The announcements are in for the 2023-24 theater seasons in San Francisco and Berkeley, and after some sputtering through the last couple years of a pandemic, the show schedule finally looks very full once more.
We still don't know what's up with the Curran, which remains in limbo after the closing of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — and after the brief but spectacular series of shows curated and produced by Carole Shorenstein Hays five and six years ago. (The theater is going to host a one-week run of the tour of a new Into the Woods production, direct from Broadway, in June.)
But we now have the season schedules for Broadway SF, the American Conservatory Theater (ACT), SF Playhouse, and Berkeley Repertory Theater going through the middle of 2024.
All four theater organizations are still finishing up their current seasons — and Broadway SF's season actually follows the calendar year these days, and will be ongoing through most of 2023. Berkeley Rep still has a promising import from the National Theatre of Scotland opening in May, Let the Right One In, written and directed by the team from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, adapter Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany. ACT will present a new, musical version (?) of The Wizard of Oz in June, directed and choreographed by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton (Soft Power and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812). And SF Playhouse is putting on David Henry Hwang's Chinglish next month, and A Chorus Line, which runs through the whole summer starting June 22.
Starting in late August, though, ACT kicks off its next season with a musical that's been delayed since 2020, the world premiere of The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical. The show has a book by Tony nominee and MacArthur "genius" grantee Dominique Morisseau (Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations), with direction by the Apollo Theater’s acclaimed executive director Kamilah Forbes. That runs August 25 to October 1.
Other shows in the season, listed in full below, include Big Data, and, next spring, The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes.
That will be followed in September at Berkeley Rep by the West Coast premiere of Obie Award-winning writer David Cale's one-man play Harry Clarke — a NYT Critic's Pick when it premiered in 2017 and starred Billy Crudup.
And Berkeley Rep's season also contains a few promising items, including Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis's play Bulrusher, set in Northern California; and the world premiere of Galileo, a new musical about the maverick astronomer that could be destined for Broadway, with a book by Emmy winner Danny Strong (Dopesick, Empire, The Butler), music by Michael Weiner (Broadway’s First Date), and direction by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Swept Away).
SF Playhouse's next season includes two more ambitious musicals: Guys & Dolls (opening Nov. 16) and Evita, as well as four plays including a new adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.
BroadwaySF promises to bring us a few hits and oddities next year, including the tour of that Michael Jackson musical MJ that never mentions allegations of child abuse (Jan. 30-Feb. 25, 2024). But the season also includes a pre-Broadway preview engagement of a new production of The Wiz (Jan. 16-Feb. 11, 2024), and the touring productions of Funny Girl (April 30-May 26, 2024) and the Tony-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company (June 5-29, 2024), with several of the roles, including lead character Bobbie, recast as the opposite gender.
Full schedule below, as it stands (it's subject to change). Visit the theaters' website for subscription offers and other details.
AUGUST 2023
The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical
ACT's Toni Rembe Theater
August 25-October 1
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Golden Gate Theater
August 1-August 27
SEPTEMBER 2023
Harry Clarke
Berkeley Repertory Theater
Sept/Oct
Hadestown
Orpheum Theatre
September 12-17
Nollywood Dreams
SF Playhouse
September 28-November 4
OCTOBER 2023
POTUS: or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Berkeley Repertory Theater
Oct/Nov
NOVEMBER 2023
Bulrusher
Berkeley Repertory Theater
Nov/Dec
Guys & Dolls
SF Playhouse
November 16 -January 13
The Lion King
The Orpheum Theatre
November 22-December 30
DECEMBER 2023
A Christmas Carol
ACT's Toni Rembe Theater
December 1-December 24
JANUARY 2024
The Wiz
Golden Gate Theater
January 16-February 11
Cult of Love
Berkeley Repertory Theater
Jan/Feb
My Home on the Moon
SF Playhouse
January 25-February 24
MJ
Orpheum Theater
January 30-February 25
FEBRUARY 2024
Big Data
ACT's Toni Rembe Theater
February 15-March 10
MARCH 2024
The 39 Steps
SF Playhouse
March 7-April 20
Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord
ACT's Strand Theater
March 30-May 5
The Far Country
Berkeley Rep
Mar/Apr
APRIL 2024
Funny Girl
Orpheum Theatre
April 30-May 26
MAY 2024
The Lehman Trilogy
ACT's Toni Rembe Theater
May 25-June 23
The Glass Menagerie
SF Playhouse
May 2-June 15
Galileo
Berkeley Rep
May/Jun
JUNE 2024
Company
Orpheum Theatre
June 5-29
Evita
SF Playhouse
June 27-September 7
JULY 2024
Mrs. Doubtfire
Orpheum Theatre
July 2-28
The Girl From the North Country
Golden Gate Theater
July 30-August 18
Top image: The 2018 London cast of 'Company.' Photo by Brinkhoff Mogenburg
