfest 16 is especially so. It’s something like a Twilight Zone musical revue with a lot more drag and plenty of severed limbs. The music, drag, and gross-out humor are all winning elements, but the show spends too much time on dramatic turns focusing on alcoholism and sexual violence. These lengthy and serious scenes aren’t sardonic enough to work as black humor, and aren’t compelling enough to work as drama either. Most of the play falls into an awkward middle zone that presents morbid subject matter that doesn’t fly as funny or moving or anything other than cringe-worthy.

The musical numbers all pop, however, and I just wish there were more of them. In particular, the second vignette is a glorious little ditty called “Down at the Donner Party Diner”. It’s sort of a Country Bear Jamboree interpretation of the horrific Donner Party cannibalism incident of the 1840s, composed by ex-Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn. I would gladly watch a two-hour Donner Party musical! But this segment only lasted four minutes, leaving the audience hungry for more.

Shocktoberfest 16’s short segments are its best moments. A Gold Rush-era horror vignette called “Cracking the Vein” is highlighted by Dee Nathanial’s musical number, but is otherwise predictable and fails to connect. The longest segment “The Model House” seems like a chore for the audience to get through. The sort-of titular segment “The Revenge of the Son of the Cobra Woman” features great costumes and music, but does not feature a sensible or riveting narrative.

The show maintains the gross-out Grand Guignol tradition, and SFist had the pleasure of watching the show next to theater author Mel Gordon, whose 1997 book The Grand Guignol: Theater of Terror and Horror was first English-language book on the topic. “One thing about the Grand Guignol, it saved the one-act play,” Gordon told SFist. “It alternated six one-act plays or sketches with ‘hot and cold showers’. The hot showers were sexy, funny farces and the cold showers were plays of mutilation and terror that were so realistic that the actors counted how many people fainted in the performance. Usually it was about six to eight and it was usually men, because they didn’t cover their eyes.”

Since Shocktoberfest has been running for 16 years, surely the Thrillpeddlers are doing something right. But in this year’s edition, they’re not doing enough of it right. The musical numbers and graphic splatter scenes are all tremendous fun, but Shocktoberfest 16’s stabs at legitimate drama should have been severed and chopped off.

'Shocktoberfest 16: Curse of the Cobra' runs Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. until Nov. 21 at The Hypnodrome. Tickets are available online.

An off-Broadway musical set to premiere in New York this fall will lampoon the sitcom Full House, and will give celebrity barnacle Perez Hilton a new opportunity to show off his talents as a performer. It's called Full House: The Musical!, and it's from the creators of Showgirls! The Musical!, and a Saved By the Bell musical, a duo named Bob and Tobly McSmith. Hilton will play Bob Saget's character, Danny Tanner, and as he tells Howard Stern (via i4u News), "It's really exciting for me, I'm going to be playing Bob Saget, basically, in a musical!"

The show will have an out-of-town tryout in Toronto in August before coming to New York's Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place starting September 7 — and you can already buy tickets here. The show is described as an "unauthorized musical parody" with "strong language and no redeemable life lessons." Also in the cast is young actor John Duff as Uncle Jesse, who also played Slater in Bayside! The Musical, the Saved By the Bell parody. Also, a young woman named Marshall Louise will be playing both Olsen Twins.

It's not clear how long Hilton plans to stay in the show, given his obligations as a dad and a daily blogger. Hilton just welcomed a second baby via a surrogate in May.

Hilton, 37, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr., already has a two-year-old, Mario Armando Lavandeira III.

Hilton has made multiple attempts to step out from behind the laptop, so to speak, appearing on VH1's weight loss show Fab to Flab in 2004, MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar in 2007, and many others. Earlier this year he appeared on the British show Celebrity Big Brother. Also, fun fact: When Hilton attended NYU on a scholarship in the late 90's he was studying to become an actor.

To get a sense of the show creators' humor, here's a parody anti-drug ad from Bob and Tobly McSmith promoting Bayside! The Musical, which has been running for two years at Theatre 80. That show closes August 8.

Previously: Bob Saget Defends Olsen Twins' Choice To Skip Fuller House

Yes, this weekend promises the best weather of the year. And yes, most of the city will be basking in jorts along the city's parks and sidewalks. But to capture that authentic summer feel, there's really no better way than holing up in a darkened movie theater and pretending you're a breathless child again, is there? Cue the next event in the Castro Theatre's much-loved sing-along series: Mary Poppins.

Notable for making every child who has ever seen the movie wish Julie Andrews was their mother and room-cleaning magic was real, Mary Poppins contains such sing-along hits as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", as well as the super sad "Feed the Birds". As always, subtitles will help clueless crooners sing along, and a costume contest, goodie bag and participatory audience cues make this event a special kind of fun.

These things are popular with nostalgic adults and children alike, so grab a ticket early if you're willing able. Showtimes are Friday night at 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 7pm.

The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street
Tickets via Ticketweb